Chapter Two
Basically, being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be. Or at least, being the decoy princess isn't all it's cracked up to be. Princess Rosalia's servants pulled her least favorite gown over my head, yanking my arms through the sleeves. The Princess didn't want to give up one of her corsets—something I was extremely happy about.
The Princess' royal hairdresser pulled my hair up into intricate curls woven with a pale blue ribbon. A pair of the Princess' old shoes were shoved onto my feet, which were slightly larger than hers. Then everyone stood back to admire their handiwork.
"Well," one of them sighed, "she's definitely not Princess Rosalia, that's for sure. But she could probably fool the dragon."
I didn't bother to point out that Princess Rosalia had dark hair and tanned skin and eyes like large round olives like her mother had, and I, although definitely not a china doll—I spent most of my time outdoors—had fair skin and blue-green eyes and light brown curls.
Normally, I might have enjoyed wearing a beautiful gown (even if it was Princess Rosalia's least fashionable one) and having my hair done with such exquisite care, but I was not in the mood. After all, what had I done to be fed to a dragon? I tried to point this out to one of the maidservants, but she stared at me like I was insane to not be completely thrilled to feed myself to a dragon.
I wasn't thrilled. I wasn't even a bit pleased.
And it wasn't like I had anyone to help me. I had basically no friends, no admirers, no family . . . My existence seemed completely pointless, but I hadn't foreseen "sacrificing" myself to save our kingdom, which wasn't exactly glorious anyway. Try pointing that out to the king. By the time the king was ready to have me escorted to the front gate, it was dark. I was glad—I didn't want a farewell party.
They loaded me into a carriage and away we went. I felt like a horse going to the knacker's. We reached the gate and a guard helped me out. A few people were peering out their windows. Apparently they'd been waiting for me. That was a first. The guards pushed the huge wooden gate open and escorted me (more like dragged me) to the opening.
"The dragon lives in the lake. Follow the dirt path. Save our souls!" cried the king. I raised an eyebrow, putting a hand on my hip.
"You actually expect me to—" I began, but one guard shoved me out. I landed in a very unladylike fashion sprawled in the dirt. The gate clanged shut behind me.