Chapter 3

The day after the funeral, Christina was summoned back to the throne room. There was a plump lady with her hair in a tight French bun talking to the King.

"There you are." The lady said as Christina entered the room. She had a French accent. "You are late. Not by much, but never less. I am Madame Louisa. You are to call me by Madame. I will teach you everything you will need to know on how to be a princess in England. Do you understand?"

Christina wanted to say something, maybe biting, but nothing came out.

Madame Louisa just turned to the King and said, "I see I have my work cut out for me." Then she turned to the Princess and said, "We start at noon. I shall come to your room." Then she turned to the King and said "Does she know when noon is?"

"Of course I do!" Christina said in a dignified manner.

Without looking at her the Madame said in an icy voice, "Interrupting a conversation is tremendously rude. I shall get my bag from my room, and we will begin soon."

Then the Madame bid the King a good day and left. The King sat down on the throne, put his head in his hands and sighed. When he didn't say anything, Christina thought it meant for her to leave.

As Christina turned to leave, the King said, "The Madame isn't as horrible as you may think. When your mother first came to England, Madame Louise was the one who taught her." He sighed again then rubbed his beard, "I order you to say nothing about you past. To the Madame or anyone. You are the Lost Princess. That's all the public needs to know. You are dismissed now."

As the servants were shutting the door, she heard the King mumble to himself, "Just two more weeks until…."

She leisurely walked through the halls of the castle thinking about what the King said before the doors closed. As she was going up a set of stairs, her dress snatched on a chipped piece of marble. It ripped all the way up to her knee. She hated her new dresses. They were itchy and tight. Maybe if I get to my room soon, no one will see me. She thought. As Christina hurried to get to her room, she bumped into a girl that was reading a book in the corridor.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" said Christina as she gathered her skirts.

"Watch where your going!" The girl spat as she picked up her book.

It was Princess Lilian. She stood there glaring at Christina. Her hair was draped around her sullen and gaunt face. She was wearing an elaborate mourning dress.

"Oh my!" Christina said forgetting her manners. "I mean, that uh… I like your dress."

"Stay out of my way and no harm will come to you or your friend. But the next time we cross paths, you will pay." Princess Lilian said with a trembling lip. She hated Christina for being the last person the Queen said 'I love you' to. She hated her for being older then her. With that, she stomped into her room and slammed her door so hard that the chandelier shook and threatened to fall. Christina stood in the hall her mouth open with astonishment. This is going to be a long day. Then she walked brusquely the rest of the way to her room. Anna Elise was sitting on a stool sewing the hem of her old dress. She was chatting to the maid that was stripping the sheets off Christina's giant bed. When Christina entered briskly, the maid looked flustered trying to get the new sheets on before the Princess saw.

Christina was so anxious to tell Anna Elise about what happened, that she overlook the other maid standing there.

"Anna Elise! You won't believe what just happened . I was coming back from-" She then saw the maid. She flushed bright red for her discourtesy. "Oh my! So sorry to be rude. I didn't see you there. Not that your invisible or anything, it's just I was so excited that I forgot my manners. Not that your anyone to be rude to-"

"Christina, please. This is Marie. She is someone I met today. She's new. Please remember to um remember your etiquette." Anna Elise said in a graceful tone. The maid just looked at Anna Elise in astonishment.

"Anna Elise! You shouldn't talk to a member of the Royal family like that. It's disrespectful." Marie said in a know-it-all tone. "Not that we wouldn't like to be friendly or anything." She added with a smile when she saw the puzzled look on Christina's face.

Anna Elise laughed so hard, that she poked herself with her needle. "Oh my! Marie, Christina and I are best friends. We lived in the orphanage together for years."

The maid then stuttered, "How can that be true. Your Highness is a Princess, why would she be in an orphanage?"

Christina jumped in before Anna Elise said anymore. "You are released from your duties for today Marie. I'll have someone else finish the bed." She finished with a cold tone.

Marie quickly gathered the old sheets and scurried out of the room before anything bad happened.

"What was that about Christina?" Anna Elise asked.

"I'm not suppose to tell anyone the truth."

"What?"

"It's a long story."

A sharp rap on the door interrupted them. Anna Elise jumped up so quickly, she knocked over the vase that sat on the vanity.

Christina saw the look on Anna Elise's face. "Don't worry. You get the door and I'll pick up the pieces."

Anna Elise looked up from the broken vase and smiled. Christina sat down and started picking up what was left of the beautiful vase. At that very moment, the door burst open and the Madame entered. She seemed to be holding a man's pocket watch.

"You." She said pointing to Anna Elise. "Do you know how long I have been waiting?" She continued before Anna Elise could answer. "I have been waiting for over a minuet for you to answer the door. I think I will assign you back to kitchen duty."

She then noticed the Princess sitting on the floor. "Get up! What do you think you're doing? No Princess, no matter how powerful, does a maid's work. I will have to punish you for that." As she said that, she pulled Christina off the floor and roughly pushed her in a chair. Her French accent was so thick, Christina thought the Madame was going to yell at her in French. The Madame gave a great sigh, smoothed out the front of her dress, then sat down her handbag.

"You will begin your lessons with etiquette. I will be teaching you that. Then you will have foreign politics with me and ballet with Monsieur Francis ." Ballet? I would love that! Christina thought.

She then frowned thinking of Anna Elise. "I want Anna Elise to be able to watch. And maybe she can carry your bag for you Madame?"

The Madame first gasped, then she looked as thought she considered this shocking proposition. Anna Elise had a look that was a mix of uncertainty and delight. The Madame then put her hands on her hips and looked at the two hopeful girls.

"No. She may not come. Do you think that I want a maid who has her superior clean up the floor? No. She shall feed the pigs, if she is lucky."

"But she didn't make me clean the floor!" Christina argued.

The Madame wrinkled her nose before she responded. "We are finished with this discussion. You should change your clothes before we feast. You look as if this maid of yours has sewn that dress herself."

Anna Elise blushed then looked at the floor in disgust. How could someone say something so mean? It looks as though she hasn't sewn since the crusades. Anna Elise thought to herself. When she was done thinking of how old this Madame was, she looked up to see Christina yelling at the Madame, saying that Anna Elise could be a royal seamstress if she wanted to. She also said that the Queen had even offered Anna Elise to become one. (Even thought the Queen really had not offered.) The Madame became flustered, then started yelling at Christina in French. After she was done yelling in French, She paced the room, mumbling to herself like a mad woman. Christina followed The Madame mimicking her. Anna Elise put her hand over her mouth to suppress a giggle, but it came out anyway. The Madame was so furious, she walked up to Anna Elise, grabbed her arm and started dragging her out. She was yelling in French again. Anna Elise cringed as the pain in her arm grew worse. Christina was infuriated that this woman for insulting and harming her best friend. She cut The Madame off before she got to the doors.

"You let go of her now. If you don't I'll-"

"You'll what? Scream for you father? Oh that's right, he's not here, is he?"

Christina's eyes blazed bright blue. A sly smile crept upon her face.

In a threatening tone she then said, "If you don't I'll have my old friend from the orphanage plunge a hook into your belly. Now how would you fancy that?"

The Madame's hard face showed nothing but dread.

"My Lord, what kind of children do the take at that orphanage?" The Madame said in a squeaky tone. Then without saying another word, she let go of Anna Elise's arm. The Madame's hard features returned as she smoothed the front of her dress.

"You will change into the dress that is hanging in your wardrobe. I expect to see you a proper young lady at the feast. As for you…" The Madame then turned to Anna Elise. "You may come to the Princess' lessons, but if you misbehave once, it's off to the kitchens with you."

She then turned on her heel and left. Anna Elise slowly turned to Christina with a look of bewilderment on her angel-like face. Christina burst out laughing at the sight.

Anna Elise finally found her words. "What were you thinking! 'I'll have my old friend from the orphanage plunge a hook into your belly'. Why, out of all the villains, in all the stories that were told at the orphanage, you picked Captain Hook.?"

Christina just laughed all the harder. Anna Elise soon joined in. As soon as they stopped, Christina answered Anna Elise's question.

"Well, I think that the proper question is why not Captain Hook? He is my favorite villain after all!"

"Yes, yes, I know that already. But what if The Madame had heard the story of Peter Pan?"

"That would be nonsense. Don't you remember? Wendy wrote that story herself."

They then both dressed themselves up for the upcoming feast. Christina washed her face then had Anna Elise comb her hair. Anna Elise pulled up half of Christina's black-brown hair and pinned up a bun with a pearl comb. After they were finished, Anna Elise stepped back to inspect Christina. She gasped then put a delicate hand on her chest.
"You look so much like your mother." She said, breathless.

Christina knew that Anna Elise was not lying, she could see it in her eyes. Christina walked over to her vanity and looked in the mirror. What she saw was not her, but her mother. A beautiful, graceful and loyal Queen. Oh how she longed for her mother. More now than ever. I will not cry. It would be useless. She thought as she turned away from the mirror. Anna Elise knew what her friend was thinking. Sometimes she knew what Christina was thinking no matter how hard Christina tried to hide it.

"Come now. We shan't be keeping everyone waiting now shall we? Or should we have you arrive late, and let them wonder where you are?"

Or wonder why I'm princess to begin with. Christina thought miserably.

As they entered the dining hall, everyone fell silent. Christina took a deep breath, held her head high and prayed to become invisible. Anna Elise silently followed her, not looking anywhere but the floor. I seem to be looking there a lot. She considered as she walked down the painfully long table. Christina was still praying that she would become invisible when she reached her seat by the Madame.

The King stood up with a broad smile and said, "Welcome all. As some of you may know, this feast is to celebrate the return of my second daughter. She was kidnapped when her mother was on a trip to Greece. Our beloved Queen was so upset, she wanted to tell no one. Long live the Queen!"

Nothing but lies. The feast was long and boring. Christina was so bored, she counted all the women that said nothing. She then counted all the men that were wearing a toupee. Surprisingly, there are a lot of men in the royal court that seem to have a bad case of hair loss. After that dreadfully boring extensive meal, Christina and Anna Elise stayed up later than usual, talking about The Madame. The night was peaceful, the first in a long time, but Christina was having a hard time falling asleep. When she finally did she had a nightmare. Her nightmare consisted of pirates coming. They were on a black ship.