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There was a long-standing tradition in the Kingdom of Oloria. Every Christmas Eve the whole town would gather around a giant Christmas Tree, and anyone could place an ornament on it, be they commoner or royal. There was a great celebration, with the castle providing a feast like none the peasants had ever seen, the Royal Orchestra playing Christmas music, and everyone laughing and having a good time, celebrating the holiday together, as equals.

Everyone, that is, except the princess of the land. Her parents and Rogers, the royal advisor, would tell her how dangerous it would be for the Heir to the throne to be in the open like that, how in a crowd that big and loud she could easily get lost, get hurt, fall, break something, get bitten by street mutts or, God forbid, catch a cold. It was far too dangerous for the delicate princess to leave the safety of the castle, for if she broke her pretty, porcelain face, the civil unrest would surely lead to war.

So, every Christmas was always the same for Rose. She would bid her parents farewell, then wander the empty, ghostly castle or curl up with a book in the Library, listening to the cheer that carried all the way to the palace. Then, on Christmas Day, she would wake up early and greet her parents at the gate, listen to them recount the highlights of the night and let them shower her with presents that she didn't really need. Rose received thirty-eight presents from her parents alone last year, but, being a princess, had little use for more dresses and jewellery. She could have any material possession she wanted with only a word, but still had humoured her parents, thanked them, and let them get some much needed sleep.

However, this Christmas was a little different. Princess Rose had just come back from Andover Academy, and her head was full of strange, new ideas. So when, for the first time ever, she requested that she be allowed to make decorations for the tree, she was understandably met with a few surprised glances. She was allowed to, of course, it was a basic right of every citizen of Oloria, but until then her mother had been the one to make the Royal Decoration (usually something swan-shaped) every single year, while Rose had never expressed interest in the tradition. But this year, something had changed.

Rose had enjoyed making the butterfly Halloween costume herself, so instead of selecting from the large and glittering Royal collection of ornaments, she insisted on making her own. Materials were immediately brought to her room, and with one last warning from Rogers to be careful with the scissors, Rose managed to get rid of him and get to work.

It took her two and a half hours for the first one, but it was worth it. The decoration was a large red rose, intricately made from wire and coloured rice paper. Each petal had to be formed and glued on separately, but when the flower was finished, it looked so real one could almost smell its fragrance. Having an idea, Rose squirted a bit of her own rose petal perfume on it, and to her satisfaction, the ornament turned out beautifully. Even Larry couldn't make a better one (out of paper).

The next one took a bit less. Rose was never good with neither technology nor drawing, but she managed to piece together a life-size replica of a Nikon D5300 digital camera out of thick Styrofoam, painted over to look like the real thing. Though if one looked too closely at it, they'd find it rather crude. Still, from a distance it could maybe fool a short-sighted senior citizen.

For the third ornament, however, she hit a roadblock. It was the very first design that had popped into her mind when she thought of crafting the decorations herself, but making it out of lifeless, plain paper just didn't feel right. It had to be bigger than that. Radiant.

Having a stroke of genius, Rose stood up from the cluttered floor and raced down the empty hallways. Only when she heard voices did she slow down, remembering that running was unladylike. The Royal Christmas Tree was in the middle of the Greeting Hall, as usual, and the princess' eyes wandered straight to the top, seeking the glow of the object she was looking for.

"You there," she said to two passing maids. "Get me that star."

The leftmost girl looked up the seven-foot tree. "That star, Milady? The one at the top?"

"Yes, that one."

The maids exchanged a glance. "We'll… have to check with Sir Rogers..."

Rose straightened her posture and lifted her chin. "Rogers answers to me. I am the future Queen of this castle, and I have given you a direct order."

The two girls seemed to almost shrink under her commanding stare but nodded and ran off to get one of the ladders usually used for cleaning the high windows. Rose looked up to the shining star at the top of the tree. Yes, she thought, this will do nicely.

oOo

When the hour finally came and it was time for the royal procession to leave, Rose waited patiently for her parents by the carriage so see them off as they left for the city square.

"So..." King Siegfried began hesitantly. "Did you make your ornaments?"

Rose nodded and handed him a paper bag in which she had carefully arranged her creations. "I want the middle one to go on the top."

Siegfried reached in and pulled out a yellow, sun-shaped ornament. He and Odette exchanged glances, then the Queen said, "It's a sun, Rose. The one that goes on the top is always a star."

"The sun is a star, Mom. And all the stars in the sky are suns. "Sun" is just what we call the closest star to our planet, but it is not any different in essence than any other flaming ball of plasma in the universe. There are of course blue stars and red stars, but I assure you, the Sun is just like any other yellow dwarf."

The royal couple exchanged glances. They understood maybe 70% of what their daughter said.

Rose sighed and reached for the base of the sun, pressing a button inside, making it glow brightly. "It's shiny enough. I used parts of the star in the Greeting Hall to make it."

After a bit of hesitation, King Siegfried consented. "Alright. I suppose it's close enough." Then he yelled to the coachman to go.

"Wait!" Rose clutched the side of the carriage in panic. It stopped immediately.

Siegfried and Odette stared at their daughter in surprise, mixed with confusion. They hadn't seen her this improper since she was a child.

"This is very important," Rose said, her eyes darting from one parent to the other. "The three ornaments need to be close to each other." Her parents looked like they were beginning to doubt her sanity. "It's hard to explain… they just need to be together. Don't scatter them all around the tree. Please. Promise me."

The royal couple exchanged another glance. "We promise," Odette said, though she was clearly still perplexed by her daughter's behaviour.

The carriage took off, followed by the royal procession, and Rose watched them disappear before going back up to her room. She sat by the window and read from The Little Prince for the millionth time. When she got to the chapter about the fox, she stopped and lowered the thin book.

"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."

A small smile made its way to her lips. It was true, she supposed. Just like the fox, she had been tamed. Unwittingly, to be sure, but there were certain things she looked at differently now. Like the Sun. And curly fries. Food in general, really. And anything imported from Corona.

Her blue eyes wandered to the desk, where her pink phone rested on top of her completed holiday homework. She had the fleeting thought to call and wish him a Merry Christmas, but Curly, Larry and Moe were probably together right now, up to no good, as usual. She didn't want to interrupt them.

A long gong-like sound echoed through the empty castle. It would be midnight soon. Rose turned off the light in her room, leaned on the windowsill and stared into the darkness, looking at all the happy, glimmering dots coming from the town. Then, just as she managed to find the towering silhouette of the Christmas Tree, its top ignited in a bright, yellow light. Rose smiled and rested her chin on her folded arms. Even so far away, it still made her feel warm.

She remained like that for hours, just staring at the distant glow, until sleep overtook her, and she drifted off among the muted sounds of Christmas carols, the soft shine caressing her face.

For the first time ever, Rose didn't feel quite so lonely on Christmas.