Demure meant being reserved, modest, and shy.
Demure White-Charming was none of those things.
"You're slouching, Demure." Snow White sternly remarked, "Be more like your sister."
"Yes, mother." Demure mumbled as she readjusted herself in the carriage seat. She smoothed out the creases in her light blue princess dress with shiny silver lace, her heels were silver with parts resembling castle towers. Rested on top of her golden blonde lockes was a small crown with her family's crest on it, the Charmings.
Her sister sat across from her, sitting perfectly in her seat as she browsed through her mirrorphone. Ambrosia White was the finest example of beauty with her pale white skin, blood red lips, and pitch black hair that descended down her back. She wore a scarlet lace dress with a white sleek jacket that held finely stitched golden thread, her high heels were also red with a little gold apple symbol on the heel of it. Ambrosia was her twin sister, not that anyone would connect it just by looking at them.
"Now as I was saying…" Snow White continued, "This year is very special for both of you, your Legacy Years. On Legacy Day, my little Ambrosia will pledge her destiny as the next Snow White and be one step closer to becoming queen of the White kingdom."
"I won't let you down, mom." Ambrosia had looked up from her phone when she heard the words, Legacy Year, and had been listening intensively to her mother. Demure, on the other hand, was not as interested and glanced out the window while trying to pretend to look invested in her mother's speech. It wasn't that Legacy Day wasn't important to her, it just reminded her of what a confusing destiny she had. She didn't have a clear cut destiny like her sister, Ambrosia, who was destined to be the future Snow White. Demure was a Princess Charming, a damsel in distress, a stock character meant to fill a role in another person's story. She didn't have a story of her own, instead her destiny laid in someone else's hands. It was better to ignore the agonizing feeling of being another charming in a long line of charmings. Speaking of charmings, there was one missing from the carriage.
"Is father going to be there?" Demure asked. She knew it was a mistake as soon as her mother turned towards her with that fake smile of hers. She always wore it whenever their family was in front of the cameras, it felt forced, plastic, unnatural.
"Of course, it's Legacy Day, it would look bad if King Charming didn't attend such a momentous day."
Too bad, there had been so many special occasions dear old dad missed out on already. Demure hadn't seen her father since she was six, he decided gallivanting across the realm of Ever After was more important than being with his family. He said it was his duty, his quest, but she knew better. Her parents had been in a loveless marriage as long as she could remember. She remembered the fights, the arguments, the breaking of objects, the castle walls weren't as soundproof as they believed. She had seen women coming from her father's room late at night, she wasn't naive as to their intentions. There were times her parents were together. It always felt fake, like it was a performance to them, posing all lovey dovey for the cameras. After all, they were Snow White and Prince Charming, they were Ever After's perfect true lovers. It made her sick just thinking about it.
The royal carriage came to a gentle stop, they had arrived at their destination; Ever After High. In front of the carriage, a crowd of adoring fans circled it.
"Go on, Ambrosia, your future subjects await."
The eldest daughter nodded and held her head up high as she exited the carriage.
"Demure." The younger daughter stopped in her tracks when her mother's voice turned cold.
"Yes, mother?"
"Do not disappoint me." Her smile was laced with the toxic undertone of a threat.
Demure nervously nodded and followed her sister outside of the carriage. The crowd surrounding them was filled with hysterical fans all chanting her older sister's name.
"We love you, Ambrosia!"
"All hail the future Snow White!"
"Thank you for all of your support, everyone!" She smiled and waved as she walked, "Make sure to follow me on Faychat."
Demure slipped from the mob, who swarmed Ambrosia like bees to a flower. No one would notice her absence, no one ever did. Except for the guy she accidentally crashed into as she squeezed her way out of the crowd.
"I'm so sorry!" Demure quickly helped the boy up, "I was just trying to get past all of that chaos."
"It's fine." He muttered, brushing off the dirt from his dark clothes.
The blonde haired princess soon realized how tall he was, almost a foot taller than she was, even with his slumped posture. He was also very pale, almost corpse-like.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, "You look quite pale."
"I'm good." He said, quickly scurrying past her. Demure shrugged off the weird encounter and continued walking towards the front entrance. Ever After High always felt more like an imposing castle than a school and Headmaster Grimm was the king of the kingdom.
"Demi!" A familiar voice made her turn around and see a young redhaired girl rushing towards her.
"Lil-oof!" She was thrown off when she was pulled into a tight hug by the red haired girl.
"How's my BFFA?"
"Struggling to breathe." Demure gasped out.
"Oh, sorry!" She giggled before releasing her.
"It's good to see you too, Lilypad."
Lilypad Croakington and Demure Charming had been friends since Spellementary, joined at the hip. Her BFFA was a short red haired girl with a row of freckles decorating her face, her green eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity. She wore a white collared shirt with a cute little frog emblem on the breast pocket, a light green skirt that resembled a petal with water lilies etched into the bottom. She wore a pair of dark green mary janes.
"So how was your summer? Did you go to anything exciting? Meet any good looking princes? Do they have a friend a certain someone could hook up with?" The two girls talked and walked as they made their way through the entrance of the school.
"My summer was okay, I didn't go anywhere new, though I did go to the Charming Clan Gala which was as boring as usual, and, no, I did not meet anyone nor did I meet anyone for you."
"Oh, when will my prince come?" She sighed with exaggeration.
Demure chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll meet him soon."
"Yes, but when?" She groaned, "I very much would like to meet my prince before Legacy Day, so I know who I'm spending the rest of my life with."
"Who knows, maybe it's Valiant Charming." Demure gave a knowing smirk.
"V-Valiant?!" Lilypad's face turned as bright as her hair and started croaking.
In a puff of smoke, the Croakington princess had turned into a small green frog. Demure chuckled at the frog crossing her amphibian forelegs and giving her an annoyed glare.
"Yond wast not comical." the future frog princess huffed.
"Come on." Demure picked up the small frog gently in her hands, "Let's go find you a prince."
"Congratulations, Talon." The boy Demure had run into had to deal with a disembodied smile following him around, "It's only been a few minutes since you've arrived and you've already caused an accident."
"It could've gone worse." The boy shrugged his shoulders. Talon stood out among his royal peers with his dark clothing and unusual appearance. The prince wore a collared gray shirt, a dark blue jacket with silver adornments, gray pants, and black sneakers. It also didn't help that he was lanky, skinny, and tall. Though he slouched most of the time, he still towered over most of his classmates except the giants. He resembled more of a corpse with his pale skin, dark circles under his dreary stormy gray eyes, while every other royal looked perfect with their flawless skin and designer threads.
"Right, but that didn't make it more hilarious." Talon rolled his eyes as a body materialized with the toothy grin. The voice belonged to a boy with lavender curls and mint green hair (he was pretty sure it smelled like the herbs) floating in front of him with the smile still displayed on his face. He wore a blue and purple striped sweater with sweats and fluffy slippers which had grinning cats on them. His teal blue eyes were cat-like, staring into his soul like a predator.
"So who's your roommate this year?" The boy snatched the piece of paper from the taller prince's grasp.
"Chamomile-"
"Flattered but no, sorry." Chamomile read the paper upside down, "Ytuaeb tlevesoor?"
"It's Roosevelt Beauty." Talon grabbed the paper back from him.
"Sounds weird."
"Only you would think that."
Chamomile didn't respond, instead he disappeared as a shadow loomed over them. Talon froze, Headmaster Grimm was standing in front of him and he did not look happy.
"Mr. Queen, a word in my office."
Talon nodded and followed the headmaster to his office. He knew why he wanted to speak to him, it was about a subject he dreaded his whole life, his destiny. As he sat in the office chair, he felt the stern stare of Headmaster Grimm freezing him in place.
"Mr. Talon, the Good King has informed me of your…unfortunate situation. I have required that all students in their Legacy Year attend classes in person and that includes you. While you may not meet all of the requirements for your destiny, you are still a Queen by blood. You must stick to the script, uphold destiny, the people can not have another Wayward Raven incident."
The mention of his mother struck him. He never knew his mother, she was locked away when he was five, and he wasn't allowed to visit her. He was raised by his grandfather, the Good King. No one else wanted him, who would want to raise the child of Raven Queen? The Evil Queen who tampered with other stories?
That wasn't the worst part, he lacked something all Evil Queens should be born with, that made them the most despised villains in all of Ever After. Magic. He did not have a single drop of magic in his body.
"Mr. Queen?" The young prince snapped out of his thoughts by the headmaster's voice, "Do you understand what I am saying?"
"Yes, sir." Talon croaked out, keeping his emotions at bay.
Headmaster Grimm seemed satisfied by that answer, dismissing the future evil king.
Talon walked out of his office, feeling more nervous than he had when he walked in. His stomach felt queasy, butterflies in his gut, unpacking his things at his room would keep him distracted from descending into thoughts of his destiny or his mother.
From his head office, Headmaster Grimm watched as students arrived, thinking about the year ahead for him and the rest of the staff.
"Why so sour, Headmaster?" A voice came from the mirror resting behind his desk, draped slightly in curtains. "Afraid one of your pawns will oppose your orders once again?"
"This generation is different, they will not defy their destinies unlike you."
"Defy? I played my part very well. You just didn't like that I saved Briar from sleeping for 100 years, having to wake up with no family or friends or saving Cerise from the huntsman's arrows."
"You messed with other stories, interfered when you were not needed, you are no better than your m-"
"Do not speak her name." The person in the mirror snapped at Headmaster Grimm, "They only know of the lies you speak of, the thread you control, they don't even know that the storybook was-"
"Off." At his command, the mirror's reflection disappeared and the voice stopped talking.
The headmaster sighed, turning towards his desk, where papers were scattered, reviewing through his speech for the first day.
"Everything must go perfectly, if not for me, then for Ever After itself."