Chapter 1 – Princesses Don't…
To Vicena, Queen of Herena from Vivi, Princess of Alabasta
Thank you for your lovely letter –
Vivi balled the paper up and tossed it across the room. She missed the wastebasket – again. Carue clucked at her side, voicing his concern at her unusual behavior. She sighed and ruffled his feathers a bit. "I can't seem to get these thank you notes right."
She wanted to pace.
But princesses don't pace, she thought. Princesses don't curse and princesses don't scream in frustration and tip their desk over onto the floor. I am a princess, so I will not do a single one of those things – no matter how better I would feel afterwards.
She bit her lip and picked up the pen. If she wasn't writing the letters, she would have to start planning her tour of the kingdom.
Terracotta knocked on her door; it was quite a distinctive knock – more than a rapping, less than a pounding, and it implied that the knockee was just about ready to open the door anyway.
"Come in," Vivi called out.
The woman burst in. "Let's go," she boomed. "It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining and we have company!"
"I should finish this letter first."
Terracotta's eagle eyes had already seen the crumpled balls surrounding the wastebasket. She knew that the letter wouldn't get done this evening, or even this week, at the rate Vivi was going.
"Too bad." Terracotta had her firmly by the arm and was already pulling her out the door. "We'll tell the royal so and so's that our delivery seagulls contracted a case of the trots or something."
Vivi convinced Terracotta that she could walk on her own and she obediently followed to the Main Hall. Carue was at her heels. She lined the formal greetings up in her head. How do you do? Thank you for visiting our country, Sir or Madam (as the case may be). We appreciate you taking time to visit and -
"I've got her!" Terracotta announced, as they came down the massive staircase.
"Vivi, look who's here," her father said.
"Leader?" He seemed to be as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Her eyes narrowed and she spun around haughtily. She dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Carue obediently followed in her wake.
"Vivi! Wait!" Kohza muttered an oath and took after the fleeing princess.
The king and his men watched them dash up the stairs, around the corner and out of sight. "Running? That isn't like Vivi," Cobra observed.
"I had assumed she would greet him with a right hook," Chaka said.
"It was always her best," Pell added.
"This is all much too 'adult' for my liking," Igaram muttered.
"Are you saying you preferred it when they said hello to each other by having an impromptu wrestling match on the floor?" Cobra asked mildly. "Is that what you would have liked to seen?
"Your Ma-ma-ma-" Igaram choked on his outrage. "Your Majesty! Don't say that!"
Terracotta shook her head as angry cries echoed through the marble halls.