When Princess Cassandra Karin Milania was born, there was a great celebration throughout the Kingdom Reiland. King Rupert and Queen Sandrine had three sons and had longed for a daughter. The eldest son, Creighton, was twelve at the time of the blessed arrival. Danner was eight, and Mordigan five. The months prior to the young girls birth were spent stitching elaborate clothing and weaving rich tapestries in preparation for the grand event. The tiny child was welcomed into the world with as much pomp and circumstance as anyone in the court had seen in their life times.
Queen Sandrine was greatly beloved by the people and they were anxious to celebrate with her. It didn't hurt that Reiland was known for their extravagant parties. There had not been an excuse for such a celebration in five years, and they were adamant that this one would top them all.
At the christening, young Creighton carried the infant princess solemnly down the long aisle of the chapel. Danner and Mordigan followed a few steps behind, carrying between them a purple silk banner emblazoned with the royal crest. At the pulpit the distinguished king and the beautiful queen proudly awaited their offspring's arrival. The priest was magnificent, the best in all the northern kingdoms. The guest list included respected nobles, great magicians, and notable fairies (as guests only, it was not a Reilandian custom to accept fairy gifts). The ceremony was solemn and striking. It was the most touching and inspiring scene those in attendance had ever seen. At least it should have been. But about three minutes into it, the baby began to fuss. The embarrassed queen and mortified nurse did their best to quiet her, but with each sentence spoken she began to cry louder. By the end of the ceremony the child was howling as though her heart were about to break. She continued to scream long after the christening, well into the night until exhaustion finally claimed her.
Many healers and medicine men were called in to try and find the cause of the child's distress. The healers said it was most likely early signs of thurgarian fever, and packed her full of poultices and charms, which only seemed to make her cry more. Many soothsayers came and told the family it was most likely an omen of future evil that would come to claim the princess.
The king and queen were at a loss about what to do. At last after a week of this, they went in to see the baby. For a brief moment when they reached her door they were thrown into panic, because for the first time in a week, the baby was silent. They threw open the door, and found not a scene of tragic, but the three princes making silly faces at their gurgling sister. They were delighted, relieved and finished with the over-important seers prophesying doom. Cassandra was fine after that day, and no one was ever really sure what had gone wrong, except maybe Mordigan. The small boy had listened to his sister's inelegant howls the day of the christening. He knew that she had discovered at three weeks old what many do not discover in their lifetime. She was crying for the simple reason that she did not want to be dressed up and paraded around, she didn't like everyone staring at her and making her stay awake when sleep was what she craved. Though her conscious mind was not developed enough to know it, her heart understood, she was crying because she did not want to be a princess. Mordigan understood her because in his heart of hearts, he felt the same way.
When Cass was eight she attended her first state function. It was her cousin, the Duke of Hamingshire's third birthday party. She and her brothers were dressed in their finest clothes and told to be on their best behavior. She endured three hours of this party in a miniature gown that was too tight to breath properly and too voluminous to sit down in. There were party games, but they never got to them, as the young duke was too busy unwrapping the many gifts that had been brought in his honor.
Sometime during this process Cass was discovered to be missing. She was found an hour later on the side of the road (which was in a considerably muddy condition due to recent rains). She had made a model of a town, complete with a castle and several people scattered around. When they found her she was in the middle of playing "giant" and stomping all over it. When she was scolded for her behavior, and told it was unbecoming of a princess she shrugged and said carelessly, "That's alright. I don't want to be a princess, I'm going to be a blacksmith instead." The King and Queen worried, but felt sure she would grow out of it. She didn't.
From that point on Cass was constantly getting into trouble for breaking rules, often egged on by her equally devious brother Mordigan. He being five years older had attained near godhood in Cass' eyes. To her he could do no wrong, but she was the only one who held that opinion. Mordigan, being a third son, was third in line for the throne, and therefore had little responsibility, that was the way he liked it. He rode horses, went hunting, adored balls and flirting with every girl he met, princess and servant alike. He brought Cass all kind of trinkets from the outside worlds that their parents would greatly preferred she go with out. These included such items as a singing toad, a pirate's dagger and an enchanted necklace that turned the wearer's hair electric blue.
The king and queen worried that Mordigan's influence on Cass was becoming too pronounced, and having a decidedly bad effect on her. So when she was twelve the king sent Mordigan on a quest to find an enchanted amulet that once belonged to an ancient ancestor of theirs. Cass was heartbroken, but she was young still and made the best of it until his return. From that time on Mordigan was constantly being sent on quests to the great dismay of Cass and Mordigan alike.
Just before Cass turned sixteen Mordigan came home from his fourth consecutive quest. When King Rupert immediately began to speak of a fifth quest Mordigan became angry. They had a huge fight that resulted in Mordigan refusing to darken the door of his father's castle ever again. Cass was not only heartbroken this time, she was furious. It was her parents who had driven Mordigan away, because they thought he was bad. Well they hadn't even begun to see what bad was like.
She immediately took up the task of replacing Mordigan as troublemaker. On her sixteenth birthday she snuck out of the castle and spent it learning to new swear words in the local tavern. During the next year Cassandra had behaved progressively more alarming. She snuck out of the castle, came to dinners in her outfits that ranged from a peasants dress to her nightgown. When her parents forbade her to come to important meals attired in anything but court clothing, she came wearing her brother Danner's second best outfit. It was on that same evening that Lady Rolanda's fateful poetry recital took place, and thus the subsequent journey to Maudeline Hall.
Cass was surprised to find that school was not the velvet-encased pit of hell she had been expecting. Nor was it the enchanting hall of delight and wonder her mother had described. Cass still had to perform many tasks she found loathsome. She had to awake earlier than she liked so that her maid could spend the hour that it took to put Cass into the complicated labyrinth of a gown, and dress her hair in the elaborate manner required. She had to endure meals where talking was prohibited and criticism was pronounced almost by the movement of the girls. She was forced in to attendance for classes to teach her how to eat, how to walk, how to talk, how to stand, how to sit, how to breathe and how to sleep like a princess. In those respects, it was quite like home, and quite what Cass expected.
However, school had some benefits that home did not. In the first place, not all the classes were devoted to her physical presence. Each girl had a tutor from her own country. Each week a different one of those tutors would give a presentation on that country, the culture, the food, the holidays and the history of not only the nobility but of the people. The girls all agreed that these at least were interesting, at times even fun. Madame Beatrice herself gave a weekly lecture on some past ruler known for greatness. The girls all agreed that these were occasionally interesting but not even remotely fun.
And that was perhaps the greatest advantage of all over home. For the first time in her life, Cass had friends. Girls who understood what she was going through, in fact were going through similar troubles. There was Bianca who was sent away for even more extreme behavior than Cass'. The jaunt with the gypsies was the last in a string of outrageous events including one time when Bianca tried to get a local witch to turn her into a cat. From what Cass could see her main problem was that she simply did not care what others thought, or give any thought to consequence. Bianca lived totally in the moment and Cass loved her for it. She and Cass quickly became partners in arms.
Not all the girls were sent for bad behavior. There was Francisca, whom the girls called Francie. Francie was very kind and extremely smart, but she was rather plain and so her brother (the king) sent her away to acquire every other talent in the book to make her desirable. Then there was Cordelia, who was so beautiful every prince knight and swain who came into contact with her instantly fell in love with her. This was due to a fairy gift given to her at birth. It had gotten so bad by the time she was twelve that she had to be sent away to Maudeline. That had been quite difficult as she was terribly close to her family and missed them very much. The good part was that there were several Magicians on the premises who had been able to make a potion to counter act the spell. The only trouble was that it wasn't permanent, and it didn't work well from long distances, but there were hopes of improvement. She had been there the longest, for almost six years.
Other victims of fairy gifts gone awry were Felicia and Calliope. Felicia had been given the gift of truth telling, much to her parent's horror after she learned to talk. She insulted dignitaries and ambassadors alike. (Without malice but simply unable to lie.) She learned to keep her mouth shut, but as she grew older and learned more about her kingdom and its court, she realized how full of corruption it was. All it took was one public address before her parents shipped her off while they dealt with damage control. Calliope's problem was that her fairy gift never materialized. Before her parents, several officials and nearly half the kingdom a fairy promised her the gift of song. It was foretold that she would have the most beautiful voice in the entire world. It became painfully clear that the fairy didn't deliver. They could not find the fairy to correct the mistake, and rather than let anyone else know of this embarrassment, the tone deaf Princess was sent off to Maudeline.
Drucilla and Portia had absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever. Drucilla was from a poor kingdom that had great need of a strong leader. There was not enough money to send one of her two brothers to school, but there was just barely enough to sent Drucilla. The plan was that she would learn everything she could and come home and teach everyone else. It was a large burden and she felt it enormously. She was the most serious of the twelve girls. Portia was not far behind in that competition however. Her mother had sent her merely because it was reputed to turn out the best princesses in any land, anywhere. And Queen Imogen was quite determined that her daughter would be the best. Portia did not let her down, she was nearly always the first to be praised in any academic or etiquette inclined activity, and was Madame Beatrice's personal favorite.
Louisa, Ambrosia and Renee were sisters whose mother had died. Their grieving father, not knowing what to do with them let them run wild. At last he had remarried and their new stepmother had insisted they learn how to behave properly and sent them to Madame Beatrice. At least that was what she said. It was believed by the sisters and the other students (and most of the Kingdom of Phorlione) that the new queen sent them away to be rid of them, and give her own future children a better chance at the throne. All the girls sympathized with them for this, but they all agreed that the saddest story was that of Elaine.
Elaine was the first and only child born to King Gareth of the Kingdom Makinen. When Elaine was two her father died of Thaxton Fever. Her mother, Queen Bronwyn was not of noble blood, but the king had loved and married her nonetheless and so she took over as regent until Elaine was of age. This would have been no easy feat for a lesser woman. The council members of Makinen were ruthless and wanted nothing more than to be in control of the crown. But Bronwyn was stubborn and loved by the people and found the power to raise her young daughter while she was in control. Unfortunately, the council had built up enough power to have Bronwyn arrested and thrown in the dungeon for treason. Elaine had been sent to Maudeline Hall to supposedly protect her from further treason, but in reality she had had to trade herself for her mother's safety. As long as she did what the council wanted they would keep her mother alive, but if she did not Elaine had no idea what they might do to her. The worst part according to Elaine was not losing control of the throne, since Bronwyn had run things anyway. The worst bit was missing her mother, whom she was very close with.
Cass was infuriated by this tale. It just drove the point home further how much she despised the hypocrisy of the aristocracy. She got along with most of the girls and was especially close to Bianca and Elaine. Elaine often forced the other two to do distasteful things like homework, and not throw food at the table. They liked her anyway, and did their best to keep Elaine's mind off her mother's plight.