Aleia opened her eyes. Sunlight was streaming into the big windows. Her bed was bigger than she remembered. Her room didn't look the same either. Where was she? Then she remembered. Crown princess of Tressar, she thought.

Then there was a maid at her bedside. "You must get up, Miss. You have breakfast with your parents, and then furnishing your quarters with the Queen."

Aleia groaned, but managed to roll out of bed. Today the maids gave her a simple green dress with gold trimming along the neckline and sleeves. They didn't lace her corset nearly as tight as last night, so Aleia could breathe without too much trouble. They let her hair hang down her back in its natural curls. When she got to the dining room, the king and queen were again there waiting for her.

"We're going to have a wonderful time furnishing your chambers today, dear," the queen said.

"I'm looking forward to it," Aleia answered.

Then the king spoke. "We have decided that in three days time, we shall present you to the kingdom as princess and heir to the throne."

"Oh...and what exactly will I have to do?"

"There will be a procession where we'll ride throughout the city and then a feast and ball."

Aleia nodded. "That doesn't sound too difficult."

"Oh, it won't be," the queen said. "We need to start fitting you for your dress, though."

"Don't I have something I could wear?" Aleia asked, thinking of all the dresses in the closet.

"Oh no, none of those are ball gowns!"

"Oh, I see." The rest of the meal was eaten mostly in silence, while Aleia thought of all she was to do that day. There was furnishings, fittings for her dress, she meant to talk to the king about being in the League of Spies, and ask the queen about etiquette for the ball. The hardest would probably be talking to the king. She didn't know what he did with most of his time, and it didn't really seem like he liked her very much.

After the meal, she went with Queen Lydia to a room nearly bursting with furniture. There were beds, tables, chairs, sofas, bookshelves, and several types of material laying across them.

Queen Lydia sighed. "These really need to be organized better. This is our storage space, but we can hardly ever find what we want when we look for things. You can choose whatever furniture you would like, but first comes first. Bring the carpet patches," she said to a butler standing nearby.

He bowed, went to a closet Aleia hadn't even realized was there, and returned with a sheet of carpet samples. There were many colors, some had designs, some were plain, some were soft and velvety, and some were smooth and hard. Aleia ran her hand on all of them and eventually chose a velvet, aqua blue one.

"A lovely choice, madam," said the butler.

"Yes, I'm sure it will look quite nice, dear. Now why don't we choose a bed for you."

They walked around the room and looked at the beds. Aleia chose one with a cherry wood headboard, carved with intricate lined patterns. Then she chose a blue, satin bedspread with green flower designs on it. She decided to have sheer, white curtains surrounding her bed and slightly thicker ones on her windows. She had a white plush sofa and a crotch wood mahogany table. She chose a bookshelf of the same.

"Well, you made lovely choices," the queen said when it was over. "I'm sure your room will look magnificent. Now I should go and make plans for the ball, it's coming up so soon, you know! You can come with me or go walk around the castle until luncheon."

"I think I'll go explore the castle."

"Alright, I'll see you soon!"

Aleia actually knew the palace quite well, having been a spy, so there wasn't that much to explore. However, she had never been able to stop and look at things so closely before. She looked at all of the portraits, seeing them in a new light now that she knew they were her fore bearers. She wondered what they had thought about being royalty, if they had ever wanted to do anything else, anything wild. It didn't really matter now, though.

After a while, she went to the gardens. The trees were all red and gold and the ground was scattered with leaves. Most of the flowers had already died, though there were a few that still had their last blossoms. Aleia sat on a bench and thought of the drastic turn her life had made. It was strange that everything could change so much in just a short time.

Soon she got up and went back inside. She didn't know what else to do. She really wanted to talk to Raoul and Josh, so she headed towards the wing that the spies occupied. When she turned a corner, though, she ran straight into the king.

"Oh! Father, I beg your pardon!"

"Yes, yes, it's fine," the king looked preoccupied.

"But, Father, I've been meaning to talk to you," Aleia said.

King Ardahn's eyes moved back and forth across the hallway. Aleia looked but saw nothing. Finally the king looked at her. "What is it?"

"Well, as you know I am a member of the League of Spies and I don't think I should stop just because I'm the princess."

The king frowned. "A princess can't be a spy. We couldn't risk your life like that. Besides, the spies are often guarding the royal family. You can't be guarding yourself," he said, glancing over his shoulder, then past hers.

"But, Father, think of the benefits. I could obtain information from enemies. In fact as princess, it could be even better than before, because no one would suspect me. And with the fighting skills, I could defend myself easily from any assassins."

"I said no."

"But—"

"No buts. A princess should not even be thinking about such things. You should be embroidering and dancing and that sort of thing."

"Just because I'm a princess, it doesn't make me an empty-headed dolt! I have a mind, Father, and I want to use it! I want to be a spy!"

"No, and that's my final answer. I forbid you to go to the spy's quarters," the king said in a quiet, but firm voice.

Aleia was appalled. She hadn't really expected him to let her continue to spy, but forbidding her from even going to their quarter! That was just plain mean of him! She watched him walk away. She wondered why he had kept glancing around like he was nervous or something. He was probably just thinking about something else, but still, it had seemed a little strange.

She wandered around for a while longer, until one of the maids found her and told her that luncheon was served. All through the meal, the queen chattered about the ball, while Aleia and King Ardahn said nothing, both still angry at each other.

Afterwards Aleia began the fittings for her dress. It was to be pink with little white rosebuds, ridiculously tight around her waist, and with a ridiculously poufy skirt. It was only going to be partly done before the day of the ball. The bodice would then be sewn onto her once she had her corset. Aleia was dreading it. She had a feeling they would lace it tighter than ever.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Aleia wandered about the palace aimlessly, wondering exactly what she should be doing, as a princess. She didn't see the queen very much, so she didn't have a chance to ask about etiquette. She figured she could do it another day, as long as it was before the ball.

The next day, after luncheon Aleia was informed that her room was ready for her. Queen Lydia and her went to see it together. It was even more beautiful than she had imagined. The blues and greens gave it a decidedly watery look and the wooden furniture gave it a nice touch. One window overlooked the gardens and the other, the castle gate.

"Mother, I don't know much about etiquette for balls," Aleia said after they had looked at everything in her chambers.

"Oh, yes, well, I was planning to show you the silverware and placement etiquette for the feast later. As for the actual ball, you should dance with everyone that asks you at least once, try to get around and talk to most of the people there, let your dancing partner lead, not yourself, and just act with propriety. I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you. Oh and your father said not to mention anything about being a spy to anyone. Not that there was anything wrong with it, he just doesn't think the courtiers would react well."

Aleia said nothing for a moment, when she noticed a carriage pull up and a man with blonde hair and fair skin got out. "Mother, who's that?" Aleia asked.

The queen looked out the window. "Oh, dear. I had hoped he wouldn't come until tomorrow. That would be Duke Conrad Kevar of Hetsfield. He's in line for the throne after you, and he wants it badly. You should avoid speaking to him as much as possible. He's not a very pleasant man."

Aleia watched him, thinking that he must be a very unpleasant man indeed if even her mother could see it. "Shouldn't we go and greet him, or something?" she asked.

"No. Your father will do that, I'm sure," the queen said, looking at Aleia's confused face. "For all of our court pleasantry, he knows we don't like him and he doesn't like us. We can leave him be. He won't mind. Now, darling, I am supposed to spend the afternoon with my ladies-in-waiting. I hope you're alright alone."

"Yes, I'll be fine."

Aleia wandered around the castle again, looking for something to amuse. She went to one of the libraries for a time and looked at the many titles. She had read a few of them, but there were many she had never even heard of. She made a mental note to come back and read one of them later. When she went to sit in the gardens for a time, she saw that the duke was there as well.

He turned and looked at her. "You must be the princess everyone is talking about."

Aleia didn't want to talk to him, but she realized that walking away wouldn't really be acting with propriety. She forced a smile. "Duke Kevar," she said.

"Please, just call me Conrad."

Aleia wasn't sure if that would be acting with propriety either. She said nothing.

"You must be wondering if that would be proper. Settle for Duke Conrad, if you must."

"Duke Conrad, then," Aleia said. "You're here for the ball, I assume."

"I am."

"How kind of you to come," Aleia said.

"Not really. I didn't have much of a choice."

"What do you mean?"

Conrad sighed. "I mean that it was only proper to come, since we are related. I don't like admitting it though. I'm sure you were raised as a peasant or something equally detestable."

Aleia frowned. "I, Sir, am the heir to the throne of Tressar!"

"Yes, though it seems rather silly, doesn't it? Since you're set to die next year."

Aleia was mad. "I am not going to die!"

The duke shrugged. "Your opinion." He walked around the various plants. "You know," he said, "if the curse does come true, it would be the most opportune time to take over the palace. Kill the king, the queen won't be able to do anything herself and make yourself the ruler."

"If you ever try anything..."

"Oh, I wouldn't. I mean, it would be pointless, wouldn't it? If you were dead, I'd be the heir to the throne anyway."

Aleia walked up to him, so her face was close to his. She slapped him across the face. There was a red hand print, where she hit him. "If you ever say anything like that again, to me or my parents..."

"Then what?"

She slapped him again. "Just don't."

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So, how was it? I was going to put the ball in this chapter, but it got a little long. So I'm not sure if I'll be able to put one of the things I was excited about into the next chapter, or if I'll have to wait until the one after that. We'll see!