A Perfect Princess
For my parent's anniversary my kingdom held a parade. I walked with Grammie since I was only eight. We handed out candies to all the children sitting on the roads. I loved it, the applauded, the smiles, the compliments.
"What a lovely princess."
"So graceful, just like her mother."
"A perfect royal."
The parade route wandered into a poorer section of town. A little girl gawked at me as I handed her a truffle.
"One day I'm going to be a princess!" she declared.
"Maybe," I replied, dropping the truffle into her palm.
"Assuming you either gain or marry someone with royal standing," Grammie said, appearing behind me. "Come, Audrey. There are more people to see."
I didn't get to wave goodbye.
That night, as my maids tucked me into bed, Grammie came in.
"I need to speak with my granddaughter."
The maids left quickly, and Grammie sat on my bed.
"I thought it was bedtime."
"It is but I wanted to talk to you about something first. Audrey, do you know what makes a princess?"
"A tiara?"
"Close. It's our blood, our ancestors. You're a princess because you were born to be one, it's in your very nature.
"Now, do you know how your mother won her prince?"
"With love?"
"Yes, but do you know how she made him love her?"
"Uh…" I didn't know.
"Because she was a perfect princess. She didn't realize it, of course, but it was just her nature. She was graceful, beautiful, the very embodiment of perfection itself. And that, my dear, is what you can be too. Because, one day, you'll marry your own prince and elevate our family status just like your mother did when she married her prince."
"Wow."
"Wow indeed," Grammie laughed and kissed my head. "Sweet dreams, my love. Tomorrow I'll teach you exactly how to be a princess."
There were rules. Lots of them. But I didn't care. This was what I was born into. And the more I did it, the more I realize how good I was at it. I won every waltzing contest Lonnie, Jane, and I had. Magazines and tabloids said I was almost fairer then my mother. And boys fell over themselves to help me.
Grammie was right, this was in my blood.