A/N- I'm sorry, I update this very rarely, for that I do apologise.
Impulsivity was strictly regulated when one was a royal.
Between the security protocol, the centuries of tradition and the rules for acceptable behaviour- some written down in a book, some passed down from secretary to secretary, and some having been spoken into existence by the media's so-called royal experts- there was very little wriggle room for actual impulsiveness.
This little fact was deeply shrouded in secrecy.
In this day and age, people weren't going to be feeling sympathy for those perceived to be locked away in a gilded cage. Given the choice between being able to go shopping whenever they liked or a life of absolute, mind-boggling luxury and comfort, the average person would sign away this little freedom without thought, not realising the true extent of what they had lost until much, much later.
However, the royals had to be seen to be willing to mingle with the people, to be one of them, therefore there was a list of 'impulsive' acts they were allowed to undertake with little notice and limited security.
So, when Katherine announced that she was going shopping with Bonnie and her friends, she was doing so with the knowledge that Ansel had cleared this years ago and with a list of shops she was allowed to enter and places she was not allowed to go.
She was allowed two 'impulsive' shopping trips per calendar year, three if one was during the Winter Festival and she bought toys for children in need.
There was also a limitation on the amount of people she could bring with her. If she went alone too often she looked friendless, if she went with too many people it was an entourage and she'd be accused of acting like a Hollywood starlet. She was even stretching it with having four people with her, but Rose had checked with Aiden and allowed it because Bonnie was family and therefore, the papers wouldn't count her as a friend.
Personally, Katherine hoped she would be one, as they both needed allies in this world but right now, she'd settle for a friendly acquaintance.
It's the middle of the day, so traffic in the shopping district isn't too heavy, Trevor easing them into the iron lamped streets with ease and Katherine tilts her head to check the decorations above them, trying to imagine what they would look like at night.
While her car has the same rights as a vehicle carrying a member of the royal family, Trevor was under strict instructions not to double-park or cause any violations which would report badly in the media. He circles the block twice before he finds a park and slides in smoothly, turning off the engine just as Katherine finishes touching up her makeup.
Bonnie hops out of the car first, easing herself along the vehicle to prevent getting hit by oncoming traffic, Katherine waits for Trevor to open her door and ensures her legs are pressed together to prevent an upskirt photo and rises gracefully.
It had taken a full afternoon of practise when she was seventeen to achieve that move.
She knew that Caroline and the twins were getting an uber from outside the Palace because the paperwork allowing Caroline use of a servant car hadn't gone through yet, and sharing her location showed that she was only a few minutes away.
Which left Katherine and Bonnie loitering on the sidewalk waiting for them.
The air was crisp, the sun shining bright but unable to warm the world around them, a few people glanced at them as they passed but they had the benefit of self-doubt working for them. People would take a quick look at her, notice that she looks familiar but the idea that the future queen consort could be standing on a street corner in the middle of the day isn't something they can immediately process.
It was uncouth for her to be waiting for her friends, but as Elijah's fiancé she was still treading the grey area between private citizen and member of the royal family, there was an argument to be made as to which rules she should adhere to and which need not apply to her yet.
What rules had been written existed before the age of the internet, they hadn't been updated since before Princess Diana, either through lack of foresight or disregard for those not born into the family.
Therefore, she waits for Caroline and the twins, settled in beside Bonnie who was looking about with interest, her eyes tracing the lettering on the shop windows around her, trying to guestimate or translate their meaning into English.
Eventually, she sees an Uber pull into the street and double-park, the twins clambering out of the back and she holds up an arm, catching their attention as they weave through the cars. She assumes that as always Caroline is saying goodbye to her newfound driver friend, not only did she have a five-star rating, Katherine was pretty certain that if there were trophy's for best passengers, she'd be winning them.
"Hey bitch," Liv snaps as they approach, "Thanks for the airport pickup."
Katherine puts a hand on her hip, "Please," she drawls, "like you're important enough for that."
Luke rolls his eyes and slings an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug, "Hi Kat."
She introduces them both to Bonnie as Caroline bounds over, "This street is so pretty, okay, I did some research in the taxi and apparently there's an adorable little café to get lunch at the other end, so if we start on this side and work our way up…"
Katherine and Luke shared an incredulous look, "How about we go in there?" he suggests, loping off to the closest store with an open door and she smirked, checking the name and noting that it was on the list.
It was a high-end t-shirt store, not a couture brand that she immediately recognised but considering the price tags were bigger than the shirts they were selling, she figured they must be a big name somewhere. She walked in with Caroline who was chatting to Bonnie, and the shop assistants look up at the sound of the American accents and go back to their work.
No-one had recognised her yet.
Feeling like she was breaking a rule that probably didn't even exist, Katherine spotted a black translucent t-shirt that would look amazing with her favourite pair of jeans, and that she absolutely could not wear outside her home or her apartments, but she couldn't resist.
Taking it down, she held it up against her body to see if it would fit and somehow magically summoned an assistant,
"Can I help you?" she asked in English and Katherine had a moment where she didn't know which language to respond in,
"Thank-you, I'll take this one." she says politely, and the woman runs her eyes up and down her outfit, apparently trying to decide whether Katherine could afford to be buying t-shirts.
Either the assistant judges her worthy of the product or wants to embarrass her further because she leads her straight to the registers and rings her up. Katherine struggles to keep her face placid as she takes out her wallet and hands over her card only to have it snatched out of her hand.
The assistant glances at the name before forcing it through the machine and it's only when Katherine has signed the receipt that she checks the name again and the realization hits her.
"Thank you," Katherine says sweetly as she takes her bag, "Have a nice day."
By the time they've reached the third store, word is slowly making its way out but the smile on Katherine's face isn't the polite, fixed expression that looked best in the candid shots and videos that everyone insisted on taking. It was genuine.
Caroline was taking to the shops like a kid in a candy store, Bonnie was appraising everything with the knowledge of a successful businesswoman, Liv was being humorously snarky, and Luke was bringing up the rear quietly enjoying himself. She was with her friends and it was easy to be distracted by them, to push the knowledge that people were watching her to the back of her mind.
Especially when they reached a shoe store so beautiful that it elicited a genuine reaction from her.
"Leave me here," she commanded, "This is my home now."
It takes Caroline's gentle insistence and not so gentle hand tugging to prise her from that store, that and the annoying voice of reason pointing out that if she's seen
carrying too many bags, she'll be labelled a shopaholic in the media. There was also a text from Ansel reminding her that there was a limitation on how long these impromptu outings could last for a reason, with minimal security, the longer she was exposed in one location, the easier it was for someone to come at her with a knife.
Therefore, she has Trevor pick her up and finds that he's had a second car brought for her friends as well.
"I booked the twins a hotel room," Caroline announces, "One that's near the student district because it has the best nightlife and overlooks the river."
"Can't believe you're not letting us stay in your palace," Liv groans, "It's massive!"
"It's also underheated with bad plumbing," Katherine counters, "Every morning I have to descend two massive flights of stairs in heels just to get breakfast, if I want a snack, I have to make a fifteen-minute trek each way."
"But there are coffee stations available every two hundred metres," Caroline pipes up, "I downloaded an app and did the math."
"Are you seriously downplaying the perks of being a royal right now?!" Liv demanded and Katherine rolled her eyes,
"I'm not a royal yet, at the moment I'm just the…" she trails off when she realises that 'future queen' isn't the answer that would win the argument for her and shrugs,
"I get the rest of the perks when I get the crown on my head."
Trevor kindly drives them all the way to the steps of the palace so they wouldn't have to trek from the garage and Katherine leads them in, past the footwoman who takes the twins names and then to the drawing room where she had been interviewed by Rose, there was a dying fire in the hearth and a maid came in to take their orders.
"Can we order anything we want?" Liv asks but Katherine shakes her head,
"This time of day, you're limited to tea and biscuits unless you take something from the drinks cabinet over there," she gestures to the oak cabinet where she assumed the alcohol would be kept.
"Again, there's a wider range at the royal palace, this is just the basics until I move out or more people move in."
"So, right now your only real perk is that you don't have to pay rent and there's people to bring you the simple stuff," Luke surmised, "I mean, it's still not bad."
She shrugged, "Plus, I could probably get us VIP access to the touristy places."
The twins look at one another, silently conversing in the way all close siblings could manage, the message conveyed from one to the other without a word being spoken and all in less than a minute.
"We hadn't really checked what was on offer here, but sure."
Katherine leaned forward with a grin, "I haven't been out partying in Kattegat five years but give me an hour and I'll get us on the guest list for the best places in town."
Pulling her phone from her handbag, she searches through her contacts until she finds Kol's number, having guessed he would have had it put in her phone.
Text Message
From Katherine: I've got friends visiting, they want to go out tonight.
From Kol: Dinner first?
From Katherine: Good idea.
From Kol: Think you'll find I'm full of good ideas, Katty. ;)
Rebekah tried not to bounce around her sitting room in excitement, but it was so hard.
Her first salon!
It was going to be so glamorous!
Maybe she could be like her ancestors, all the princesses and queens who came before her and had hosted salons all the time and became renowned
Could one still draw people to a royal court?
Surely where there was power and money there was smart and talented people?
Aside from her sister Freya, of course, who was at that very moment issuing a list of instructions to the Palace staff, menus to be prepared and the wines they'd be needing from the cellars. Rebekah was getting a few strange looks from them, but as she had asked Elijah's permission to throw a salon and he'd said yes, there wasn't really anything that they could say. Besides, everything was being sourced by the palace except for the flowers, Rebekah had wanted lots and lots of flowers except the garden staff had told her that there weren't any to be had on the grounds because it was winter and somehow, the keys to the hothouses had been lost so she couldn't just pick them from there.
But Freya had placed her phone in her lap and pointed out that she could order bouquets from florists and have them delivered.
Rebekah had never known this and was having so much fun trying to decide exactly what colour orchids she wanted to have when there was a knock at the door and the footman announced that Mr Wolfsbane was asking for an audience.
She'd never had him ask for an audience before, usually the footmen just told her that he wished to speak with her.
She wondered if this was part of her new role as sister to the King.
She hopped to her feet and nodded to the footman, allowing the door to be opened and Ansel to stride in, stopping in the middle of the chaos and noting the furniture that was being brought in and prepared for the salon.
"Can we help you?" Freya asked by way of greeting, before Rebekah could even say hello.
Ansel offered her a placid smile, "I came to speak to her highness before tonight, regarding the security measures for the guests."
"Do you honestly not already have a system in place for guests?" her sister sneered, "That can't be true!"
Ansel's expression grows chilly, "Of course we do, and amongst the first step is to receive a list of those attending, I still have yet to receive that."
That's because Rebekah herself wasn't really certain about the guestlist.
She didn't have many friends, although there were a lot of hangers on when one was a princess, people who would always rsvp yes if she asked. So, she'd filled about ten spots, and the rest had been decided by Freya.
"I have more experience in Valhalla's social circles than you do, little sister," she had assured her,
"I know who's who."
There had been one guest they'd agreed upon, not having even needed to discuss it aloud, but in the way of siblings, Rebekah had just written the name down while Freya had nodded approvingly.
There is a knock at the door and the footman opens it to reveal several staff members bringing in the gold candelabras Rebekah had requested, causing her to jump up with excitement and direct where she wanted them placed.
Ansel observed this with the same keen eye that had been necessary to help her find her missing toys and the same hint of disapproval he'd worn when she'd first discovered how to roll up her skirt of her school uniform.
"And His Majesty agreed to all this?" he asks, twisting at his hips to address them both.
Before Rebekah can even answer, Freya drops her tea cup onto the saucer with a loud clatter,
"How dare you question us!" she snaps, "Have you forgotten your place?"
Ansel clasped his hands behind his back, "Never Miss Black," he answers in a pleasant tone,
"Just like you never forget yours."
He bows his head to Rebekah, "I will need that list before tonight, your highness."
He leaves before Freya's cheeks have even finished staining red in humiliation and Rebekah feels a stab of anger towards him. He didn't need to be mean to Freya, it wasn't like she could very well forget that she wasn't a princess but a half-sibling because their father had been unfaithful. It wasn't like anyone else let them forget either, always referring to them as Mikael's natural children- or bastards depending on if the siblings were nearby.
"I guess I shall get him that list." She seethes and Rebekah doesn't know what she could possibly say to comfort her, so she goes back to ordering her flowers.
It isn't until she's out of the shower and standing in front of her new selection of clothes, trying to decide which outfit was best for the evening, that Katherine remembers that there was supposed to have been a salon tonight.
But it was after six and she hadn't received so much as a text from Rebekah or anyone she knew that day mentioning it.
If by that point, she hadn't even received a message from a gossipy courtier to discuss the princess's first salon than it must have been postponed or cancelled.
Of course, Isabelle chooses that very moment to text her.
Text Message:
Issy: Is this the right number? I'm after Katty.
Katherine: Right number. What's up?
Issy: Have you been invited to Rebekah's party tonight?
Katherine: I had no idea it was on.
Issy: I tried to score an invite but didn't make the cut.
Katherine: Who did?
Issy: Nobody we're friends with. Genevieve and her daughters, the upper echelon etc.
Katherine: But nobody who supports me or my family?
Issy: No.
Katherine threw her phone onto her bed in frustration before turning to her mirror and glaring at the image before her.
It only took her a few seconds to morph her features into a pretty smile, aiming for carefree and casual as she heads to Caroline's apartment, noting the make-up mirrors that her friend had set up on her two-hundred-year-old dressing table.
She drops onto the bed and winces when the mattress doesn't give way an inch,
"How about we invite Klaus tonight?" she suggests, "I think the twins would like him."
Her extensive training as Miss Mystic Falls has enabled Caroline to not so much as twitch as the words leave Katherine's mouth, which is a good thing because she was in the process of applying her eyeliner.
"Sure…" she manages, "I mean…if he's not busy…it's kind of late notice but he's a guy so he doesn't need much time to get ready."
"Great," Katherine grins, "You can text him now."
If Caroline was the one doing the asking, then Klaus would be at their doors in half an hour, probably less if he didn't need to shower first.
In the dimly lit hallway, Katherine allows herself a cruel little smirk of victory.
She wondered how well Rebekah's salon would be received without most of her family in attendance.
A/N- Thanks for reading.