3-OH MY SCARLATINAN GODS!

"Congradulations, your Highness." Indianna smiled, flicking her busy blonde curls over her shoulder as she passed the Princess in the corridor.

"Uh...Thanks?" Carmen replied, not really sure how to react to the sitaution. She continued on walking as did Indie, making her way towards her bedroom. "Seventh time today..." The Princess muttered to herself.

She had been receiving congratulations all day, but she had no idea what for. There was nothing going on in her life that she deserved to be congratulated for. It was just a weird thing going on around the palace at the moment.

"Congradulations, Princess." Pippa smiled as she saw Carmen as she exited one of the many rooms along the third floor corridor. Pippa was Indianna's partner, just like Kaly and Layona had been, and Masey and Kristy before that.

"Thanks..." Carmen smiled back, but once she had turned away her smile faded. "I think..."

"You're welcome!" Pippa shouted back, disappearing behind another one of the doors further down the corridor.

"Make that eight."

Carmen couldn't wrap her head around it. Surely she would remember doing something with being congratualted for. It was a bizzare thing for her not to know about.

"Eight what, Darling?" Carmen almost jumped sky high as her mother appeared in front of her.

She placed one hand over her heart as Arianna smiled at her daughter. It wasn'y the sort of smile Carmen had been expecting. It wasn't a 'I GOT YOU!' smile. No, it was 'My poor, baby' smile. Carmen was finding it rather odd.

"Carmen, sweetie, we need to talk." The Queen was soudning quite scared and worried over something. It was as if she was about to give the news about a death of a realitive, which would have been stupid since Carmen didn't have any alive relatives anyway. Well, at least not any that her mother would confront her like this about.

"Uh, YEAH! WE DO!" Carmen yelled. "Everyone keep congratulationing me! What did I do? And was I asleep when I did?"

Arianna's smiled turned to an uneasy look. It was as if she was holding something back, but Carmen had no idea what. There was usually no secrets between the mother and daughter, they told each other everything truthfully. They had always been just that close.

It may have had something to do with the fact that Arianna had never had a mother to have a bond with or anyone to have a bond with. She may have felt that Carmen was going to have that whilst growing up. It might have been that Arianna just wanted Carmen to have a good life growing up in the place.

Whatever it was, the two were close.

"Come with mCarmen used to get between the only two floors she ever felt necisary to use, but the main e." Arianna told her daughter, holding out her hand. Carmen reluctantly took it, she always liked to know were she was being taken. However, this didn't really seem to be the time to ask questions.

Arianna took Carmen towards the staircase. Not the back staircase, like staircase. The main staircase kept on spiraling from the basement all the way up to the roof top. It had small turn of sections on each floor, and it was the stiarcase most people in the house used.

The two walked in silnce down two flights of stairs. Carmenw as worried. She had never been all the way down to the basement area before. The main reason being that, that was where the Kings and Queens of Scarlatina got crowned and sat on their throne to boss people around. Carmen was not Queen yet.

"Take a seat, Carmen." Arianna said plainly. Carmen took a look around the throne, wondering what her mother meant.

"Uh...Where?"

"Where do you think?" Arianna replied dryly. She had her back turned to Carmen, trying to taken in the room as a whole. It was if she was trying to remember it, as if she would never see it again.

"O-On your throne?" Carmen stuttered, her eyes wide. She turned her head to face the red velevet and pure gold chair that stood alone in the middle of the room, just up a few steps from the base floor. "No...No, I can't!"

Arianna turned around to face her daughter. She looked puzzled. Most people would dream of sitting on the Queens throne, so why didn't Carmen seem too happy about it?

"Why not?"

"Because its YOUR throne!" Carmen defended, her voice rasing higher.

"And I'M telling YOU to sit your ass down on it." Arianna replied.

Carmen cracked a smile. She preferred it when there was a comfortable environment between the two of them. It was always awkward when there was a profesional air. It always made Carmen feel as if she was in a business meeting and not just having a chat with her mother.

The pink haired Princess turned back to look at the throne again. She had no idea what was so special about it. It was a chair. Just a very expensive chair.

"Why is it important I sit on it? Carmen asked, not moving her eyes from the comfortable looking seat. She had to admit that it was tempting to sit on, but she knew she couldn't. It wasn't her throne yet. It wouldn't be her throne for a few more weeks time.

"Sit and I will tell you." Arianna replied.

Carmen let out a deep breath, sighing in defeat, "Fine..." Carmen had given in. She moved forward slightly, taking a good look at the seat before finally turning around her planting herself perfectly on it.

The power surged through Carmen's body as she could only imagine what it would truly be like to be Queen. The power was unbelievable. Uncontrolable. Carmen felt like a Queen already.

"How does it feel?" Arianna sat herself down on the arm of the throne chair. She kept on smiling towards her daughters hair, seeing how happy she was from the side made Arianna feel so happy on the inside.

"Um...What?" Carmen asked.

Arianna smiled even wider than before. She took a strand of one of Carmen's darker hairs in her fingers. She kept twirling it around like she had when Carmen had been a little girl.

"How do you feel when sitting on the throne?"

"In control." Carmen smirked.

Arianna understood. It was how she had felt the very first time she had sat on the throne herself. Arianna had been a few years younger than Carmen was when she had first sat on the throne. It had been such a great feeling to surge through ones body. It was an indescribable feeling.

"It's a good feeling, right?"

"Riiiight..." Carmen smiled, getting over the shock. She turned to face her mother with a curious smile on her lips. "Where are you going with this?"

"Do you want to be Queen?" Arianna asked. "Honestly, do you WANT to be Queen?"

"Y-Yeah..." Carmen replied, a little stuttery. "I want to be Queen of Scarlatina."

Arianna smiled and Carmen could see it was the same awkward smile that had been on her lips before they had enetered the throne room. An uneasy smile. An uncertain smile.

The blonde Queen got up from her seat and walked forward. Carmen was getting more and more worried about her mother in her old age. She seemed to be becoming more and more distant from everyone. It may have just been all aprt of growing old or maybe even being from being Queen for so long. It was a draning thing, Carmen understood that.

"Before you become Queen...There is something you must do first." Carmen got to her feet, walking over to her mothers side.

"And what's that?"

Arianna sighed. She turned to face her daughter, looking as if she was never going to see her again. The Queen ran a hand down her daughter face, sighing deeply. The two pulled each other in for a hug and tears began to well in Arianna's eyes.

"You have to marry a Prince."

"I AHVE TO MARRY WHO?" Carmen screamed, backing herself out of the hug.

"His name is Prince Drake." Arianna explained, wiping her tears away. "He's from Indicenta."

Carmen clucthed her chest, finding the ability to breath an imposibility. She turned away from her mother, not able to face her now she knew the truth. If she ever wanted to become Queen, she was going to have to marry this Prince.

"Carmen...-"

"-NO!" The Princess yelled, turning back. Her face was bright red with anger and confusion. "I WILL NOT MARRY SOME RANDOM GUY WHO I NEVER MET IN MY ENTIRE LIFE JUST SO I CAN BECOME QUEEN!"

"It's too late, Car." Arianna epxlained even further. She knew every last detail about the arrangments now. "It's all been arranged. You are going to marry Prince Drake and become Queen of Scarlatina."

The rules had changed since Courtney and Arianna were in the race. Back then you had just needed to win the election. These days, since Carmen was the only true one running in the race, she had to marry a Prince who was not to become King of his own town. Times were hard.

"So..." Carmen took in a deep breath. She was tying to make sense of it all. "As of now...I'm engaged to Princes Drake of Indicenta."

"Yes..." Arianna didn't seem to like the idea herself.

"OH MY SCARLATINAN GODS!"

A/N: HEY!

hehe! I really like that saying...OH MY SCARLATINAN GODS!

I guess I have to give credit to Aaron for starting me off on the Gods...LOL! ;)

I've been watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince whilst watching this...hehe!

SIX DAYS LEFT! I think I may cry...SERIOUSLY! I may just cry...LOL! Six days does not end soon enough...GRR!

LOL!

I'm gonna make this short because it's late and I have to be up early in the morning to do my mothers hair...I KNOW! She wants me to do a fishtail braid for her for work :) YAY! I feel honoured...She doesn't usually like me fiddling with her hair...LOL!

Uh...Okay! My DSi is upstiars in my room...I am downstairs in the dining room...What are the chances of me going ALL THE WAY up there...NOT VERY GOOD!

Thanks yous next time, I promise :)

Also excuse my lack of spellcheck too...

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX