The third chapter, please enjoy! Reviews always help too! ;)
Chapter 3: The Second Princess
Sometime before Mirana had been born, the King and Queen had called up Iracebeth into the throne room for a talk.
"Iracey," said the King gently, "Mummy and I have some important news to tell you."
Iracebeth didn't like surprises; they always seemed to be bad ones. She frowned at her parents impatiently.
"How would you feel about having a new brother or sister?" asked the Queen nervously.
"No, I don't want one. I want to be the only Pwincess," said Iracebeth without any hesitation. The King and Queen exchanged a nervous glance.
"But think about it, Iracebeth. You'll have someone to play with and talk to; a very close friend," the Queen tried.
"No! I don't want to!" yelled Iracebeth. Now she finally realized why Mummy had been acting so strange all the time, stranger than normal. So that's why her stomach was suddenly large, she thought.
"I don't think there is anything we can do about it, Iracey," the King weakly replied. He was nervous about Iracebeth's temper. Once she was mad, she would run up to her bedchamber and lock herself in for hours. She's unstoppable when she's mad, he thought to himself.
Iracebeth's face turned red, and she ran up to her room. The King and Queen looked at each other sadly.
"We mustn't let this one become like her," the Queen said, patting her stomach gently.
"Of course not. It would be too much to handle for this kingdom. I just wish we could figure out where we went wrong," the King replied, staring into space mournfully.
"Maybe it's not us, Caleb. Maybe it's just her…"
Some time later, the whole castle of Crims was up again before dawn, again to celebrate the arrival of the new Princess. Everyone gathered around the Queen's bedside, gazing in delight upon the new baby. She was sleeping soundly, a shock of white-blond hair atop her head.
"Her name," the Queen said proudly, "is Mirana. Mirana of Crims."
"Princess Mirana of Crims!" shouted back the couriers. Whispers traveled around the room again, just as they had six-and-a-half years earlier, but this time, there was a lighter, happier tone to them.
"She's lovely, isn't she?" "Simply beautiful. She'll be a wonderful ruler." "I can't wait to watch her grow." "She has hair just like her mother's."
The Queen sighed happily. She turned to her husband, who had just come back from fetching Iracebeth from her bedchamber. The King smiled and kissed Mirana's head, but Iracebeth did not smile. She looked down at her sister with disgust.
"What do you think of your sister, Iracebeth?" asked a courier standing nearby. "Isn't she darling?"
"No," replied Iracebeth. "Her head is much too small. I think she's wather ugly."
Those present in the room whispered among themselves, shocked. The King turned red, while the Queen gasped.
"Iracebeth, that talk is unacceptable. This is your sister!" The King nearly yelled.
"Treat her with kindness and love. Act unto others as you'd want them to act unto you," the Queen added.
Glaring around the room, Iracebeth turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, returning to her bedchamber. In fury, she ripped apart the heart decorations she had made and hung around her room. She threw the red roses a knight had thoughtfully picked for her out the window of her balcony. Iracebeth punched a mirror that hung on her wall so hard, it fell to the ground in hundreds of sharp pieces. Sucking on the cuts she had received from the mirror, she sat on her bed and cried.
"I HATE HER! IT'S NOT FAIR! I WANT TO BE THE ONLY PWINCESS!" Iracebeth screamed. "NOT FAIR AT ALL!"
"Who said anything in life was ever fair?" a voice asked from the balcony door. Iracebeth looked up. A blue smiling cat sat suspended in midair, holding the flowerpot she had just thrown.
"Chessur." Iracebeth glared coldly at the cat. She hated that cat, though her parents loved him. According to Mummy, the cat was as old as Underland itself. "Leave, you stupid cat."
"I thought you might need this," Chessur grinned, dropping the pot lightly on a table. "I was on my way to visit the new Princess when this came flying at me."
"Don't bawther. She's ugly, about as ugly as you."
Chessur wasn't affected. Iracebeth wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his stupid face. "Her head is tiny anyway. She's nuffing like me."
"Excellent," the cat replied, turning upside down in the air.
"Leave, cat!" Iracebeth shouted.
"Oh, I was going anyway," Chessur said. Before he vanished, he turned to Iracebeth and said one last thing to her. "Maybe I am looking far too happily into the future, but I do think that your sister will cause your downfall, your 'Highness', with a little help from some friends."
Winking and smirking one last time, he vanished, leaving an angry, crying, troubled Iracebeth on her bed.
To be continued…