Summary: A desperate monarch makes a pact with another king that will one day force him to give his headstrong daughter to the king's harsh son. Within the castle walls lay many secrets, including a deadly curse with one year to break. Let the fairytale begin.

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Chapter Five

"If you don't mind me saying, milady," Priscilla began tentatively, "you and His Highness certainly dislike each other. Have you met before?"

"No, we have not," admitted Cecilia. She was trying to pick her words carefully; Derek was this woman's master, after all. "My father, as I suppose you have heard, is very protective of my sister and myself. When he declined Queen Marguerite's invitation on my behalf, The Prince was far from thrilled and sent a rather… persuasive letter to my father. Let us just say that I for one do not care for The Prince's methods."

Priscilla bit her lip. "Master is quite… temperamental," she conceded. "I do not suppose it makes up for the fact that he threatened your father, milady, but I would like to say that he has never laid a hand on any of the servants."

The comment itself was irrelevant, but nevertheless it brought a faint smile to Cecilia's face. It did speak well for a man when his servants thought well of him. However, she still thought he was a bit of a bastard, pardoning her language.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Cecilia said to the poor servant, "I never thought he would, madam."

With a nod of approval, the plump woman opened the doors to Cecilia's room. "Do you like it?"

The room itself was a good size, neither too large nor too small. With a small but sturdy fireplace, large windows, and a balcony, it was cozy and refreshing all at the same time. Tastefully decorated in colors of cream and a silvery blue, Cecilia was in love. "It's so… oh, it's gorgeous," she breathed. "I… it's not home, but I don't know how I can be homesick here."

"I'm so glad you like it miss," Priscilla beamed. "Now, if there's anything you need, milady," she told the young woman, "just let me know. I'd be happy to get it for you."

"I will," Cecilia smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Ms. Priscilla."

Grinning broadly at the nickname, Priscilla gave one last curtsey and let Cecilia be alone.

As soon as she heard the woman's retreating footsteps, Cecilia let out a squeal and ran to the bed, flopping on her back. Sighing, she let out a giggle. She was miles away from home, without her father watching her every move or worrying about six hours of lessons a day. There was finally a motherly figure back in her life… although the young man who came with it was a thorn in her side. But no matter; he was a minor nuisance. And besides, she as going to be living with young women… her age!

Suddenly sitting up on her bed, Cecilia frowned. She couldn't have been the only one here. Who else had shown up?

Padding down the hall, she could hear faint trills of laughter. Glancing at a nearby Grandfather clock, she vaguely noted that it was tea hour. Right before she entered the room, she smoothed her lilac gown and took a deep breath.

As she stood in the doorway of the room, she surveyed her current roommates. There were three tables; two with four chairs around them and one with only two. In the middle of the room were four girls, twittering with their shrill voices. Blinking, Cecilia could make out chatters of the names "Florinda, Lucinda, Belinda, and Melinda." Ah. So they were The Infamous Four. Known throughout the continent for their irritating and ditzy ways, their popularity merely stemmed from their powerful military father.

The table on the far right contained only two chairs, taken up by a blonde girl with ice blue eyes. This was Princess Heidi and her faithful, yet conniving governess.

As for the table on the left, it was filled with three girls, whom Cecilia knew to be princesses. She had met the Princess of Spainne before, Ana, and rather liked her. The two were supposed to keep in touch, but then the war had happened and post was difficult to come by.

The girls sitting with her were entirely different from each other, and Cecilia guessed them to by the princesses of Eyerlin and Scoughtlyn. Luckily for her, there was one chair left at the table where the three girls resided.

As she glided into the room, everyone stopped their conversations and stared. "Let me guess," Princess Heidi, the first to break the silence, raised a blonde eyebrow. "You are the Princess Cecilia."

Sensing a challenge, Cecilia raised an eyebrow of her own. "That is correct. And you must be the Princess Heidi."

With a brisk nod of confirmation, Heidi turned back to her governess and the tension broke at the unusual greeting. The Infamous Four went back to their conversation—they would not give Cecilia the time of day, as she was not their perfect cousin.

As for Ana, she rose from her chair and gave Cecilia a graceful hug. "It is good to see you, my friend," she said in Freench, which was what etiquette deemed they must speak. Etiquette called for that in whatever country one was, they had to speak the native language. Therefore, all of the girls conversed in Freench and only Freench. "I have not heard from you in so long."

"Likewise," Cecilia answered. "I am glad to see one familiar face here. But would you introduce me to your tablemates?"

With a smile, Ana did just that. Fiona murmured a quiet welcome with a small smile and Tessa bluntly asked if it was true that Cecilia could ride, fence, and do archery.

"My skills," answered Cecilia, "are minimal. But I suppose if I were in the position to protect myself, I wouldn't be entirely defenseless."

With an approving nod, Tessa said, "I think that every girl should know how to defend herself. Especially with so many brutes out there." Here she inserted a rather manly snort. "It's just those fussy men think that we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves."

Apparently this was a familiar rant, for Fiona quickly changed the subject. "What did you think of Prince Derek, Miss Cecilia?"

"Call me Cecilia please," the girl in questioned smiled. "We haven't had a very good first impression of each other, but I didn't come here to 'win' him anyway. I just wanted to get out of the castle. I haven't traveled in so long."

Ana nodded. "I came for the same reason. I know the Prince and I would never suit. Although," she inserted a sly smile here, "he's quite handsome, isn't he?"

Fiona's reply was a telling blush while Tessa rolled her eyes. "If it were him and me on the battlefield," Tessa said, "I think we'd know who would be victorious."

Cecilia laughed. She knew she'd have a good time here.

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It was approximately eleven fifty at night and the short butler, called Chives, heard a faint rapping on the door. Opening it, there was a drenched figure with silk and satin clinging to her curvaceous body.

"I know it is terribly late, dear butler, but I am quite wet and would hate to catch a cold before I meet the prince. So if you would just let me in, I would be so terribly obliged."

The little man blinked. "And you are?"

"You haven't heard of me? No matter, I am sure we will be acquainted in due time. I am the Countess Keleigh of the region Venn. Now may I enter?"

Glancing at the clock, the man had no choice but to let her in. After all, she had just met the deadline.

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The next morning, the girls were in the same room where they had tea, waiting for someone to escort them to breakfast. "I am surprised to see the Countess Keleigh is not here," Ana whispered anxiously to Cecilia. "She is a social climber through and through. An opportunity to become a princess—she would've jumped at it!"

"Tell me about her," Cecilia replied back, intrigued.

"She started out as a lady-in-waiting to the Infamous Four," gossiped Ana. "But while she was at their court, she caught the eye of a count, who became enchanted with her. They married quickly and he died very recently. Rumor had it she killed him when she heard of Prince Derek's search for a bride."

"That's terrible," whispered Cecilia, horrified.

Ana nodded in agreement. "However, I haven't met her before, so I wouldn't jump to conclusions yet. From what I hear, everyone adores her," thinking about this, Ana suddenly wrinkled her nose. "Although now that I think of it, the only people whom I've ever heard give such lavish compliments about her are noble men."

Arching an eyebrow, the Itallien monarch voiced, "It is too bad she is not here, though. I wonder how The Prince would react to her."

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she heard the Infamous Four start to squeal even louder than usual. "You've arrived!" One shrieked.

"We thought you would never get here," put in another.

In the doorway was the Countess Keleigh. She was strikingly exotic, although Cecilia suspected the beauty came off with all the paint and powder on her face. Her fine clothes were slightly tighter than what was proper, though nothing scandalous. Sparkling jewels adorned her neck and ears and her smile was enchanting. "Darlings, I told you I would attend, and I did. Have I ever backed down on my word?"

The four flighty girls hastened to assure their beloved cousin that of course they believed her.

The expressions of the other five girls was something worth noting. Princess Heidi watched her with narrowed eyes while Tessa had an eyebrow raised, wondering what all the commotion was about. Fiona was blushing, embarrassed for the girl whose clothes were just a tad too small (although the dear innocent girl didn't know the real reason why). Cecilia and Ana schooled their faces to cool disinterest, but their eyes were watchful.

She let her cousins lead her to the table, herself being seated at the head. After a few minutes of their incessant chatter she excused herself and went to converse with Heidi and her governess, who held looks of barely concealed contempt, and Cecilia was dying to know why. Cecilia and Ana could hear bits of conversation between the two, including a rather interesting piece of information. "Here are some gifts for your family," Keleigh said, pulling some wrapped packages out of a bag. "I do hope they're doing well."

"Quite fine, thank you," Heidi said curtly.

"That's wonderful. Be sure to tell Crown Prince Kristoff 'hello' for me? He was such a gentleman when I visited last summer." Heidi nodded and no one missed the way her jaw clenched.

She flittered off again in a matter of ten minutes and had now seated herself at the table Cecilia was residing at. "And here we have the Princesses Tessa and Fiona," she curtseyed, barely. "I was so pleased to hear that your two countries have finally stopped fighting." Eyerlinen and Scoughtlyn had had many battles between the two over the years, only recently becoming allies to aid Italle and Fraanc with the war against Rushha. They had been battling for so long that neither side remembered why—it was at one point mockingly called The Pointless Wars.

Fiona looked down in shame at the implications but Tessa merely said, "Why? Because they were taking up your husband's tax money?" At one point during the years, many countries sent troops in to Eyerlin and Scoughtlyn to try and stop the wars. The attempts failed and many lords were still paying in reprecussions.

Cecilia tried desperately not to laugh, though she gave Tessa a reproachful look. Whether Keleigh heard or decided to ignore the comment was unknown, for by then she had looked to Ana.

"Ana, darling, so good to see you again," she twittered. "I hear your family's expeditions concerning the Amerika's has been successful. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Ana said coolly, who was quite suspicious at this point.

Slightly taken back, Keleigh turned her eyes to Cecilia. Trilling, she exclaimed, "And you must be Princess Cecilia! My darling, I must say, I'm quite surprised."

"Oh?" Cecilia inquired politely. "May I ask why?"

"I've heard so many stories about you. You should hear what people in other courts call you. 'The Boy Princess'. Why, I expected to greet a brute when I came here!" Perhaps Keleigh thought she was giving Cecilia a compliment, though Cecilia herself never knew. And although she had heard it before, the comment still stung.

The room was deathly silent as everyone awaited Cecilia's words. Right as she opened her mouth, Chives stepped into the room. "Breakfast is served," he announced.

She decided the best way to handle the situation was to ignore the girl and show her how a real member of nobility acted. With her head held up high and Ana by her side, Cecilia swept out of her room and away from The Countess Courtesan.


Last edited: 2/7/09