Two

Are you out of the castle my dear reader? Have you made it out of Andalusia? If not, get out as soon as you can. Disguise yourself among the traders or the castle staff if you have to. Once you're disguised, you should be able to make your way past the city's gates. If she catches you, it won't be pretty. Your life is almost guaranteed to be over. If you have managed to get out, then good. Hide. Disguise yourself. Don't stop running, or she'll catch you. She can and will have your head on a silver platter. She's the right sort of sick to display it, and somewhere public too. Good luck to you, and try to stay safe.

-I don't doubt you, but I am rather attached to my head. And I don't believe that dishware would be a good look on me, even if it's sterling silver. I don't very much fancy being a public display either.-

All of this drama started a little over seventeen years ago, about two months before I was born. Queen Viola gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A little girl with silver hair and deep green eyes, a little girl that was said to be even more lovely and enchanting than the Queen herself. The King, King Elijah, was so happy, so proud. His little girl, Princess Loralina, was a gorgeous baby. In fact, he was so proud that he made that day, Princess Loralinas' birthday, a holiday, a celebration for all. The nobles and the serving class alike, everyone celebrated. Of course, after King Elijah fell ill and passed on to the pale rider, Queen Viola was quick to revoke the holiday. Now it serves as a day of remembrance. A day where all of the people still living here remember that this kingdom wasn't always a terrible place to live, but that it was once a wonderful paradise to live and love freely. I have my suspicions on how and why the King fell ill. I also have suspicions on why he didn't recover. There's no point in dwelling on the past for too long. There's nothing I can do to change how things went down. Now we, the citizens of the Brairuid Kingdom, live in fear and torment under our spiteful and cruel queen. Why must she be so cruel? What has life done to her that she must be so vile, so cruel to others around her?

-The Queen always took great enjoyment out of the suffering of others. She lives for spite, looks, and money. The things she has done for any of those three things would sicken anyone else. I feel confident saying that she has delved further into the dark arts than anyone else.-

Shortly after the king died, Princess Loralina disappeared from public view. To avoid a scandal, Queen Viola was quick to announce that the princess was being tutored extensively in every available subject, with only the best of tutors. Almost immediately after her announcement, rumors started flying about how Queen Viola had killed her daughter. That she had killed both her husband and her daughter. All so that she could remain on a throne that wasn't rightfully hers, given that Queen Viola had married into the royal family. To assuage these rumors, and to save her powerbase, the Queen made a yearly event out of presenting the princess to the noble court. She did this on the princesses' birthday, every year without fail. An annual ball, if you wish to call it that. As every maid and every servant in the palace knows, it has never been the princess shown at these balls. It's always a look-alike, someone who was selected from the staff of the castle to play the missing princess. After all, nobody of importance would notice a random servant disappearing. Servants were to be ignored until a service was needed. Ghosts.

-She took people that looked how she needed and wouldn't be missed, except for by a select few. She even made it so those few who would know couldn't remember the missing well. Smart. Disturbing and devious, but smart. By far not the worst she has done over the decades.-

The Queen always selects the look-alikes for a reason. A reason known only to her. Be it that they offended her, or they simply looked too close to what the missing princess (presumably) does. None of them have ever come back afterward, and the Queen has never said what happened to them. I suspect they died, but how did that death come about? Torture? Poison? Or were they murdered? Some of the methods that I can imagine are more painful than others, but dead is dead is dead. How might I die, I wonder? Ehh. Queen knows. Maybe I can take her out with me. I would love to see her thrown into the deepest pits of hell. Maybe I can enlist a warlock to help? If I can find one that is. They've all gone into hiding years ago. Not that I blame them. They were being horrifically abused by the various royal families that they served and for selfish reasons on the royals' part.

-The Queen doesn't kill you my dear. I'm afraid I don't know the specifics about how she relinquished the throne. I do know she's not dead yet. Although, she is as miserable as miserable can be. Her trial will be a spectacle, that's for sure.-

For some reason, I have to take lessons on how to be a princess. On the history of the throne, finance, etiquette, ballroom dancing, horseback riding, how to eat in a formal setting, and even on elocution. Otherwise known as: lessons on how to walk, talk, and act like a princess, with all the practical knowledge to back it up. Why, though? I honestly don't know. I'm only going to be playing Princess Loralina for three days, ten to twelve hours at MAX. Not a whole lot of time for me to royally screw up or to cause a scandal. (get it? Royally?) It's not like I'll ever get the chance to use all of this newly gained knowledge. I don't have any practical use for most of it anyway. Queen Viola is going to get rid of me soon enough. I highly doubt that I will have any better luck than the previous fourteen Princess Loralina look-alikes. Well then, on to other matters. As practice, I have to work with the heads of staff in the castle. One of my many new responsibilities.

A nice bonus to pretending to be Princess Loralina: I get the chance to explore the forbidden wings of the castle, places where only the Queen is allowed to go. Places only for those of royal blood. Not even the patrolling castle guards, seemingly loyal to the Queen to death and beyond, are allowed entrance. Not without due cause anyway. They have to justify any entrance into the royal wings of the palace to the Queen. Even if they try to sneak by, Queen Viola always knows. If the Queen doesn't buy their answer? Well, off with their heads! What dark secrets will I discover, I wonder? These places have been almost entirely undisturbed for nearly two decades, unless my predecessors, the previous Princess Loralina look-alikes, were as insanely curious as I am…

-I highly doubt it. You are a singularly unique being. Even among royals, you stand apart, above in both looks and personality. My sisters have admitted to jealousy, something that almost never happens.-

I think that some of the maids are jealous. I've caught a few of them staring at me, more so than what's usual. I'm used to stares and judgemental looks. I am a bastard-born after all. The way they're staring though. It gives off a completely different edge to it, you know? I don't know, maybe I'm getting paranoid. My mum certainly seems to think so. She keeps giving me these pointed glances. She flat-out told me to stop being paranoid over my death. My mum told me, to my face, that Queen Viola wouldn't dare to kill me. Right. I'm sure. Tell that to the other fourteen missing girls that are presumed dead. I'm paranoid. Totally. The Queen totally doesn't have a pattern of making young girls disappear. I'm just imagining things.

Do you think I'm being paranoid? I feel like I can't leave my room without being glared at. It's not like I asked to be the princess look-alike this year. I don't fancy being killed after a few hours of intense popularity. Popularity that isn't mine to begin with. Who would want borrowed popularity? I would much rather stay in the shadows as an inconspicuous maid, then have the Queen coming after my head. Much safer, and less likely to end in my wedding to the pale rider. That's just my opinion though. What do you think, dear reader? Am I being paranoid? Is there such a thing as being too paranoid? I don't think wanting to hide from the world until the world stops being a terrible place is an unreasonable measure.

-Paranoid? No, you have someone out to get you. Are you being overly cautious? Yes, but again you have someone, or someones' more like, out to get you. Watch for those maids with envious eyes. They could potentially do you more harm than the Queen.-