The Princess

Chapter 13
Aster

I woke up and looked at the clock. 10:32. Oh no! I’m late for school! Only about an hour or two. After I got dressed, I remembered that it was the weekend. No wonder my alarm didn’t go off. I laid back down on the bed. I began to doze off. Next thing I knew, someone was banging on the door.
“I know you’re in there! Open up!” yelled one of the maids. (Yes, we are rich and I hate it. No privacy.)
“I’m naked!” I yelled back, even though I wasn’t. The banging stopped.
“W.. Well then, you call me when you are done dressing.” she said, and left. I always do that so they leave me alone. I never tell them when I’m done so they don’t come into my room and clean it. I like it messy. But if they do end up cleaning it, I mess it up again. Plus, I will put underwear all over the floor. (They can’t tell if it’s clean or dirty.)
Enough about my room. I made it look tidy, then left. I had to do what I always do on Dragonsday. (There is also Wextisday, Pemdasday, Astralsday, Nyagersday, Spocksday (a spock is like a rat, only meaner), and Ghorsday (a ghor is like a boar, only smaller).) I went and got a bucket, some string, marbles, paint, and wood. First, I filled the bucket with water and put it on top of a half-opened door. Second, I took the string (invisible kind) and put it in an open doorway. (In other words, no door.) Third, I put some marbles (clear ones) in the hallway. Fourth, I made a hole in the floor and put paint under it with fragile wood covering it. (so whoever steps on it will fall through.) Last, I took the paint and painted a few optical illusions on the floors and walls. (To be exact, six of them.) And I started to wait.
One of the maids walked into the room. The bucket fell from where I put it to land on her head. She just stood there in a shocked silence while I could hardly contain my laughter. That’s when she realized who did that.
“Aster! You get back here!” she scolded as I ran away laughing. (I love acting like a little kid.) Next, I headed to the room with the string. One of the butlers were coming. He walked right into the string and bounced off. I laughed. He looked right at me.
“Aster, what did you do?” he asked.
“Nothing at all.” I continued to watch him. He put his hand cautiously out in front of him, but he didn’t feel anything. (That’s because he put his hand through a hole.) He walked forward again and bounced off again. Then he took out his knife and cut the string. That was my cue. I quickly left. “Aster!” he yelled as I ran away laughing once again.
Now I was in the hallway with the marbles. I could barely see them, they were so transparent. But I knew they were there. One of the grooms came running, carrying a plastic bowl that was going to be filled with oats for the horses. He ran right over the marbles, his feet slid out from under him and the bowl went flying. Thank goodness it wasn’t full. I busted out in laughter.
“Aster, again? Next time warn me.” he said, holding his butt and wincing as he stood up.
“What fun would it be if I warned you?” I asked. He just glared at me.
“Aster, don’t think I won’t...” I didn’t hear the rest of it because I left. But I knew exactly what he said. He says it each week. ‘Aster, don’t think I won’t tell your father.’ He always tells him. I just have to hurry so I can watch each trap be sprung.
So, I went to the kitchen. (That’s where the hole is.) I saw a few servants (I hate calling them that) in there, but no cook. There she is! She is carrying a large pot which is filled with water that she just got from the well. (It’s very cold too.) I see her heading toward the fake floor. Uh-oh. She steps on it and stops. That’s because she sees me.
“I hope you ain’t up to no tricks today, boy. It would not-” her words were cut off as she fell through the floor. She fit perfectly through the hole. (It is a small hole.) The pan went into the air and fell into the hole.
“Eeeeeeeeeeee!” came a scream, “Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!...” The cook was climbing out. She was covered in purple paint that was very runny, due to the freezing water that was in the pot.
“Aster, you’d-” I left, not wanting to hear what she was going to say. With her, if she tells my dad (which she will), I’m dead. (Not really.)
I darted through passageways that only I knew was there. Then, I saw one of my optical illusions. This one was painted right next to the door. The picture was the door beside it open, showing the kitchens. (I had painted over the real door to look like the wall.) One of the kitchen servants was hurrying toward the kitchen.
“I’m almost late. Five minutes, come on! Come on!” he was muttering to himself. He looked up, and, seeing the ‘kitchen door’ open, went in. Or tried to. He banged into the wall. He looked at it, surprised. Man, the paint wasn't dry. He had it all over himself. There was a person shaped print in the middle of my painting. The servant was really puzzled.
‘I thought the door was here.” he said.
“It is.” I told him, stepping out of the shadows. I felt bad. He was a new servant, so he doesn’t know about my tricks yet.
“Aster!” he said and his eyes widened. You could tell he was scared.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m making you later as we speak. I do pranks every week. But I try to make sure it’s not on my friends.”
“Your friends....?” understanding dawned in his eyes. “You mean I’m...?” he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes. Now don’t you have somewhere you need to be?” I asked, “By the way, what’s your name? You know mine.”
“Sean.”
“Well Sean, you’d better get going.”
“Oh yeah! Bye!” he said and hurried through the right door. I heard brief kitchen noise and then “Sean! You know what happens-” the door shut. I sighed. I’d better explain to them. First, I peeked my head in. Different part of the kitchen. No cook. It was safe to go in.
Sean was getting a lecture about telling lies. The assistant cook, Assis, wasn’t listening.
“But I told you, he said I’m his friend!” Sean said.
“And I’m the King of England! Children shouldn’t be telling lies! Now, why are you late and why are you dirty?” he asked again.
“But I already told you!” Sean protested.
“I want to hear the truth! Not nonsense!”
“What nonsense? Why isn’t it true?” I asked him. I get tired of things very quickly.
“Aster!” Assis jumped.
“The reason he is late is because I had an optical illusion set up and he ran right into it, hence the paint. It was still wet. Plus, he’s new, and yes, we’re friends.” I explained.
“Forgive me. I didn’t know.”
“I’d rather have you run into it. It would be funny.” I told him, completely ignoring what he said.
“Forgive me, please. I didn’t know.” he pleaded.
“Why you telling me? You did no wrong to me. And you did know. Sean told you.” he turned to Sean.
“Sorry Sean.” he said, but I could tell he didn’t mean it.
“Sure. Why not? I bet you’ve done that before.” Sean said completely forgiving him.
“I never have and never will.” he said with a disgusted look on his face.
“Never say never. Remember the marbles?” I told him.
“That doesn’t count.” he tried to say.
“Oh, yes it does. All of my pranks work every week. Just last week you ran into the wall because it looked like the bathroom door.” I pointed out.
“Ha ha ha! You did that?” Sean laughed.
“I did no such thing! And if you don’t stop laughing I’ll-” he started to say to Sean. I interrupted him.
“You’ll do what?” I asked.
“I’ll-I’ll fire him.” he said weakly.
“You can’t fire anyone but yourself. And, yes you did such a thing. I laughed and laughed. Sean, don’t you have something to do?” I reminded him. His eyes widened and he scurried away.
“If you ever embarrass me like that again-” I cut him off again.
“Whatever. I have to go check out the rest. See ya!” I was done talking in there. (I saw the cook)
I watched every person react to the next four illusions. One was on the ceiling and it depicted a giant spider coming down. The maid that saw it screamed. I laughed. She was embarrassed to be caught doing that. Her face turned red. I could tell that she was going to yell at me. I left quickly.
The third illusion was on the wall, and it depicted a shelf of books. That one I painted in the room where I receive my tutors. (Dad doesn’t think I’m smart enough.) My history tutor walked in and went to grab a book from the shelf, but his hand hit the wall. I couldn't hold it any longer. I bust out laughing and got out of there very fast. He was shaking his fist in the air.
The fourth one depicted the ceiling falling down. (Guess what! It was on the ceiling!) The butler (again!) looked up and his eyes widened. He crouched down in a ball so he wouldn’t get hit. That’s when I laughed.
“Aster! How did you get me twice?” he asked.
“Fate.” was all I told him. Then I ran out of there.
The fifth one was on the floor in the hallway. It just looked like a hole. A very deep hole. Nothing great, but results are funnier if you keep it simple. Anyway, a servant and a maid came walking down the hall, hand in hand. (In case you are wondering, (probably not) yes, they are dating.) She was about to step on the painting when he yelled.
“Stop! There’s a hole.” she looked down and her eyes widened. I could tell she was trying to catch her balance. She failed. He had a look of horror on his face as he saw her about to fall. Her foot landed on the painting.
“Wha?” he said, definitely puzzled.
“The looks on your faces! My teacher always said, ‘Keep it simple. Results are better.’ I never believed him, but it’s a good thing I did! He was the only teacher I listened to.” I said.
“Aster.....” groaned Hector, the servant.
“That was a good one.” approved Jiselle, the maid.
“Thanks.” I bowed, “You guys are the only ones who aren’t mad. You approved. Others were either puzzled, mad, or scared.” I told them.
“Who was scared?” Hector asked.
“One of the maids. Until she knew I did it. I had put an illusion of a giant spider descending on the ceiling.
“I wish I could’ve seen that!” Jiselle marveled.
“You can.” I told them and directed them to it. I left. I had somewhere to go.
FInally I got to my last and best illusion. I had put it outside in the courtyard. It depicted a huge cavern with a multitude of colors. There was stalactites and stalagmites connected which were tinged with a beautiful shade of green. There was a small lake that had a tint of dark purple with glittering green, red, orange, and yellow stones in it. Then, I had put some light streaming in from a hole in the side of it. It was a majestic painting, if I do say so myself. I had also put some pillars of stone in the picture so it looked like you could jump over the ‘cavern’ safely. Then a page came running. He was one of the older ones; the kind that liked playing tricks on me. The perfect victim. He has curly brown hair, brown eyes, and is 18 years old. Now, he will get what he deserves. He runs up to the edge, and, seeing what’s ahead, stops. He looks and sees the closest pillar. He backs up to take a running jump. Right before he jumps into the air, I jump out from behind the bush.
“Bah!” I shout, which is just enough to mess him up. He mis-jumped and saw himself ‘falling’ toward the cavern floor. He hits the ground and looks down.
“What?” he is, by far, the most confused person I’ve seen today.
“Looks like I got you back.” I told him.
“Wha? Aster!” when he says my name, his voice dripped with hatred. (He’s the only kid who hates me.)
“Yep. That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.” I told him with a smile.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked.
“”Don’t you know? It’s a tradition.” I’ve never been able to prank him before.
“Tradition? What tradition?” he snorted.
“Every Dragonsday I set up pranks, the staff gets pranked, and I get yelled at by my Father to never do it again. See? It’s a never-ending cycle.” I explained.
“That is so.....how do I put it? Dumb. Stupid. Anything I’m missing?” he asked.
“Yeah. You’re acting like an idiot just because you got pranked.”
“Exactly. Hey! That’s not fair!” he yelled as I ran away. He’ll get me later. Now, it’s time to be serious. Why did she lie about her address? And why does she have a Cleansers mark in the wrong place?