Diary of a Reluctant Ruler

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You’ve got to understand that, for some people, my being the crown princess is normal. This includes Olly, Mom, Dad, Felix, most of my relatives, and some of the servants. But to other people, it’s weird. This probably includes James, and every other person on the planet. Now there are several reactions to the fact. People will either;

1. Be totally in awe of me and not say a word.
2. Freak out.
3. Decide that I’m going to be a stuck-up git before they even know me.
4. (And this is extremely rare;) Accept it.

Now, if everyone could do the last that would be great. But normally it’s either the first or second. I hadn’t quite gauged James’s reaction yet, and obviously he’d been told who I was before getting to know me. This didn’t help. I think he’s more of number three. But... It could possibly be 4. Olly, well, she was simple. I didn’t tell her until we’d been friends for about a week. She freaked out.

Today is a Wednesday, and therefore it was a princess lesson this morning. This meant etiquette, or anything else my grandmother thought was essential to being the current-princess-future-Queen. Most of it was nonsense. I had lessons on Wednesday morning, and Thursday evening. Actually, here’s my schedule, written up by Grandmother for this week;

Monday morning; Riding lesson.
Monday afternoon; Free time.
Monday evening; Languages lesson.

Tuesday morning; Free time.
Tuesday afternoon; Parliament sit-in.
Tuesday evening; My birthday ball. (17th)

Wednesday morning; Etiquette.
Wednesday afternoon; Riding lesson.
Wednesday evening; Free time.

Thursday morning; Free time.
Thursday afternoon; Free time.
Thursday evening; Etiquette

Friday morning; Portrait Sit-in.
Friday afternoon; Art.
Friday evening; Free time.

Saturday; Free.

Sunday morning; Church.
Sunday afternoon; Free time.
Sunday evening; Free time.

It would look like I had a lot of free time. But what you don’t realise is that this is my summer holiday schedule. Plus, as this week was my birthday I’d been allowed to skip some language lessons. Ouch.

I knocked on the door to Grandmother’s sitting room, waiting patiently as she’d taught me, not knocking again.

“Come in.” She said, and I entered, closing the door quietly behind me, without turning my back on her. I went up to her, curtsied as best I could, then stood in front of her, my back as ramrod straight as I could make it.

“Better than normal, Meredith,” (Grandma was the only person who called me by my proper name) “But you’re a minute late.”

“I beg your pardon, Madame, but there were guests at breakfast, and I felt obliged not to leave until they had finished,” I said, twisting the truth a little.

“You are excused then,” she said, standing up and making her way over to the small round table in front of the bay window.

“Today I would like you to set this table for two people, at dinner, for a starter, main meal, and desert. You will find the full menu here, and everything you need is in the cabinet. You should know this from last week.”

I nodded, and she went and sat on the window seat, surveying me with an eagle eye. I picked up the menu, reading it slowly, then went to the cabinet and started to set the table.

I don’t see why we have to do this when there are servants to do it for us.

I agree.

You do?!

No. Of course I don’t.

Huh?

I set the wine glasses at last on the table, biting my lip, hoping that I wouldn’t have made a mistake. I didn’t care much for this, but I did care about what Grandma thought, because I knew that she told the servants, and then I would be sniggered at in the corridor. Grandma stood up, surveying the table with a frown.

“A little sloppy, Meredith,” she said, her frown increasing, “The shield isn’t facing 12 o’clock here, and you’ve forgotten the cheese fork.”

I wrinkled my nose, annoyed.

“Don’t frown like that Meredith. It makes your whole face ugly. You’re already plain; you’ll do yourself no good.”

Speak for yourself, you old crow.

*sniffle.*

I’d gotten fairly used to this, but it didn’t stop me from giving a little hiccup.

“Your homework is to revise the setting of a table for any arrangement by tomorrow evening. I will test you before your lesson, so come an hour earlier. You are dismissed.”

I curtsied wearily, and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Meredith,” I turned around again, “Please begin to read up on the royal family of Lorainya.”

“Yes, madame,” I replied, curtsying.

I sighed as I left, wondering why I had to read up on Lorainya. The King and Queen had made a brief visit when I was little, which I only remembered because he had frightened me to death by asking me my name in a great big booming voice, and she had raised her eyebrows rather drastically at my muddy appearance, which was due to a recent horseride.