1. I have breakfast with my mother

Amelia

Eleanor shakes me awake. She seems urgent. Too urgent. There's a strange tension in the air as I hear loud footsteps, running, I realize, in the living room of my chambers.

I pretend to casually rise from my bed and stretch. Faking a yawn, I scan the room. Eleanor is hurriedly piling a number of my hair accessories onto my vanity. She is wearing one of her more elegant, silk day dresses, and her house crest is adorned in her hairpin.

Coraline sprints into my room with a vast multitude of satin and silk day dresses in her arms, throwing them onto my bed and fixing me with a glare.

I look outside. The curtains have been drawn, and the sun is above the horizon, barely grazing it. I can see the open ocean from here, as well as the coned roofs of Valoria's watchtowers that encompass the harbour.

The clock strikes seven as I regard Coraline. Her hair is in a makeshift bun and, I notice that she, too, has on one of her finer day dresses.

"...Good morning?"

She huffs and throws an envelope at me, "care to explain this?"

The envelope bounces off my head before landing in my hands. I stare at the envelope. The royal crest is stamped onto it and I immediately know who it's from. But I don't know why. "...Huh?"

Cora rolls her eyes and gives an exasperated sigh, " maybe if you opened it. You would know..."

I do and I'm very concerned when I've finished.

"Her Imperial Majesty Queen Luna Isabella Hestia Ignatius

Graciously invites

Her Royal Highness Princess Amelia Pandora Athena Ignatius to

Breakfast."

Breakfast..... I furrow my eyebrows. This was bad. This was very bad.

Before my brother James' death, having breakfast with Mama was quite simply, of routine. We would always have breakfast together. It was like a ritual. Was a ritual. For after James' death, Mama shut herself away from everyone...including me.

Now breakfast with her was a sort of punishment. Not only for me but her as well. Punishment for her, as every waking moment with me, reminded her of James and my Papa. Punishment for me because I only got called to breakfast with her if I was in trouble. Thus, Cora asking me for an explanation for what I had done.

I sigh as I get out of bed and head to my vanity. As I sit down, Eleanor immediately sets to work untangling my hair. "I didn't do anything."

Cora raises her eyebrows at me, so does Eleanor. "Right...and pigs can talk."

I roll my eyes. I didn't expect them to believe me. But it still hurts that they don't ."Look, you can believe what you wish. I could care less," I lie. "But, I didn't do anything." That part was true.

"Girls, girls. Enough of this bickering," Dahlia, my lady's maid, walks in with my perfume and some rosewater." Talking isn't going to get either of you three ready in time so less talking more doing," she regards Cora's hair and swiftly takes a hairbrush from the table and begins to brush her thick, black curls.

Cora smiles "Thank you, Dahlia.."

I smile as I stare at the two of them. They are the classic pair of mother and daughter. Even if they are not related. But what did it matter? If they were happy so was I.

The rest of the hour goes by quietly and swiftly. All three of us rushed to get ourselves looking decent enough for the queen to not go into a screaming fit when she saw us.

It was a quarter to seven when we, finally, declared ourselves ready. We ran all the way to her parlour, which, stupidly, was on the other side of the palace despite her rooms being right next to mine, in the royal quarters. We hurry past the lush blooming gardens, the empty- soon to be filled- ballrooms and stables.

When we arrive at the Queen's private parlour, I make a soft cold breeze flow into each of our faces to not only get our hair back into their individual places but also to calm the redness of our faces and compose ourselves.

When we're ushered into the room. I immediately analyze my surroundings. The curtains have been drawn and sunlight floods in the room. Mama sits solemnly in her chair silently staring into space. A small table overloaded with food in front of her.

What are you thinking? I want to ask. But then, I realize I can't ask her that anymore. So instead, I stand there and wait for her to notice me.

Surely enough, Mama immediately notices and, surprisingly, smiles.

I smile back, only because of how genuine she seems. Perhaps she's in a good mood today. It's been so long since I've seen her smile like this. But I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. Something's always wrong when I get called here.

She gestures for me to sit across from her at the table. There's a strange light that dances in her eyes...sadness? Guilt? No, that's impossible. After the war, Mama has felt nothing. Not even happiness let alone sadness.

She must have seen me analyzing her because her eyes turn completely blank after that. She regards my ladies-in-waiting and waves a hand at them. They immediately curtsey and walk out of the room. As do the palace guards that always seem to shadow her. Though it always confounded me, why the strongest women in the nobility needed guarding.

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. I can sense it in the air. But as always, I hide my true feelings and smile. "How have been, Mother?" I ask, forcing on my curious, sympathetic face.

She gives me a ghost of a smile and sighs, " Oh, you know, the usual.....Queen duties...."

The usually warm air that circulates around her is cold and her words send chills down my spine. She never refers to her duties as "Queen duties" not unless she was angry or had become resentful.

I nod but inside I was screaming.

What's going on?

She shifts in her chair to face me. Her pure white skin glistening in the sun.

She's been crying? Why?

Oh God, what's going on?

She takes my hand in hers, heat seeping through her skin. Her eyes regarding me with pity. "You should eat, young lady."

"Not until you tell me what's going on, Mama." I'm too panicked to eat. Besides, knowing her, the food might be poisoned. I smell nothing though. And none of the food seems poisoned.

She slowly shakes her head. " If I were to tell you now, you wouldn't be able to eat," she smiles, "and we most certainly cannot have the Jewel of Aresia starving."

I laugh at this and she smiles. She seems genuine. For the first time in years, she seems genuine. I squeeze her hands to make sure that I'm not dreaming. It all just seems so unreal. Seeing her like this after so long.

I want to know what's going on. I absolutely despise it when I'm not informed of things that concern me. But, I'm also starving.

There are many perks of being a princess of Aresia, but food is not one of them. As the princess of Aresia, I was to be the example, for all the ladies in the court. Because of this, I could not eat based on my actual appetite. So instead, I would usually eat a small meal in front of the court and Dahlia would bring my actual dinner to my chambers. But, last night because of the grand opening ball of the summer season, Dahlia had forgotten to bring me dinner.

Thus, my piling my plate with a multitude of sandwiches. And eggs. And bacon. And muffins.

As I begin to stuff my mouth with muffins, Mama laughs. ¨You shouldn't eat that much, young lady. Imagine how you would appear if you did this in front of the court.¨

I shrug. I could care less about what others thought of me. Much less my appearance. Even if I was the most beautiful girl in all of Aresia. Supposedly.

We eat quietly. Mama stopping every once in a while to sign papers.

When I'm done eating, I make sure to dab my face with a napkin to get rid of all the crumbs that I know are scattered all over my face.

¨So... now that I've eaten my fill. Care to tell me what's going on?¨

She stops writing and looks up at me. This time, there is no remorse in her eyes. "You know, you were never to be the ruler of this country."

I hide a shudder as I stare into her empty, molten eyes. "You're right, that role was to go to James. So? What of it?"

She looks away from me and out onto the gardens. Her right hand propping up her face.

At this point, my patience is running dry. But at the same time, my whole body is beginning to fill a sort of trepidation. What was she going to tell me?

"What are you thinking?"

She looks back at me, hurt and regret spilling across her face. "How I should have treated you better."

I shrug. "It doesn't matter. It never did."

I did. Of course, it did. The scars on my body told me it mattered. I kept my mouth shut.

I can see the sadness in her eyes as the words spill out of me. She suddenly takes my hands in her again. "You remind me so much of him."

"Papa?"

She nods.

"What of it?"

She gives me a ghost of a smile. "I have to lose both of you."

The fear disappears and replaced with it, is sadness. She looks so vulnerable and... human. Throughout my entire life, she had been nothing more than a cold-hearted Queen who had never truly loved me. The way she acted sometimes, it was like she was not even human. More a goddess. Or a monster.

But that is not what concerns me. I squeeze her hands. "What do you mean, lose me?"

So she tells me.

At that moment, the world turns an eerie shade of grey.

*****

Coraline: If you don't vote or comment I'll throw an envelope at you.