The Interview

I awoke with a start an hour or so later. Despite my promise to myself to only think of Luca, my dreams had been plagued by Cynder. I jumped out of bed, wondering if a knock on the door had awoken me, but when I opened it and looked along the corridor, I saw it was empty. I should have gone back to bed. I should have kept my promise, I should have done a lot of things. What I shouldn’t have done was grab my dressing robe and head out into the dark corridor, but that’s exactly what I did.

‘I need to tell Cynder that I’m marrying Luca to help the Magi,’ I said to myself. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to persuade myself that that was the truth or not, but either way, I knew I’d not be able to leave this palace without seeing him again. If nothing else, I had to tell him I was sorry.

I stole down the corridors silently, scared that someone would see me. Except for my own quiet footsteps, there wasn’t a sound. Everyone in the palace was asleep. I was a mere ghost within its walls. I didn’t know where the kitchen was, but I had a strong feeling that if I carried on heading downwards, I’d eventually stumble upon it. In all houses as magnificent as this, the kitchen was usually on the ground floor or in the basement below.

I hurried down staircase after staircase, getting completely lost in the maze of corridors. Eventually, I came to a small wooden staircase. It wasn’t nearly as grand as the others, so I took it to be the servant’s stairwell. I hesitated before slowly heading down. Every step I took felt illicit and wrong, and yet some unseen force was guiding me onwards. At the bottom was a door. Upon it was a wooden plaque saying kitchen. I opened it slowly, my heart hammering in my chest. I’d waited so long to see him again, and yet I was scared to rush through the doors. The lights were on. Someone was down there. I could hear the clinking and sploshing of cutlery being washed up. As I opened the door wider, I saw plates and cups flying through the air before dunking themselves in the sink. They were being washed up by magic. I burst through the door, unable to wait any longer and crashed straight into a young girl. She screamed loudly at my presence before realizing who I was and curtsying. The plates that had been held up by magic crashed to the floor where they shattered into hundreds of pieces.

The scream or the sound of the plates smashing brought down a big burly man wearing blue striped pajamas, who appeared in the kitchen just behind me. He looked like he’d just jumped out of bed, with his hair standing up in all directions and a decidedly sleepy look on his face.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, taking in the strange scene.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the young girl, her face turning the color of a plum. “I had an accident.”

“No,” I replied quickly. “It was my fault. I scared her. I should have given her warning.”

“Your majesty,” began the man. “It’s not customary, nor is it necessary, for a member of the royal family to be down in the kitchen. If you want something brought up to your room, you only need to pull the bell cord next to your bed, and someone will come to you.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve not seen the bell cord,” I answered truthfully. “I didn’t know.”

“No harm, no foul. What can I get for you? I’m assuming you are hungry.”

“I just came for a drink of water,” I improvised.

“Amanda, can you get her majesty a glass of water. I’ll tidy up this mess.”

He pulled out a wand and flicked it quickly. The broken shards rearranged themselves into full pieces of crockery and piled themselves up neatly on the counter. I was so in awe of the magic, I almost didn’t notice when Amanda handed me the glass.

“Thank you,” I said taking a sip. “I’ll head off now.”

“Be sure to use the bell cord,” shouted the man as I left. “It’s what we are here for.”

“Will do,” I shouted back as I made my way back up the stairs with the glass.

I’d never felt so foolish although I truly didn’t know about the bell cord. It was not an excuse I could use again. Maybe it was for the best. I headed back to my room and placed the glass of water on the bedside cabinet, noting the bed pull hanging above it.

I got back into bed and closed my eyes.

The next morning, I had to be up early for a day of royal engagements. Xavi had left me strict instructions on what to wear for each occasion, but I was still unsure as I pulled a long blue velvet gown over my head. I topped it off with one of the tiaras I’d spilled on the floor the night before. The notes on each one had also scattered, mixing them up, but the tiara I’d picked had a sapphire of the exact same shade of blue as the dress, so I figured it would be ok.

My hair and makeup was another matter entirely. Without Xavi’s crew, I’d have to do it myself. She’d packed me a small case of makeup and hair equipment, but it looked like a rainbow of disaster. I knew if I picked the wrong eyeshadow, I could mess everything up. I settled for some nude lipstick and a hint of mascara. It wasn’t on the same level of makeup expertise I had gotten used to, but, at least, I didn’t look strange. I brushed my hair back into a tight ponytail and twirled it into a bun. Hopefully, the tiara would hide most of it. Looking into the mirror, I found that I didn’t look quite as bad as I thought I might. Xavi would be proud of me. No doubt, she and Jenny were watching every move I made on the TV. Xavi would be critiquing my attire, and Jenny would be doing the same with my manners and the way I held myself. I found Luca in the breakfast room along with the rest of his family. When he saw me, he jumped up and bounded over, pulling me into a hug.

“I don’t remember undressing myself last night,” he whispered in my ear. When he pulled back, he gave his eyebrows a wiggle, which made me laugh.

“You look stunning, by the way. That blue really suits you.” I kissed his cheek and took my place at the table. Even though I tried not to look up at the waiters dotted around the room, I couldn’t help but glance up at them. Cynder wasn’t there. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset. I decided on the former after my decision last night. Seeing him again would only complicate things. Instead, I concentrated on getting to know Luca’s family a bit more. I made small talk as we all ate. Breakfast was a rather hurried affair as we were all expected for photos and interviews.

I thought we would be taken to a room in the palace, so I was rather surprised when I followed the rest of the family down to the courtyard where a carriage awaited us.

“Where are we going?” I asked Luca as he helped me up into the beautiful black carriage with the royal crest on the side.

“The TV studios.”

“You don’t let the cameras into the house?” I asked, thinking back to last year when there seemed to be TV crews in my palace all the time.

“Not if we can help it. The studios have a special room just for royalty. Any time you’ve seen a professional photo of the Thalian Royal Family, it’s been taken there.”

As we headed out of the castle gates, a roar went up. Just as they had in Silverwood, the people came out to see the royals in Thalia. Thousands of people lined the streets, waving both the Thalian flag and the Silverwood flag. It was a pleasure to see and made me feel more confident about my presence here.

The journey itself only lasted about ten minutes. On arrival, there were hundreds of people behind barriers, most of whom held bunches of flowers. I walked down the barriers accepting bouquet after bouquet. Those that could not reach me, who were two or three people deep into the crowd, threw their bunches so the ground around me was littered with flowers. I smiled a genuine smile trying to speak to as many people as I could before I was finally ushered in. Once inside, we were all taken to a huge room filled with lights. A mock-up of a castle room had been made with a painted backdrop, and a long red velvet sofa sat in front of it.

“We’ve had our photos taken in front of that backdrop so many times, I’m sure that’s where people think we live,” whispered Luca into my ear. I grinned. I was feeling so happy, thanks to the warm welcome from the people of Thalia, that nothing could upset me today. The photographer came in and put us into the position he wanted us to shoot. The theme of the shoot was our upcoming wedding, so the rest of the family were only needed for a few shots, while Luca and I were put in pose after pose until the photographer was satisfied.

Then came the interview. I was prepped beforehand. It was to be a light-hearted interview about the wedding. I was assured that, even though I’d be the center of attention, there’d be no difficult questions. I felt calm and happy as I took my place in front of the cameras on a sofa. Luca’s parents sat on one side, and Tomas and Seraphia sat on the other with myself and Luca in the middle. I smiled. For the first time ever, I was excited to be interviewed. My mother had talked about the upcoming wedding so much that if I was asked any questions about the dress or the flowers for the ceremony, I’d be able to answer almost without thinking.

I arranged my dress so it wouldn’t crease and waited for the interviewer.

The door opened, and a tall wispy man walked in. My mouth dropped when I saw who it was. I’d almost forgotten about Frederick Pittser and the way he assaulted me in my own palace. What was he doing here? He introduced himself to the camera before welcoming me to Thalia.

“It’s wonderful to have you here, Your Majesty. Thank you for coming, and welcome to the rest of our royal family. If I may start with you, Princess Charmaine, how did you feel when you found out you were going to become the queen?”

“I was initially upset,” I replied, trying not to sneer at him. Where was he going with this? I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. “My father had just passed away. Eventually, I began to see it as a great honor, a way to make Silverwood better again.”

“But Silverwood has descended into chaos since you took over.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s chaos,” I argued. “We have problems as does any kingdom, but I feel confident that Luca and I will be able to work together to help to solve them. Our wedding is coming up in a few months, and we are fully prepared to put our kingdom first.”

“Forgive me Your Majesty, but were you putting your kingdom first this morning when the news of another riot in the capital of Silverwood came in because I’ve not seen you responding to it yet?”

I looked to Luca for help. No one had told me about a riot. I wanted to stop the cameras and find out what had happened, but we were broadcasting live.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” I said, trying to keep both the aggravation and the worry from my tone.

“It seems that the unrest has grown since you abandoned Silverwood. There are reports of numerous demonstrations from both sides, both Magi and non-Magi. What do you say to that?”

“As I already stated, Mr. Pittser. I’ve not been made aware, but I assure you, I’ll look into it as soon as we are off air. The welfare of my people is my utmost concern.”

“So what are you going to do about it once you make yourself aware?”

His hostile tone was unmistakable and making me nervous, and yet, I kept my composure.

“She’s already said, she’ll look into it,” interjected Luca, saving me from having to answer. “Once we know what we are dealing with, we will do everything we can to sort out the situation. We were under the impression we would be talking about our wedding today.”

“Yes, I apologize. I’ve noticed your lovely tiara, Princess Charmaine and the beautiful bracelet on your wrist. Can you tell us all where you got it?”

I looked down. There on my wrist was the simple silver charm bracelet that I’d put on last night. I’d forgotten to take it off. Frederick Pittser knew exactly where it had come from. I don’t know how he knew, but he knew.

“The tiara belonged to my mother.”

“And the bracelet. It’s rather unusual.”

“I don’t recall,” I replied. “It’s one of those pieces of jewelry that I’ve had for a long time.”

“And yet, you were seen wearing it a lot last year.”

“I like it,” I replied, feeling sick. With every second that passed, I was waiting for him to tell the whole of Thalia about Cynder. His questions about the bracelet were a warning, but I didn’t know what he wanted me to do except stop the Magi coming back, and I wasn’t prepared to do that.

Thankfully, King Theron began to chat about how proud he was of Luca. As Theron was a big talker, he chatted about the upcoming wedding for the rest of the interview, saving me from having to speak further. As soon as the small red light on top of the cameras went off, I dashed out of the studio to the nearest bathroom and was sick. A minute or so later, I heard a knock on the cubicle door.

“Charmaine? Are you ok?” It was Seraphia.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Just a bit tired.”

I opened the door to find her concerned face looking at me.

“I’m not surprised. You had a long journey to get here, and we all drank a little too much last night.”

I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t suffering from a hangover. I’d not really drunk much at all, but then I realized it was better than the truth.

“I think I just need a nap.”

“If we head back now, you’ll have time to nap before the ball.”

I’d forgotten about the ball that had been organized for me. It was a way for the lords and ladies of Thalia to meet me. As it wasn’t scheduled for hours, maybe Seraphia was right, and I’d be able to fit in a nap. I just wanted to block everything out, and a nap was the perfect way to do it; but first, I had to find out what was going on in Silverwood. Frederick Pittser had said that both the Magi and the Anti-Magi had been involved in riots, but I’d not see the Magi demonstrating in Silverwood for over half a year.

I found Luca waiting for me just outside the bathroom.

“Are you ok? You dashed off pretty quickly.”

“I’m fine. Do you know anything about the riots?”

“No. That’s the weird thing. When I questioned the news team about it, they had no knowledge of any riots, nor has anything been reported here about them. I asked the station manager to call one of his royal reporters near your palace, but all he could tell him was that a whole bundle of fabric had arrived for the bridesmaid dresses. I was going to ask that ass Pittser about it, but he skedaddled quick as a flash once the interview was over.”

“What about the rest of Silverwood? Any riots anywhere?”

“No. Nothing at all. Pittser was obviously a moron with bad information. Don’t worry about it.”

But I did worry. If Luca was correct and Pittser was making it all up, he was playing a game with me, and I didn’t know the rules.

There were still thousands of flag-waving people lining the streets as we left the studio. I tried to smile, but my heart wasn’t in it. As soon as we got back to the palace, I bounded up the stairs to my room, desperate to have some time on my own to figure out what it was that Pittser was up to.

I opened the door to find someone on my bed.

It was Cynder.