Royal Performer - Chapter 4

Princess Alexandria Alessi’s life has turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Only a few days ago, she was enjoying a clandestine summer shopping with her best friend at the local mall. Coming home, she was alarmed to discover her mom was there, and her secret of being transgender was suddenly no longer secret! Within a few short hours, her life became like a movie as she discovered that her long-lost father was the Crown Prince of Osané, a small, secluded island nation. Alexandria was immediately thrust into the spotlight in a whirlwind weekend that led to a Monday press conference to announce her royal lineage. Royal Performer is the second Tiffany Shar's 'Suddenly Royal' series.

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Chapter 4: Rude Awakenings

I FELT A hand rub my shoulder, “Your Highness, it’s time to wake up,” a voice said.

“Huh…?” I said, feeling a wet patch on the pillow from drooling embarrassingly.

I turned over and saw Anna looking down at me. “Come on, Your Highness, you have a big couple of days here.”

My body just wanted to go back to sleep. “What time is it?” I sleepily asked.

“Five in the morning.”

“Five in the morning?!? Let me go back to sleep,” I said, turning back over.

She sighed, “Your Highness, you need to get out of bed. We can do this the nice way or the hard way…”

I tried rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I lay face down. Apparently, that wasn’t moving fast enough as I felt the covers pulled from on top of me, and fingers began tickling me.

“Noooo!!!” I cried out, “I’ll get up,” while suddenly needing the bathroom!

She let up, and I bolted for the bathroom to pee, nearly tripping over the too long gown along the way! I saw there was a bra and a pair of panties sitting on the counter, along with a towel hanging on a bar by the shower. After using the bathroom, I took my nightgown off and tried deciphering the foreign shower. The only controls were on a futuristic touch panel below the main shower nozzle, which displayed forty degrees. ‘That’s a cold shower…’ I thought for a second before reminding myself I was in Europe. ‘Why don’t I ever remember that conversion from Fahrenheit…?’ I griped to myself. I shrugged and pressed ‘on’ and watched water blast from a nozzle above the panel, six in front of the panel, and six from the side of the wall at the door I stood at. I jumped as my hand got wet, but relaxed when I realized the temperature was just about perfect!

I climbed into the shower and found my regular shampoo, conditioner, and a familiar-looking body wash, which I could use with a loofa that was left for me. I could have stood there for an hour or more and not cared to get out, but a persistent knocking at the door made me realize I was taking longer than my minders wanted me to.

I sighed, turned the water off, dried my body, and wrapped my hair in a towel I found beside the sink. I picked up the underwear and discovered a gaff concealed beneath the panties. I pulled it on first and then covered it with a purple pair of hipster panties that matched the bra I quickly pulled on. I brushed my teeth and then realized I didn’t have anything besides the underwear and a robe to wear right then. I pulled the robe on and discovered Anna had already made the bed and was waiting for me.

“Your Highness, we need to get you moving faster in the mornings from now on!”

“I didn’t know I had anything scheduled today?” I glared at her. “More importantly, I am not a morning person. Let me figure out what I’m wearing and then finish getting ready. I just flew on a plane here yesterday after leaving my mother in the hospital!!!”

A part of me worried the look she gave me was a sign Anna was going to show me that abusive threat she’d made to me the day before, but instead, she sighed, “I’m sorry, Your Highness; I guess no one told you, the plan for today. Please pick something to wear quickly, I’ll do your hair, and then we need to get you to breakfast with Her Majesty very quickly. You are supposed to meet for breakfast in ten minutes!”

“I’ll do my best,” I told her curtly, walking into the huge closet.

I looked around at the dresses, dresses, and more dresses. A week ago, this was a complete dream come true, but I didn’t like having zero options I had chosen! I was not happy since I never liked mornings, but dealing with Anna did not help. I’d previously heard red was a ‘power’ color and zeroed in on a section of the closet in reds. A short-sleeved dress hung there with a smocked bodice and flared-out skirt. The sleeves puffed out a bit and would end high on my arms. With a sigh, I pulled it over my head and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

It definitely wasn’t some seductive red form-fitted sheath dress. No, my youthful appearance felt like it was emphasized. My tiny bra only barely pushed out the fabric on my bust enough to make me look like a tween. I liked how the dress ended just above my knee, keeping things clearly covered below.

‘I could wait in here a bit to piss Anna off more…’ I mused but moved towards a wall of shoes and picked out a set of white strappy sandals with just a slight heel to them. I carried them to my bedroom, where Anna held a hairbrush beside my vanity.

“That looks cute on you,” she said. I could tell there was a lingering annoyance in her attitude, but I didn’t care.

“Thank you,” I told her as I swept the skirt beneath me and sat down. I contorted myself to put on the sandals as she worked on blow-drying and brushing my hair.

“If you give me more time in the future, I can make this look much nicer!” She grumbled.

“If you can give me a schedule and let me know what time you need me out of the shower, I can give you more time,” I told her.

“I am sorry, Your Highness…”

“I promise I’m not a stuck-up spoiled brat if that’s what you were expecting, but I’m also not a pushover who is going to let you keep constantly being rude to me,” I told her as I stood up and looked up into her face. “I was perfectly happy in my own world as a regular kid a week ago!”

She looked ready to yell at me again when Madame Lavigne knocked and asked, “May I enter Your Highness?”

“Yes!” I said, trying not to shout.

She looked at the two of us squared off to each other and asked, “Is there a problem?”

I stared at her, daring her to declare me the issue.

“No, Madame,” she told her instead. “Her Highness should be ready for the day.”

“Trés bien!” she said with a smile while raising an eyebrow at me.

I sighed, “Yes, let me grab my purse and phone…”

I quickly recovered my phone from where it was charging and grabbed a random purse from the closet to throw it into. “Where are we going?” I asked Madame Lavigne.

“Aren’t you going to give Miss Anna a thank you for her help?”

“Thank you, Anna…” I said with as much sincerity as I could fake. “I appreciate your help with my hair this morning.”

“It’s a start,” she sighed. “We’re meeting your Grandmother in her receiving room.”

I followed her down the hallway, through our shared space, and into the ‘small’ room that made up a dining room and lounge-type area for her. She was seated, dressed perfectly, and drinking a cup of coffee.

“I see you found our errant princess?” Grandma spoke in French.

“Yes, I did.” Madame Lavigne continued in French as well.

“I’m sorry, Grandma. No one has given me a schedule or a wake-up time.” I complained.

She raised an eyebrow, “Anna didn’t deliver that message to you?”

“No…” I told her. “It would certainly have… lowered tensions this morning if she had.”

“I will speak with her about that later.”

A part of me felt slightly guilty about dropping her in it, but I didn’t care right then. A uniformed staff member appeared right then, gathering a cart from a dumbwaiter, and served us a small buffet of breakfast meats, crepes, and fruit. I only took one crepe and a bit of fruit after deciding I would get fat if I didn’t restrain myself!

During breakfast, Grandma and Madame Lavigne made some small talk about their hobbies. Apparently, Grandma was quite the accomplished gardener, having contributed several custom rose breeds over the years on the castle grounds. I learned that she kept a greenhouse where she experimented with cross-pollinating the flowers at one of the other estates on a neighboring island.

Madame Lavigne informed us that she was more into dance and, even at her age, kept up a practice schedule and had been teaching ballet up until her retirement. Upon hearing this revelation, Grandma asked, “Will you teach Alexandria some basics while you are here?” She paused, “It would be more efficient than hiring another instructor?”

“It would be a pleasure, Your Majesty,” she said with a smile before looking at me nursing a second cup of coffee I’d managed to get from a staff member. “Well, Your Highness, are you ready to get to work today?”

I shrugged, “What are we doing today?”

“First of all, a princess never shrugs,” Grandma admonished me, “and second, you will say, ‘Oui, Madame,’ when asked such a question, not question Madame Lavigne.”

I sighed quietly, “Oui, Madame.” Mom would probably have chewed me out for that, too.

“Then let’s be off. Thank you for a superb breakfast this morning, Your Majesty,” she said to her. I noted that Grandma stood first, and I followed when Lavigne stood.

“You’re most welcome. We’ll have to do it again sometime.” Grandma turned to me. “You will do everything that she asks you to do. Today and possibly tomorrow, she needs to figure out what you know to develop a plan to prepare you. I’ll see you for supper this evening.”

With that, she turned and left the room, her assistant Geneva appearing seemingly from nowhere and chattering with her as she walked down the hallway. I felt my limited lifeline of comfort disappear before hearing a “Shall we?” beside me.

I nodded and was led down the hallway to my father’s former office and library. I saw a laptop on the desk before an oversized desk chair. Beside the desk was a smaller table that seemed a new addition. Another smaller rolling chair sat in front of it, with another laptop present. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. “Right now, if it is okay with you, I will take the bigger chair. It’s going to be a long day for both of us.”

“Umm… okay?” I told her.

She sighed, “Umm…? That will have to come out of your vocabulary, Your Highness. If you don’t know what to say, just stay silent and think it through. Never should a young woman of your stature use that word.”

I wanted to give a clever retort, but instead silently sighed within my head and said, “Oui, Madame.”

She had the grace to smile at the learned lesson. “I don’t mean to offend you, Your Highness, but American schools are not well thought of in the circles you are now a part of. We need to establish where you have your deficits and devise a plan to fix them. So, today, we’re going to be working through what knowledge you have with some typical diagnostic tests. They each have time limits, but if you complete one early, you will go straight onto the next one.”

“Pardon me, Madame?” I asked.

She nodded for me to continue.

“First, you’re going to be working with me all the time?”

“For at least the summer months.”

“Then, when we’re alone like this, would you please just call me Allie? Especially if you’re going to be teaching me…?”

She looked thoughtful, “I thought it might help you get used to the titles?”

“Believe me, I’ll never get used to that! But… I’m just a fifteen-year-old girl. Would you have used my title if I was a student at your school?”

She looked at me for a moment before shaking her head, “Not in most instances.” She stayed still for a moment before nodding, “Okay… Allie… I will call you that, but only when we are alone, and you are being taught as a student.”

“Thank you very much!” I told her emphatically and impulsively gave her a hug.

She gave me a gentle squeeze and motioned me to the chair. She leaned over and pressed a few keys on the laptop, opening a screen to some testing site. It reminded me of the state tests we were stuck taking every spring. Fortunately for me, I was weird and enjoyed those for some strange reason! I got to work on the first test, English…