Royal Performer - Chapter 13

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 13: Flameout

THE NEXT FEW days passed by in a blur for me. Morning beginning ballet, classes, more classes, a bit of time to practice clarinet, more studying, dinner with Grandma, and a little downtime in the evenings. During that time, I’d discovered we had an indoor pool and jacuzzi in one of the wings I hadn’t been shown yet. It had taken me a couple of days to swim, but I found myself finally heading downstairs with a bag holding a skirted one-piece swimsuit that had appeared at my request.

The pool room was located off one of the back parts of the castle’s ground floor, but you couldn’t reach it without a maze of staircases from the first floor. It featured a beautiful set of stained glass on one side that let light in, and the back side was a gorgeous set of clear windows created with intricate iron patterns latticed within it. You could see a private garden beyond, which I learned was one of Grandma’s places to get away from everyone.

She maintained more than forty different species of roses there, which she crossbred to create new varieties that could join the central gardens. I’d spent an hour the day before with her as she showed me how she cared for them.

I wasn’t interested in it as a hobby, but I couldn’t help but admire her passion for them!

I’d been shown a couple of bathrooms off the room I could change in. This was considered a ‘private’ part of the castle, so I had an escort to the room by a security member. Still, I was alone as the late afternoon sun showed through the windows. I changed quickly and left my clothes neatly hanging in the changing room before moving to the pool.

I was pleasantly surprised as I jumped in that the water was quite warm!

I made several laps of the pool and found myself trying to have fun while wishing I had Ellie there!

‘Nothing’s the same without her,’ I thought sadly.

After a while, I decided to move to the large jacuzzi and enjoyed the bubbles from the jets after I found the controls to turn it on. I was feeling nice and warm when one of the castle staff came over with a bottle of water.

“Thank you,” I told the woman.

“You’re welcome, Your Highness. Madame Lavigne asked that I make sure you had something to hydrate. Do you need anything else?”

“Not right now?” I replied.

“She also asked that I remind you that you’ll need to start getting ready for dinner soon?”

I sighed, “Thanks, I’ll head upstairs here in a few minutes.”

She curtsied to me and left. I took a moment to open the water bottle and drank most of it down in a few gulps.

I leaned back in the jacuzzi for just another couple of minutes before knowing I needed to get going. With a sigh, I went to the changing room, discovered they had placed some of my preferred shower gel in a shower, dried off, removed my swim cap, and then put my dress back on. I spent a couple minutes in front of a mirror with a brush to make my hair look marginally presentable before heading upstairs.

‘All I ever wanted to do was wear dresses… now it’s all I’m allowed to wear!’ I mused to myself.

The dress in question that day was simpler than most in my closet. It was just a single shade of light lavender with some fluttery sleeves. Having been wearing these expensive dresses for a while now, I could see a few little additions that made you realize it was yet another piece of designer clothing. I made it up to my room and found Anna waiting.

“Did you enjoy your swim, Your Highness?” she asked.

“It was nice… It’ll be nicer when Ellie comes to visit, and we can hang out there. It was a little lonely with just me.”

She nodded at that, “I can understand that. Did you shower downstairs?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I told her. “I wore a swim cap to keep my hair dry?”

“Thank you for that,” she told me. “Your grandmother has a few other guests coming to dinner tonight.”

“It seems like she does almost every night?” I replied.

Anna actually almost let herself smirk at that, “It does seem that way sometimes, doesn’t it?”

I was soon dressed in yet another of the prohibitively expensive gowns. This sapphire blue dress began with a sleeveless bodice, then moved to an extra full skirt that brushed the floor. Little embroidered lines of darker blue stitching made little flower and vine patterns on the bodice, with what I’d been told were Swarovski Crystals somehow embedded in places. Anna spent a fair amount of time twisting my hair back and forth tightly into an elegant updo with a significant number of jeweled hair pins added to make my hair sparkle, too.

Giselle had simultaneously been painting my nails and face to match the look. They had to help me into the short heels I was wearing since I couldn’t see my feet past the skirt, but as I stood up and caught sight of myself in the mirror, I smiled.

“You look beautiful, dear,” Grandma said, surprising us with her entrance. Giselle and Anna immediately curtsied.

“Thank you, Grandma.” I looked at her elegant, far more mature-looking dress. You do as well.”

“Thank you,” she replied in kind. “Are you ready?”

“I guess?” I replied, “Who is coming to dinner tonight?”

“About two dozen members of Parliament,” Grandma said.

I felt my face drain, “What?”

She squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, “You’ll be fine, Alexandria. We will just allow them to slowly get to know you.”

I felt my hands shake, “What will they ask me?” I asked nervously. “What do they expect of me?”

“Simple questions, nothing too intrusive, I’m sure,” she reassured me.

I nodded nervously, “Okay.”

“Ready to go face Parliament?”

“Even less so now that you said it that way?” I told her.

She smiled, placed her arms around me, and hugged me. “I’ll be right by your side, Allie.”

I smiled at her use of what I considered my real name and said, “Thanks.”

An insignificant amount of time passed as we passed down the corridors and downstairs to the formal dining room. Geneva was standing there, “Wait here for a moment, Your Highness,” she told me.

I nodded, having been through that bit of pomp a few times now. A moment later, a small ensemble of herald trumpets and a rope drummer began playing what I now knew as the official anthem of Queen Maria Eirene Margarita Andino Alessi as Her Royal Majesty was announced to enter the room. Several moments later, another fanfare played, and Geneva gave me the nod to enter: “Princess Alexandria Leonidas Alessi!”

I took some of the small steps that Madame Lavigne had been drilling me on as I walked down the rows of tables of standing adults who towered over me. I knew there were thirty-two Parliament members for Osané, with twenty-three men and nine women representatives. From what I could see, probably a good twenty-five or so members were present.

I turned, stood by the chair pulled out for me, and sat down as Grandma motioned.

I smiled at the guests as dinner was served course by course. Being an only child of a single mother, I’d become accustomed to being at dinners with Mom’s colleagues and being the only kid while growing up. This room felt similar to me because I guessed the youngest member of Parliament was in her thirties!

I had yet to learn how the seating arrangements had been made. Grandma sat to my left in the center of a long table, and to her other side sat the Prime Minister, Pierre Leclerc, who I had met back home in the US. On my right, I’d been introduced to Alina Durand, the youngest member of Parliament. She was only thirty-four, and it was quite an accomplishment for her to have been elected so young.

I was nervous but reacted to her small talk as best I could.

“So, Princess Alexandria, what do you like to do for fun? We know almost nothing about you so far?”

Her tone made me feel like I was talking to a babysitter or a teacher when I was little. It probably didn’t help that she was nearly six feet in height! I almost said, ‘Umm…’ but Madame Lavigne’s constant drilling that word out of me caused me to resist the urge. “I like hanging out with my best friend, Ellie,” I told her. “I also really enjoy playing the clarinet?”

“I used to play clarinet when I was younger too!” She said with a smile.

We spoke for a while, and looking around the room, I realized she was probably the future of Parliament, just as I was the future of the monarchy. When I asked her about herself, she said, “Well, I’m a mama to two kids,” she smiled.

“Oh? How old are they?” I asked.

“Chloe is six, and Lucas just turned four last week.”

I could see in her eyes that they were her whole world. “Is it tough being a member of Parliament and a mom?” I asked her.

She shrugged, “There are days it can be challenging, but I would not change it for the world. We’re fortunate in Osané that we have good childcare available. Lucas will be moving onto school this next year from his daycare.”

It was interesting talking to her, as I learned more about things that were way better than back home. Free childcare was available for any child under fourteen during summers and breaks. For younger children, obviously, that meant full-time care was available. The government-run daycares even catered to parents during shift hours that went into the night. Healthcare was also free, and a part of me was in disbelief at how that all seemed too good to be true based on my life back home!

Eventually, the final course, a dessert with berries unique to the island nation and some flammable liquor lit on fire above ice cream, came to the table.

“That is so cool!” I exclaimed, forgetting I should probably have been more reserved.

Right then, I reached for my dessert spoon but forgot that a glass of water was by my hand, so I spilled it over!

I reached over with my napkin to try soaking up some of it but forgot there was a flame before me. Right then, I managed to start the cloth napkin smoldering!!!

Fortunately, Alina was a quick thinking woman, and she helped me sit it down and put it out on the table.

Every eye was on me then, and I wanted the floor to swallow me up and hide me in the dungeons!

Grandma laughed at that moment, though; everyone else also started smiling.

"Your Majesty, I think you must keep more fire extinguishers around the castle with her here!” The prime minister quipped.

You could have cooked an egg on my face as the staff rapidly swapped out the table cloth and setting, even reappearing with another dessert for me. I noted it was flambeed still, but it was most definitely no longer lit when the server put it down.

I was full but enjoyed a few bites from it, even as I continued to be the target of giggles. As people began standing after my grandmother did so, I would have loved to have just disappeared to my rooms! Instead, I found myself paraded around the room, meeting the other members of Parliament. Even with my short five-minute conversations with each member, we talked until nearly midnight, when I could finally walk with Grandma upstairs.

“You made a good impression on them,” Grandma told me.

“Really?” I asked.

“Really,” she said. “You came off as well-mannered, for the most part?”

“Even with setting the table on fire?” I said, turning red.

Grandma laughed, “It’s not the first time that’s happened. Your father did it several times when he was younger, too.”

“Really?” I asked.

She nodded, “I think he was more intentional, though!”

I blushed deeper as she gave me a sideways squeeze of a hug.

“You also don’t come across as a pretentious, stuck-up prima donna, which earned you points, too.”

I nodded at that, “I hope I never do?”

“I doubt you will,” she said as we reached our shared entry room. “I hate that you never met your father, but I think growing up as a common American child was probably beneficial to your personality.”

I bristled at being considered a commoner, like my mom, whom she had refused to let my father love, but I tamped down that annoyance. “Thank you, Grandma,” I told her.

“I’ll let Madame Lavigne and your maids know to let you sleep in tomorrow. You’ve been pushing it hard since you arrived, and it won’t do to have you burn out.”

“Thank you,” I told her. “Good night,” I told her.

“Good night, Alexandria. I love you,” she told me.

I reflexively said, “Love you too,” even as it was still odd to say those words to someone who I had met only a short while ago!

I made it inside my room and was soon dressed in my pajamas but unable to sleep. I looked at my phone and pressed the button to call my mom.

“Allie?” She said.

“Hi, Mom,” I said to her. She held her phone in front of her for the video call, and I was grateful that her color still looked better!

“How was today?” She asked me.

“Don’t ask!” I said.

“Oh?” She must have been feeling better with that smirk. “What happened?”

“Knocked a glass of water over and tried to set the castle on fire?”

She laughed and winced. “Ouch…”

“Sorry,” I said. “That wasn’t even the worst part! I did it in front of the Parliament!”

She laughed some more, followed by another sudden grimace, “Don’t apologize; laughter hurts, but it’s boring here!”

“How much longer are they going to keep you?” I asked.

She smiled, “Actually, they’re supposed to release me in the next hour!”

“Really?!?” I asked excitedly.

“Really!”

“Where are you going to stay?” I asked.

“With my mom and dad for the moment. Dad was helping with getting some of the insurance claim information going. Still, it will be at least a month before they have a settlement in place,” she told me. “They’ll cover living in an apartment or temporary housing for now, but I’m going to need a hand for a few weeks anyway,” she told me.

“Sorry I’m not there…” I told her.

“It’s okay, Allie! I will be at home for a few weeks, and then I will head over to see you. Your grandmother ensured I know the castle has plenty of space!”

“That’s an understatement,” I told her. “Every day, I seem to discover a whole new wing!”

We spoke for another fifteen minutes before a doctor came in to sign release papers, and she needed to go. “I love you, Allie,” she told me.

“Love you too, Mom!”

By that point, I was exhausted, so I grabbed my bear, Becky, and curled up on the gigantic bed to get some sleep!