Royal Performer - Chapter 15

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 15: Magazine

SADLY, I WASN’T allowed a longer nap, so I felt groggy as I woke up and was pushed towards the shower again. After a light lunch, I was presented with what looked like a really short pale blue dress, but I discovered it was actually a romper. The top featured cap sleeves that did nothing to bring my age up to fifteen, even as my padded bra showed just the smallest amount of a chest with a loose draped fabric. A high bodice was created by two interlocking flat sections that met in the middle before flaring out into a relatively wide two-layered skirt. It looked like almost a baby-doll style dress but seemingly more sophisticated.

The shorts were there for my modesty, but the skirt barely fell below them. I thought it was a cute look as I stared into the mirror in the bathroom after pulling it on. The back zipped up like a dress and had two pieces of ribbon to tie into a bow. I was just getting ready to tie it myself when Anna entered.

“Let me get that for you, Your Highness, so we ensure it’s tied just right!”

“I hope I don’t have to go to the bathroom before we’re done,” I said.

“If you do, Giselle or I will be around to help,” she assured me.

“This makes me look like I’m younger?” I asked.

“Her Majesty picked it out with the help of that odd Tyler gentleman,” she told me.

“Why?”

“It makes you look youthful and like a princess that isn’t too stuck on herself,” I heard from Grandma, who entered just then.

I blushed as I felt Anna finish the bow and looked up at Grandma, “Sorry if it sounded like I was questioning you?”

“I understand completely, Allie. Your height and slow development are something that really can’t be helped. We might as well lean into your look here for this interview. I understand this is one of the premier teen magazines back in the States?” She asked me.

I nodded, “I know Ellie and I used to look through it.”

“Well then, while Anna helps you with your hair and makeup, I want to talk to you about school.”

I was led to the vanity where Anna began working even as Grandma found another chair somewhere and sat next to me.”

“I thought we might wait until Mom was here?” I asked, even as I felt Anna brushing through my hair.

“I’m not certain we can wait that long?” Grandma said.

“Probably not, Your Majesty,” Madame Lavigne joined in the room and conversation.

I sighed, “So where am I going?”

“I think we should take the opportunity for you to try our local Lycée du Alessi for these last three weeks.”

“Wait… What? Like next week?!?”

I felt pain as I turned to look at Grandma, even as my hair was held fast by Anna’s hands. “Your Highness, stay still, please!” she scolded me.

“Yes, next week,” Grandma said. “We’ll have you spend these three last weeks of the summer term there and see how you like it. If you find it’s a good fit, we’ll have you attend there to finish high school.”

“If not?” I asked.

“I have another school in mind that’s similar to the one I used to teach at,” Madame Lavigne told me.

“What classes would I even take?” I asked.

“We’ll register you as if you had been there the whole year as the equivalent of a freshman back in the US?” Grandma told me.

“I have to be a freshman again?” I groaned slightly. “I finished that year.”

“I understand that, Alexandria,” Grandma said. “Hopefully, that will mean you’ll be able to do the coursework already?”

I sighed, “Do you have any idea how horrible it feels when you start summer break and are now told you have to do summer school?”

Madame Lavigne laughed, “It’ll be okay, Your Highness.”

“What about like security and such?” I asked.

“We’ll have a security team on-site, but they won’t follow you around,” Grandma said.

“You’ll be as safe as at school back home?” Madame Lavigne said.

I laughed, “That doesn’t exactly make me feel better?” I paused, “What about things like PE? Do you have that in your school? How do I change for that?”

Grandma responded, “We paid for facilities to be updated several years back to have individual changing cubicles that are used by students. You’ll be able to change in private.”

“Obviously, this is already decided,” I said, pouting.

“We’ll make it up to you after the summer term ends,” Grandma said. “Just get through these last few weeks of the year there, and we’ll do a few things together before you start in the fall term wherever we place you.”

“Why the push to go here?” I asked. “Don’t I need more than that?”

Madame Lavigne handled the answer, “Politics, Your Highness. You’re already an outsider. We think if you go to school here for at least a year—or until the end of Lycée —it’ll help make people believe you want to be a part of Osané and not just be some random stranger.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see a counterargument against that. “Okay, I’ll give it a try. Please promise me we can look elsewhere if it doesn’t work.”

“I promise,” Grandma said. “Now, I’m going to leave you to finish getting ready. Bring your clarinet down with you when you come to the music room. The magazine editors like the idea of a picture of you playing clarinet. You’ll come up here, and they’ll have the real interview.”

I nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.”

She left us alone then, even as Madame Lavigne stayed with me until Anna and Giselle pronounced me ready. I looked in the mirror at the youthful-looking outfit and admitted that this was one outfit I would have picked out before with Ellie. It was cute and girly, even if the outfit did make me look closer to nine. Giselle and Anna had kept my hair long with just a couple of small braids mixed in, and a bow was added to my head that didn’t help sell my age!

The makeup that was applied did help, though. It wasn’t too subtle, with mascara and a sparkly eye shadow bringing out my eyes. My lips were a deeper shade of red than I would usually pick. I looked cute with a short, dangly set of earrings and a simple matching necklace. The makeup probably took my age up to thirteen, at least. I understood there was no realistic way to make my shapeless body look fifteen without being in some dress that might not be appropriate for the shoot.

“Ready?” Madame Lavigne asked.

“As ready as I can be,” I told her. I stood and walked to my dresser, where the clarinet case sat. I grabbed the music I was working on with Monsieur Dubois, and we walked down the hallways to leave my private quarters. I noted that the staff was meticulously straightening everything right then. I assumed it was for the coming tour and photos.

We were about halfway down the hall when I had a question, “Do the students here have some sort of uniform?”

Madame Lavigne laughed, “Yes, they do.”

“I thought that was just a British thing?” I asked.

“Where is your grandmother from?” she reminded me. “Your grandmother pushed for changes, including uniforms, at school when your grandfather ascended to the throne. She felt the schools weren’t doing a good enough job with the country’s children. Osané probably has some of the best government-funded schools in Europe because of her insistence on improvements. The anachronistic uniforms are a bit weird to non-natives. Still, they help level the playing field if you have someone who is, say... a Princess of the country attending school with others?”

“So, in other words, it eliminates one class status symbol?” I sighed.

“To some extent,” Madame Lavigne said. “My school also had uniforms required for similar reasons. Somehow, I find there are touches like jewelry or backpacks that sometimes replace clothing as status symbols.”

“I don’t even have my backpack now…” I thought aloud.

“We’ll work on finding you school supplies,” she told me.

“Great…” I breathed out. As we entered the music room, I saw a photographer with lights and a camera ready near the antique piano.

“Hello,” a lady in her early twenties told me in English as I approached her. She was also quite petite, with blonde hair and dressed in a skirt suit. I guessed this was an outfit she picked to meet a princess in her castle, and she looked slightly uncomfortable. Like my mom and myself, I assumed she was frequently assumed to be younger than her age. She was probably only five feet tall, and her height seemed far less intimidating to me than most people I was around in Osané!

“Hi,” I replied in kind, in English, realizing how little I had spoken it in the past week. “I’m Allie,” I said to her.

I noted that Madame Lavigne shook her head but didn’t say anything. The lady seemed a little surprised, too, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I’m Kylee Howard, a reporter at Seventeen,” she told me as she curtsied.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I told her.

“This is Rachel Frank, our photographer for today.”

“Hi,” she said. She waved and attempted an awkward curtsy that made it apparent that her tomboy look was probably true to her personality. Her pixie-style cut made her look more rugged, and her muscles made her feel like she had worked out. For all of that, she looked friendly.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” I told her.

“So, we’re going to get into a bunch of questions for the proper interview, but when I spoke with your staff, they mentioned you’re an excellent clarinet player?” Kylee said to me.

“I’m pretty good for my age, I guess,” I allowed.

“Since you mentioned it in your initial press briefing, too, I thought it might be fun to have some pictures of you playing? If you don’t mind, I’ll record some video clips I might put on Insta?”

I felt a few butterflies about the video clips but said, “Sure. Where do you want me to stand?” I asked.

Rachel answered, “Right over here? That puts that beautiful grand piano and the room as a backdrop?”

I followed her motions to stand a few feet in front of the piano, not unlike how I would perform with an accompanist. A staff member I didn’t recognize moved a beautiful wooden antique music stand in front of me, and I placed the music I’d been working on the past week on the stand.

“I love your outfit,” Kylee told me as Rachel moved some lights around.

“Thanks!” I told her, “It’s cute, right?”

“Yes, it is! Any idea who designed it?” She asked me.

I blushed, “No?” I turned to Geneva, who had appeared then, “Any chance you can find out for us? I’m guessing Kylee might like that information for her article?”

“Not to mention for myself. It’s an adorable look!”

After a minute, I smiled and listened to Rachel’s directions: “Okay, I think the best way to get this look is to have you play.”

“Okay,” I replied and began playing the first movement of the Weber that I’d been practicing. It was by no means perfect yet, but the first part was coming along quite well! I heard the camera shutter and often had lights changing. In the meantime, Kylee had her phone out and recorded some clips.

I played a few other chunks before Rachel said, “Okay, now how about you sit in that chair and just hold it across your shoulder?”

We took a few staged shots like that, and I was looking forward to seeing myself with my new instrument in those pictures!

“Okay, I think we should have more than enough for that part of the article?” Rachel said.

“Great! You’re amazing, Your Highness,” Kylee told me. “I played clarinet in high school but was never that good!”

I blushed, “Thanks.”

I put my clarinet away and soon led Rachel and Kylee up to my rooms. Rachel left most of her camera equipment downstairs, bringing just a couple of cameras. Kylee brought a small messenger-style bag, and we soon crossed into the main receiving room.

“This place is amazing!” Kylee said beside me.

I smiled, “A little overwhelming! But it is beautiful.”

“So, what is this room?” She asked me.

“This is a joint receiving room for the King and Queen,” I answered. “It can be for dining or meeting with guests,” I told her. “That way is the Queen’s chambers,” I told her, pointing to the side of Grandma’s rooms.

“Those are yours?” She asked.

I shook my head, “No, my grandmother has retained those rooms. I’m in my father’s rooms.”

A staffer opened the door for me, and we were in my receiving room.

“May I take pictures here?” Rachel asked Geneva in halted French.

“Oui,” Geneva answered. “We do ask that we may review the photos as we agreed upon, but you may take photos throughout. Your Highness, perhaps give them a tour first, then you can conduct the interview in your living room?” She said in English.

“Okay,” I told them. “Well, this is a private dining area and a sitting room,” I told them. “It’s a nice place to have more informal meals,” I added. I noted that Kylee had her phone out to record right then and noticed Geneva seemed to be following closely with her own phone. “Here is what I think of as a living room back home; it has couches and a TV.”

“Looks like a cozy room?” Kylee said.

“It’s definitely comfortable,” I agreed. I led them down the hall to the office and pointed out the guest bathrooms if they needed them.

The office caused Kylee’s face to look shocked. “This is like a movie set,” she told me.

I laughed, “Tell me about it!”

“Can we get a picture of you sitting in your chair?” Rachel asked, motioning to the big chair.

“Umm… it’ll make me look pretty tiny?” I said.

“We’ll see afterward if it works?” she said.

I saw a nod from Geneva and said, “Okay.”

I sat behind the large desk and smiled at the camera. Rachel had me do a few different poses before saying they were good. “The final room is my bedroom,” I said.

“That bed looks comfortable,” Kylee said with a smile.

“It’s huge!” I told her. “But yes, quite comfy too!”

“Any chance I could get you to lay on the bed with one of your stuffies or that doll?” Rachel asked.

“Umm… I’m not trying to look like I’m five?” I said.

“Please?” Kylee asked. “One of the things I love to have in my articles is down-to-earth things about the subject?”

I blushed but said, “Okay… which do you want me to hold?”

I was soon posed lying on the bed, squeezing my doll with the other two stuffed animals beside me. It was a very candid feeling photo as someone brought a step ladder for Rachel to stand on from above. I did have to admit from my quick view of her camera that it was a cute photo.

I finished showing them the monster bathroom and closet. “This is still half-empty,” Kylee noted.

“I lost everything in the fire back home,” I told her.

“I’m sorry,” she said consolingly.

“I’m just glad my family is okay,” I told her. We circled back to the living room. Rachel took a few more photos of us sitting on opposite sides of the couch before disappearing.

“Okay, ready to start this?” Kylee asked me.

“Would it matter if I said no?” I joked.

“Nope!” She smiled. Okay, first important question: What are the names of your bear, tiger, and doll?”

I blushed, “That’s important?”

“Definitely!” She smiled.

I guessed she was trying to break the ice, but it worked. I told her about how my mom and grandparents had given me the bear and doll before I left and how my best friend Ellie had given me the tiger.

She engaged me with a mix of lighter and heavier questions over the next ninety minutes. Of course, she was curious about how I had not known I was a princess, so I told her a whitewashed version of the story that didn’t leave my grandparents looking as bad. I tried not to throw my father too under the bus either. She’d asked questions about my friends, the music I liked, and even what I found fun about being a princess.

We also discussed ‘short people problems’ that she understood regarding clothing styles. She asked how my clothes were selected to help me deal with that without looking like a little girl. “Who says I don’t still look like a kid?” I laughed at the time.

I also answered some not-so-easy questions about Mom, the fire, and how being away from her was hard.

“So, do you have a favorite thing about Osané so far?”

I sat there thinking briefly before smiling, “They have this really cool mascot cat story here. There’s a street named Rue due Chat-qui-Pêche, the ‘Fishing Cat.’ I translated for her.

“That sounds quite silly?” She said.

“I thought so, too! I don’t think I’ll tell it quite as well as one of my drivers did the other day, but I guess the story is that there was a big drop in fishing hauls coming in a long time ago. Each time they went out they weren’t bringing back as many fish, which was a problem. Apparently, a captain discovered a stowaway cat on his boat, and it was a major pain. Somehow, it ended up jumping off the boat and into the water, and feeling guilty about it, the captain tried to rescue it. He got it back into the boat but was attacked by the cat for his trouble! He was about to think about booting it off again until the nets came in with the biggest haul he’d ever had. The cat got the credit for the increase and became a local mascot.”

“That’s awesome!” She said with a smile on her face.

“Anyway, many businesses and places use the mascot now. A bakery down on that street has this cute sign of a cat holding a fishing pole and catching a croissant. It’s quite silly but charming,” I added.

“What’s been the most surprising thing about being a princess?” She asked me.

I didn’t hesitate, “You know how we grow up thinking every princess automatically gets a tiara?”

She nodded.

“I have to wait until I’m eighteen!”

“No way?”

“Some tradition that I can’t wear one until I come of age.”

“That’s kind of a rip-off,” she smiled at me.

“Right?” I laughed.

She asked a few other questions after that before our time was up. “Thank you for the interview,” Kylee told me, “I know everyone in America and worldwide is absolutely fascinated with your story!”

I blushed, “Thanks for coming all the way here to see me,” I told her as I walked her out to the main part of the castle.

“It was a pleasure! I’ll send you the completed article next week. It’ll run in this next month’s edition.”

“That fast?” I asked.

She smiled, “You’re about as current of news as we can have in a monthly publication! We’re reorganizing a few things to make it work.”

“Thanks, I guess,” I told her.

“Don’t change, Your Highness, I can tell you are a sweet young lady.”

“Thank you,” I said.