Chapter Two; You Say

I slipped on a dark purple dress with floral see-through pattern sleeves. It fell to my knees. I shivered in disgust. I hated dresses. I braided my hair into my usual hairstyle. I looked in the full-length mirror and gasped.

 I don’t look-well-hideous. It looks kind of pretty.

I shook my head. That wasn’t true. I stopped judging myself when there was a knock on the door. I looked up to see Elijah smiling a large- shining smile. 

“Everything is ready for your first outing, Princess.” Elijah declared, bowing in respect. I took a deep breath, swallowing all of the snarky remarks I had surfacing at my tongue. I nodded, saying a quick thank you. We walked down the halls to the main doors silently. 

“Princess.” Two tall men in black suits bowed respectfully. I gave a small wave, looking at Elijah in confusion. He cleared his throat, getting the hint I was giving him.  

“Princess Mariah, these are Jedrek and Jarry. They will be your bodyguards while you’re out and about.” Elijah explained. I rolled my eyes slightly but sighed slowly. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. The guards opened both of the large doors, allowing the evening sunlight to pour into the castle walls. I squinted my eyes to let my eyes adjust to the brightness change. 

“You ready, Princess?” One of the guards asked me, holding out a white umbrella to me. I stared at the umbrella, then back outside, then back to him. 

“It’s not raining?” I was very confused. The guards and Elijah chuckled. 

“It’s to protect you from the sun, Princess. It must just be a female royal thing. Your sister and your mother use them as well.” One of the guards explained. The other guard nudged him when he used family-specific words. He recalled his words in his head and gasped. 

“I am so sorry Princess. Please forgive me.” The guard bowed his head. My glance fell to the necklace still hanging on my neck. 

“Lucy is not my mother, and that thing you call a princess is not my sister.” I snapped. The room fell silent as my father approached the scene. 

“Jedrek. Jerry.” Xavier noted. The two bowed. Lucy, Olivia, and Liam came down the stairs. What the heck was this!

“Ah yes, you have a white umbrella with you! I left mine in my room!” Olivia exclaimed, snatching the umbrella from Jerry’s hands. Of course, she came along. 

“We should definitely make a pitstop to Captain Melville’s Juice Hut for a banana smoothie,” Liam added, jumping down the last three stairs. Lucy took Xavier’s hand. I just wanted to clear my head. It was bad enough guards had to escort me-but my own ‘family?’ This was a new low. I’m the one with powers! 

“It’ll be a good bonding experience. Besides, there’s so much we don’t know about you, Mariah.” Xavier explained, taking the lead out the door. I rolled my eyes. So much for a peaceful walk. 

“Where’s your tiara?” Olivia snapped, causing me to touch the top of my head. 

“It’s alright. Mind your own head, Olivia. I think just this once is alright.” Lucy smiled. She then whispered in my ear, 

“Your new hair looks gorgeous, honey.” 

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“This is called Crystal Sands. We often come here during the summer and swim. They close it off to the public so we can do whatever we want. It’s awesome! You’re gonna love it!” Liam explained. I went along with it, but I already knew the geography of this land like the back of my paw. I could tell you the surface area of water on this island. I could tell you how many people come here in a day. I just didn’t feel like walking in silence anymore. 

“Jerry is often the more conversation starter as you can see.” Olivia snobbily explained, twirling her umbrella on her shoulder. They forced Jedrek to carry an umbrella for me, but I refused to use it. There wasn’t a point. 

“Wow!” I heard a little koala gush. Her mother looked up to see us. She bowed her head in respect, grabbing her joey’s hand. 

“You have a beautiful daughter, your Majesty. She’ll serve the kingdom well. Mira must be pleased.” An older male koala bowed, holding a baby joey in his arms. 

“I’m sure she is.” Xavier smiled, looking at me. I laughed. Not loud, but loud enough that everyone in the conversation could hear it. Olivia glared at me, while Xavier gave me the look. Not just any look. But that look of disapproval I often got from my mother. That look of you don’t belong here. The look of pure disgust. Pure terror. The look of shame. The look of how my mother looked at me just as she was being sucked into the necklace. That look of failure. 

“Mariah. Mariah!” I heard Xavier yelling, waving a hand in front of my face. I didn’t even notice I had dozed off, much less than I was crying. 

“Huh? I-” I tried to speak, but no words could form. I was speechless. Just the mere thought of my mother tore me apart. Why was this? She was horrible. She was wicked. She was evil. I shivered at the thought of returning to her bidding. I always felt out of place there too. 

“Do you want to go back?” Xavier whispered, touching my arm concerningly. I shook my head. 

“No no, it’s fine. Really. I don’t want to ruin something else for you guys. You guys go along. I’ll meet you guys at the castle.” I said, wiping my tears. This was ridiculous. It was pathetic. 

“Mariah-” Xavier began, but I held up my paw. 

“Really. Besides, I still have to pick out some classes for tomorrow morning’s meeting with the Headmaster.” I noted. He sighed, calling Jerry over to take me back. 

“I can call for a carriage, your highness.” Jerry bowed. I shook my head. 

“Walking never hurt anyone,” I replied, walking towards the general area of the castle. 

“I knew she couldn’t do it.” I heard Olivia scoff. Within moments, I was standing in front of her, ready to shove my fist into her annoying face. 

“Remember who the one with powers is, Olivia,” I muttered to her, my eyes glowing a slightly green shade. 

“I’m not scared of you, freak.”

“You sure will be when an entire phantom army comes to destroy you in about seventeen seconds if you don’t shut your nasty mouth right now.” 

“Mariah! Olivia! Enough!” Xavier whispered harshly. Jedrek and Jerry were beside him, ready to break up a fight. 

“Both of you are going to stay in your room for the rest of the evening. Olivia, your mother will be having a very serious talk with you. Mariah, I will be having a little chat with you.” Xavier narrowed his eyes at both of us. He was going to throw me out. I told him since day one this wasn’t going to work. Olivia huffed, storming off back into the direction of the castle. The temptation to trip her with my leg was very very great. 

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I went straight to my room without a word to anyone. I knew Xavier would probably hate me after threatening to sick an entire phantom army on his daughter, but I had my reasons. That little brat needs to be put in her place. If Xavier and Lucy won’t do it, then someone else has to. I sat down on my bed, looking into the mirror. 

This isn’t me. 

I snapped my fingers, returning this horrendous dress into sweats and a t-shirt. I took out my braid, combing out my hair with a brush. Just as I was grabbing a ponytail, there was a knock on the door. Yay. 

“Come in!” I shouted, pulling my hair back into a ponytail. Xavier was standing there, in the undershirt of his suit and his usual khakis. He looked kind of disappointed, but mostly just confused. He stood there in silence for a moment, before coming in and shutting the door behind him. 

“Are you going to throw me out?” I blurted out, sitting on my bed. 

“What? Of course not! Why would you think of such a crazy idea!” Xavier exclaimed, sitting beside me on the bed. 

“Look, I apologize for making a little bit of a scene tonight. But I am not sorry for what I said to Olivia. It’s not like anyone else heard it.” I sighed, playing with the string of my sweatpants. 

“I understand this is hard for you, Mariah. But you can’t be acting out like that.” Xavier explained. My eyes shot up to meet his. 

“You think I did that on purpose? I did that because she’s an annoying brat who needs to be put in her place. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. She’s lucky we were in public, or I would’ve muted her for good this time.” I snapped. 

“I never said it was on purpose. I know you’re still learning the whole ‘being good’ thing.”

“You’re mad at me though, aren’t you?” 

“Well-yes. I can’t have my two daughters at each other’s throats all the time. Especially in public.” 

“Well, she’s a brat!” 

“I know I know. Lucy’s talking to her about it. I’m hoping that’ll fix things up.” 

“So you came here to scold me?” 

“No.” 

“Why?” 

“Do you want to be yelled at for making a mistake you really can’t control?” 

“No.” 

“Alright then.” Xavier chuckled. I sighed, looking down at my feet. 

“You’re going to be an amazing princess, Mariah. And one day, you’ll make a fine queen.” Xavier told me, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

“Queen?” 

“You are the eldest.” 

“I’m also a phantom. Your point?” 

“Just don’t tell Olivia just yet. I have a slight feeling that won’t go over well if she figured that out. Olivia is three minutes older than Liam, so she technically was in line for the throne. That was until you showed up.” Xavier explained.

“What if she does find out?” I asked. 

“She’ll find out eventually. But I think we should keep it a secret until she can handle having you around.” 

“Very funny.”

“It’s kind of funny. But Mariah, it’s going to be alright. The people already love you. They can’t wait to be introduced to their future ruler.” 

“But I don’t think I could be a ruler, Xavier.” 

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. Now, would you like to look at that list of classes? I can help you out a bit since I’m sure some of them don’t make much sense.” Xavier asked, walking over to my desk. 

“Philosophy of Phantoms? I think that’ll be a good class for you. You’ll probably ace it.” Xavier chuckled, reading the singular class I had written down on the paper. I noticed Aura flying around in my walk-in closet. I decided to just let her do her own thing, rather than trying to hide her. I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t approve of a little, sweet, phantom pet. 

“It’s just-well-what if Liza hates me? After-you know- what I did to her?” I asked, sitting down at the desk. 

“Liza’s a kind soul. She never holds a grudge. Besides, she’s told me she’s very excited to have you.” Xavier explained, flipping through the pamphlet. 

“Really?” I asked, relieved. 

“Yup. Now, are you interested in a manners course?” Xavier asked, looking up at me with a smirk on his face. 

“I’ll need one to fit in honestly,” I replied. He chuckled, writing down “Royal Etiquette 101” down on the paper. This was going to be awhile. 

“When I don’t belong, you say I am yours.”