Well this has been a long and not-so-fun winter.
I have been paraded from Kingdom to Kingdom, Ball to Ball, Palace to Palace, Royal family to- well you get the idea. Mother dearest insists on procuring my suitor through a rigorous system she claims to have set up especially for me, but I'm sure grand-mère was the maestro who really came up with the hell tradition. Every time I got comfortable with a could-be-consort Her Highness hauled me off to the next one. I suppose she wants me to see each one in their own element, which I must say so is mainly one of intimidated awkwardness, before I actually like and choose one. It's like tasting all the candy in a bowl before buying an entire pack of it (bad example). And she can actually pull this off. See, my mother has managed to build up a certain reputation for herself one that strikes fear into the heart of the very land she walks on, so to speak. People, even beyond our confines of our Kingdom shiver in their boots when they hear Her Majesty Queen Grace II is coming for a little visit.
I did like this to-be Duke I met at the thirteenth ball I was dragged to. He seemed to understand the misery and horror of my situation, being the one and only heir to the throne and him being the one and only heir to his father's lands and title. My mother however promptly pulled me away from the party when she noticed how "cozy" we were.
"We are here to find a proper suitor not dilly-dally with every man looking to find a place by our throne!" she exclaimed horrified.
When I tried to explain he was a Duke she frowned. It seems Duke's are far below us Cortez's in line to the throne. We only and only marry Royal Princes who could some day be in line for their own throne. But I am free to choose my own suitor. Or as free as could be expected.
So here's a list of rules I seem to have gotten the hang of in the past month:
1. Fear Mother above all.
2. Quickly find a Prince before mother rejects them all on little things they have no control over.
3. The power is actually nice - people listen.
4. Fear is an added bonus.
4. Fear is an added bonus.
