Chapter Text
"Rise and shine, Princess Taylor. We have a lot to do today!"
Adalynn's cheerful voice rang out like a bell as she entered Taylor's bedroom, moving to the window to pull open the silk curtains. Taylor grunted softly and turned over in her bed, laying on her side. The sunlight shined through the window onto her face, warming her skin while also bringing attention to the foggy feeling in her brain. Her eyes opened a crack to look at the digital clock on her bedside table.
5:00 A.M. So it was going to be one of those days.
Taylor pushed herself up with a small huff, closing her eyes again as she willed the fogginess of her brain to subside. It didn't, as expected. It never did. On days like these, she had no choice but to trudge through the day, until she could finally return to her room and let her emotions loose. She didn't know why these days happened, just that they were getting more and more frequent.
"I know you don't normally get up this early, but your father requested it." Adalynn's voice spoke up from across the room. When had she moved to the closet? "He wrote up a personalized schedule for you to follow today... saying something about preparation for being queen." She sighed, looking down at a rather long piece of paper.
"What's the first thing on it?" Taylor mumbled sleepily as she put on her slippers before fully stepping out of bed. She rubbed her eyes as she walked over to her vanity, sitting on the plush seat. Adalynn walked over with Taylor's usual choice of clothes, her grey and blue sweater with her black skirt.
"Let's see... breakfast with your father and stepmother, then your usual history lesson with William." Adalynn said, reading from the schedule. She set the paper down on the vanity along with Taylor's clothes before picking up a brush. She gently released her soft, blonde hair from the loose braid it had been put in the night before, beginning to run the brush through it.
Taylor grabbed the paper, her eyes scanning over it. Breakfast, history, followed by combat training with her father. She felt her stomach twist in knots at the thought of training, the fogginess further clouding her brain. She continued to read over a list of chores, a small gap of time meant for a break, then her usual "date" with Prince Adam.
"He's making me do that today? When I'll be busy with all these other random tasks?!" She groaned softly and set the schedule down. She put her face in her hands, feeling worse and worse by the second.
Adalynn frowned sympathetically at Taylor through the mirror, continuing to brush her hair. "I'm sorry, princess... I know those dates are not your favorite things-"
Taylor sat upright suddenly, glaring at herself through the mirror. "They are not dates. They're meetings at best. I have no interest in him." She spat through gritted teeth. The room was silent for a long moment before she relaxed a bit and sighed, turning her head. "I'm.. I'm sorry, Adalynn. I didn't mean to use that tone."
Adalynn smiled softly, setting the hairbrush down. "I know, princess. You've been under a lot of stress recently. I'm sure your busy schedule today is not helping."
Taylor just nodded and stood, picking up the clothes on the vanity. She quickly dressed herself up, adjusting her golden heart locket before heading down the stairs with Adalynn. They parted ways just outside the door to the dining hall, and then she entered.
Only two people were sat at the grand dining table. Hayden, king of the Interloper Kingdom and Taylor's father, and his second wife, Faya. Taylor quietly moved across the room to her chair, giving a small smile to Faya as they made eye contact.
Faya gave her a gentle, hopeful smile in return. Taylor felt a bit guilty as she sat down, staring at her plate. Ever since they had met, Faya had been nothing but kind to her. She knew that Taylor had a few issues with her deceased mother, having never actually met her, but she still wanted to be there to support the young princess if she ever needed it.
"Good morning, Taylor." Hayden's voice cut through the silence, snapping both women out of their thoughts. Taylor stiffened slightly and raised her head, making eye contact with her father. "I assume you read over the schedule I asked Adalynn to give you?"
"Yes. I go to my history lesson with William after this." Taylor said in an even voice, looking down at her plate again as she began to eat. She heard her father make an affirmative sound, resisting the urge to sigh. Not even a "good job for remembering", huh?
The rest of the breakfast went on in silence, until the sound of the clocktower in the town began to ring. Without a word, Taylor stood up and left the dining hall. She practically dragged her feet all the way to William's office to attend her history lesson. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice her father's archmage, Dan, walking towards her.
With a dull thud, she collided with his chest and stumbled back a few steps. A firm grip on her forearm kept her from falling to the floor, and she lifted her gaze to see who it was. Dan stared down at her, his red eyes piercing her uncovered blue eye.
"Are you alright?"
Taylor hesitated. She didn't know why, but the question brought a sudden surge of tears to her eyes. She didn't feel alright, that was for sure. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to lock herself up in her room and just cry. Cry until she felt empty and vacant of any emotions.
"I'm... I'm fine. I just wasn't paying attention. My apologies, Dan." She said in an even tone, looking away from him. Dan didn't enforce the eye contact rule like her father did. In fact, he was the only other person in the entire castle, besides Adalynn, that didn't chastise her for not making eye contact during a conversation.
It was... nice. After all, she had always had a hard time with eye contact. It made her anxious. Like... if she stared too long... the other person would be able to read her mind. To see what she was truly like. To see that she was nothing like the amazing person her mother was. Years of staring at your mother's portrait would do that to you, I guess.
"...ess Taylor. Princess Taylor." Dan's low voice cut through her head, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, forcing eye contact out of habit. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, yes! Just got a little lost in thought! My brain isn't exactly with me at the moment!" Taylor said with a nervous laugh. She pulled her arm out of his firm grip and quickly waved her hands in front of her face, like she was trying to dismiss his worry.
Dan stared at her for a short moment, his red eyes never leaving her face. "You're headed up to William's office for your history lesson, correct?" He asked, his usual monotone voice seemed to be a bit.. softer than usual. "Perhaps you need a break, instead. You won't learn much of you can't pay attention."
Taylor thought about what he said, but regretfully shook her head. "I... I can't." She sighed, her gaze falling to the floor. "I have a tight schedule to follow today. You know how my father is..."
"...I see."
Dan was silent for a moment, but suddenly let out a sigh of his own. "Carry on, then. Try not to strain yourself too much." And with that, he was walking down the hall again. Taylor watched him go until he turned a corner and disappeared from her sight.
She sighed softly again, then turned and continued her walk to William's office. When she arrived, she saw him looking through some papers at his desk. His eyebrows were furrowed as he read the words, shaking his head every now and again.
Taylor cleared her throat as she entered, shutting the door behind her. His head snapped up and he straightened his posture, gesturing to the slightly smaller desk in the center of the room.
"Princess Taylor. Have a seat. I need to discuss your recent work with you." He said slowly, standing up. He carried over the papers that he had been reading through, spreading them out on her desk. She immediately recognized them as her most recent "tests" and bit back a small groan.
"Here. You mixed up the lands of Vita and Velum, as well as Sterilis and Simul." William sighed, his finger tapping several spots on the paper. "I thought I told you to work on your memorization for those."
Taylor slumped in her seat a bit, looking away from the test. "I'm sorry, they're just so hard! Velum sounds like it would fit the Poison Kingdom better, not Vita! It sounds like the word 'venom'!" She threw her arms out in an exasperated gesture, like that would emphasize her point.
William shook his head, bringing his hand up to rub the bridge of his nose. "No... Vita is for the Poison Kingdom, Velum is for Twilight, Sterilis is for Monochrome, and Simul is for Interloper." He sighed after a long moment, mumbling to himself. "Maybe I should just have you make flash cards..."
Taylor sighed as he moved away from her desk, going towards a cabinet that held all sorts of supplies. She looked at her tests, flipping through the pages and seeing all the markings. The sight made her stomach churn. It wasn't her fault Sebun had such big, fancy names for everything! Those names were centuries old, anyways... only official documents use them! She bet not even her father has all of them memorized... he probably just relied on William or Dan to correct any official information he had to sign. They were his right and left hand men, after all.
She didn't even notice William return in front of her until he was snapping his fingers in front of her face. She lifted her gaze, making direct eye contact with him as he spoke.
"I know about the schedule your father made for you today, so I'll cut you some slack. Today, I just want you to make flashcards to help with memorizing the different lands and kingdoms. Just the other 7... I won't make you do ours. But you should still study about our kingdom's history, okay?"
Taylor just gave a small nod, watching as he set down a small stack of blank flashcards and a big book. He took the marked up tests, then returned to his desk to work. She blinked and looked down at the items, feeling confused. She has been so distracted making sure she was keeping eye contact with William that she forgot to listen to what he was saying!
She sighed and took a blank flashcard off the stack, beginning to write. She scrawled the title "Almighty Kingdom" across one side, then flipped it over and opened the book.
Around 2 hours of this task passed before William stood up from his desk and cleared his throat. Taylor looked up from the book, her eyes instantly locking onto his. She straightened her back and set down her pen, waiting for whatever he was going to say.
"It's... nearly time for your training with your father." He said slowly, like he was trying to figure out what to say. "Take your flashcards back to your room and study them. You'll have a review assignment tomorrow, then we'll be moving on."
She just gave a short nod and grabbed the flashcards, holding them in her hand. She moved to stand up, but found that her legs felt like they were made of jelly! She looked down, seeing her legs shake slightly. It felt like she didn't know how to even walk yet!
Taylor groaned and forced herself to take the first step, wobbling a bit. Step by step, she made her way out of William's office towards her room. The foggy feeling in her head had only gotten worse, and it was so tempting to just collapse onto her bed and let it take over her brain completely.
But she couldn't. She had work to do. All she could do was set down the flashcards and change into her training clothes, which Adalynn had laid out for her already. She tied her hair into a ponytail and took one last look at herself in the mirror of her vanity before leaving her room once again.