The Shadow Princess Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

“Be nice, Ariana.” Razzi said in a warning tenor. “This is the guard who’s going to pretend to be your friend. When anybody asks, he’s the son of your father’s close friends Sara and Michael, who has decided to relocate to your school and to not be home-schooled anymore when he enters high school next year. A freshman, like you.” He paused. “It’s dangerous now, Ariana. He’ll be with you at all times. Don’t bother arguing. Our decision is final, unless you want to have classes with all of us surrounding you. ”

I was biting my lip to keep myself from screaming. I lay on my soft bed and hid under the covers. All those inspecting eyes were making me feel nauseous.

This benefitted Razzi’s side even more. Me shut up always gave him more chances of talking.

“His name is Tyler Corazón Valiente.” He paused once again, as if someone had just gagged him in his mid-sentence. “Ariana, you are so stubborn. Not even humble enough, nor polite to look at me when I’m talking to you. ”

Then he sighed and said to the rest of the guards, “Could you please give us a minute? Tyler, stay. ” I remained under my blanket, not daring to look at the face who now owned the very deadly, warning, voice.

Razzi didn’t always get to this sort of mood; he always masked his emotions effortlessly. When he used this tone, it just scared me. It meant that I put a toe out of line.

“Ariana, Tyler is used to the proper upbringing. He was raised by a decent and a wealthy family, just like you. But he’s quite your opposite. See, he’s a gentleman; he’s patient, polite, tolerant, obedient, loving, considerate, ambitious, unselfish, and devoted. Get what I mean? He’s your complete opposite. ” His voice suddenly began rising. “Look at yourself, Princess. You scream, you have tantrums, you boss everyone around without bothering to be responsible, and you waste your father’s time with the pettiest things, as if he doesn’t have enough on his plate! What kind of daughter are you?! YOU DON’ T KNOW HOW TO LISTEN, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO SHUT UP. YOU THINK EVERYTHING YOU SAY SHOULD BE FOLLOWED. FINE, MAYBE THAT’S BECAUSE YOU ARE THE PRINCESS. BUT DO YOU DO YOUR JOB AS THE PRINCESS? MAYBE ALESSANDRA DOES, BUT DEFINITELY NOT YOU! LOOK AT YOUR SIBLINGS. YOU’RE NOT, EVEN JUST A BIT, LIKE THEM. YOU DISAPPOINT EVERYONE WHO PUTS THEIR TRUST IN YOU, AND THEN YOU COMPLAIN. EVERYONE AT SCHOOL REFERS TO YOU AS THE BLACK SHEEP. YOU DON’T EXCEL IN ANY OF THE SUBJECTS. ALESSANDRA IS ACTIVE, SHE EXCELS IN MATHEMATICS; SHE IS GOOD IN MIND ABILITIES. THE TWINS ARE THE MOST RESPECTED ATHLETES. AND YOU? HOW BOUT YOU? YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR LI---”

“Uncle, stop. I could take it from here.” interrupted Tyler. It was refreshing to hear a voice with a normal volume after Razzi’s most recent and violent outbreak. I noticed Tyler’s silken melodic voice, a little deep but definitely appealing.

“Okay,” Razzi said, back to masking his emotions. “And Ariana? Tyler’s my nephew. So behave yourself. Good night, both of you.” His voice still had that angry edge, but he was at least able to hide his anger. Some of his anger. Then, the door closed.

You boss everyone around without being responsible. You don’t know how to listen. You don’t know how to shut up. Do you do your job as a princess? And the most painful, Look at your siblings. I could feel the hot tears burning my cheeks even before the message fully sunk in. Razzi knew me well; he knew what the words that would bother me the most were. Razzi knew me well, and when he said something about me, whether how much I wish to deny that, to not believe in that, to just forget about that, I knew that he was right. Something I learned from growing up in the royal family was that sometimes, you need not bother being affected with what others said about you.

Not everyone you met would like you. Not everyone knew who you truly were. You couldn’t please everyone, but in my case, I have never pleased anyone. And I value the words of the people who I knew knew me, like Razzi. Now Razzi was pissed off with me. Perfect.

All those words were true one of the truest things I have ever heard of in my life. The only “unfair” part was what he said about me not being good at school. I did and still do try. My grades are either equal or higher than my siblings in the subjects wherein they are not given the Abilities. But what subject has my Abilities landed? Warrior Abilities Classes. That stinking Warrior Abilities classes wasn’t exactly reasonable!

The school decided to educate us about war through movie clips, books, and stories about the war. In short, it was transformed to a History Class but this class had no tests, no projects, no practical quizzes, and no nothing.

We got 100s for nothing. I was the only one I know who took that spurious class seriously, and I couldn’t blame the ones who didn’t. I was probably the only one who had to prove something, anyway. The only one whose thing to prove fell under that class and category.

When I pointed this out to the principal, (As the princess, I could easily set appointments with the school officials) she laughed at me.

“Oh, mi princesa, su majestad, there is no war, and no war is to come. We are all at peace. Why bother wasting our time and effort to sharpen skills we will find useless, anyway? There is so much to learn, so little time! Our culture will always have the touch of Warrior Abilities, and to respect that culture and the heroes who gave up their lives for freedom, we listen to their stories. That, mi princesa, is more than enough. We do not need to learn it. ”

Ha! No war? Now look at what’s happening. No need to learn it, huh?

“ALESSANDRA IS ACTIVE, SHE EXCELS IN MATHEMATICS; SHE IS GOOD IN MIND ABILITIES. THE TWINS ARE THE MOST RESPECTED ATHLETES. AND YOU?

EVERYONE AT SCHOOL REFERS TO YOU AS THE BLACK SHEEP. YOU DON’T EXCEL IN ANY OF THE SUBJECTS.

YOU DISAPPOINT EVERYONE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN YOU, AND THEN YOU COMPLAIN.”

My thoughts continued until I finally drifted off to sleep, my thoughts becoming more blurred as exhaustion, grief, and drowsiness forced my depleted system to take a rest.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and looked around. Tyler was gone, but I was sure there were guards outside of my room. I had a plan. I would transport to my father’s room or maybe his study. Tonight was a stressful night; he was still probably in his workroom.

Sure, transporting hurt. It made me feel dizzy and it made my eyes sting. It made me feel sick and drained my energy, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I clambered out of the bed, took in a heavy breath, and closed my eyes to transport.

When I opened them, I was in front of my father once more inside his study. Only trusted guards and the royal family were allowed by the enchantments to transport through certain rooms.

He gasped and clutched his chest. “Oh, you’re going to give me a heart attack, Ariana!”

I smiled. “Let’s make a deal. If I am a Warrior, a full one, I‘d get to stay and fight in the war. If I don’t, I would go Earthia and I would work on my Healing Abilities like you always wanted me to.”

He considered this for a second. I knew my father wanted me to be good in Healing. He believed it to be extremely beneficial.

I held out my hand and shook it temptingly when he stopped to consider.

He sighed heavily and smiled. “Deal. But if you stay, you’d still be under protection. You’d be given ten times the protection you have now.”

That didn’t wipe the smile off my face. “Yes, father. Good night.”

I blinked and transported myself back to my room to avoid my guards’ questions. I didn’t need them in my room. Once they found out I was transporting around the castle during the dead of the night, they’d freak.