Chapter 1
As I, Princess Cassiopeia Perseus, watched the servant girl leap to her feet in the dimly lit supply closet, I only thought that now I would have to find a new place to avoid my mother, Queen Andromeda. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the barrage of questions that were sure to come once the Queen found me. The last few weeks had been a blur of wedding preparations, endless interviews, and my mother's relentless insistence that marrying Prince Phoenix of Volans would be the key to securing our kingdom's future. With a month left until the wedding, I wanted nothing more than a brief respite from the constant watch of the public eye.
“Did you need something, Your Highness?”
“Oh, uh, no. Just looking for a place to hide…” I trailed off as I noticed the flickering light overhead. I would have to report this to maintenance.
“I should get back to my duties,” said the girl in the closet as she brushed off her dirty apron to no avail.
“Yes, yes you should. Go on then,” I said, “what is your name, servant girl?”
“Ara, My Lady.”
I tried not to let my surprise show on my face. Ara had been the name of a girl I had attended the Celestial Scholars Academy with when I was but seven years old. She had been my best friend until the war started, when I was kept inside the castle walls.
“Cassiopeia, my dear, there you are!”
I groaned as I turned to see my mother walking towards me in an aegean blue ball gown decorated with golden lace trim, flanked by her ladies-in-waiting. Any hopes I had of a moment to myself were crushed in a second.
“My dear, what are you doing here? We have servants for a reason,” Queen Andromeda said, gesturing first to the supply closet and then to her entourage.
“I was just… I’m not sure, mother.”
“Well, it is time to get back to trying on wedding dresses! I found a gorgeous blue and purple one that you would look just darling in.”
“Mother, do I really have to marry Phoenix? I’ve never even met the guy.”
“Cassie, how many times do we have to go over this? Prince Phoenix is third in line for the throne of Volans, so Queen Pavo and King Hydrus need to find him a royal bride. Once this marriage has been made official, our alliance with Volans will be secured for the first time in millennia.”
Ever since my older sister, Carina, had died in the Great War, a war between our home galaxy, Perseus, and LaCaille, Queen Andromeda had been disappointed by everything that I did. Carina's death had cast a looming darkness over the family, and I felt as though I could never live up to the memory of my sister. Despite my reservations about the impending marriage and the pressure to follow in Carina's footsteps, I was determined to make my mother proud and help restore my family's reputation in the eyes of the cosmos.
“I understand, mother. I would love to try on the dress you have picked out.”
As my mother and I headed to the atelier, I couldn’t help my mind from wandering back to the servant girl, Ara.
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“Mother, it’s way too tight,” I gasped as the tailor pulled the corset closed.
“Oh, darling, it’s only too tight if you say it’s too tight! You just need to squeeze in that stomach a little bit more…”
I let out a breath as the corset lace snapped, loosening the death trap of a dress I was confined to.
“Okay, fine, maybe it was a tad snug.”
“A tad? Mother, I was nearly as purple as my eyes.”
“Not to worry, my dear, we shall find a new dress.”
“Mother please, can I take a break for the night?”
Mother sighed as she handed back the dress she had picked up for me to try on next.
“I know this has been a lot for you, Cassiopeia, but we need this wedding to be perfect.”
“But why, Mother? Why must it be perfect? So long as I end up married, the alliance will be secured. Does it truly matter how I look during the ceremony? It's not as if I truly love him.”
“My marriage to your father was arranged as well, and I loved him to his dying breath. You must give Prince Phoenix a chance. He might surprise you.”
“I doubt it,” I muttered.
“Fine,” mother said softly. “Go to your chambers and wash up. We have a royal address tonight regarding the past tensions between Volans and Perseus.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
As I headed to my chambers, I noticed Ara scrubbing the floors of the main corridor. I hadn’t noticed Ara’s ravishing golden hair or her enchanting auburn eyes in the faint light of the supply closet… I tried to ignore her as I continued on my way.
After I had bathed and prepared myself for the royal address, I headed straight for the publicity room. It was a rather small room compared to others in the castle, yet still bigger than many homes on Perseus. The walls were metallic and interrupted only by perfectly round windows with a view of the night sky and the constellations for which my family had been named. I took my seat beside my mother, who resided at the head of the table in a white gown and selenite crown. My own amethyst tiara and golden dress paled in comparison, but I didn’t mind.
The moment I had taken my seat the questions started rolling in.
“Queen Andromeda, do you believe that your daughter’s marriage to Phoenix will end the tensions between our galaxies?”
“Is Volans prepared to defend us if LaCaille decides to attack?”
“Who is your new head of defense?”
“Why yes, I do”, “Yes, they are”, “We have yet to name one”, Mother answered. My only job was to sit still and smile so that the citizens would not have anything negative to say about me the following morning when the address went live.
I continued to sit in silence daydreaming of the warm bath I would take afterwards until I realized the room was silent, waiting for an answer to a question I had not heard.
“I apologize, could you repeat the question?”
“Of course, Princess. I asked what color you were going to wear to the wedding?”
My smile dropped, but only for a split second before I remembered myself. Of course the one question they wanted me to answer was about what I would be wearing.
“You’ll have to wait for the wedding to find out,” I answered in a falsely sweet voice, and winked.
“I believe that is all we had prepared. Thank you for making time for us, Your Highnesses.”
Mother nodded with a small smile before leading me out of the publicity room.
“Mother, I am going to take over as Queen in a month, and all they care to ask me is what color I will be wearing to the wedding?”
“I understand you are upset, but these people still see you as the little princess that was hidden away during the war. They haven’t gotten to know you yet. It will take time.”
“They’ve had time, Mother. It has been three years since I took over as the heir, yet today was the first time they have asked me a single question.”
“I hear you, Cassie. Next time I will make sure they know to ask you more.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“Of course, darling.”
