"Carter honestly, you're so ignorant."

"Am not." I rolled my eyes and looked at the scene before me.

Carter was under the table in the ballroom where my party was going to be held with his hand reaching up trying to find a cookie to no avail. What I haven't told him yet was that he was on the wrong side of the table.

"Kat be quiet, you're going to blow my cover." As soon as he said this the great ballroom doors opened and in walked my Uncle Perish. I quickly turned and busied myself arranging the silverware to be just perfect while Carter's hand flew back under the table.

"Katarina darling! What are you doing in here, you are supposed to be getting ready!"

"Oh I just wanted to see what the ballroom looked like. It is quite grand if I have to say so myself, Melinda did just such a wonderful job." Melinda was one of the main maids here in the castle and a very dear friend of the family.

"She did do a wonderful job didn't she?" Said Uncle Perish spinning in a circle taking everything in. "Have you seen Carter lately? I mean he is escorting you for goodness sake and I don't think I've seen him all day!"

I tried to suppress a smile, "I can't say that I have, but I'll make sure to keep my eyes open. He is probably goofing off somewhere being foolish, like stealing food from the kitchen or even the ballroom." I make a gesture with my hands to the space around us. "It doesn't seem like he is in here but I'm sure he'll show eventually."

"Of course he will. Well I should be off my dear, I'll see you tonight. And might I add happy birthday."

"Thank you very much." He wears a small smile when he spins on his heels and walks out of the ballroom.

I wait a couple of seconds before saying, "Your welcome."

"Hahaha you're so funny, you know that? I'm not that foolish." He says poking his head out from under the table.

"Emphasis on that." I say smiling, "Oh and by the way you were looking on the wrong side of the table." Carter looks around and sees what I'm talking about then jumps up and chases me out of the ballroom.

As we were running we say hi to the guards we passed and Eliyana my little sister until we reached a part of the castle that only we went to.

I stopped and held up my hand in surrender, "Alright I'm done... You win."

"Of course I do. I've always been the better runner." He said with a smirk.

I straightened up at that, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." At that he launched himself at me and tackled me to the floor

"Carter... Carter get off of me before someone hears us!" I said between fits of laughter.

"No one has heard us before. Calm down, you gotta loosen up a little bit." He jammed his finger into my side, tickling me and I screamed.

"Carter stop!" More laughter, "You're going to make me pee!"

He laughs and says, "Well that's not something you hear from a princess everyday." He tickles me again and I scream even louder.

"Hey will you hush up? Someone is going to hear us!" He said mocking me, but when I went to respond he clamped a hand over my mouth and threw me over his shoulder and ran down the hallway with me kicking and him laughing- deeper into the castle.

Finally my foot connected with his chest and he grunted, letting me fall to the floor.

"Ow." I said rubbing my butt.

He sat down next to me on the floor and stared at me laughing hysterically.

"Have you seen Rosie today?" I asked remembering that I haven't seen our quirky little red-headed friend today.

"I think she was out with Matthew looking for a dress."

"With Matthew?" I said a smile growing on my face.

All he did was create the same smile and shrug his shoulders.

"Well Miss Katarina, I think you should be off to go get ready." He stands and offers me his arm.

"Why thank you kind sir." And he escorts me to my room us giggling every few seconds.

~°~°~°~°~°~

When I got to my room my mother was already ready.

When we entered Carter bowed and said,

"Hello Lady Katherine."

"Hello Carter." She bowed her head in return and I turned and said thank you to Carter before closing the door, curtsying and bowing my head in respect to my mother.

"I apologize if I kept you waiting mom."

"Oh it's quite alright." I looked up at the queen of Elalylia, my mother, and took in all her beauty. All of my sisters and I look at least a little bit like her. My brother though looks like my father. My mother was not a very tall women, just average height. And even in her late forties she's one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen.

She has long, wavy dark brown hair and a small nose. Her eyes are dark brown that sparkle in the light and high cheek bones. She is somewhat pale and has thin bright red lips.

She stands before me in a regal dress that flows behind her. It is form fitting and burgundy-red with gold inner linings. She is standing in front of something, it must be my dress that she had made for me.

"How are you today sweetheart? I don't think I've seen you since breakfast." She wears a small smile.

"Oh I've been running around with Carter."

"That's odd considering you told your Uncle Perish that you haven't seen him."

I blushed, "Oh yes well..." I stammered

She laughs, "It's alright dear. Now let's get started with your hair. You want it down correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright then come sit down in front if the mirror." I did as she told me and sat down in front of my mirror.

All I did this morning was brush my hair, it is long and dark brown like my mother's, though more straight than wavy. I look a lot more like my mother than some of my other sisters, with a small nose and dark brown eyes, though mine have flecks of green and a kind of purple in them. I have high cheekbones and I'm also quite pale. My eyes are round, like my fathers, and I have thin red lips.

My mother stands behind me. You can barely see her thin frame behind my thick hair. She runs her long fingers through my hair which sends shivers down my spine before grabbing the brush. She looks at me in the mirror while toying with my hair,

"You seemed to have grown up so much over the last few months." She sighs, "I know it was hard for you when Christiana moved to Fangale with Andrew, you two were very close." Christiana or Christy as my borther, sisters, and I call her. She is the second oldest and a couple months ago at age 17 she became engaged to one of the princes of Fangale named Andrew. He's nice, but what my mother said was true, I think out of all of my siblings I am closest to Christy.

The oldest of all of us is AnnaSophia. She is 22 years old so when we were younger she was already a lot older than Christy and I. She was also engaged at 17 to a prince named Phillip of the East Islands. She comes home for family gatherings like Christmas and the feast of summer, but very rarely at that. Christy on the other hand likes to come back as much as she can.

"Yes we were very close." I say, tears welling in my eyes but I push them down. It always makes me tear up when I or even other people talk about my older sisters, especially Christy. I regret not being as close to Anna as I would've wanted to be, but I just miss them both so much.

My mother bends down so that her head and my head are level and looks me in the eyes through the mirror.

"You are growing up to be such a beautiful and strong young lady Katarina. I know that as you grow you will only get stronger and more beautiful."

"Thank you." She turns her head and kisses me on the forehead.

Some time later after she had curled my hair ever so slightly and put a little bit of makeup on me she grabs my hand and leads me over to the covered pedestal that she was standing in front of before.

"Now as you know I create a special dress for each of you when you turn 16 because that is what my mother did for me when I was little. It is a family tradition." She smiles at me and continues, "I create most of your dresses but this one is special. When you turn 16 I believe it is a turning point for you in each of your lives. This is around the time when you all start to turn into such young lady's, princesses, and maybe even future queens. I am so proud of you Katarina and I know your father is also." She grabs both of my hands and looks me in the eyes, "I know that whoever you grow up to be you will be strong and beautiful. You will make a wonderful wife someday and a great leader. I just want you to know that."

I can't help but have tears well in my eyes yet again. I'm very close to my mother, just as she is very close to me, and to hear her say those things makes me feel wonderful.

"I love you Katarina."

"I love you too mom." She pulls me into a hug while silently wiping away tears, and I do the same.

Then she turns around and picks up a small black box.

"This is an early birthday present from your father and I. We figured you could wear it tonight." She hands me the box.

"Go ahead, open it." I slowly open the small black box and see a simple silver heart-shaped necklace. I gasp,

"Mother! It's so beautiful!" I exclaim, "Thank you so much!" And I pull her into another hug though this time we're both laughing.

When we pull apart she has a wide smile on her face, "I'm so glad you like it. You father and I picked it out and had it made special just for you."

"Thank you so much." I say with a wide smile.

"You're very welcome sweetheart, happy birthday." At this she pulls away the covering on the pedestal to reveal one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen.

It is long and flowing, but not too much. It is a dark regal purple with gold and silver linings. It's not frilly at the top but instead simple and cut in a half circle. The sleeves went down to about my forearm before draping and came off the shoulders a little.

"Oh mother! I love it!" My mother opened her mouth to say something but was cut short by a knock on the door,

"Come in!" She said

Melinda opened the door and came in, bowing her head.

"Hello you highness. Oh my goodness! Katarina that dress is simply lovely! Lady Katherine you did such a fabulous job as always." She said with a giant smile. She's not a very tall women, kind of plump with light brown hair tucked into a tight knot on top of her head.

"Thank you Melinda."

"Oh your Uncle wanted me to remind you two lady's that it is 7 o'clock so Katarina must be off soon."

"Of course. Thank you."

"Your welcome Lady Katherine." And she bowed her head again before leaving.

"Well we must be hurrying then Katarina." My mother said.

Once I was fully dressed my mother opened yet another box,

"This is your official tiara Katarina, take good care of it." It was nothing like my mother's crown, but it was beautiful in a breath taking way. Just simple silver with small diamonds on it. I bent down and she set it on top of my head. When I stood up she looked me up and down and said,

"You are very beautiful Katarina and your father and I love you very much." She smiles and with tears in her eyes she says, "Well I should be off."

"Thank you so much mother, I love you too." We hugged again and I bowed my head to her as she walked out the door.

~°~°~°~°~°~

I sat down on my bed and waited for Carter.

When the knock on my door came I had been sitting on my bed reading a book and it scared me half to death.

"Come in." I said. Carter walked in wearing a suit decorated like a prince's. But he is not a prince. His parents and my parents were best friends, when his father died my father invited him and his mother Juliette to live in the castle with us and they graciously excepted. That was back when Carter and I were only toddlers.

He was very handsome. He was tall and had kind of dark brown hair that comes down just above his ears. He was skinny but had muscles and was very fit and strong. His eyes were a dark green that were always full of laughter and joy. They were beautiful in a way that made my heart jump every time I looked in them.

He bowed his head and came in sitting down next to me. He rested his hand on mine,

"You look very beautiful." He says smiling.

"Thank you, you look very handsome." I say blushing. After a few seconds silence though he asks,

"Are you okay?" His voice was soft and soothing.

I looked at him, "Yeah of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why would I not be?"

"Kat I've known you since we were babies. I know when something is wrong."

"It's just..." I choke and Carter pulls me into his arms.

"It's okay."

"There has been so much going on lately..." I say, "With Christy leaving, and now me being the oldest, all my mom said to me about me being beautiful and strong. I just don't want to let her down."

"Hey." He said it more forcefully than I expected, "Come here."

He grabbed my hands and led me over to the tall mirror in my room. I look at our reflection in the mirror. He is a good half a head taller than me. And in this form fitting dress you can see my small frame in front of his, though what you can't see is my arms and legs lined with muscles.

In the mirror he looks me in the eye just as my mother did earlier,

"I've known you my whole life Kat. You are strong and are beautiful, one of the most strong and beautiful people I know. And your mom wouldn't say that if she didn't believe it." He turns and looks around for something until he goes and picks it up, my sword.

For as long as I can remember Carter and I had been watching the guards train. And then we would go and help each other learn the techniques ourselves. We kept this training a secret except from Rosie and Matthew- especially me- because it wasn't exactly "proper" for a princess to learn sword fighting.

By now we have gotten really good, fighting each other and working on the force behind the attack.

But now all he does is put the sword in my hands, stands behind me, and puts his hands over mine.

"Remember start up." He is quoting one of the first things we learned and did together,

"Swing down... Take a step. Twist, swing up... Take a step. Twist, swing down and up... More fluently this time and take a step." We do this over and over again and somehow it calms my nerves. It seems that Carter is calmer too.

He turns and puts the sword back into my hiding spot and takes my hand. He grabs my other hand and puts it on my waist and holds it there.

"See? Strong and beautiful"

"Thank you."

He laughs, "Who said I was talking about you? I think I'm pretty strong and beautiful too you know, not to mention handsome and funny and cunning and..."

I smack his arm, "Oh yeah. Because you talk yourself into it."

He gasps, "I am offended!" At this I laugh, and it feels good. I am no longer stressed, or sad because of my sisters, or guilty because of my mother's standards. I feel happy and carefree, ready to have a wonderful night at my 16th birthday party with Carter and my closest friends and family. So when the knock comes on my door and Melinda pokes her head in before bowing and says it is 8 o'clock I graciously take Carter's hand as he leads me out the door. And standing in the hall I rest my arm on his and smile preparing myself for the night to come, hoping that it will be wonderful.

Hey guys so this is my new story. Yayy! Well I just happened to think of this story one day and I thought hmm I should write this down, so I did!

Please let me know if you like it or not by commenting and voting. But even if you don't like it please leave me a comment telling me why and your ideas on how to fix it or if a part is confusing. Either way just please leave me some feedback.

Thanks for reading and giving this story a try! XD