It was a typical day in Alderias, which is another way to say: it was a beautifully glorious day! On a day like this, who could blame me for wanting to have a little fun?

With my slippers sliding across the marble floor, I had to throw my weight back to prevent a turned ankle. It was tempting to just rid myself of the dainty shoes altogether, but first I had to lose the two sisters who had caught me sneaking off.

"Enna! Please! Ruby will skin us alive if you miss lessons again!" Cerise's soft voice cried.

I felt bad, but how could I spend such a perfect morning cooped up playing an instrument I hate? What was the point? Truthfully, I did not see the point in many of my lessons. She held her turquoise gown up as she pursued me. Carmine, her twin, lagged a little further behind. I suspected she was about to give up the chase. I had the advantage: shorter hem and determination.

Just as I turned the corner to run down the stairs, I ran right into a servant burdened by a heavy tray. I nearly lost my slipper as I redirected his fall pushing him right into Cerise.

Crash! Whatever was on the tray ended up on the floor and on Cerise. Sliding down the banister, I couldn't contain my giggles.

I hit the ground running just as I heard Ruby up above. "Cerise! What is the meaning of this?... Sienna? Sienna! Get back here!"

Her voice faded as I made my escape from the grand castle. I slid through the gates just as the guards were lowering them. My steps slowed, heels clicking on the cobblestone street. Catching my breathe, I inspected my scuffed stockings and almost laughed with light headed exhilaration.

The bustling town that thrives in the shadow of the great castle was named Highveine. It was enclosed by the outer wall with an entrance to the south, east, and west. I was greeted by the small folk as I made my way through town, past the giant square where the great well blossomed like a sunbloom reaching toward the heavens. Here at this time of day, mothers were busy doing their laundry and the little ones would be hanging onto their skirts. I took it upon myself to play with the young ones, tell them riveting tales of great heroes and dragons of the old age, until their mothers were ready to return home

I was so lucky to live in such a happy kingdom in such a peaceful time. Father was really a great king. Everyone says so... my "everyone" being his subjects, of course.

After spending a couple of coins on a couple of tempting muffins and an apple to curbside my growing hunger, I skipped off into the Blackvine Woods, following a familiar set of hoof tracks. The inhabitants of the woods' chatter created a melodious sound. There was a certain surge of energy that you could feel when entering the thicket of trees. And it drummed stronger the further you go. Some found it disorienting. Some of my sisters say I like it because I was born disoriented. Whatever that means.

My feet began stepping to the rhythm in my head. Little capers started leaping to and fro across my path with amazing speed, only distinguishable by their furry tails. Some scurried up trees and glided through the air. Their wings, like capes hence their names. My laughter blended into the forests symphony as two capers flew right into each other.

Realizing I lost the trail somewhere along the way, I had to stop to retrace my steps. By the time, I found the lost trail, I had discarded my slippers and walked barefoot. Heels, as much as I loved the added height, had a terrible tendency of sinking into the soft ground with each step.

I should have grabbed my boots... focus, Sienna!

This time I tried to stay on task by repeating my mission in my head.

Rose, Rose, Rose....

Climbing up a steep hill that I'm sure Octavius mounted in just three great strides, I found my quarry. Pricess Rose. Possibly my favorite sister, only if I had to choose. Competition was steep considering I had eleven of them. Rose was older than me by two years but she knew me so well--we could've been twins! I wondered if our connection was so strong because, out of all twelve daughters, I only shared a mother with her.

From what I have been told about our mother, Queen Malaya, we both inherited her restless spirit. In some ways, you could say Rose was more restless than me. Never one to be enclosed within stone walls, she was never in her bed in the morning no matter how early I woke. She would take her steed, Octavius, and ride as far as she could, which was never far enough for her. Like me and the rest of our sisters, she's never been beyond the border of our kingdom.

She had dismounted and was pressing her forehead against the dark mustang, whispering. The rising sun gave her dark auburn hair a fiery glow. I envied her hair. Mine was just dark brown with no pretty undertones of copper.

"Hello, dear sister! I finally found you," I greeted her, feeding Octavius the apple. The gluttonous horse whinnied his gratitude.

"Enna." She smiled, laughter always dancing in her jade eyes that were identical to mine. "Are you skipping lessons? Where are your shoes?"

"Yes, of course I am. And I do not recall. I left them back there somewhere. Would you like some?" I asked as I split apart the muffin, the sweet puff of steam escaping. A timely stomach growl was followed by our laughter.

We talked until the sun was high in the sky. We could talk about anything. But, most of all, we talked about what wonders were out in the world beyond our privileged life.

"I hope I get to see the world more before I am married off," Rose sighed sweeping her hair back.

"Married off? What are you talking about?"

"Really, Sienna? You must pay attention more. We have been engaged for years now. Surely it is not something you can forget."

"Do not underestimate the power of my forgetfulness." I laughed but honestly the thought of being betrothed often slipped my mind.

The sky is blue. I am a girl. I live in Alderias. I am engaged to some prince I've never met. These are just facts. You do not have to actively think about such things. "Why are you worrying about it now? You have time."

"I wonder about that," she mused. "The ambassador from Eldair will be here any day now. There is talk of a wedding soon."

Eldair is the kingdom Rose is going to rule if the marriage goes through. Royal engagements can last years and sometimes come to nothing, what with politics and all. I do not know much about all that. All I know is Father has been making deals. After twelve daughters, he has given up on the dream of having a son to give his kingdom to. So three years ago after my youngest sister Amber was born, he doubled his efforts of making our marriage arrangements with other monarchs not only benefit us but all of Alderias. So basically most of us are engaged to marry princes and on fast tracks to becoming Queens. But surely he won't marry Rose off first!

I did not like how worried she was or where my thoughts were headed. She was just gazing at the mountain's silhouette in the distance. Its peaks encased our kingdom trapping us in our trophy case. Thinking it was high time for a distraction, a mischievous smile rolled across my lips as I turned to my sister.

"Rose," I sang her name. "Would you like to herd some fizzles?"

~~♡~~

Fizzles are fickle creatures. One minute they are cool and calm, add just a little excitement and suddenly they're bouncing all over the place shouting in their gibberish language. They are little round balls of fur with huge eyes, ears and feet. They have small mouths and pug noses.

Rose and I spotted a few by the river then another pod not too far off and there was always some near a certain grove of peach trees. Fizzles loved peaches.

Three... two... one...

Rose and I jumped out and began waving our arms and singing loudly. The fizzles started hooping and bouncing. We chased them towards the next pod and the frenzy grew. Then the other until we had a swarm of fizzles.

They went right into our prepared trap. They were rounded up and hoisted in the air, their frenzy continuing. I heard a little snap like something wasn't going to hold. Holding my sides as laughter kept bubbling out of me, I tried to locate the source when a figure stepped out in front of me from the direction of the town.

"Of course! I would find you two if I just followed the sound of chaos." Jade stepped around the trees, a scowl prominent on her oval face.

"Where is Olive?" Rose immediately asked concerned.

"Did you really think I would bring the klutz into the woods? It would take forever to find you," Jade said slightly offended.

My sisters, Jade and Olive, were eighteen-year-old twins so they were two years older than Rose. And just like the other two sets of twins in our family, their personalities were complete opposites. Where Jade is physically athletic and coordinated, Olive is ... not.

"Why were you sent to find us?" Rose inquired.

"You are going to be late for dinner," Jade answered plainly.

I rolled my eyes. "I do not see the issue. We are always late to most things."

"Enna... that is the issue," Jade sighed exasperated. Her gaze fell to my bare dirty feet and she shook her head. Then she turned to look at the fizzle trap for the first time. "What are you doing with so many fizzles?"

"Just having fun. We are going to release them," I said.

"Have you lost all of your mind, Enna? You cannot release this many frazzled fizzles this close to Highveine!"

Before I could lose my temper, Rose put a hand on my shoulder and smiled calmly at our sister. "Of course not, Jade. We were going to release them in a couple of hours after they settled down."

"Exactly! It is not our first time!" I inserted abruptly, but I didn't stick out my tongue. It was a nasty habit I have trained myself out of.

"But seeing how we are going be late, I suppose we will have to wait until after dinner to do so," Rose continued unfettered by my interruption.

Jade shrugged. "I do not care when you do it, as long as you do not drag me into any of your messes."

"Then why are you even here?" I asked indignantly.

"Ruby."

My annoyance began to dissipate. It was not Jade's fault. Ruby was the eldest. We had to listen to her, or at least pretend to. For Jade to have such an attitude, she must have gotten a good earful from Ruby before setting out to find us. Plus, Jade is always having to practically babysit Olive, so she doesn't usually mind my shenanigans.

"Sorry," I offered lamely.

"Let us head back. I left Olive sitting in town."

We all started back towards Highveine. I could not help but think I had forgotten something. Something important.... but was it really so important if I have already forgotten it?

I'm sure I will think of it later.

~~♡~~

As expected, I was immediately ushered into our room and tutted at by Ruby for my appearance and the disappearance of my slippers. She none too gently pinned up my hair after I had changed into a new dress. Lavender and Violet were twelve years old and were doing their own hair! When I pointed this out, Ruby retorted that my hair always ends up falling all over the place mid-course when I attempt to pin it up myself.

I bit my lip. True. I did not have much practice with doing so. I hated my hair being all the way up, it would draw attention to my ears that I felt stuck out just a tad too much. It looked better down, I thought, where I could fake the volume. But I was going to turn fifteen in just a matter of months. I will be expected to behave and dress properly before too long...

I glanced at Ruby's reflection in the vanity mirror.

Ruby was a proper princess. Her back was always straight as a rod. Her mannerisms and decorum were always perfectly impeccable. She was a beauty with her shiny black hair adorned with jewels. She didn't have to worry about the soft angles of her face with her hair slick back like that.

After I was to her satisfaction, she moved on without a word to her next victim. I let my eyes wonder around, avoiding my own reflection so I wouldn't be tempted to pull out every pin, I watched my sisters talk and dress. Yes, I share a room with ten of my sisters. It was a large circular room. We each had a chest at the foot of our bed and a vanity to the right side. The furniture formed a semi-circle in order from the eldest to the youngest so my bed was between Rose and Lavender's.

Why you ask? After all, we live in a behemoth of a castle! Why would the princesses share a room? Because of an evil stepmother, of course.

Okay, so evil was an exaggeration. But she was not nice!

Queen Amelia is my father's fifth wife. She was confident she could give him the son he desired for so many years. But alas, my youngest sister Amber was born and my father threw down a white flag. Now all he asks of his Queen is to help him reign in his daughters and make them suitable brides. First thing she did was put us all in one area to keep a better eye on us.

But of course, her daughter, Amber, has her own room.

My nine-year-old sister, Indigo, sat down beside me with an amused grin on her face telling me she had some juicy gossip to share or a secret to confide.

Without delay she said, "Enna, guess what? I cannot hold it in any longer. I think I am going to burst. Though I have already told Saffron, Violet, Lavender, Rose-"

"Indigo! Spit it--"

"Carmine is in trouble!"

I looked around and realized she was in fact missing.

"What did she do?"

"More like who," I heard Jade murmur.

Indigo's grin widened, displaying gaps where baby teeth had fallen out. "She was caught kissing a stable boy. I saw it. I was not going to say anything. I swear! But then Mildred caught her."

Mildred was our governess and primary instructor. She was a shrew with a ruler always tapping her right palm. My wrists burned with memory of that infernal piece of wood.

At that moment, Carmine came into the room. There was a lull in every conversation. After all, if Indigo knows something, it does not stay a secret for long.

Carmine did not bat an eyelash. Instead, she offered a sultry smile and sashayed over to her vanity. "Oh, my hands are cramping! What a workout."

"So, she did make you write? What a witch," Saffron pouted beside her.

"Huh? Oh, yes. That too."

I did not know what was meant by that. From the way Ruby's red lips thinned it was not something I wanted to.

Ruby ordered us all to head down for dinner early but seemed to lag behind to wait for Carmine. I doubled back down the corridor while the rest of my sisters continued. The door to our room was left cracked to where I could make out their voices.

"Must you act so shamelessly? I cannot keep making excuses for you!"

"Then do not. I am not going to apologize for who I am," Carmine said flippantly.

"I am trying my hardest to keep us together before we are all married off and separated. But you are determined to sully your reputation. Amelia is just craving an excuse to ship you off to a nunnery. And you do something like this..."

"Okay, I get it! Nothing happened anyway. Mildred ruined it before it got good."

"Carmine!"

"I just want to experience more before I am tied to one guy for the rest of my life!"

There was a pause. I imagined Ruby was taking a deep calming breath.

"No gentlemen, much less a prince, is going to want to marry someone whose virtue is questionable, Carmine. Is that what you want?"

"It is not fair! Men get to have fun before marriage, 'sow their wild oats' and the like!"

"That is how it is. You must set a better example for the younger ones. They are so impressionable. Sienna is at the age of transition. She needs our guidance now more than ever. As older sisters we must uphold---"

"Princess Sienna!" I jumped and twirled away from the door as a flustered guard came running towards me. "Where is the crown princess?"

"Uhm... she is---"

"Right here. State your business." I didn't have to turn around to feel Ruby's hardened stare on my back. I flushed.

Finger snap! And I was just about to creep away since the conversation seemed to be coming to an end... as soon as I found out what impressionable meant. Stupid guard.

"Princess!" He kneeled in an over-the-top gesture as if he was going to kiss her slipper. I rolled my eyes and saw out of my peripheral Carmine was doing the same.

"Yes, yes. What is it?" Ruby waved her hand impatiently.

"There has been a disturbance in the town! The King and Queen have summoned you."

"What kind of disturbance?" She eyed me.

What? I didn't do anything. I narrowed my eyes at her to convey my thoughts. I am blamed for nearly everything around here. It was not fair, downright criminal if you ask me!

"A herd of fizzles are running rampant."

Oh. Okay, that is on me.

Author: Thank you so much for reading this story. I hope you enjoy it! :)