Mother had always claimed she didn't play games.That everything she did was thought through, deliberate.Queens don't need tricks, she'd say—they just take what they want.
But I knew better.I knew that she played games as well.And I wondered if she was merely waiting for me to show her that I had learned her cunning.
Act One: The Challenge
It started like everything begins with Mother—in silence, that cold calm which would freeze an entire room.
I sat at the long dining table eating a bowl of berries when she entered.Her dress shone in the light, midnight blue and silver fibers woven together, the royal seal embroidered at the hem.Her expression was unreadable, but those eyes—piercing… I felt them on me.
"Charlotte," she began, her voice smooth, almost tender. "You've been causing a little commotion, haven't you?"
I looked up wide-eyed, spoon suspended in mid-air to my lips. "Trouble, Mother? Me? I would never."
I batted my eyelashes, performing the sweet innocent princess bit I'd rehearsed so well over the years.
She sat down across from me, her eyes never leaving mine.The tension between us hung so long that even the grumpiest person would fidget.
And then, with a soft slap of her fingers on her goblet, she spoke again. "Then explain to me why half the court is buzzing with a 'royal heist' among some of the finest pastries in the kingdom."
I nearly choked on my berries.
That small joke that Meryn, Kellan, and I had pulled on everyone had carried a little too far. It was to be a taste or two of the royal pastries, not a full-blown cooking revolution.
But, as always, the monarch, I was back on my feet in an instant, grinning with a smile as sweet as sugar. "I just wanted to ensure that our royal cooks were doing their utmost. One never knows what may fall between the cracks, do you?"
She didn't smile.But she didn't reprimand me, either.Instead, her lips curled—just the merest suggestion of a smile. "Do you think the court finds your... adventures funny?"
I slouched forward, meeting seriousness for seriousness on her part. "I think they like them."
Act Two: The Game Starts
That's when it happened.
Mother made the challenge.Quietly. Silently. But I knew—that was a game. A test.
"We both understand," she said, her drumming fingers tracing slow circles along the edge of her goblet, "that it is expedient to maintain a certain image before the eyes of the court. Especially now that some have begun to take interest in the... leadership vacancies."
I stood silent.I already knew the direction this was going.And unwillingly, I was looking forward to pretending.
"You will attend the ball tonight," she continued. "And you will show the court what they need to be noticing. No tricks. No games. Just manners."
It didn't seem like much of a hurdle.Not initially.
But that was the idea.The real hurdle was not acting.It was overshadowing all the other princesses, all the other aristocratic women, and making it absolutely certain that though I was the youngest, I was the only one who mattered.
Act Three: Playing the Game
The night of the ball, the ballroom shone like a dream fulfilled—gold, crystal, the very air thick with excess.I wore a rose gold dress that shone like liquid light, topped by a ruby necklace I borrowed from Mother's hoard. It drew the nobles' eyes.
Heads turned when I arrived in the room.But not quite enough.I needed more.
I wove through the throng with careful grace, nodding at the nobles, dispensing just enough sweetness without losing the deliberately maintained distance that made me different.I could listen to the whispers grow around me.
"Who is she?""Why, she must be Princess Charlotte, surely? But look… different."
Ah, that was it.The first stone had been rolled.Now the play was properly under way.
Act Four: The Queen Watches
In the middle of the ballroom, I walked slowly, going around the room, always moving, always holding just the right distance from the others. I could sense my mother's eyes on me from across the room, and I knew—she was watching.Not just as a mother, but as a queen who had adopted me as her student in the art of playing the game.
She had no sign of approval, but I caught the slightest arching of her brow.And I knew—she was waiting for me to play.
I grinned, foolishly.And then, with not a moment's hesitation, I set to work.
First, I visited the young duke whose household had recently fallen out of favor.He wasn't looking for me.I let him know I was there, that I mattered. A few words of rebuke, a sharp reminder of the place his family held in the court, and I moved on.
Next, I encountered the eldest daughter of another rival house, the woman who had always tried to one-up me in the court.I greeted her with a smile—just the right amount of sweetness—but my voice was sharper than a blade.
"How lovely you appear this evening," I told her, my words dripping with honey and as silky as could be. "Your gown is exquisite, though I do think that perhaps it is a bit too flashy for so refined an evening."
The snub was so subtle that she didn't notice until she was already blushing and trying to adjust her dress.
By the time I arrived back to Mother, the entire room was abuzz—not merely because of admiration for my looks, but because of something else:Curiosity.Respect.And maybe even a little fear.
I curtsied deeply in front of Mother, who was looking at me with something almost like a smile on her lips.
"Well done, Charlotte," she said softly, her voice carrying a note of approval that I knew all too well.
I smiled back, sweet and innocent."You didn't think I'd let you down, did you, Mother?"
Chapter End: The Queen's Approval
The game had ended. For now.But I knew otherwise.It was not the finale of the games I would be subjected to from Mother.
She would always have her little games.And so would I.