The sounds of birds chirping woke me from my dreams. I wiped my eyes as I tried to recall the face of the handsome prince. But I couldn’t. All I could remember was the white stallion we rode away on, and the way the wind felt in my hair. The same breeze that blew through my window. My window, the only one in the tower. Dad—master—had allowed us to choose our rooms, and I picked the rightmost one. The only room with a window, and I could look out upon the bridge and sparkling waters. I took a seat in the chair in front of it and leaned out to brush my hair. It was growing longer here, longer than the nuns ever let me grow it before. That was okay because I was a princess now. I lived in a castle with its own guards. I ate three meals a day, three! And with meat each time. The other orphans would scream at me with envy if they knew. That was one of my dreams. To return all the mockery they gave me and Walker over our skin and hair by showing them how much better off I was. A small dream. My big one was more important. Soon, a prince would ride up and ask to marry me. A handsome prince with perfect hair and a nice smile. Not like the pig-nosed one who didn’t even look at me when I sat in the window brushing my hair just for him to see. Who would want a prince like that, anyway? Beside me, Lady Ivy’s face grew, a smile on her lips. Hello, water flower. It was a whisper that tickled my mind. When we first met, she nearly scared me to death with the way she talked. Now, though, she was the best handmaiden a princess could ever ask for, “Hi! How are you this morning? Are the little ones happy?” Her little ones, the tiny specks of green light in the mist, were her babies. Well, I wasn’t sure if they were her babies or babies she cared for like a nun, but she called them her babies. Yes, water flower, they grow well. Two more have hatched and are bonding with the water flowers. Are you certain you do not wish to bond with one? I bit my lip and admitted, “I haven’t asked dad yet. I’m afraid he will say no.” Now is the best time, and the bond will only help you. Need you his permission? “We’ve talked about this! I won’t do it if he says no. Here, comb my hair,” I handed the comb to the ivy and let my handmaiden work. She always did an excellent job that left my hair smooth and shiny. A good handmaiden. I bet the other princesses didn’t have magical handmaidens. When she finished, I promised, “I will ask him soon. Thank you,” I gave her a courtly bow of the head. One of dad’s books was about all the courtly manners, and I read it each day. I even practiced my curtseys for an hour, once! Next was one of my favorite parts of the day. In my wardrobe, I had twelve dresses. Twelve! I didn’t know someone could own that many clothes, but my brother had spent all his money getting them for me, and I loved it. He was the best brother ever. I had the light blue one with frilled sleeves, the pink one that was a little too small, and the green one with a fluffy skirt. Only those three I hadn’t worn yet. I wanted to wear one today, but I didn’t want them to get dirty in the dungeon. Chelsea would fuss forever if I did. "Do you think the yellow or the beige one, Miss Ivy?” I asked as I held one up to my chest. The green one looks best water flower. I rolled my eyes, “You always say that. I’m picking the beige one.” After slipping into my dress, I gave Lady Ivy a curtsey and grabbed my catalogue tome. I wanted to review my illustrations now that all the creatures were trapped inside cages. Much easier than when they squirmed all around. Dad said my illustrations were good, but I’d seen his other books. I wanted them to be the best. One of the downsides of having the rightmost room was that it was closest to the stairs. I could always smell it when Chelsea was cooking. Which was great when I was hungry, but torture when I wasn’t. This morning we had eggs again and I was excited. When I mentioned to Chelsea how much I loved eggs, she came up with a scheme to get Dad to buy more. And he fell for it! At least I think he did. He seems to always know what’s going on, like when Rolf was pretending to be strangled by the floating lilies in the swimming pond and he just ignored him. So maybe dad did know that the eggs were for me and got them anyway. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. I had a dad. And I had brothers. Rolf was like a little brother. Kine was like a distant cousin, a snotty one. Chelsea was like an auntie. I finally had the family I always prayed for at the orphanage. I said a quiet prayer of thanks to Goddess Elora. Goddess of Light and Love, thank you. Thank you for everything. I will forever be your follower. I love my new family. If… if you hear me and can grant me one more favor… please… send me a prince. A handsome one who will carry me away. He should have facial hair, but not too much. Blue eyes. Or green. He should be strong and caring. And a good listener. Thank you again, Goddess! After breakfast, little Rolf came bouncing to me, “Lady Lilly, are we having studies today?” That was a curious question. I tutored him every day, “Why?” “Well, me and Meathead wanna go swimming, but the water is too cold in the morning. Can we study now so I can play outside this afternoon?” I thought about it. Walker wasn’t back yet, so I didn’t need to study with him this morning. But I wanted to do my illustrations right now. “Hmmm,” I answered like dad would. “Please?” He asked and gave me a pouty face. When I saw him do it, I had to bite my tongue. No wonder dad says for me to stop doing that. It really was childish. “I can’t. But if you want you can practice your numbers and letters by yourself today. To make them look better,” I'm tired of needing to squint to read his writing. “Thanks, Lady Lilly!” He said and gave me a hug before running off. I swung my hands and skipped my way down to the dungeon. Chelsea and Tond were already making kissy faces in the cellar, so I didn’t stop to say hello. In the storage room on the side of the dungeon, I sat down. Beside me, I set out the quill and inkpot, before turning to the latest illustration. Mr. Mushroom, the one that could grow arms and legs, was having a baby. Sort of. He looked like he was splitting into two Mr. Mushrooms, and I wanted to draw him doing that. He got scared easy though, so I needed to sit perfectly still until he wasn’t scared anymore. I couldn’t wait to see what his baby looked like, and I had all morning and afternoon to draw him right. This was going to be a very good day.