"Queen Mortica has given birth to a son." Terron announced, as he walked into the boutique. "His name is Markell." He hung up his coat and walked over to Dalla and me, giving us each a kiss. Dalla was minding the shop with me positioned in a sling. "Prince Markell," Dalla mused. "How lovely. I'm sure King Carsden is pleased." 

There's something oddly familiar about these royal names. I think this is the first time in my six months here anyone has talked in depth about the royal family. So why the deja vu? Terron nodded to his wife. "Yes, the king is very pleased. He finally got a boy after four girls. There are to be celebrations all month long, on every corner of Acandar."

 Wait. Hold on. Did he just say Acandar? He couldn't mean Acandar from Princess Ariyana! "Adess Ababba?" I tried to ask if this place is Acandar. But Dalla only patted my head. "Are you excited for the King and Queen, my dear? They've just had a son- he's a baby like you!" She cooed, then turned back to Terron. "A baby is always a cause for celebration, I just wish there had been more for the princesses. After Ariyana was born a girl, I heard the king nearly brought in a mistress!" She shook her head as Terron began to respond. But I hardly heard what he said. Ariyana. Dalla just said Ariyana. A Princess named Ariyana, in the country of Acandar, with 3 sisters, a brother named Markell, a father named Carsden and a mother named Mortica. It all lined up with my favorite book! But how? How could I be inside a book? A book is just paper and ink! It's not a whole, living, breathing world! Not outside of the reader's imagination at least. No, this had to be coincidental. But everything lined up so perfectly. Maybe I'd misheard? Or maybe the adults had misspoken? But as they continue to talk I realized that couldn't be the case. They continued to say the same names, pronounced the same way as before. So much for that theory. Maybe...maybe the author had knowledge of this world, Yaren! Maybe she was reincarnated from  Yaren to earth! That had to be it! Yes, yes. I nodded to myself. This made the most sense. If I could reincarnate from Earth to Yaren, surely it could work the other way around. But then, how did the author know about current events if she wrote the book in the past? Could she see into the future? Or maybe she was from the future of this world, and had ended up in the past on Earth? It had to be something like that. Wait, what was the author's name again? Maybe I could try and find her here in Yaren. Maybe she would have answers for me. I think her name started with an N? Or maybe a T? Ugh, I can't remember. I know she was a woman. But what was her name? Maybe there was no point in trying to remember. There was no guarantee she was using the same name she had in Yaren. Or that she even was a woman in Yaren. Trying to find one person with no description who might not even exist in this world would be impossible. I would have to find someone else with answers. But who? "Well," Dalla was saying, breaking my train of thought "I just hope that Prince Markell grows into a fair and just king." 

Sorry Dalla, but you're going to end up disappointed. I knew from the novel that King Carsden had wanted a son for the past decade, but had only had daughters so far. The first princess, Briella, the second princess Karia, the third princess, Elisha, and the fourth princess, Ariyana. Markell was the first boy. Male heirs had not always been prioritized by Acandar. The King's great-grandmother, Queen Ollenia, focused on social reform and scaling back the military. However, this led to an invasion by a neighboring kingdom. Instead of focusing on her accomplishments, future generations focused on the invasion. Her descendants selected male heirs, believing that Queen Ollenia had been weakened by her womanhood. In the novel, Ariyana admired Ollenia. She found her twice great grandmother to be an impressive woman. She was furious that her family had scorned Ollenia. Ariyana longer to vindicate her ancestor and prove the strength of women. As such, she eavesdropped on her brother's lessons. Only the prince was taught things like swordsmanship, diplomacy, and languages. The princesses learned things like needlework and dancing. Ariyana was a quick study and good at teaching herself. She became skilled in both what she officially learned and what she secretly learned. Prince Markell was also very bright, but he had little interest in his lessons. He only wanted to ride and tend to horses. The other princesses were content to learn the "womanly arts" and had no desire to sit on the throne. Only Ariyana had both the skills and desire to rule. And after her journeys throughout the book, she proved how capable she was and won the right to succeed her father. Markell would not become a fair and just king. Instead, he would happily leave the palace to focus on raising the horses of his family's country estate. The other princesses married dukes, whom they assisted in managing their dukedoms. And they all lived happily ever after. I wonder... will I get my own happy ending? I'd been trying not to think too much about my future here, it was too overwhelming. But now, thinking about the ending of Princess Ariyana, Protector of Acandar, I can't help but wonder about my own future. How will things turn out for me? What sort of life am I going to have? Will I find happiness? I never expected to find happiness on earth. But I wonder if it could be possible here. I guess only time will tell...