When I return back to the castle, Evelyn is waiting for me. 

“You’re late,” she says, following behind me as we walk to her room.

“So? Big deal. It’s not like we’re gonna be late.” 

Evelyn looks at me annoyed, “Really? Because I disagree. Xavier and his father have been here for the past 45 minutes while you have been hanging out with your commoner friends.” 

I roll my eyes, “First of all; Xavier sucks. Second, I thought you wanted me and Emma to hang out?” 

“Well, yes,” Evelyn struggles to find her words. “Ugh, that's not important. What is important is getting you into some presentable clothing. Did you even brush your hair this morning?” 

I ruffle my hair, “No, I didn’t really see the point, it's short enough anyway. Oh by the way,” I pull Evelyn’s lotion out of my pocket. “I got the face shit you asked for.” 

Evelyn takes the lotion from my hands, “It’s called lotion, Elizabeth, and thank you.” We get to Evelyn’s room and she drags me over to her vanity. “Lets first start with your hair,” she takes her brush and starts to yank at the brown knots. 

“Ow! Be careful!” I wince.

“I would be if we had time but thanks to you, we are limited on that,” she pulls at my hair again.

“I’m not that late, we also have 2 goddamn hours! Ouch!” 

“Stop being a baby, this won’t take long if you just cooperate!" she starts to get some of the knots out. 

“Ugh, fine.” After 5 minutes of struggle, she finally finishes brushing my hair. 

“See? Doesn’t that look better?”

I grumble out a response, “Yes, thank you sister.” 

She smiles, “Good, now we have to get you dressed. I have the perfect dress for you to wear!” Evelyn goes into her closet and comes back out with this light purple, corseted, frilly monstrosity of a dress. 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I think, as my moronic sister puts the dress down on her bed. 

“I am not wearing that,” I say, staring at her. 

Evelyn rolls her eyes, “I’m not giving you much of a choice. Besides, it’s only for an hour and then you can go back to your jeans, or whatever you like to wear.” 

I groan and get up to put on the dress. I pick up the blob of lavender fabric and take it to her bathroom. In there I struggle to get it on, there's so much—everything. When I finally get the dress on and the corset laced, I can barely breathe. 

“Evelyn, this is a safety hazard, I feel like I’m going to die, I can’t breathe.” 

Evelyn comes over to me with her eyeliner in hand, “Don’t be so dramatic, you can breathe afterwards. Now hold still or I’ll poke you in the eye.” 

After Evelyn finishes getting me ready, I stand in front of the mirror. My hair is soft and flat, my face is glowy and perfect, and my waist is snatched. 

“What. Did. You. Do.” I ask her, horrified. 

“What do you mean? I made you look presentable, just like I promised. 

I groan and am about to make a remark when our dad opens the door.  

“Girls? Come on, Xavier and his father are waiting.” 

Evelyn responds, “Okay, Dad. We’ll be right down.” 

He nods and closes the door. 

“Alright Elizabeth, remember what I told you?” 

I nod, “No swearing, no calling people out when they are homophobic, or being a pervert, or being racist, or sexist. Make it seem like I actually wanna be there. Oh and no drinking.” 

Evelyn smiles, “Good, lets go.” She heads over to the door and I follow behind, struggling to walk in these damn high heels. 

~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~

When I walk into the dining room I notice Xavier flirting with the maids. I roll my eyes. 

“Ugh, I hate this guy.” But instead of letting my face show my annoyance, I put on a smile and go over to him. 

“Hello, Xavier,” Or the man I’m going to be tied to in a month. 

“Hello Sweetheart, long time no see,” He says with a stupid smirk. 

“If I was able to wipe that stupid smirk off your face, I would,” I say as I sit in the chair next to him with my fakest smile. 

“So, how have you been?” He asks, eyeing me. 

I follow his gaze and realize he’s looking at my chest. “Pervert.” I think as I discreetly cover that area. “Good. I’ve been good. Busy and stuff.” 

He smirks again, “Yeah same. You know, with wedding stuff and all. But also, we have had a big witch population in my kingdom. We’ve had to lock up a whole bunch of those bastards. Takes up a lot of the dungeon space. Why are there so many anyway, I thought they were all gay or some shit.” He says with an eye roll. 

I grit my teeth but still smile. “Yup, those witches, quite annoying.” I say, trying not to yell at him. “Ugh, that's only a fucking stereotype. Not all witches are gay. And even if they are, that's pretty badass, I would love to be a witch instead of a princess. I might actually be accepted and not yelled at for being myself.” I think to myself. If I could actually speak my mind, I would be unstoppable. 

“Anyway, you’re just lucky you don’t have a large population of either of those groups,” he says, leaning back in his chair. 

I stare at him, “Either of what groups?” 

“Oh, you know, the queers and the witches. Horrible groups, both of them.” 

I clench my jaw, this time my smile faltering a bit, “Yup, super lucky,” I can feel my sister’s eyes watching me as I say that. Luckily, the chefs—including Charlie—bring out the food. 

“Hey Charlie!” I say quietly as he walks over. 

He replies with a quick nod and smile. The meal consists of steak, potatoes, green beans, and rolls. It smells amazing. I’m not really surprised about it though, the kitchen staff normally outdo themselves for every occasion. 

“So, Xavier, will you and your father be attending the royal ball at my palace next week?” my dad asks, cutting up his steak. 

“Oh yeah, I will definitely be attending, as long as I get to see this beautiful lady in front of me,” Xavier says looking at me. 

I roll my eyes but smile, “Oh uh, yes, I should be there.” 

“Good, wouldn’t wanna miss it,” Xavier responds, looking at me up and down again. 

I clear my throat and go back to eating. Conversation flows, I eat peacefully, glad that no one is directly speaking to me. But sadly my peace is broken when Xavier asks me a question, 

“So, Elizabeth, that person that was bringing us our food, he was your kitchen friend right?” 

I nod, “Yeah, Charlie and I go way back.” 

He sighs, “Yeah, well I don’t think you should be hanging out with him, I heard he was a fucking f–” and suddenly I’m hearing a word I’ve only ever heard in movies and back alleyways. 

I clear my throat. “Please don’t say that word.” I say, trying to calm myself down.

“What? F–” 

“I said don’t say that word!” I say getting out of my chair. I have had it with this guy. “That word is a very homophobic slur that I do not want you calling my friends!” I look around realizing the commotion I’m making. But at this point, I really don’t give a fuck. “All afternoon I have sat quietly while you say horrible things about people because they were not straight white male royalty and I am done! I have had it with you Xavier, and frankly, I wish you would fuck off.” I do not have time for this. I start to walk over to the door.

“She must be menstruating, she’ll be better tomorrow,” Xavier says, like he knows shit about that. Or me. The only people who actually know me are my friends. 

I walk back to my room, almost falling twice in this stupid dress. The second my door closes, I am ripping the purple fabric off of my body. I hear rips but I don’t care. I need it off now. When I finally get the dress off I take deep breaths and collapse on my bed. After I take a breather, I get PJ pants on so I’m not just sitting there half naked. I climb back onto my bed and pet Poe, who is sleeping on my pillow.