It was time to meet the King and Queen. It was that time of the year. That one time when they come to see her. Not Christmas, not Thanksgiving, not her birthday, not any holiday, but just a random, normal day.

Acia pulled on a tattered pair of gloves and carefully pulled the oven door open. The smell of bittersweet dark chocolate filled the tiny kitchen, gracing Acia with a sense of perfection.

When the cake was finally set onto a fancy plate, then did she notice that the crust was slightly burnt, and the rise from before was almost gone.

Acia sighed sadly, and tapped the top of the dark brown cakebread. It was hard, and not soft like how the cook book had described.

She picked up the icing bag and tried as best as she could to spread a thin layer of chocolate icing around and on top to cover up the burns.

With a grace that she rarely ever had, Acia sprinkled chocolate shavings evenly over the top, and awkwardly pressed the rest on the sides.

Fruits...rotten, too soft, too small, too big, too...perfect! Acia placed a few of the better fruits in the center of the misshapen cake, and licked her icing-covered fingers.

She knew the cake was nothing like anything the King and Queen enjoyed every day, but she hoped that they would appreciate it anyway. After all, they should know that Acia never cooks, bakes, sews, knits...just about everything she should know how to do. Everything except for sports.

The garden had been decorated by Acia’s maids. Chelsea, the older one, was rarely ever with Acia. For most of the time, she stayed at her own home. Of course, that was because Acia didn’t need her, and she honestly didn’t care. Emlynn, on the other hand, was her one and only friend. She was around her own age, and was extremely fun to be around. She had wavy, jet-black hair, and dark brown eyes that sometimes looked pupiless.

Streamers hung from every branch, and balloons stuck out from every bush. Ribbons were strung throughout the garden, and a huge banner was hung above the entrance.

Acia didn’t really know why her parents didn’t live with her. Other than the fact that they had important “Royal Business” somewhere else, and it would be to hard to drive there every time they were needed.

“Is the garden ready?” Acia hollered from the back door, seeing Em’s black hair poke out from behind a tree.

“Yup! You have your dress on? They’ll be here any minute!” Em shouted back, turning to see that Acia was still in her midnight blue circle skirt and white blouse. Her gaze travelled down to Acia’s feet and sighed when she saw her wearing running shoes inside the house.

“Uh...I’ll be back! With the awful dress!” Acia muttered loudly, swiveling around and trudging up the stairs.

She pulled on the fancy floral chiffon dress that Chelsea had picked out for her the other day. It reached the floor and Acia felt uncomfortable not being able to see her feet. The waist was too tight, and the whole dress was too fancy. Large, pink flowers covered the top and edge of the dress. It was clear that the chiffon dress was way too big and fancy for a small and sporty girl like Acia.

The worst part was the shoes. Acia just didn’t get why she had to wear fancy high heels when no one could even see her feet.

“Well...it’ll make you taller,” Em joked, holding up the white high heel sandals.

“The dress won’t drag on the ground as much,” Chelsea explained, urging Acia to try them on.

Why can’t I just wear normal sandals? Acia thought, fitting one foot into the heels.

She wobbled and fell over onto her bed immediately, unable to balance. Acia sighed and pulled the other shoe on, attempting to walk again. She was sure that the heels weren’t doing her any good.

“Welcome, Your Royal Highnesses,” Acia bowed down as the King and Queen reached her from the other end of the stone pathway.

“Oh, my little princess. Don’t do that. Get up, get up, and show us to all the fancies,” Alaricia, the Queen, laughed softly, throwing an arm over Acia’s shoulder.

Acia frowned slightly, but nodded anyway. “Fancies,” was what the Queen called food, and as far as anyone knew, the food that Acia and Chelsea had prepared were the least bit fancy.

She glanced over at the King and was met with a distant look. Cedric quickly pasted on a smile and looked forward.

“Wow...these decorations are beautiful. Who did them?” Alice asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Acia pursed her lips and murmured, “Uh huh...It was all Emlynn.” Seeing the disappointed look in her mother’s eyes, she quickly added, “Chelsea and I did all the...um, fancies.” She cringed at the word, but was glad to see delight flash over Alaricia’s face.

“How’s your cooking now?” the King suddenly asked, sending the three into another moment of awkwardness.

“Well---” Acia began.

The Queen chuckled and brushed off what Acia was going to say. “He was just kidding. I’m sure that the fancies are going to be delicious,” she drawled, running a slender hand through Acia’s silky hair. “As smooth and soft as ever…” Alice murmured, rubbing some of the hair in her hands.

“Here we are,” Acia muttered, awkwardly stepping through the garden gateway.

The long, wooden table was covered with delicacies, most that Chelsea had made. A few at the other end of the table were made by Acia. Mostly the desserts.

There were sandwiches and tons of meat, salads, cakes, cupcakes, bread rolls, brownies…

“It’s delicious,” the Queen exclaimed between tiny bites of a small cupcake. She looked over at the King expectantly.

He stayed silent, looking down at his mostly empty plate, pretending not to hear.

Alice sighed, and Acia deflated slightly.

“Have you met your new messenger yet?” Cedric finally asked, picking up a chicken leg.

Acia perked up and nodded. “Yeah. He came today morning, for...Her Majesty. I told him to come back later. He should be here anytime now.”

Cedric put down the chicken, and wiped his hands and mouth that clearly had no food stains. “Well, we better get ready before he comes our way,” he said, standing up.

Acia looked at Alice and then at all the leftovers. “Uh…”

“It’s okay. He’s looking for me, and only me. You two can stay and eat. I’ll go wait for him to come,” Alice said softly, pressing Cedric back down.

Acia shot a worried look at Cedric, and quickly looked down at the huge flowers on her dress.

“Mmm…” Cedric looked around, as if looking for an excuse to go, and said with his ascertain voice, “I have to meet the new messenger.”

Alice sighed and stood back up. “Fine, but you can’t see the letter.”

“I won’t, I won’t, Alice. You can calm down,” Cedric huffed, walking over to join her by the door.

“Now, Acia dear, you stay here and we’ll be back soon,” Alice said as the door closed behind her.

“No. We can’t keep him! We just can’t! He is just too inexperienced. Stammers like a four year-old. Even Ezra’s more fluent, and he’s only 5…” Cedric trailed off, met with Alice’s glare.

“Ezra? Who's that...? Is that...is that my little sister?” Acia whispered, playing with the name in her head. She strained to remember that time long ago when the old messenger had come to tell her about her newborn sibling. Back then, she had been only 13, and her parents had visited at least once a month.

Cedric groaned and sat down heavily onto the bench. “Alice, what did I tell you?”

“No, Acia baby. It’s a little brother,” Alice said calmly, shooting a glare at Cedric. “Come now, it’s late. We have to see to our bedrooms.”

Acia shot up and nodded.

“Wait. We haven’t finished discussing about this new messenger,” Cedric said. “He can’t stay. He can barely speak."

Acia had no idea what had gotten to her, but she suddenly had the urge to defend Jaxon. The clumsy and awkward boy who, as Cedric had claimed many times, couldn't speak. She didn't know if it was the fact that he was around her own age, and didn't want him to be an embarrassment, or she was suddenly feeling sympathetic. Either way, she, for one, was feeling especially defensive.

Acia twirled her hair over and over again until she finally found something to say.

"Father," she started. "I know how much you hate the new messenger, but...but, at least give him a chance. He is new, for a reason. You do know that as special his job sounds, nobody wants to spend their life running errands. If we fire him, we'll never get another one. This boy...he doesn't know what it's like yet, because he's new here. He's our only hope," Acia finished, holding her breath.

Cedric narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. "I don't know..."

"No, I don't think it'll hurt to give the new guy another chance," Alice finished for him, shooting him daggers.

"Well, of course," Cedric muttered, frowning.

That night, Acia couldn't help but feel proud of herself. She didn't know why, but she was just glad that she could now have another chance to see Jaxon. She knew that he could never be part of her life, but she had to figure this out.