Princess Iris

"Wow!" Ri says.

"Wow indeed," I say.

"When Isabelle said 'Enchanted Flower Garden' I was not expecting a real enchanted garden forest," Ri praises.

Even from a distance, I can imagine the sun casting its rays on the beautiful diamonds and crystals. Its reflections on the lilies and roses are so enchanting and pleasant to watch. "It's magnificent," I say.

"Why can't we enter yet?" Ri asks impatiently.

"I believe we are supposed to wait for Isabelle before we can enter," I say.

"Oh curse that girl and her suspense," Ri says.

I observe Ri for a while and she seems anxious.

"Your enthusiasm to enter the garden is rather odd. I thought you hated anything green?" I ask

"Oh you are mistaken, it's the diamonds I can't wait to touch," Ri replies dramatically clawing her hands at me.

I roll my eyes at her as she giggles.

"Oh goodness Iris, look," Ri shouts pointing to the directions of the butterflies on the lilies.

"Butterflies, oh Iris, aren't they beautiful?" Ri says excitedly.

"Yes they are Ri," I say.

Apart from diamonds, Ri loves butterflies. She will never go into the forest to look for one because she's scared of crippling insects but I always take a jar with me into the forest to catch a few for her. She would always draw them and set them free afterward.

I turn to Ri who seems to be muttering something under her breath. I smile at her odd habit and recall my discussion with Constantine this morning. FLASHBACK

"I need it to be special and different Constantine."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Here, take this paper and money. The paper contains instructions on how I want the new tiara to look like and the money is to pay for it."

Constantine eyes the paper for a while.

"Hmmm," Constantine says.

"What? Is something wrong with my choice?" I ask.

"If Her Highness will permit me..."

"Oh please go ahead, Constantine," I say.

"Perhaps we could make the tiara golden. If you want butterflies on the tiara, the gold is likely to make the butterflies stand out and the crystals will balance off the color," Constantine says.

I consider Constantine's idea for a while

"Alright, I think your idea is way better than mine," I say.

I dig my hands into my pocket to bring out more money.

"Here you go; if we are going to go for gold you are going to need more money."

Constantine hesitantly takes the money from me. I eye him for a while.

"Any other thing Constantine?" I ask

He takes his eyes off the money and looks at me.

"Your Highness is giving away her whole savings," Constantine says concerned.

"Ri always goes out of her way to look out for me. No matter how much I mess up, she always stands up for me. So Constantine I don't mind using my whole savings to get my sister a gift. She deserves it." Constantine bows at me

"Very well Your Highness, I will make sure this gift is deserving of Princess Adrianna," Constantine says.

"Oh thank you so much, Constantine. I knew I could trust you with this."

REALITY

"Alright children, if you need to find us, we will be in the palace. Queen Henrietta organized a little brunch for us," Mother says.

"Alright, mother. Have a nice time," Ri says.

Mother smiles at Ri and looks at me with a frown. I watch her take out her handkerchief and walk toward me. She starts to clean my face with it.

"I see you still went ahead to eat the cake after I said no," Mother says as she cleans my face.

I hear Ri giggling as I struggle to pull away from mother but she holds me firm and continues cleaning my face.

"What were thinking, that you will get away with it? It's a good thing you are clumsy because when we get home, you are in big trouble young lady," Mother says.

"Mother, you are embracing me," I say.

"Hush now, I am almost done, and do remember to stay out of trouble," Mother says.

"Yes mother," I say as she releases me.

Mother watches me for a while and finally, she sighs.

"Adrianna do look after sister and make sure she stays out of trouble," Mother says.

"I can stay out of trouble all myself. I need Ri to babysit me," I say.

"Make sure she stays out of trouble," Mother says.

"Of course mother, I will watch her like hawk," Ri says.

"Mariah," Father calls.

Mother quickly rushes off to father's side.

"Princess Iris!"

I turn to Lady Juliana navigating through the crowd.

"Your Highnesses," Lady Juliana greets.

"Wow Juliana you look stunning in that dress," Ri says.

"Yes indeed. Pink is your color," I say.

"Thank you so much your highnesses. It means a lot that you approve," Lady Juliana says with a blush.

"Hello Adrianna, hello Iris," Princess Octavia says.

"Octavia you are late," Ri scolds.

She sighs with Esmeralda following behind her.

"Williams took the whole day selecting a sword for his fight today," Esmeralda says.

"You and Octavia could have taken another coach, surely you know..."

"Not an option. Mother insisted we ride in one coach as a family," Esmeralda says.

"I wonder where I have heard that before," I say teasingly.

Lady Juliana giggles.

"Hush now Iris, you know better than to mimic mother."

I roll my eyes at her

Just then a trumpet is blown.

We all turn and listen as Princess Isabelle is announced. We watch as she makes her way down the stairs in her beautiful pink ball gown and makes her way to us. The Lords and Ladies bow and curtsy. Her pink gown is very divine, designed with beautiful feathers.

"I want to thank you all for honoring my invitation. Without wasting much time, gentlemen if you will follow Ackley, our butler, he will take to you where Leonard is, where your entertainment awaits you."

Princess Isabelle nods at Ackley.

"This way Your Highnesses," Ackley says.

They all follow him.

"Alright ladies, now we have the space to ourselves. Let the tea party begin," Princess Isabelle says clapping her hands.

Servants began trooping in with trays of biscuits, cakes, tea cups, and kettles. The music starts playing as we all enter the garden and it's very beautiful.

"Oh, how delightful," Ri says admiring the diamonds.

"We have to give it to Isabelle, she is a good entertainer," Princess Esmeralda says.

"She always tops it up every year," Princess Octavia says.

"Iris, our 16th birthday is coming up soon. We need to outdo Isabelle," Ri says.

"All of this looks like work Ri. Can't we just leave all the planning to mother?" I say.

All the servants are all lined up in a straight line. Princess Isabelle claps her hand and her maids roll out towels on the ground. She claps her hand again and the servants start setting the tray down. "Wow, is that Princess? She looks amazing," Lady Zadie says.

"Zadie? You are late," I say.

"I am sorry Princess Iris, father's coach had a wheel problem," Lady Zadie says.

I sigh

"I am just glad you made it," I say.

"Did Princess Isabelle notice I was missing?" Lady Zadie asks.

"One good thing about Princess Isabelle is that she doesn't pay attention to such things, so you are in the clear," I say

Just then a clash is heard. We all turn to the chaos a maid made. The music stops playing as everyone draws their attention to the mess.

"You flirty rat, look at the mess you caused," Princess Isabelle yells.

"I am sorry Your Highness; the tray wasn't balanced properly."

"Shut up, you have destroyed my beautiful garden, you ruined my..."

I start getting irritated and angry at Isabelle and I try walking toward her but Ri blocks my way.

"I guess this is part you were you leave."

"Oh no, I am going to say something," I say.

"No," Ri stops me. "Octavia and I will handle Isabelle. The last time we allowed you to handle her, we had to separate a fight."

"It's true, you will only make things worse," Princess Esmeralda says.

"Are those your favorite words?" I snap at Princess Esmeralda.

"Esmeralda is right Iris," Princess Octavia says.

"Besides mother did say you should stay out of trouble," Ri says.

I groan

"Fine, I will leave," I say.

"We will send for you when we get her under control," Ri says.

I walk out of her garden hearing Ri and Octavia trying to calm Princess Isabelle down. I hear Esmeralda instructing the servants to clean the mess. I stand outside the garden for a while and I start to get bored.