The Princess who would be King

Princess Adelaide watched as her little brother preened about in their late father’s robes. Prince Dudley the youngest, Princess Adelaide the eldest, but it didn’t matter. Dudley was the male heir, and thus, the king.

Dudley had just reached his eighteenth year, and thus could succeed his father directly without a steward. The young prince was over the moon, planning his coronation feast while fiddling with various royal jewels. Adelaide watched her brother with growing concern.

“Brother, don’t you think you should postpone this feast for a time when the horde isn’t raiding the kingdom borders?” Adelaide asked.

Dudley spun around and fixed his sister with narrow eyes and an exaggerated pout.

“The king has not given you the permission to speak, Addie!”

“Dudley, please!”

Dudley and Adelaide began to bicker, but a shadow fell in between them. Celine, the court sorceress held up one pale, slender hand to both parties, bidding them to be silent.

Despite not being a royal herself, Celine commanded immense respect from the court. She was a tall, lithe woman with long, untamed black hair. Her voluptuous figure was encased in a leather corset that left very little to the imagination. The woman’s sharp beauty often made Adelaide blush in her presence. Both siblings fell silent at the sorceress’s command.

“Enough. You are royals, not squabbling children. Princess, you will only speak to the king when given permission. You must respect the title of king no matter what. Even when the current holder of said title abdicates his responsibilities,” the sorceress gave Dudley a side-eye he failed to notice.

Adelaide hung her head in shame, “yes, Celine.”

“Yeah, Adelaide, shut up!” Dudley crooned. “Now sorceress, I demand that you procure as many rare meats for this feast as possible!”

“Yes, sire,” Celine answered dutifully. The sorceress waited for Dudley to march off and then turned back to Adelaide. In a quiet voice, she said, “if you’re so concerned about the kingdom, perhaps you should take matters into your own hands.”

There were many layers of hidden meaning to the sorceress’s words.

“Perhaps I should.”

“My door is always open, princess.”

A vague plan formed in the princess’s mind.