Princess Josephine of Swindon

Whilst the sun rose, I listened for that still, silent moment of the morning. The only ones awake in the town were the farmers.

On the window seat of my bedroom, the dawn of the morning flowed onto my bed and onto my walls. The pinks and yellows of the morning light made me smile.

Every morning I did this, yes. My sister would be so proud. She used to watch the sun rise with me every day, and she still would if she could. My heart skipped a beat.

The silence of the morning though was always something I had always loved. Even without my older sister with me, I would wake up and do this myself. It had come natural since I was a child.

The sun peeked over the top of the church house. I snuck a glance at the grandfather clock in the corner of my bedroom. Dang! I thought. I'm gonna be late to breakfast with father!

Rushing to my closet, I ripped out a daffodil yellow dress with small ruffles. It was my favorite color.

And to the kitchen I went.

"Where is father?" I asked Lucille, our servant.

She spoke in a friendly manner. "He is in the dining room waiting for you, dear. Although he did seem a little off this morning... I couldn't put my finger on it."

I thanked her kindly in response and scurried off to the dining room where I met my father.

"Good morning father," I said. "I'm sorry I'm a little late, I-"

"It's quite alright, darling." He responded. Mother walked into the room with guests. "Just have a seat and I will explain in a moment."

I sat in my usual spot, at the end of the table next to him. "Not there," He said. "Our guests will be sitting there. Why don't you go sit next to your mother?" I huffed at this.

Mother introduced us - moreso myself - to the guests. "Josephine, these two are the king and queen of Pycea."

The small, brown-haired lady spoke up. "You may call us Mrs. and Mr. Ferrick though, sweetie." Mr. Ferrick gave her some kind of look.

Mother paused before speaking again. "And this is their son, Harrison." He gave a pitiful wave.

I let it soak in for a second before asking a question. "Not to sound rude, but why exactly are you introducing them to me?"

"They are going to be our allies."

"For...?"

"For certain things I cannot issue to you." Mother said flatly.

"Alright then."

We all sat at the table and made small talk with each other until Lucille and a couple of our other servants came out. Trays of fruit, crepes, omelets, and sausage were being passed out.

As far as seating arrangement went, I got stuck with sitting across from the prince, who seemed to show himself as pretty quiet and very meek.

"So, what do you do for a living?"

He looked around and made sure I wasn't talking to his mother. "Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Well I mean, I'm only eighteen... I assume you are as well?"

"Quite frankly." I said, shoving another bite of eggs in my mouth. "Also, at the age of eighteen you should be doing something rather than sitting around the castle all day. I think thats pretty boring, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, obviously. I get the meat needed for meals for mother and I try to help father handle the vlliage..." He trailed off and stared at his food.

"Are you gonna eat something?" I asked him.

"Oh," He said, making it seem like he had just saw that his food was there. "Yeah, these crepes look really good."

"Lucille makes the best ones around. They're even better than mother's."

He took a bite. Then another, and another. He chewed very slowly, which I thought was strange. "These are pretty good, hm?"

"Yep. I always save 'em for last."

"You children seem to be getting along well." Mother said through a smile.

"He's pretty quiet in my opinion." I said.

"Oh, don't let him fool you. He's got the biggest mouth around." Said his mother.

The tips of his ears went red. "Don't listen to her."

His father laughed heartily. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it slightly startled me when he laughed because it was so loud.

"He always laughs like that." Harrison said, pulling another bite of the crepes into his mouth. My plate was already empty.

"Alright, well that's something I've never heard before."

"What?"

"A laugh like his. He reminds me of Santa Claus almost."

He started laughing. At first it was a small giggle, then it turned into a real laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"You said he reminds you of Santa Claus," He said, pretending to wipe away a tear. "I'm never gonna be able to get that image out of my head."

"Well I mean, you gotta admit, it's pretty genius. He's got some white hair, a beard, he's kinda chubby, and he just has that kind of look. He just reminds me of him."

This made him laugh even more, and eventually, we were both laughing at the table. His plate was half empty, and mine was cleaner than a whistle.

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