Chapter One
Crowns and Frowns
“The Crystal shall hold his
Soul forever. “
Excruciating pain filled her body as Ellima heard these words .She saw the cruel face of the dark sorcerer…. Forever laughing…
***
“ Miss Ellima, Miss Ellima, wake up! ”
“Oh” Ellima groaned, wiping her sweaty forehead.
“Here love,” said maid Josephine, handing Ellima a cloth
” Did you have another one of those dreams, Miss?”
“Mmm, but I’d rather not talk about it, its too blurry anyway…” lied Ellima.
“Of course miss, well you’d better start getting ready; you’re father- sorry- his majesty wants you in the main hall at 12:00 for the presentation of Princess Ivy’s crown. Do you want me to get your clothes?”
“No Josephine, I’m perfectly capable of choosing my own dress, you just go!” sighed Ellima.
“Yes, miss.” Whispered maid Josephine and scuttled off.
Ellima hated her snobby sister Ivy, she was so bossy and always showed off in front of her parents. Now Ivy had finished her advanced princess course, she was to be presented with an elegant crown fit for a qualified princess.
Ellima was classed as an underachiever because she simply wouldn’t learn embroidery or etiquette. She had more important things on her mind.
Ellima slipped out of bed and sleepily walked to the en-suite bathroom, she
brushed her teeth and washed her face. Then she pulled on her dressing gown and headed down the hall to the wardrobe.
The wardrobe was a gigantic room filled from top to bottom with shelves and rails of clothes. Dresses, coats, trousers everything a princess would need. Of course Ivy had an even larger one but Ellima was still content with her selection of clothes, however small it was compared to her sister’s.
“Ellima! Oh Ellima” called Ivy arriving at the wardrobes door “ I do hope you’ll be wearing something suitable not that old blue thing, I mean this is my crowning!”
“Oh shut up!” Muttered Ellima darkly, as she took a blue dress off the rail.
”I happen to like this dress!”
“What was that? Well, bye sister, see you later!” Ivy skipped down the corridor.
Ellima felt sick. Sick to the back teeth with her sister’s shenanigans. Ever since Ellima was born it was all ‘I’m so great, look at me, who cares about Ellima!’ Ivy had ruined everything. At Ellima’s first birthday party Ivy had ‘accidentally’ tipped over her handcrafted birthday cake and trampled all over it till it was reduced to a pink, squishy lump. She had poisoned Ellima’s best friend against her, she had secretly tampered with her sister’s school project so it fell to pieces when she had presented it to her Professor of Alternative Magic. So Ellima had always held a grudge against her perfect sisiter, but she still had not thought up a horrible enough prank.
Ellima gathered up her clothing and gloomily carried them back to her room.
As she dumped the pile on her bed she had a sudden thought. What would give Julia a scare? What would get her into a mound of trouble?
“She loves getting attention and showing off…” thought Ellima
“ So maybe if I can embarrass her on stage…. There must be some way I can make her slip up.”
Ellima carried on looking through her pile of clothes until she found her favorite silk blue dress; very carefully she slipped it on over her under clothes.
She didn’t care what Ivy thought any more. She wouldn't’t control her after today. Ellima quickly brushed her long black hair and fixed her small tiara on with a clip. The clip dug into her delicate head. It seemed everything would be fine as she happily bounced down to the dining hall.
“Maybe today won’t be so bad." Ellima said to herself as she opened the grand doors to the main hall. The servant, Maria stood waiting to usher Ellima into the dining hall.
“Wait Maria!”
She turned around, shocked.
“Yes, M’lady, what is it?”
Ellima beckoned to Maria and led her behind a statue.
“Listen, I need a favour. You’ve got to promise not to tell anyone, no matter what happens.”
“Oh course M’lady What ever do you need?”
Ellima cupped her hands as she whispered into Maria’s ear.
Maria’s eyes widened.
Quivering, she replied. “Yes m’lady.”
Ellima smiled “ I won’t forget what you’ve done for me; never.”
Her heart racing, she opened the oak doors.
The scent of maple syrup reached her nose.
“Ellima my darling, come sit down.,” he said, pointing to a chair.
Ellima glanced across the gilded table, Ivy grinned and stretched her hands in front of her. The right hand gleamed.
“What’s that on your hand?” Ellima exclaimed
“ Oh, this?” She said with a smile. “Daddy, gave it to me, to celebrate my crowning!
Here, take a look!” Ivy proudly stood up, waving the diamond ring in Ellima’s annoyed face.
“ Do you like it?”
“Its OK.” Ellima yawned, “ If you like that kind of thing.”
“Mmm, It is rather expensive though, isn't’t it Daddy; you said it cost more than my wardrobe?”
Ivy glared at her father “ Didn't you Daddy?”
Elroy opened his mouth as if to say something but quickly shut it again.
“Ivy, shouldn't you be getting ready for the crowning?”
“Oh! I suppose Daddy.” Ivy withdrew her hand and sauntered out the main door.
Ellima picked up her silver fork and began to devour her thick pancakes.
“Will you be continuing with your lessons, Ellima?” asked King Elroy.
“What boring sewing or learning etiquette? You must be joking!”
Ellima carried on with her pancakes.
“Do not talk in that manner, you are a Princess not a common peasant! Your mother and I will be having words with you after the crowning! Now go and change into your proper gown.”
Ellima threw down her fork and stomped out of the room.
She ran up the stairs to her room and upturned a shelf where she found her hideous green dress complete with matching green shoes and a lurid pair of stripy stockings. When her eyes found the disgusting costume she screwed it up into a ball and chucked it out her window. There was no way she was wearing that.
To her horror, Ellima remembered that her Mother’s (the Queen) special flowerbed was directly underneath her room!
“Ellima! Ellima! Come down here this instance!” her mother’s voice floated up to her room.
Sighing, Ellima made her way down the Palace and into the courtyard. Her mother stood there her arms crossed.
“What exactly was your intention when you threw your good dress out of the window? To hit me on the head or are you simply insane? That dress cost us a thousand gold pieces! What on earth are you playing at?”
Ellima picked up the sodden dress and dropped it back on the floor.
“I’m sorry mother, but I don’t care about some stupid dress. For all I care you could make me wear a sack to that little poison Ivy’s crowning”
Leilanai shook her head.
“ One day, Darling you’ll look back on these day’s and laugh at how naive you were. And don't talk about your sister like that.I expect your father told you about our little chat later, you will find us in the conference room. Now go upstairs and find another dress. The crowning starts in one hour.”
Leilanai gathered up the green costume and walked away her purple satin dress dragging on the floor.
Begrudgingly, Ellima made her way through the Palace until she reached the west wing where her room was situated. As she walked to her wardrobe she caught sight of herself in her mirror and stopped.
“Am I really that bad? Do I deserve to be a princess?"
She stared a little longer and began to think what she would look like in ten years.
An image of herself waving at crowds and fluttering her eyelashes at princes came to mind. She couldn't bear it if she was to become a brainless wife; Ellima wanted more in her life. Ellima had dreamed of travelling the lands and discovering lost islands. Of course Ivy had laughed when Ellima had announced this in career class. Ivy made this false giggling sound and lisped that she wanted to be a ‘damsel in distress’. All the adults had cooed over her saying “Aaaaw, bless her” and “Isn't she sweet?”.
Ellima shuddered at the memory. There weren't many memories that didn't make her shiver.
Trying to fog out all her past thoughts, Ellima opened her wardrobe and peered into the darkest corner of her gigantic wardrobe and yanked out a plain green pair of dungarees, hoping to annoy her parents.
The garment still smelled of blueberries from last summer. The royal gardens were now icy and bare; nothing grew on the vines or stems. The blooming garden had turned into a cemetery.
Ellima slid into the dungarees then ran a comb through her pitch-black hair and slipped on a pair of jewel-encrusted shoes.
She raced down to the presenting hall where Ivy was waiting proudly on stage. She wore a stunning pink dress that hung down to her ankles; every part of her had been scrubbed until it gleamed, her blond hair shown with cleanliness. She gave off an aura that made the knights gaze in wonder. Leilanai and Elroy stood on either side of their daughter, smiling gently at their “little angel”. The moment Leilanai’s eyes met her other daughter her face darkened and in turn Elroy's eyes dropped to the floor as if Ellima was some unsightly wart to be disposed of. The congregation remained motionless.
“Welcome, welcome! Good day to all of you and may I say what an honour it is to be here on such a remarkable day!”
Ivy shot a grin at the priest.
“Now let us start the crowning!”
The crowd clapped as Ivy took her seat on the golden throne so she waved and blew kisses. Ellima had an urge to slap her in the face. Her fist clenched at each of her sister's words. It was mental torture.
Still, Ivy would get her comeuppance soon.
The ceremony dragged on, filled with endless vows and unnecessary speeches.
Finally, it was the moment Ellima was waiting for.
Ivy’s eyes glittered with glee as the priest carefully picked up the crown . He removed the cloth- the crowd gasped!
It was a paper crown.
Ivy’s hand’s shook as she gently took hold of the fake crown. When she saw it was nothing but a paper hat; she sank to the floor.
The entire hall erupted!
Doctors ran in to attend to the fainted princess; most of the audience had begun to search the hall for the real crown.
And while all this happened Ellima sat in her chair and simply laughed.
I am commenting your story as I read it, so if I start rambling or going off subject on unicorns and clouds made of skittles, you now know why. ^_^ Ok, now onto your story.
My girlfriend says this line all the time:
Well, overall, that was a very nice read. I love that time period anyway, which made it all the more fun to read. Ivy is quite the little snob, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the ending when she fainted. A 
I don't think I've ever made a comment this long before. lol Well, nice work Charlotte. Buh bye! *waves*
If I'm wrong, you need to make the informality come across more. 
