Young Writers Society

Wanderings take people many places, but mine are limited for the most part to a castle in Filemonia. What a boring little country Filemonia is. A small country North of Denmark that is not even large enough to be marked on the world atlas!
“Mother, why are you telling me to do this? I suppose it lets my thoughts out without get getting me in trouble!” Lynnea grinned and continued journaling.
I have lived here in Filemonia my entire life and have only seen the country twice. The first time I was only four. I threw a tantrum in the open horse carriage. I would not have gotten a whipping if my family had not decided to stop. Father wanted to assure a high-profile crowd of potential rebels that he had complete control. I was 'grounded' for 8 years. That was also the time that the rebellion took place.
The last time I saw what will be my portion of the world, I was twelve years old. I had taken some of my servants servant’s clothing with me on a Sunday drive in the limousine. After I abandoned my parents a mile in the dust, I changed from my stuffy, old-fashioned dress into the clothing that I borrowed. I hitched-hiked for 3 technically, all numbers should be spelled out; three days what did you eat and drink for those three days? You don’t mention yourself packing food or money or anything. before an ex-nanny who suffered from the rebellion kidnapped me and held me for a very large ransom. I am now 17 seventeen years old and have not left the castle since my bodyguard rescued me and saved the nation's treasury.
“Now, to the point.” Lynnea placed her diary beside her and rearranged a pillow that supported her back. She took a deep breath and continued.
Thankfully my wanderings have taken me somewhere! Now that I have passed my sixteenth and seventeenth birthday, I am being forced to find a potential husband. This means that once in a while I have to travel to another country to find a form of royalty. Denmark and Britain are absolutely marvelous! These trips are enjoyable but, the they come to my doorstep too. Each and every male is a long and boring process. It is quite fun to see the variety; gentlemen who are beyond desperate, treasures to great to imagine, and the fits thrown. I am trying to convince my mother to wait and let me enjoy life for a year. I do this mostly by rejecting every man, child, and grandpa to walk through my magnificent castle. It is very hard once in a while. Some men will not take 'No' for an answer!
I do not know why my family is in such a rush. There must be some law that says that if I am not married by a certain point that my regality will be stripped of my very being. I do not want a husband though. I am too young for any man. Why must so many rules restrict my princess lifestyle?
Lynnea placed her brand new diary back in her imported oak nightstand. How would she survive another suitor? The same way that she survived every other suitor.
"Bryndis, come here please!" Lynnea spoke into her intercom installed on her old fashioned wall. Bryndis Flinthill was Lynnea's top girl and her only real friend. Bryndis had helped spoil half of Lynnea's potential husbands. With Bryndis's real experience with men, she knew how to derail a man's confidence in a matter of seconds. It only took Lynnea 3 three suitors to catch on to the art. "So, how will we knock out this Prince Brandon?" Lynnea sounded too excited. She smiled her villainous smile and knelt on a chair with her hands supporting her weight on the table in front of her. "What is our plan? Nelly nose-picker? Obnoxious laughter Olivia? Too fast Fiona? Shy Shelly? What does he dislike the most in a girl? Who is his dream girl? Well?" Lynnea now found this process more of a game than an actual life decision.
"Lynnea, I am putting my foot down.” Bryndis stomped hard in her ten centimeter heels followed by an intensive wince. “I am not doing this again! I have assisted in discouraging men from your old friend 14 fourteen year old, Duke Reynolds who came to see you to the 43 year old Lord Hampshire who happened to be the third cousin to the British Queen. We were outright boars to them.” Bryndis let her head of hay fall. Her bony toes frowned back at her. “Why do you always fight it? Why can you not just accept the fact that one day you will have to get married.” Bryndis knew that her emotions were about to let loose again, but she did not care. “No prince will look at you again if you keep this up! This is your life and the country of Filemonia's future!" Tears and steam flew at the same time. Quickly she remembered her position and curtseyed. "My lady."
"Bryndis, do you know what marriage is like? I have seen it up close and personal. My parents are miserable because they were forced together by my queen grandmother. My mother turned 16 years of age and the almighty Queen Mother picked the first suitor. Do you want that for me?" Lynnea was now in a sitting position with her legs and arms crossed. Her chin was pointed above the world."
“No!” Bryndis resisted a second stomp. “That is not how it is! Prince Christoffer and Princess Halle love each other with so much passion that they had a little girl! They named the little brat Lynnea. If they did not love each other, then that never would have happened and you would not be here. They would not worry for each other when ever they are separate. They would not cry for each other when one of them is hurting. Never would they hold hands in private and public unless they were completely and hopelessly in love! It just happened that Princess Halle had an open heart and mind and got lucky on the first try! Maybe you should try this theory before Prince Christoffer and King Thurston have to beg men to consider you and you get left with a fifty year old lowly!”
“Bryndis, Bryndis, Bryndis. Tsk tsk tsk.” If I do not get married so what?”
“You will never have children.”
“So?”
“There will be no heir.”
“You are forgetting that every single male, blue-blooded creature to walk into that throne room has been a complete snob with his nose turned up at my family. I want an ordinary boy who cares about me and not my position!”
“Do you remember Valdemar? He is next in line to you. Do not ask me how but I looked into it one day and he is the highest ranking duke in Filemonia and he is the last scheduled suitor on your father's list.” Now Bryndis crossed her arms. This fact she had made up, but she knew it would make Lynnea's blood boil.
Lynnea stood to her full 1.7 meters. “Valdemar? Valdemar! Over my dead body!”
“He will. If you do not get married and have at least one eligible heir, he will take the throne once you die or resign.”
Lynnea faked some tears and some innocence. “I will think about that long and hard...”
"You are the worst faker that I know! Please, just for once, try to be pleasant my lady. See how it feels. What if this man is the one. If you fight it off the bat, it will never happen and you will never know! Give him a shot and if you do not like him, tell him the world's favorite two letter word." Bryndis's face softened. Lynnea ignored Bryndis. Bryndis knew that Lynnea was stubborn, but never would have guessed that she was this incredibly stubborn. Bryndis whirled around and stepped out of Lynnea's quarters with no less than absolute outrage filling her soul.
Lynnea waited for Bryndis's clicking footsteps to fade and then devised a childish plan. "I cannot be rude or polite if I am not in the room. I think that I will just take a little walk. There has to be something to occupy my time in this place. I wonder what Joseph has been growing in gardens?" Lynnea smirked. As she considered what she where she would go and what she would do, she dug through her nightstand for a key. She took the key and opened a secret compartment contained in the base of her wardrobe. Contained in the compartment were a pair of shabby jeans that were missing the hem at the bottom - jeans in general are forbidden to be worn by the Lexington family, a ragged blouse with a hole in one sleeve and the other sleeve half gone, an apron which had a stain where a pocket had once been, and a knotted, brunette, ponytailed wig.
Lynnea dressed in just a few moments and waited until the hallway was empty. She pulled her wig tighter and made her apron a bit askew. She was in the zone. What Lynnea didn't have in acting innocent, she did have in being a first rate sneak.
After Lynnea found her way out of the Royal Wing, she strolled past the kitchen where a nod from Bryndis for the third time this month assured her of the costumes effectiveness. it seems very odd that Bryn would not recognize the face of her best friend. Also, wouldn’t she know the other servants of the house personally, being a servant herself? It seems to me like she would know an unfamiliar person if she saw one. Lynnea continued her journey until a profound thought came through her lips."Where in King Thurston's name am I?" As she turned around to head back from whence she came, an escort rounded the corner. Lynnea waited not and dashed down the nearest hall. wait, how could she not know where she was in her own house?
Prince Christoffer makes regular rounds on Wednesday mornings. and everyone knows it, even if his own daughter seemed to have let it slip her memory. Today is not a good day to try to hide from such influence! Lynnea's thoughts did not stop her mad flight down the even more unknown hallways until she knew that her father would be able to hear her steps if she moved again. Hide! I went down left then right. I have a twenty-five percent chance of escaping His senses. Lynnea stopped until she had caught her breath as well as she could, and then looked for a door or another hallway.
I need another variable! Lynnea rapped her knuckles against the cool brick wall to grasp her way through the dark. "Thud, thud, thud, thud, THUNK."
"Score," Lynnea whispered. She reached for a door knob but found a stiff iron handle. With all of her might, Lynnea forced the door open. A few steps forward and "Crash!"
Lynnea stood up and brushed herself off. "Stairs? Where do they lead I wonder? Ha! Maybe Rapunzel is at the top waiting for a prince to step forward and save her!" Lynnea took on her childhood days and became Prince Charming. She grabbed an odd stick and ran up the stairs to save the lost princess!
When Prince Charming reached the end of the stairs, two windows let in slivers of light to the musty room. There was no Rapunzel so Prince Charming returned to her original state. The room had small piles of hay, a short stool, a rusty cup and a ragged blanket lying on the uneven floor.
"Clank!"
Lynnea recognized that sound from fifth grade with her tutor buddy, Valdemar.
"What a dark place," Lynnea stepped forward. "We can be convicts, and Sir Reginald can be the prison guard!"
Valdemar got a deep grin and nodded his head. The two 11 year old children snuck down the dim corridor that had been abandoned when a real convict had escaped and attempted murder on Princess Halle 3 years earlier. A new prison had been constructed away from the palace.
The partners in crime tip-toed to an apparently unused door. "Perfect place to hide!" said Valdemar as he pointed up a long flight of spiraling stairs. "You first. Unless you are a scaredy cat!"
Pride hurt, Lynnea stepped boldly through the door and up the stairs a little way.
"Baby!" Valdemar crossed his arms and with his echoing shout. Lynnea was sure that a shout that resounded that far meant that the tunnel was long enough for her to only go a quarter of the way and be safe. Lynnea walked on until Valdemar could no longer be heard. A sudden "Clank!" made her rush back.
At the bottom of the stairs, it had happened again. Lynnea had been a fool and went into one of the abandoned dungeons. Lynnea whipped her apron off of her neck and threw it to the ground. "Drat! What a lousy day!"