Reign and Rivers

iii. Preparations

The sound of footsteps had Princess Lysandra rush to cover up the maps and books that were splayed open on the table.

When her step-sister, Princess Olympia, finally arrived inside her chambers, she entered to the sight of Lysandra knitting a scarf.

Not that she had anything against knitting, Lysandra just thought that deciding the future of the Five Kingdoms was a tad more important.

"Oh, for the love of all the rivers of Thessalia!" Olympia exclaimed with her usual dissaproval. "Your wedding is in a few days and you are not even trying to look better."

Lysandra ignored her step-sister and the youngest of the King's children, and continued knitting.

Olympia was merely sixteen, with little to none knowledge of the outside world. With her blond hair, bright green eyes, a straight nose and an angular face, Olympia believed that she was superior even to divinity. Queen Priscilla, her mother, was to blame for this. Her mollycoddling had not helped Olympia in any way. 

"Is there a reason that you've barged into my chambers uninvited or were the others bored of you already?" Lysandra raised an eyebrow at Olympia, her hands still working through a scarf. 

Olympia's face turned a lovely hue of red as a scowl marred her brows. "No one was bored of me," which meant everyone was, "I merely wished to see how the preparations of your wedding were coming along." 

"Then you could have visited the grounds where it will actually be held, instead of my chambers," Lysandra pointed out, wanting her step-sister to leave, so that she could get back to the tiny task of planning the fate of their world.  

As tradition demanded, the wedding would take place at the bride's home kingdom, and then the bride would leave with the groom and his family to complete the remaining ceremonies in his home kingdom. Then they would stay there happily forever. (Translation: the bride would become a slave.)

Not if I have something to do about it, Lysandra thought to herself. 

"Well, now, I wish to see your wedding dress," Olympia snapped, her lips turning downwards from being asked more questions than she was accustomed to. Because for Olympia Christos, the youngest princess of Thessalia, everything should be available on a silver platter, along with the head of anyone who refused to follow that rule. That was part of the reason why Olympia despised Lysandra so much; Lysandra never seemed to make living as easy and luxurious as it was supposed to be for someone like Olympia. "Are you not going to offer me a seat?"

Lysandra sighed. "The seamstress says that the dress will be ready in a two days, but, please have a seat, dearest sister," she gestured at the chairs around the table with her most expressionless face. 

Olympia strutted forward but stopped once she noticed the pile of books on the chair she was advancing towards.

Her lip curled at one corner, reminding Lysandra very much of Queen Priscilla, and her head snapped in Jana's direction. "Are you blind or just plain stupid? If the chair I intend to sit on has something on it, it must be removed, yes? Now, be quick! I will not stand here for eternity." 

Her eyes glared at Jana, as the older girl moved forward to empty the chair. 

"Stop, Jana."

Lysandra finally put the needles in her hand down. But that was only as a precaution since she knew exactly how much pain those very needles were capable of inflicting and she was not in the mood of staging another accidental death today.

Jana stopped with a nervous glance in her direction. 

"Jana is my personal maid, Olympia," Lysandra informed her. "She follows only my orders. Besides, dear sister," Lysandra continued in a saccharine sweet voice that had Olympia take an involuntary step back. "If you are ever in my chambers, and the chair you intend to sit on has something on it, please feel free to sit on the ground."