Striking True

Puppets and Princesses

"So many suitors..." Said the princess, reclining on her couch. She kicked her paws up over the side as she was alone for a moment and no one would scold her for her unladylike behavior. Her favorite lounge area stayed empty for the most part, as the library rarely saw any company other than her or her brother. She looked up lazily at the white and gold banners, which were the colors of her very country - Mavar. A country that had ripe pickings for many things that many other countries longed for.

She recounted all the many men that had been thrust at her since her 19th birthday. Short, tall, ugly, handsome, dumb and smart. None of them caught her fancy, no matter how brilliant they were in her father's eyes. She groaned at the thought of any more visitors and reached under the chair she sat on to pull out two secret hand puppets she had made.

"Your majesty, the princess has declined another suitor!" Said one of the puppets which very much resembled the castle's chamberlain and advisor to the king. The puppet looked a bit like an old radish, though the princess had tried her best to make it look like the elderly dog he was.

"Impossible! She must choose before her 21st birthday!" Said the other puppet, a spitting image of her father, the king. Done up in royal finery, featuring a printed cape that looked suspiciously like the curtains in the drawing room. His fluffy gray wolf face was hidden under a little crown she had made and worked perfectly with the large white eyebrows that were fixed permanently in a scowl.

"Oh but what if she doesn't want a suitor, my king?!"

"Hah! She has no choice!" Said the king puppet with anger.

"My king..." Said the chamberlain puppet, a darkness in his cotton filled soul. "I'm afraid you'll find she does have a choice!"

The drama built as the chamberlain puppet flipped his cape over his head, revealing a dragon sewn onto the underside of it. "You'll also find that I'm... a dragon!"

After the big reveal the king and dragon advisor fought a great battle. Which was quickly put to an end thanks to a sharp voice startling the princess off of the couch.

"Ahem." Said a stern, irritated voice.

The princess looked up sheepishly and lifted herself from the ground, dusting off her dress. "You should knock before entering a ladies' room..."

"I did. It's time for school lessons, Ella," said the gray wolf, who was a well dressed man with a black coat, glasses and a book under his arm waited quite impatiently as she collected herself. He stared her down with the same gold eyes she bore.

"Oh, must I? It's all rather pointless if you ask me," said Ella, who was standing up and smoothing out her dress.

"No one is asking." Said her irritated tutor, flipping through his book while waiting on the princess. "But father pays me to teach you."

Ella stood up and tossed her dark chocolate colored hair around, a bit messy from lounging on the couch. "Oh, of course. How better to learn when not to speak and how empty my head should be."

A long suffering sigh came from her brother as he pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "Ella.." He muttered. "This is why father makes me teach you. If we weren't related I-"

"Oh what, brother? Father would throw another line of scholars at me?" She laughed in his face as they walked down the corridor to the library, "Or worse, suitors?" Her voice echoed off of the walls, making her brother cringe. She, on the other hand, grew tired of the games her family tried to play to get her into the perfect position for leadership.

"No. But I think you'd be tossed in the stocks for being mad." He scoffed, shouldering his book in irritation, "If not, the madhouse."

"Oh, then let me be mad." She said with a huff as her brother opened the classroom door for her to walk through. Once they were inside the modest room, she noted there were a few desks set up, though she was always alone during lessons. She sat at one and folded her hands in her lap, immediately looking out the window.