ROYALLY UNFAIR .

ONE - BEDS AND PIROUETTES

one . beds and pirouettes

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Jordan awoke that morning feeling like death himself.  Her night had been a restless one, tossing and turning and ending up on the floor somewhere along the line. She hadn't been dreaming for the past few days and that annoyed her further, she loved dreaming. That was what made her sleep so enjoyable - the vivid, lifelike dreams where she'd travel to places she didn't know the names of, far beyond the castle walls. She hadn't left the castle grounds in a while in real life, nor did she want to, not when she had to have someone with her as a supervisor. Dreams were her only escape, and now that had been stripped away from her too. Least to say, she was not in the mood for anything besides crawling back into her comfortable queen-sized bed and hugging the pillow beside her while she drifted back off into dreamland. And now Jordan rued her decision of listening to her growling stomach and going to the large dining room for breakfast as her mother seemed to have other things in mind, not giving her permission to leave the breakfast table until she was done talking about something seemingly important. Jordan sighed, nodding every now and again, pretending to listen when in fact all she was doing was mentally cursing her mother and imagining the snug touch of her bedsheets, her blankets enveloping her in a congenial embrace. She ached for it.

Unlike they were with Jordan, the queen's words were properly processed by Pixie and she gave a hum of understanding. Pixie stopped herself from questioning her mother and ate the last bite of her omelette, letting her arms fall to her sides as a maid took the empty plate from in front of her. Pixie looked to Jordan to give her a confused look that she expected Jordan to share. Instead she sighed, noticing Jordan was in her own world.

Pixie reached her arm out so her fingers were in front of Jordan's eyes and clicked her fingers, snapping Jordan out of her daze, "Why do you think we-"

"She's finished talking?" Jordan interrupted her, head jerking to the side to look at the seat her mother had been eating at, but had long ago left abandoned to join her husband of a year in the gardens.

"Well, yeah," Pixie looked at Jordan, who pushed her unfinished plate of scrambled egg away and stood up, "Jor, d-"

"Can't keep the love of my life waiting," Jordan flashed her a quick smile before dashing out of the room, up the flights of stairs to her bedroom and finally, throwing herself onto her bed, which she loved so dearly.

Pixie watched her sister leave and let out a deep sigh, standing up herself. She glanced at the large clock which hung on the wall and was relieved to see there were still three hours left until she had to be changed for the guests. There was just enough time for her to stroll through the castle's art gallery, which she hadn't been visiting for a while. She'd created a rule for herself, to give herself more time between visits. That would make each time more wondrous, more fascinating and enthralling to her, and she never wanted to lose that magic feeling she experienced when she lost herself in those paintings. The ripples that ran through her, the feeling of relaxation and peace when she examined each stroke of the brush, those feelings were way too sacred to her. If she lost them, she'd lose her meaning. She'd have no idea what to do for herself. That couldn't happen.

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Jordan's eyes widened as she heard her door click open and she stopped herself mid-pirouette, quickly standing straight with her hands awkwardly by her side. She let out a growl when she saw it was Pixie, her older sister's humoured expression telling her that she'd seen more than Jordan would like.

"Knock before you come in!" Jordan gave Pixie a stony glare and the older tried her very best to hide her smile. To Jordan's displeasure, Pixie didn't do a very good job. Frustrated, she grabbed a pillow and flung it Pixie's way and when Pixie dodged it, her annoyance only became larger, "Get out!"

"Calm down, I came to ask if I can borrow your mascara," Pixie took another step inside the room, already making her way towards Jordan's cluttered vanity table. She glanced at Jordan and chuckled, "What was that, by the way?"

"I couldn't sleep so I was learning to do a- a pirouette," Jordan mumbled and sat down on her bed, her hands underneath her. She snarled, "Shut the fuck up."

Pixie seemed surprised, looking at Jordan as she picked up her younger sister's mascara, "I didn't say anything just then."

"You thought something."

Pixie smiled, amused, "Aren't I allowed to think? I thought that was a given right." 

"No, you're not. You're giving me a headache," Jordan tutted, bringing her legs onto the bed too, "Why are you wearing makeup? And a dress? And, I didn't give you permission to wear my mascara. Do you  know how unhygieni-"

"Why aren't you ready yet?" Pixie didn't let her finish, trying her best not to get mascara onto her eyelids, giving her eyelashes careful, slow stroked with the brush, "You should hurry up."

"Huh?"

Pixie looked at Jordan and shook her head, "I thought you would've got at least something out of the conversation mum was having with us at breakfast," She sighed softly when Jordan's face remained confused and blank, "Apparently very important people are coming to the castle for dinner and mum told us to wear our best dresses and make ourselves look pretty, you really should've listened because we've got to be at the door in half an hour and I know you need five times that time to get ready," She stated in a disinterested tone and put Jordan's mascara brush back down.

"Shit," Jordan murmured and got off the bed, kicking her pumps off as she headed to her closet, "Who's coming?"

"She didn't say."

"Why didn't you ask?" Jordan tutted, taking a grey dress with a flowery, form-fitting bodice and flowing skirt. It wasn't unlike the dress Pixie was wearing, except hers was a light yellow.

"I wanted the conversation to finish quickly," Pixie sighed, turning around to leave.

"Don't go-"

"Jordan, we can't both be late, and I already know you are. I'll tell mum you were asleep, don't worry," She gave her a kind smile before leaving the room, back to her own to put on her stilettos.

Jordan sighed, quickly stripping and pulling the dress over her head, groaning when she realised she'd forgotten to undo the zip at the back and was now struggling to get the bodice down further. She cursed a few times before tugging it down harshly, praying it wouldn't rip anywhere. It seemed the Gods of Saving Clothes from Tear were on her side that day, because it slipped down her slim front easily with no sound of cloth ripping. She let out a sigh of relief and opened the separate cupboard full of shoes her stepfather had bought for her as a 'welcoming gift', when her and Pixie where getting settled into the castle. She couldn't lie, it wasn't a bad gift. She only wished for her eyes to be met with more trainers when she swung those doors open and less heels.

While Jordan was busy deciding which heels would go better with the dress, (The dark grey or the lighter grey? It really was a pressing decision that was beginning to stress her out,) Pixie was carefully making her way down the stairs, towards the castle entrance, where the guests would arrive in a mere fifteen minutes.

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a/n; lmao oOPS this chapter was pretty uneventful sksk ahh i don't know how to write things without dragging events on :') 

&& i'm too lazy to edit && i have homework to do so uH i should get on that

i'm sorry if this chapter was boring ahh al's writing the next one so it'll be a lot better sksk

and i had NO IDEA what to name this chapter so ignore the shitty title

- sarah