God Save the Queen by Amanda Dacyczyn

apart. Well, this was the moment we were prepared for. I reached over my head to give the sign, and then stepped in front of Avery. I could feel someone’s body pressing up against mine. I assumed it was Avery trying to jump over me to get to Lynette. But as soon as I felt Avery bump against my back, she pulled back--presumably Barnes and Antonio must have grabbed her in time. I quickly tried to cover it up.             
                  “Hello, Lynette, I’m Anya,” I said, quickly thrusting my hand out for her to shake.
                  She looked at it as though I had just dipped it in toxic waste. “Um, ‘ello, your ‘ighness.” Then she gave a quick bow. I never did get why she dropped her “atches” when she said that; maybe a suggestion that I was a mere peasant, a pretender to the throne? “ Oui, you must be the adorable princess that everyone is talking about.”
                  I faked a laugh and then smiled. “Oh, well, I hope it’s all good talk,” How corny was that? “Um, well, I’ll take you upstairs and show you where your room is.”
                  She sighed with impatience and then grudgingly followed me down the hallway to her room. I wondered, was the prospect of walking up all those stairs too daunting for her? Did she expect to be carried aloft in a litter like Cleopatra?
    *               *              *
                  Out of all the extra rooms in the palace, LaGard made sure that his niece had the best room, the Master Suite. It was only a little smaller than my room, but only because it didn’t have the same amount of closet space. I would have taken it if it I wasn’t already settled into my own suite. But when Lynette saw the room, nothing that came out of her mouth was positive.
                  “What is this?”
                  “You call that a living room?”
                  “And where exactly am I supposed to put my clothes, because that closet space is a little bit ridiculous.”
                  And this went on and on for about thirty minutes while she walked around and insulted the room. First, the wood was not the right type. The wood! Had she planned on eating it? Were there certain types of wood that made her break out in hives? One could only hope. Then it was the couch, which wasn’t big enough. Big enough for what? I wondered. Next, her bed was too high. She might “tvist” an ankle as she got out of bed in the middle of the night. And the comforters, oh they would not do! They were way too soft for her liking. All this was sounded a bit too familiar to me, and then it came to me: It was the story of “The Princess and the Pea.” By the end of her rant I was drained from all the negative energy in the room.
                  I quickly came up with an excuse to get out of her presence, and left Lynette still complaining about everything in sight. I could tell her visit here was going to feel much longer than a mere week. Well, I was going to avoid her at all costs. Or so I thought. Once the thought of steering clear of Lynette was in my head, LaGard caught me at the door.
    “Ah , there you are. Excellent! You have to get ready for dinner.”
                  “Dinner? Is the Russian ambassador here again?” I asked. I never ate dinner with everyone unless there was someone of importance here.
                  LaGard smiled as he responded, “No, Lynette insisted that everyone should have dinner together tonight.”
                  Oh, just wonderful. I forced a smile to hide my annoyance in the situation. “All right, when does dinner start? And what should I wear?” I was hoping I could just dress casual.
                  “Well, dinner will start in half an hour, so you might want to get ready soon.” He contemplated my second question before