Chapter 1

Princess Maya

Chapter 1

As soon as they heard the horns, the King of Bellicia’s three children knew they were in trouble.

Prince Soren was in the kitchens, stirring a bowl of gravy and hoping no one had noticed him, when he heard the familiar horns that announced the beginning of his father’s banquet. Tonight’s banquet was very important. It was the hundredth anniversary of the King’s grandfather’s defeat of Acerbia, a neighboring country, in a battle that had ascertained Bellicia as an independent kingdom. The King was using this occasion to show off to everyone important in all of the surrounding countries, and if Soren and his siblings weren’t in attendance, there would be hell to pay. Hurriedly he tried to escape, but the head chef grabbed him before he had even taken off his chef’s hat. “You! Boy!” he cried, grabbing the gravy out of Soren’s hands. “What are you doing, leaving when we’re about to serve the food? You stupid fool; this is the most important banquet of the year!”

“I know,” said Soren, trying to stay calm. “That’s why I have to go. My father’s expecting me.”

The head chef was so surprised he dropped the gravy, spilling it down Soren’s front.
“Your Highness! What in the name of Bellicia are you doing down here?”

His question was never answered, for Soren was already gone.

Princess Maya, returning from a ride in the woods with her best friend William, was already thundering down the palace lawn when she heard the distant sound of her father’s horns. “Faster!” she urged her horse, her fingers tangled in its mane. The horse obliged, splattering Maya’s dress with mud as it galloped at breakneck speed. As soon as they reached the stables, Maya dismounted and ran as fast as she could into the palace, leaving the horse for someone else to take care of. Her gown was dripping with mud, her hair was covered in sticks and leaves, and she had completely forgotten to clean her teeth. Father’s going to kill me, she thought miserably.

Prince Nathaniel was the only one of the three who made it to the Great Hall on time, though not in the way his father expected. He had secretly joined the palace dancers a few months beforehand, and it was with them that he entered the Hall. He knew his father would be angry if he knew that his son and heir wanted to be a dancer, but he was sure his father wouldn’t recognize him- mainly because he, like all the other dancers, was dressed as a peacock. Nathaniel grinned under his mask and tried to look birdlike.

The King of Bellicia sat at the High Table, his expression even stormier than normal. “Sir Francis?” he said, glaring at the advisor on his left. “Where are my children?”

“I know not, my lord,” said Sir Francis nervously. He glanced up at the King’s face and immediately wished he hadn’t. His Majesty looked ready to impale him.

“Lord Alexander?” said the King, turning to glare at the advisor on his right. “Have you any idea where my children could be?”

“Not a clue, Your Majesty,” said Lord Alexander, staring resolutely at a dancer across the room rather than make eye contact with the famously hot-tempered ruler. He watched the dancer twirl about in a rather stupid-looking peacock costume. Suddenly, the boy’s mask fell off, and Lord Alexander caught a glimpse of his face.

Uh-oh.

“Your Majesty?” said Lord Alexander, interrupting the King, who was muttering to himself about the pointlessness of advisors. “I think I may have found your son.”

Nathaniel, dancing his way down an aisle while trying to put his mask back on in a peacockly fashion, glanced up at the High Table and realized with horror that his father was beckoning to him, his expression furious. The young prince slipped out of line and hurried over to the High Table, not even wanting to think about what would happen next.

Soren was the next to enter. As he crossed the Great Hall as fast as he could, he looked hopelessly down at his clothes, which were still dripping with gravy- he hadn’t had time to change! He tried to smile winningly at his fathers’ courtiers, who were all gazing at him with a strange mixture of horror and contempt on their faces. No, everyone, this isn’t a stain, it’s a fashion statement, Soren imagined himself telling them. It’s gravy-chic. He smiled in spite of himself. Gravy-chic. That was a good one.
Suddenly, the doors of the Hall burst open. A collective gasp echoed around the room- for there in the doorway, her dress soaked with mud and her hair a horrendous mess, was Princess Maya.

The entire room was still. Even the dancers were frozen in the middle of their peacock impersonations. Maya looked around at everyone. Then, without warning, she took off at a run, not stopping until she reached the High Table. She and her brothers faced the sea of people before them; Nathaniel in his peacock costume, Maya looking like a creature from the deepest, darkest part of the forest, and Soren covered in gravy. Their father looked from them to the stunned faces of his court. He took a deep breath and spoke, his deep voice weary and exasperated.

“These are…unfortunately…my children.”