With the twins getting all the publicity, it was easy to forget Crown Princess Ella was the future queen. But future queen she was, and she was happy to cede the limelight -- and the tabloid ink -- to her sisters-in-law. She and her husband, Crown Prince Sebastian, were, after all, raising two very young children now.
Her preparations to take the throne included courses in Vanderburg family history, diplomacy, and government; learning the Vanderburg anthem and pledge; and daily meetings with the Queen's personal stylist, Arianna.
Every now and again, though, Crown Prince Sebastian and the woman he'd chosen to rule at his side would have the stage to themselves. He'd tell her what was going on, and she'd have her opinions about the situation.
"So -- what do you think?" he asked her the next morning over waffles.
"About what?"
"About all this -- you know -- the TV show -- and all this."
Ella shrugged. "It is what it is. The girls are having fun with it, I say let them. I know their mother is upset with it though."
Prince Sebastian changed the subject. "My mother has issued them an ultimatum. They are to marry within 2 sim weeks or forfeit their inheritances."
"Hmm," noted Ella. "I have my doubts they'd comply. After all, they don't seem at all interested in marriage. Not that it's a bad thing, of course. They're young girls yet. They haven't even found themselves."
"Well," noted Prince Sebastian, "apparently Alexandra has, she's enlisted in the military. My mother is none too pleased about that."
"The military? Really? Interesting."
"Anastasia is the one who told me. I promised her I'd support her any way I could."
There was a hard and fast rule in the Vanderburg household -- never, under any circumstances, interrupt Anastasia when she was drawing. The fact that she'd picked up her pencil and paper again was as distressing to Queen Catarina as the fact that Alexandra was in the military. For as a child, the queen complained bitterly, Anastasia would draw to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. She'd shut out the world. It was still true today that she loved to draw more than she loved to do anything else.
Her father, Prince Renauld, encouraged her in her artistic pursuits and would hang her pictures on the wall. He often told her that her creations were going to be in a museum one day. He secretly paid for her art lessons when his wife objected.
She had dealt with his death in a more understated way from her sister, often electing to grieve in private and putting on a strong public face. In reality, she was as broken as Alexandra over it.
She did, however, keep her word to Crown Princess Ella -- pitching in to help out with her two small children.
"Now, now, Emmanuel, I don't know what they've got you eating here," she mused as she placed the bowl in front of the future king.
Prince Emmanuel looked at his aunt with a plaintive expression on his face. In response, Anastasia carried the baby prince to bed.
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