The relationship between Queen Catarina and her twin daughters had begun to crumble as soon as they'd turned teen. Indeed, the very night they became teenagers, she engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Alexandra ... because she deigned to wear dress pants and a tuxedo shirt at a formal dinner.
So Alexandra ran away, and didn't come home that night. She went to her favorite camping spot in the mountains of Hidden Springs.
The next day, she sent them to Smuggsworth Prep School to, in her words, 'become proper princesses.'
Fast forward five years and they were now home, still under orders from their mother to become 'proper princesses,' particularly with her marriage ultimatum.
Except now, they were utterly refusing to conform to their mother's definition of the term.
Alexandra had enlisted in the military, and was attending flight school in order to become an astronaut.
Anastasia was studying architecture and design and engaged in a massive project to build an essential shrine to the Vanderburg family legacy.
So now it was, they were dressed in costumes of their own choosing, allowing themselves to express themselves in dress at a costume ball.
At the ball, Anastasia met a handsome Scandinavian prince called Rolf.
Rolf was kind and sweet, but would he stand up to the scrutiny that was the palace press corps? And what about her mother? Would he pass muster with her? These were questions she asked herself, and she wanted to know more of the answers in the coming days.
Alexandra, dressed as a pirate, scanned the room.
While Anastasia was occupied with Rolf, Patrick came from behind and handed her some flowers.
"Oh, wow, Patrick, thank you so much!"
Princess Ella sat down at the dinner table with Alexandra.
"So, who was that?" she asked conspiratorially. "The guy that gave you the flowers."
"Oh, that's my friend Patrick."
"Patrick?"
"Yeah. It's kind of hard to explain."
Ella chuckled. "Hard to explain? Well, at least try."
"You promise not to tell anyone?"
Ella nodded. "This place is full of secrets. One more isn't going to hurt."
Alexandra hesitated as she told Ella about the imaginary friends she and her twin sister had created. Anastasia had lost hers, but Alexandra's returned the night her father died. Her IF had been instrumental in helping her get over the loss, so when a fan of the show sent her a vial of the experimental elixir to make them real, she decided to give it a shot.
"You can't say you're not a Vanderburg, Alexandra," Ella concluded with a disbelieving chuckle. "So, to comply with your mother's order, you're going to marry Patrick?"
"I've known him my whole life," she said, "why not?"
"But you created him!" Ella whispered.
"I know," Alexandra grinned. "It just makes sense. When my father died, a piece of me died with him. I was a mess, still am in some ways, but I'm much better now. And I owe it all to Patrick."
Ella shook her head with disbelief. She thought her family had been nuts, what with her stepmother making her a maid in her own house and her awful stepsister treating her like a speck of dirt to be swept up and tossed aside. But these Vanderburgs were a piece of work. What had she married into?
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