Chapter Two

Queen Catarina, who was now a widow for the 2nd time, spent the entire night wailing. She'd known much sorrow in her life; at a young age, she'd been left orphaned by the deaths of her parents, King Rudolph and Queen Eloise, putting the young princess on the throne.  And her first love, the biological father of Crown Prince Sebastian and Princess Francisca, had been killed in the Great War by a sniper strike. 

So now that her daughters had turned the cameras of the entire world on her family at this inopportune moment, she played her part to perfection. Audacious little wenches they were, the Queen thought to herself. First they blow some of their inheritance money to look like fashion models, and now they sign on to do a reality television show. The impudence of these girls to think they could defy the crown, and to do so even more spectacularly than their sister had years before. To add insult to injury, Prince Renauld wasn't around anymore to keep them in line, so they would be able to run around the Queen and do exactly what they pleased. 



I am not going to let my mother get away with putting my father out to pasture, Alexandra resolutely decided as she fastened her earrings in one of the hallway mirrors. 



"We need to talk," Alexandra said as she handed Anastasia a plate of autumn salad. 



In the darkened dining room at Jessica Willow's house, where they'd been invited to a formal dinner party, the girls once again secluded themselves. This time, they were determined to hash out the details of their father's funeral arrangements, without their mother's influence or input.
"We have to make a private family crypt in the backyard." Anastasia's tone was resolute as Alexandra picked at her autumn salad.
"Absolutely," echoed Alexandra. "Mom wants to take dad's tombstone back to Monte Vista. That's not going to happen -- not if we can help it..." Her voice trailed off. "On the family crypt, maybe we can add an adventure tomb. Oooh, it could be below ground."
"Great idea! Then we could lock it to keep the zombies away."
Alexandra added, "We need to get our agent to write a public statement announcing Dad's death."
"Hasn't the crown announced it already?"
"Yeah, but the two of us need our own statement."
Anastasia nodded.
"We need to at least honor him with a proper funeral dinner," Alexandra said.
"So, what's on the menu?" asked Anastasia. "Perhaps stuffed turkey, autumn salad, oatmeal cookies, what's that dish he liked?"
"Forever alone calzone."
"Yeah, that's it.  Forever alone calzone. Perhaps the butler shall cook it?"
"What if he doesn't know how?"
"Hey there's always Simipedia." The girls shared a laugh, which had been few and far between ever since Prince Renauld's death.
"If he's not going back to Monte Vista," Anastasia decided, "we can give him a Monte Vista style send-off."



When the girls returned from the party, Anastasia went to bed, but Alexandra couldn't sleep. The reason for her insomnia was the reappearance of her imaginary friend from childhood, Patches.
"What are you doing here?" Alexandra whispered. "I thought I lost you when I went to Smuggsworth."
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Alexandra," Patches laughed. "I'm stuck like glue to you forever and ever. Imaginary friend code."
"Well, Anastasia can't find Lucky anywhere. Why are you back?"
"Your father died," Patches said succinctly, "and you're depressed."
Alexandra began to sob quietly. 



Soon Patches grew in size until it was as tall as Alexandra. "What in the name of the Reaper is going on here? Am I going crazy?"
"You're not crazy, Alexandra. I'm as real as the nose on your face. And I'm here for you in your time of need."