Chapter Ninety-One

With Anastasia's wedding in two weeks, she hadn't done most of the usual preparations. And she was still without a gown. However, she'd narrowed her choices down to two.





Both elegant, strapless numbers, and both by one local Hidden Springs designer.



She hadn't nailed down a location, either, but she was looking at renting one grand ballroom for the day. (Author's note: This lot is on the exchange)



However, what she'd been doing plenty of is photo shoots, interviews, and media obligations.





For someone notoriously camera-shy, Anastasia seemed to take pretty well to the role of pinup girl and fashion plate. She turned down a modeling contract to go to architecture and design school, and while she usually preferred being behind the camera than in front of it, she was more than adequately photogenic.



With two weeks to go before the wedding, Anastasia summoned her psychic adviser, Valana Ayres. Miss Ayres had a colorful history. No one knew where she came from, but she opened up a psychic advisory practice in Moonlight Falls. One of her clients there was Sierra Cheesman, the teenage daughter of author-adventurer Savannah Plumb. Savannah found out that her daughter was seeing a psychic and had Valana run out of town.
However, Valana landed on her feet. She moved to Hidden Springs where she opened up a practice and was hired personally by Anastasia Vanderburg, Princess of Hidden Springs, after she correctly divined the location of her long lost imaginary-friend doll, "Lucky," who, of course, became her soon-to-be husband, Lucian.
Then, later, Valana hired Anastasia to redo the exterior of the house she was renting in the forests of Hidden Springs.
Somehow, incredibly, the pair became fast friends.
On this night, during a dinner party hosted by Anastasia, she confided to Valana that she was an absolute wreck preparing for the wedding.



"Being a wreck is perfectly normal for a first-time bride. Especially one who is as much of a perfectionist as you are. You can't ask your parents to help you?"
Anastasia shook her head. "My mother and I do not have a relationship to speak of."
Valana sighed. "I see. "Why is that?"
"The reasons are too numerous to go into here."
Nodding, Valana asked, "And your father?"
"He's dead," Anastasia replied sadly, "died last year."
"Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that, Anastasia."
"And whenever he was alive all he did was listen to whatever she said."
"Your mother is the Queen, if I'm not mistaken."
"And she wastes no time reminding my sister and me of that fact every day. Whatever my mother says, goes. She's the supreme law of this land, has been for sixty freaking years. My father tried, he really did. I don't fault him at all. He used to take me and Alex everywhere, and mom acted like she was ashamed of us."



"I have not met your fiancé, but from what you've told me, he seems like a terrific guy. I don't need to be a psychic to see that. If the two of you work at your relationship, I foresee a long and happy life for you."

Chapter Ninety

When the going got tough, the tough -- went shopping. With her wedding less than a month away, Anastasia went to the trendiest boutique in town (a download from the exchange) after coming from Jenny Lho's. When she saw a dress through the fogged-up windows, she said to herself, "I wonder if they have that in my size."



She combed through the racks and racks of men's suit jackets, and thought, "Lucian might like this for the reception," while examining one of them.



"Six grand for this gown?" Anastasia wondered to herself. "And it's not even a designer label." Even with her deep pockets, she found the price tag a bit steep. Frustrated, she left the boutique empty-handed.



While Anastasia was wrapped up in preparations for her upcoming wedding, Alexandra was making preparations for something as well -- to make her first major speech in front of the cadets at Fort Starch Military Academy. It was the kind of speech usually reserved for heads of state, a speech which in the past had been made by her father and by her mother, so for obvious reasons she wanted to convey the right message and strike the right tone.



But she didn't have a clue what she wanted to say, or even why Crown Prince Sebastian had even chosen her to make the speech in the first place. Frustrated, she stared at a blank computer screen. Sports, she was good at. Science, she was good at. Writing, she was not so good at. Or, at least, she hadn't had that much experience with it, other than school papers. This is a head-of-state speech, Alexandra thought, and I'm definitely NOT the head of state.



Of course, Alexandra was not going to make her first major address without the assistance of her twin sister and partner in crime. "What do you want to say to the cadets? How do you want to begin the speech?" asked Anastasia. "You want to get their attention right away. Wake them up. And you have to keep their attention at least most of the way through it."
"Yeah," Alexandra agreed, "these things tend to get really dry, really fast."
"Hey, there ought to be some old addresses on the Fort Starch web site. Let's look there, maybe one of daddy's might be there."

Chapter Eighty-Nine

Keeping one of the biggest secrets in Hidden Springs history -- that the prince consort, presumed to be dead, had been brought back to life -- wasn't easy. Especially since his daughters had smiles on their faces that couldn't be wiped off.



Nevertheless, they had no choice but to try. As hard as it was, they even had to hide the truth from their brother, the soon to be King, when they met him for coffee at Han's Tavern and Café.
"Have you started writing your speech yet, Alexandra?" asked Crown Prince Sebastian. "I chose you to speak to the cadets for a reason."
Alexandra shook her head no.
Crown Prince Sebastian glared at Anastasia and snickered silently to himself. "You two...you two are up to something. I just know it."



Meanwhile, the next day it was business as usual. Anastasia went to work, this time carrying her notebook and her tape measure, to measure the dimensions of Jenny Lho's den. Ms. Lho worked at Vanderburg Hall and wanted some redecorating done.



So, Anastasia, being the perfectionist she was, took careful measurements and recorded them with precise accuracy.





"You want this shelf replaced too?" asked Anastasia. Jenny yelled in the affirmative from the next room.





This is what I went to school for, Anastasia thought to herself. With her wedding now in less than a month, she felt like she was in a good place in her life.

Chapter Eighty-Eight

With his two young daughters looking on, the prince stretched his arms out as far as he could so he could exit the metal box.





As he took his first cautious steps back out into living Simanity, he looked back at the time machine and wondered just what had happened. His astonished daughters watched the scene with awe.



"What did you do, Alex?" Anastasia asked her sister. "What did you do to that time machine?"
"I reset it to the day before dad died, and added some spring water to the interior of it."



The girls wrapped their father in a warm and tearful embrace. Their mother had no idea.

Chapter Eighty-Seven

The twins waited in the basement while the time machine whirred. Anastasia shook her head incredulously. "Alex -- I cannot believe you."
"I told you. I've been telling you, if you'd just listen. We're in Hidden Springs, which until Moonlight Falls opened was the magic capital of the Simiverse. Your wedding next month, don't you want Daddy to be there? In the flesh?"
"Sure, I mean, of course I do, it's just that --"
"I know what it is. You buried him in your mind and you're not prepared to accept that maybe he COULD be revived."



Four hours later, Prince Renauld used all his strength to push open the doors of the time machine. And he was no longer a ghost. He was a flesh and blood Sim.

Chapter Eighty-Six

The basement below the garage had been ordered to be built by Prince Renauld more than a decade earlier, when his daughters were children. At the time, Queen Catarina was not happy about it.
He furnished it with chemistry tables, books, art supplies, even a time machine, having envisioned it as a 'special place' for his daughters to 'hang out.'



Alexandra, fresh off her college degree, was now spending long hours in this basement chamber attempting to extract the secret ingredient from the local spring water to place in the time machine.



"This is ridiculous, Alex, you think you can use the spring water to resurrect Dad?" Anastasia wondered.
"Why not?" Alexandra asked. "I challenge you, Ana, to think outside the box for once. People came here for years and years, from all around. You know why? They came to seek the healing powers of the spring. They wonder about the secret ingredients in our medicine and in our food."
"I understand that, but --"
"Ana, don't you want Daddy to give you away at your wedding? Real Daddy, not the ghost."



Seemingly convinced by Alexandra's argument about the wedding, Anastasia went to her computer and began looking up "medicinal spring water" and "fountain of youth."



Anastasia, however, was also wrapped up in her own personal project, and that was designing her wedding dress. She spent her nights up at her drafting table and with her sketch pad looking through designs to see if she could come up with something.



Later that evening Alexandra reported the progress on her experiment to her major professor, Dr. Wade Anthony. "So far I've been able to split the spring water into its component elements, but I can't seem to isolate the actual compound which makes up the healing agent."
"You will," Dr. Anthony told her, "you will. I believe you will."



"You're so sure this is going to work."
"It has to," Alexandra resolved, "it has to. It's the secret of the spring. It has to."



Prince Renauld entered the time machine as Alexandra adjusted the lever.



"And now, we wait."

Chapter Eighty-Five

The curious magical properties of Hidden Springs had been the intrigue to many for ages. Celebrities and the rich flocked here because of the seemingly miraculous healing powers in the woods and the waters.



Born and raised here, amongst the secrets of the springs, at times boldly and proudly proclaiming herself as a mountain girl, Alexandra couldn't imagine living anywhere else, even with learning that she and her twin sister had inherited property in Monte Vista. Even now, with the peaks covered in fresh powder and the icy air piercing her skin, she couldn't help but inhale the breathtaking sights and fresh mountain air.



Alexandra approached the spring with a little trepidation. What if, over time, it had lost its power to heal? What if she couldn't extract the secret ingredient in the water to put in the time machine?



Well, she decided, there was only one thing to do...she had no choice but to give it a shot. She had nothing to lose.



Meanwhile, Anastasia was in the dining room with the queen while she ate Belgian waffles. "My wedding plans have so far gone off without a hitch," she announced. "I've hired a caterer, reserved the entire island of Isla Paradiso for the last weekend in June, and am designing my own dress."
"You're designing your own dress, dear?"
"Why not?"
"Anastasia, dear, I'm sure every major designer would love to design your wedding dress."
"But this is personal, mother. This is personal. I'd simply like to do it myself, or at least incorporate my ideas into the design."





A few days later the twins booked a round-trip flight to tour their inherited property in Monte Vista. Immediately Anastasia fell in love with it, but Alexandra needed some convincing, especially as, on the day they arrived, it was nearly a hundred degrees and she was mostly a cold-weather bird. It was called the Amelia Castle (named for a relative of Prince Renauld) and the girls vowed they would be back to explore it further.



While still a student at the university, Anastasia led a demonstration against bullying, and even made a speech revealing herself to have been bullied, which proved to be very popular. Now that she was out of school, she and her sister took this a step further. They attached their names to an anti-bullying campaign at the university and intended to start speaking at the school level, too.