#royal: lucinda1

[gretchen-whoisleft]

AU: royal | let me live that fantasy | G&L

“Nobody is going to find out!” said Gretchen, running ahead. Only when she got to the door—hand pressed to it like ‘home base’ in a childish game of tag���did she turn over her shoulder to find Lucinda and fix her with a mischievous, come hither smile. 

The door was familiar to her, as was the crown princess that trailed in her wake, to whom the wing and maze of rooms once belonged. The daughter of a minor lord with only daughters, her family had lived at court since Gretchen was nine and already wildgrown. She had not managed to find a rich husband, which had been the original goal, but she had managed to find a great deal of trouble, and a good friend in Lucinda. 

“The guards aren’t even posted outside; she isn’t in there,” she added. “Nobody is going to find out, and I want to see what she’s done to your place.” 

Though she was still rattling off justifications, Gretchen wasn’t waiting for agreement. Emboldened, as always, by the very fact that she had Lucinda with her—Lucinda who had more resources and more to lose, but would never have to face serious consequences—Gretchen pushed open the door that led to the newly imported, one-day-to-be Queen’s bedroom. 

Gretchen’s skirts shifted around her as she walked, brushing the stone floors and ornate rugs. As soon as the room proper came into view, she gasped and clutched her hands to her chest – all the while hoping Lucinda had caught up, was close enough to appreciate the dramatics. 

“I can’t believe this,” she called over her shoulder, without bothering to lower her voice. The girls would be in a world of trouble if they were caught in here—hands could be lost for all Gretchen knew, she had no idea how harsh the new Little Queen was in her rulings, but she didn’t seen fun—but the adrenaline boosted her mood greatly. “Everything is different!” 

Wandering over to a dressing table, Gretchen ran her hands through a bowl of jewelry – gems and necklaces and brooches, pearl and ruby and so, so much gold. She picked up a bunch of necklaces and fixed them around her neck, not caring that they looked gaudy and mismatched all tangled together and admiring herself in the mirror. 

The true prize was a tiara, proud and dazzling and beautiful; Gretchen popped it onto her head as a joke, not knowing or caring that it was Emma’s prized possession, that it’d been forged from the melted-down metal of her father’s first crown. Then, she spun around again, daring Lucinda to admire her and pulling a cheeky face.

“And she’s so short. Do you think she knows that’s considered a bad omen here?”