A/N: I've had this idea for months, and finally put it into words. Much thanks to my Creative Writing class and teacher for editing this train wreck of a story to death :) I hope you all enjoy it!!

The story of two royal siblings, Aria and Rhydian, picks up from their school in London, the day of a Skype call with their parents. 

     "Hey, Ian! Football. You in?"

I sigh. Football sounds fun. I wish I could, but... "No thanks. I have family stuff going on today." The guys nod and trail off towards the field as I turn and make my way down the hall.

       "Rhyd!" The shout comes from my sister, Aria, who's leaning against the wall by the school entrance, books in hand. I give her a small wave as I reach her.

       "Hey, Ari. Ready to go to the meeting?" Aria rolls her eyes in response. "A princess does not roll her eyes!" I jokingly lecture, earning a glare from her.

       "And a prince does not make fun..." I chuckle and pull open the glass door, holding it open for her.

       "Alas, we are siblings. Rules are not always followed, dear sister."

       She laughs as we head outside to our Jaguar. I rest my hand on its sleek, black roof for a moment when we reach it, admiring its shine, before getting in and starting the engine. Aria slides in a second later, immediately turning up the radio as an Ed Sheeran song comes on. We leave the school grounds, weaving through the crowded streets of London on our way back home.

       When we arrive at the vine-ridden gate that leads to our house, the guard hands Aria an envelop and advises her to have us read it in private as soon as possible. I drive down the gravel lane, passing the through the trees, finally pulling up to our Kensington-esque house. As I pull into our garage, we each take a deep breath before getting out of the vehicle and meandering inside, anticipating the waiting chaos. Come on. After today, there are several days of freedom. Just a few more hours.

       Just inside the door, to the left, lies a large dining room capable of seating thirty. To the right, around the corner, is a gourmet kitchen complete with top of the line appliances. Past the kitchen, the living room sits, with a 108 inch flat screen TV complemented by posh furniture. Directly in front of the garage door is a hallway that leads to the grand entrance, theatre, and study.

       As soon as we pass the threshold, Aunt Ingrid- clad in a pencil skirt and blouse, not wasting a single moment- bombards us with our schedule for this afternoon.

       "It's 3 o'clock now, and you two need to be dressed and ready for your Skype call with your parents by 3:40. It is absolutely imperative that you be in the living room at 4 for the Skype call. Supper is at 5, and you have royal studies from 6 'till 8. Then homework." As she rambles, our attention wanders over everything in the room but her. "Got it?" She asks, waiting expectantly for our answer. Aria and I glance at each other, then nod. "Good. Now go!" She shoos us towards the staircase in the grand entrance, then disappears into the kitchen.

*****

 Rhyd and I share an exasperated look before I take his arm and pull him towards the spiral staircase. Once upstairs, we turn right at the top, walking down the hallway that leads to his room. Across the hall from his door is the entrance to the 'Royal Office' -- better known as the homework room. Mother thought it would be "absolutely marvelous" if we had half of the office be a mirror image of the other, my half on the left, Rhyd's on the right, just like how or rooms are situated in this house. Rhyd doesn't seem to mind it, but I certainly do.

       Rhyd opens the door, holding it open door me once again. With a sigh, I breeze into the room and sink into the chair residing at my desk on the left side of the room while Rhydian quietly sits at the desk on the right. As I set my things on my desk, I turn to him, leaning back in my chair.

       "... What did they ask you to join them in this time?"

Rhyd looks over at me, obviously surprised that I noticed.

       "What do you mean?" he asks suspiciously, giving in after a few moments "How did you know?"

I smirk. "It's quite obvious. So? What was it?"

Rhydian sighs. "Football." He tries to turn his attention back to pulling his notebooks out of his backpack. I give him a sympathetic smile. He really wants to fit in here....

"You may very well be able to join them someday soon..." I finish unpacking my backpack and turn back to my desk. "We have plenty of time before we have to go back home."

Rhydian glances over. "Someday in my dreams," he mumbles. I sigh out of exasperation of his childishness, getting up and heading towards the door, lazily waving the envelope that was given to me by the guard.

"You never know, Rhyd. Now, go get ready so we can read this letter before speaking with Mother and Father." I skip out of the office, and into the hall, making my way towards my room as Rhydian continues to sit solemnly at his desk.

In my room, I immediately head to my walk-in closet and grab a simple, black dress, slipping it on along with a matching pair of Daffodil Christian Louboutin heels before making my way to my dressing table. I check my phone then start on my hair, forming it into a classy, somewhat messy bun. A piece of it falls out when I'm nearly done, so I wave a hand. As I stare into the mirror, the loose strand of hair puts itself back into the bun. I look at my phone again, and see that I only have about ten minutes to be downstairs and ready for the Skype call with Mother and Father. Dressing up is nice, but I could put that effort into other things, like perfectly executed magic pranks. I quickly refresh my makeup before leaving my phone on my dressing table and heading to Rhydian's room.

***** 

Once I finally get myself to my room,I take my time getting ready. All the while, my mind continues to wander to the envelope that the gatekeeper gave to Aria for us to read. I can't shake the thought that it was something big. Probably something important, and probably something that Ari will enjoy far more than I will. Once I finish getting dressed, I do a once over, ruffle my hair a little, and leave my room, nearly running into my sister.

"Fancy meeting you here."

She raises an eyebrow as she skims over my outfit of a suit and tie. "Well, I was coming to tell you that we don't have time beforehand to read the letter we got, and I also needed to get you downstairs..." Before I can get a single word out, she takes my arm once again, practically dragging me to the staircase. Ari glances at me and gives me a tight smile. "Ready to act like perfect royal children?

Like I ever was... "As ready as I am every other time Mother and Father want to have-" I pause to make air quotes, 'quality time' through a Skype call from who-knows-where on their royal tour." Ari sighs and nods in agreement. We make our way downstairs and into the living room where Aunt Ingrid is supervising our butler, Marcus, as he sets up Skype on the TV. She looks over, seeing us enter.

"Marvelous! You two have perfect timing! Go situate yourselves on the sofa before we start the call." She ushers us to the large couch and we sit. Aunt Ingrid looks us over, making sure we appear acceptable for our parents. She fixes my collar and tie, muttering about whether I was born in a barn or not. I shoot an exasperated look at Ari before our aunt is finally content with our appearances. "Alright! Let's make sure you two can be seen from the camera, and we can wait for their call!" She takes her place next to Aria when Uncle Jarvis enters the room. He takes one look at the TV and realization flickers across his face.

"Ahh, video call day, is it?" He grins, and tries to sneak into the kitchen before Aunt Ingrid jumps up and beats him there, blocking him.

"Ah, ah, ah! You aren't getting out of this!" She puts her hands on her hips, and Uncle Jarvis sighs dejectedly.

"My brother sees me plenty, Ingrid..." Our aunt rolls her eyes and takes hold of his arm, leading him to the couch and sitting him down on the other side of Ari from me.

"No excuses, Jarvis!" She sits back down next to me as Marcus finishes setting Skype up. He turns to me and my sister.

"About 1 minute remaining until they call, your Highnesses." We nod, and he stands off to the side. True to his word, a minute later, the video call begins.

"Rhydian and Aria! My dears!" My mother exclaims as her face appears on the screen, "We have finally returned to the palace from our royal tour! And with that, we have a surprise for you both!"

***** 

...Surprise?

My stomach drops. A surprise is never good when brought up like that. I have to refrain from giving Rhydian a worried look, and I assume he had to do the same. I keep my eyes on the screen, which shows Mother and Father in all their royal glory- Mother wearing a small tiara and a royal blue dress, and Father wearing one of his less formal uniforms. Father turns to Mother after she finishes speaking.

"Darling, you needn't have brought it up so early..." Mother shrugs, obviously too eager to listen to his reasoning.

"We were planning to tell them soon, regardless." Mother composes herself and smiles brightly at us. I smile back weakly. Rhydian, unable to take the suspense, speaks up.

"... Tell us what?" he asks hesitantly, "If you don't mind me asking." Father sighs, and Mother glances at him before turning her attention back towards the camera.

"It's time, my dears! In two weeks, the whole world will know that you, the Prince and Princess of Cesarcia, are returning to your home, here in Valcrest!" My jaw dropped. So many thoughts were flying through my head. Home? I haven't even been in Valcrest in three years! But no one here in London even knows about us! What are my friends going to say? I try to focus my attention on the screen, where Mother and Father are waiting expectantly for our reactions, which aren't coming. Silence is ruling.

***** 

.

..Home? I was so close to being normal! If it wasn't for this call, I could be out playing sports with everyone like a normal guy.... but "Prince Rhydian" takes precedence, I suppose. Again. It took all of my willpower not to show my disappointment. Looking back up at the screen, I could tell that Mother was completely ecstatic.

"You two won't actually be leaving England for two months. The country will be quite anxious for your arrival after a small wait." Father cuts Mother off, knowing that what she was saying rendered us speechless with shock. "Now, we know you two have things to work out with this situation, which is why the press won't have access to any current photos of you two until one week after the announcement. I trust you two will make do with that."

I nod, but my heart isn't in it. All I wanted to do by coming to London was be a normal kid. No crazy fantasy elements. No rigorous society. No royal duties. And it's all about to be taken away. Aria glances at me before we nod at our parents, too shocked to speak. Our parents visibly relax, and try to make light of the situation, though their efforts fail to cheer us up.

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