(A Man of No Importance is honestly a really good musical and like I went to see it and oh my god I almost cried during like two parts)

How can a girl who's from a someplace north of nowhere be a princess?

You sit in your garden in your backyard, holding a woven basket as you fill it with fruit. You examine the peach in your hand, twirling it and gripping it tightly. You can hear the townspeople chattering as the walk down dirt roads. The sun shines against your skin and you find yourself loving the warmth. How you miss the sun in days of cold. 

You notice a peach that isn't ready to harvest yet. It saddens your heart a bit. Looking around, you begin to put your hands around the peach. It begins to grow, only slightly, before smiling back at you. 

You feel joy.

What in the world would make you think that I was qualified for playing the part?

You walk out into town, holding the basket close to you to prevent any evil fingers. You dodge people, ducking under hands and slipping between couples. You can feel the air around you heat up suddenly, but you ignore it, and you vaguely enjoy the notion. 

A tan hand grabbed one of your peaches, stealing them away. You immediately stop and bare a wide stance, reaching out to grab onto the perpetrator. Your hands wrap around a smooth red overcoat. Your cheeks blush a deep red color as you pull away and bow your head to the blue-eyed prince.

"I-I apologize, I'm sorry." 

"These are very delicious, do you grow them yourself?"

You give him a polite grin, "Yes, I do sir."

He smiles at you, his teeth an uncanny shade of white as he tilts his head. "Can my brother share a piece?"

You grab another peach out of your basket and hand it to him, his gloved hands touching your dirty ones. 

He looks down at you, his eyes filled with something you don't recognize. "Do you sell them?"

"Yes, I do, I have a cart across town. I prefer somewhere less-" you look around the crowd "-less this."

He lifts his chin. "I do, too."

You two look at each other for mere seconds before you take a step back. The notion makes you feel weak, like nothing without his presence near you. You smile when he takes closer to you, offering you one of his hands. "I will escort you to your cart to prevent anymore passerbyers from taking an uninvited bite from your gardens."

You try to hide your smile but fail greatly. "Thank you, Prince Maven."

Here stands a shopgirl who puts prices on the produce, not a princess.

Maven only releases go off your hand when you walk to your cart, placing the peaches on a shelf inside of it. You pull down the bars, letting the cart use its wheels and try to run away. Maven puts a hand on it before it can go far. You laugh, something inside of you adoring the notion more than you can admit.

You turn to him, your hair bouncing in the motion, "Well, I'm off, then."

He bows to you, making soft eye contact with you as he does. "I'll return again."

I don't pretend to be a thing but plain and common.

You watch Maven as he leaves, how his cape refuses to touch the dirty ground of the Red's territory. He doesn't belong here. 

You begin to roll your cart down, trying not to stare at him as he begins to disappear. You are like him, you know. Having abilities. Maybe you don't belong here either.

But whether you do or not, you will always be a Red. That means you will continue to do your job. Maybe you are a normal Red, but you just have a gift. 

Maybe nothing makes you special at all.

I leave the fairytale ending to the people such as you.

You dance around your room, putting on your longest skirt and jumping on furniture. You close your eyes, pretending you're in a ballroom with Prince Maven. You imagine yourself in a loose green gown as you dance with him. 

There's suddenly a knock on the door, and you nearly fall over as you stumble across the living room. You notice how big your house plants have grown, some even having leaves that droop to the floor. You give your house a confused glance before opening the door.

You nearly choke on your own saliva as Prince Maven smiles down at you.

"Good afternoon, (Y/N)."

You give an uncertain smile, not knowing whether to let him in or ask him why he's here. Especially at a time like this.

All you can do is lean in, turning your smile into a happy one. "Would you like more peaches?"

No one there could ever see what you seem to see in me.

"Would you like to become a servant at the WhiteFire palace?" 

The leaves on the plants rustle, and Maven peeks a sideglance at them. 

"A servant?" Your mind runs. You love the outdoors, you love living here. But then you thought about it. Meeting new people, being around Silvers. Being around people like you. Being around Prince Maven.

You close your eyes, "Can I?"

His lips grow into a bright smile. 

Well, possibly, Roscommon was wrong...

You place your hands on your walls in the servants' corner, pursing your lips together. Small. Tiny. But cozy. The walls hug you dearly.

You walk out to the hall, noticing all the flowing curtains and how the sun peeks through them. 

You stare down the halls, seeing how the beautifully painted walls shine against the sun's light. Suddenly, somebody opens a door and walks out. You notice the bird-like greenwarden. You stare at her door for a second before looking around. Servants. They won't think twice. 

You stiffen your posture and walk down the hall, opening her door and stepping in. The first thing you do is fix the bed. But you're distracted by the beautiful green sheets and the vines that hang across the wall and twist around the bed. You put your hand around them, the leaves bigger than both of your hands. 

It can be beautiful out there, playing a part, losing yourself in another person.

And you look at the dresser, seeing the beautiful green necklace. It looks like it's made out of silver, a beautifully constructed flower as the charm. It's thick and heavy when you pick it up. You can't help but put it on.

You point out your toes, taking a step forward in a dance as you do a spin. You dance around the room, only for a second before you realize that all the plants have grown flowers. You get nervous. This is stupid. You can get caught. Immediately, you put the necklace back and then take your leave. Your heart beats quickly as you sneak back to your chambers. You hold one of the small plants in your hand.

You had fun dancing around her room. You had fun pretending it was yours. Maybe you can recreate it. Think of how beautiful that would be, showing a side of yourself you never could before.

I'm throwing myself at your feet, your royal highness.

You yawn, swinging your feet across your bed and sit up. You stretch, and the darkness of your room surprises you. You thought it was going to be the morning. What woke you up? You look around your room, suspicious of your surroundings. 

And then you notice it, the beautiful necklace on your dresser. But you don't touch it. You just open your door, peering outside. 

You expected to see no one, and seeing three figures makes you jump back in fear.

Elara pushes open the door, a kind smile on her face as she turns on the lights. Maven follows behind her and then Heron. You gulp and sit on your bed. You try to sulk away from the situation.

The plant on your dresser begins to drip.

"How do you do that?" Heron asks. You look her in the eyes, which somehow makes her straight up.

"I was born with it. Just like you." 

Maven's mouth twitches into a smirk and Elara gives him a side glance. She leans forward, gaining your attention.

"And what do you plan to do with it?"

You pause. The question never came to your mind, but you know the answer had. I want to be a princess, you think in shame. But you quickly push the thought out of your head. That would never happen. 

You look at Maven. 

It can't.

"Princess?" Elara teases. You mentally slap yourself. But you can't lie. That's kinda how this works, right?

You look at Heron, trying not to wilt from under her glare, "but wouldn't everybody want to be a princess?"

Maven rubs his temples. "What are we going to do with her?"

Elara looks at Heron, who shakes her head.

I don't suppose I'll ever have another chance to play a princess.

Heron looks at you, hating everything she sees as the servants cover your face in silver. 

"Cousin. This is stupid, we don't even look alike. And my family is going to hate you."

"I'm not going to live with you."

"You don't know that."

You roll your eyes, biting your gums. I hope not, too.

Heron continues, crossing her arms, "And I'm pretty sure two people of the same house aren't supposed to compete against each other anyway."

"Heron, you and I both know this is an obscure circumstance." But you still look down with a smile, admiring the gloves you are wearing. They're green. You love the color of green.

And here in Dublin it appears that the prevailing minds are not quite so small.

You stand in the line of real princesses that stare at you in curiosity and hatred. They all wait to show off their abilities in front of all of the highhouses. You just straighten up, and Elara too stares at you in curiosity. How is this Red so good at being a princess?  She almost smiles at the thought.

You watch all of the girls, see how they chat and bicker with each other. Though an undying feeling of concern eats up your insides as you stay silent. You want to be a princess, but why do you feel out of your mind? What makes you any different?

I swore I wouldn't spend my life back in Roscommon,

I'd be someone going someplace they would never dream of...

And as you stand, your turn is next, you realize that you have hardly had any practice. You also realize that no matter how bad you do, Maven will end up picking you no matter what.

Somehow that eases your mind.

You think about his smile, how kind and friendly he was to a Red like you. Maybe he saw in you something special. You wonder if he, too, feels that warm feeling you feel whenever you think of him. 

You wish. You wish very hard.

The only dreamer that Roscommon will be able to recall.

You walk out, your legs shaking in fear. You don't think you've ever been surrounded by so many Silvers. You wonder if they see right through you. But as you hear your name, (Y/N), perfectly announced to the people to know and remember, you feel a boost of pride. You take a handful of seeds and throw them out around you. To Maven, it all happens in slow motion. These are not peaches.

You wave your hands, and before the seeds even hit the ground, they grow into thick vines that swirl around the air. It's beautiful to you. It feels free like you're finally releasing yourself from the cage you found yourself in. The vines grow leaves, and then flowers. Beautiful blue flowers. Almost like Maven's eyes.

You hum, letting a vine pick you up and carry you off of the ground. But this show isn't to show the beauty of your ability, is it? Even as you are raised high, showed all of the interested looks of the Silvers, you know this has to end quickly. You look down at the layers of objects laying around and you flick your wrists towards them, the vines colliding with them and crushing them into billions of pieces. It makes you smile. The destruction makes you smile. 

You close your eyes, throwing another seed on the ground right below you. Suddenly, you make the vines wilt from under you. They grow a twisted brown and then begin to dissolve. You fall freely and feel the wind blowing through your hair. Maven sits up, scared of the consequences. Before you hit the ground, the seed you dropped grows into a giant leaf. You slid off of it and land on your feet before bowing to the people all around you.

And as you walk out, you pass Heron, who looks at you in fear.

"I can't make plants wilt, how can you?"

Seems like Roscommon raised a princess after all.

"I pledge myself to you, (Y/N) Welles." Maven says, holding your hands in front of all the other princesses. His hands are still warm in yours, even though your green gloves keep him from truly touching you. You make a note to never wear them again.

You are supposed to look strong, to be brave and impenetrable. But you can't lose the bright smile on your face. This was everything you ever wanted. And now, you can dance around the room in bright necklaces and gowns that belong to you and you only.

Mare watches you from the side, not knowing how she feels about seeing the person who sold her peaches every day getting married to Maven Calore. She squints at you before staring down at her own hands.