Edited
To put it plainly, I don't get much sleep. I know that the odds of my survival are slim. I can't be a princess. I can't marry a man I don't love. I can't even act like a regular girl! For instance, right now I'm still wearing male breeches and a white button down shirt. If I can't wear a dress, then I can't be a princess. Besides, I've been nothing but trouble to Gai this whole time. There's no way he'll pick me.
I can't sleep-my brain is spinning in circles. So I open my eyes, and look to the sky. The stars are beautiful tonight-clear and bright. From in the city, the smoke and fog usually block out the all of the stars. But here-in the middle of nowhere-they shine like nobody's business

The dawn comes too early. With the sun just skimming the horizon, we are loaded in the wagon, once again, our journey begins. I lie on my back, dangling my legs off of the edge of the wagon. I close my eyes, and pray for sleep, but just like last night, it doesn't come.

"What do you think?" Kaone asks. Her voice is stuffy and hoarse-like she's been crying. I almost feel bad for her-this situation is truly awful. So I tell the truth.

"I know who I am, and I know exactly what I'm supposed to do. I don't want to live my life as a lie. I just want to be me, the rebellious, sarcastic, the thief of the streets. I don't want to be a princess" I sigh. From the corner of my eye, I see Kaone nod.

"I'm scared." Briss whispers, the only one to be voice all of our feelings.

"I'm not!" Kaone announces, almost angrily. We all know that she is lying, but I see her reasons for not voicing her fears. I share those reasons.

"I'm not either." I snort boldly. Truthfully, I'm terrified out of my mind. But the competition starts now. And it is-a competition.
It's lie or die. Time to play the game.

Around noon, when the sun is high in the sky, Gai drags us out of the open backed wagon, and points to the huge, looming mountain in front of us.

"My home is there." He says, pointing to a large stone structure on the mountain side, about a quarter of the way up.

"We'll be there within the hour!" Gai exclaims, excitement evident in his voice. I feel sick.

"Now, why don't you hop back into the wagon and we'll be off." He states. I, of course, refuse.

"I would rather walk." I suggest pointedly. Gai scowls, but I stand my ground. I am not getting back in that carriage.

Soon I find myself attached to the wagon with a long, heavy chain. I don't have any plans of running anyways, so the chain doesn't bother me. In any case, where would I go?

By the time we reach the mansion, I am drenched with sweat, and my bruised ribs are burning in a fierce pain. But I'm smiling. Why? Because Gai has a disgusted look on his face, and won't go anywhere near me. I guess it's not 'queenly' to sweat.
Whatever.

"Ladies-this will be your home for the next month. This is Asenhouse." He declares proudly, gesturing up at the house. Even I am shocked at the sheer size of his house. It's literally the biggest house I think I've seen in my life. It's huge! Quickly, I am unchained and we are directed inside the large oak doors.

"These are your maids. They will assist you in everything and anything. They know what they are doing, so please listen to them. Kaone and Briss, please go with Kea and Albi. And Lynx can follow Malikah. Please come to the dining room at 5 pm, for your first formal dinner. Dismissed."

Gai announces while we stumble away, following the silent maids. Eventually, I am left with a girl with dark hair and green eyes. She takes my hand, and leads me upstairs-towards a room. A hot bath is already waiting.

"Strip." She commands. She sounds bored. I look at her, and her eyes widen in alarm.

"Oh I mean-please undress milady." She corrects herself quickly. She literally looks terrified. I guess you aren't supposed to say strip?

I giggle, making Malikah look even more alarmed.

"My name is Lynx. You don't have to be worried about what you say. I'm a street kid-not a princess. I'm like you." I tell her, giving her a kind smile. She still looks distrustfully at me.

"Please get in the bath miss."
I sigh and remove my clothes.

The water smells like lavender. Strangely comforting. Nice. I sink into the scalding water, and for the first time in what seems like forever, I relax.
Malikah grabs a wash cloth, and starts to scrape off the layers of dirt encrusted on my skin. I flinch away from het, and try take the cloth from her hands. She doesn't let go, and attempts to tug it back.

"I would rather wash myself." I pull on the washcloth, wrenching it from Malikah's hands.

She looks at me almost angrily, but then nods.
She still watches me in the tub, to make sure I'm actually cleaning myself. But it's way less awkward then her actually cleaning me. I don't care what Gai says-I am not letting some stranger wash me.

Once she deems me clean, she helps me out of the bath. Malikah's eyes lock on my abdomen, noticing my bruised ribs, and she gasps. I cross my arms protectively and glare at Malikah.

"I'm fine." I mutter pointedly. She doesn't look convinced, after another glare from me, she continues with her task. She hands me simple white undergarments, and leaves the room. I squirm into them (who knew they could be so tight!), and wait until she gets back. I contemplate going out to explore, but Malikah returns within minutes, dragging a man behind her.

"Miss, Malikah here brought to my attention that you may have some bruises in need of attention." A male servant says, in a bored tone. I get the feeling that he isn't excited to be here.
Join the club.

I scowl, giving the two my darkest glare, and reluctantly show him the bruises and scrapes. He immediately apply's a salve that feels cold in my belly. Almost instantaneously, the pain diminishes. I can't help but sigh in relief-I didn't realize how much pain I was in until it was gone. He hands the jar of medicine to Malikah, with instructions that I don't hear.
But I don't really care.
Almost as quickly as he arrived, he exits the room. I turn on Malikah, who looks slightly guilty, but stares defiantly back at me.

"I told you! I was fine!" I yell-frustrated. She had no right to interfere with my life!!!
She flushes in anger, but doesn't respond. She just rolls her bright green eyes, and starts to lace my corset.

By the time it's time to go to dinner, I look nothing like myself. I am wearing a midnight blue dress that matches my eyes. It has a square neckline, and is tight around the bust, which, is not as comfortable as it looks. The dress gradually flows down loosely at my feet. My golden hair is left down in shiny ringlets, and I have newly pierced ears with pearls in them. I don't know how they did it, but for the first time in a long time, I feel beautiful. No, that's not the right word. I feel gorgeous. Radiant. Brimming with new confidence. Malikah smiles behind me. She's obviously as pleased with her work as I am.

"Come on. Master Flynn awaits." She guides me away from the mirror and out of the door.
As I walk the halls, I notice that the servants stop and stare. At me. I hear whispers.
It makes me feel uneasy. Really uneasy. But I try to walk confidently (or as confidently as I can in a dress) down towards the dining room. It's more of a shuffle, but still. When I arrive, I'm the last girl there. As soon as I walk through the doors, the room falls silent. Gai's eyes nearly pop out of his head.

"You look just like.....but it can't be......she's dead!" He stutters, looking at me with wild eyes. . Then he turns, and whispers with other official looking members, of his dinner party. I can't hear very well, but I do catch little snippets. The words "princess", "lost" and "not possible" are common. I shift uncomfortably, and cast my gaze to the linoleum floor. Soon they are silent, and all eyes are on me. Again. I awkwardly take a step towards the large table, and unintentionally trip. I sprawl on the floor as laughter erupts around the room. The tension disappears as I push myself off of the hard floor, and sit at the table. As I gawk at the massive piles of food, Gai speaks. I'm sure he says lots of interesting things, but all I hear is,
"Let's eat."

The meal is incredible. It's almost too good to believe. I'm not entirely sure if I believe it, and I'm eating it! After I'm done, we are dismissed to go to our room, which, of course, we all share. Kaone, looking better then I'm willing to admit in pink, shoots a glare at me and stalks out. Briss stays behind to walk with me.

"You look amazing!" She gasps shyly. I smile sweetly and respond with a 'thanks.'

Briss looks incredible though. She is wearing green, which looks good with her red hair. It's hard to believe that 12 hours ago we were orphans, clothes in rags. Now we look like princesses. It's a little freaky to be honest.

We stroll casually to our room, where Kaone is already changed and lying on her bed, with her back facing us. She obviously isn't in the mood to talk. I shrug out of my dress (a difficult task if I've ever seen one) and flop onto my bed. A shock of pain bursts through my back, and at first I think that it's my injuries, but then I realize that I wasn't hurt anywhere near my spine. There is something digging into my back, so I sit up and grab the object under me. It's a rock with a message etched onto it.

'Meet me in the entrance at midnight'