Born to Rule

the cover. Did she feel the beating of her own heart through its well-worn pages? Or were there two hearts beating? And did she hear the dim notes of a song that a bird could be singing? Or was it part of a dream?

Chapter 9
    THE DUCHESS OF BAGGLESNORT AND OTHER ANNOYANCES

    “So you see, Your Highnesses, you cannot entrust the delicate application of these powders to your maids.”
    The Duchess of Bagglesnort narrowed her eyes and surveyed the roomful of young princesses. “Prepare yourself for a shock.” She turned toward the door.
    A very elderly woman dressed all in black lace was carried in on a sedan chair. “Lift your veil, Countess Vinky,” the duchess said.
    Two withered hands shaking with age began to lift the veil. “Holy monk bones!” whispered Alicia. The gasps of fifteen princesses swirled through the air. The countess’s face was gray and shriveled, and one side drooped.
    “Speak!” commanded the duchess.
    The countess struggled to open her mouth, and when she did the words slid out one side in a slur. “The damage to my face is the result of a mixture of white lead and vinegar. I would strongly advise against using these ingredients.”
    Each girl in the room began to tremble, picturing her own face shriveled, scaly, and drooping to one side.
    “Thank you, Countess,” the duchess said. “Take her away.” She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.
    Alicia looked at Kristen. “Mean!” She mouthed the word. Kristen nodded. Then they both heard Gundersnap whisper, “I do not like this duchess.”
    “Now, please notice my complexion.” The duchess gently touched her face with long, tapering fingers. “It is as clear and white as the finest china. My skin is like porcelain, as many of my suitors have said!” The duchess’s lips coiled up into a smug little smile that reminded Alicia of two worms snuggling. “A bit of talc, ground chalk, and egg whites. That is the secret recipe.”
    The duchess walked among the princesses, who sat at long tables as an assistant distributed the ingredients they were to pound and mix in their stone bowls. She stopped when she came to Kristen and put her hands to the princess’s face.
    “Oh, dear, I should have noticed this the first night at the banquet. A flame child.”
    “A what?” Kristen asked.
    “You flare, dear, you flare. You must use extra talc to calm down the coloring. My goodness, young lady, you’re turning redder and redder.”
    Kristen’s eyes were flashing now, and Alicia thought she actually might explode.
    “I am what I am,” Kristen said through gritted teeth.
    “I think she’s rather pretty, milady,” Princess Myrella said. “Brown hair, blond hair, black hair, that’s so ordinary.”
    Wrong thing to say, Myrella, Alicia thought. But it was too late. The Duchess of Bagglesnort wheeled around. “There is no such thing as ordinary hair, just ordinary princesses—like yourself, little one, oozing out of the Marsh Kingdoms. What a mistake it was to admit you to Camp Princess.”
    Gundersnap, Alicia, and Kristen were shocked beyond belief. They had never heard a royal person addressed so rudely. Poor little Myrella already had tears running down her face.
    Princess Kinna leaned over and put her arm around her. “Don’t worry, little princess. She’s like that. When she saw me with my dark cinnamon skin, she said all sorts of rude things. She loves having someone to pick on. Don’t pay any attention to her.” Then in a lower voice she whispered, “She is very ordinary herself. There are rumors that she bought her title.”
    “Really!” Myrella looked up with her deep-green eyes.
    Princess Kinna nodded and smiled.
    “Oh, dear, dear, dear!” The duchess had moved on and was making clicking sounds with her tongue. “What have we here!”
    “Vee have me, Princess Gundersnap, of the Empire of Slobodkonia.”
    “How oddly you speak! It is “we” with a W , not V . Your pasty complexion and those blemishes are bad enough without that accent. We must send you to the speech counselor.”
    Alicia and Kristen exchanged looks. How would they ever survive this class? If only it would stop raining, they might get to do something fun outdoors.
    But the makeup class went on and on and on. The princesses learned how to grind rouge from rose petals and red clay and to make their eyebrows darker with charcoal and lighter with paste. They were excited to learn a remedy for pimples, but it turned out to be so dreadful that no