Chapter Three-Amber becomes Chrysta
The next day the Chancellor went to meet the Queen. "Your Majesty, your daughter has been bitten by a dangerous water snake, a Vindscreen Viper. She will require five days of bed rest and the Royal doctors have told me that you should not visit her in that time."
The Queen nodded. "I understand, but I want to see her without fail or the doctors will be in trouble."
The Chancellor bowed and left and went to his office at the Chancellery where he paced up and down wondering what to do. "If the princess does not show up in five days my head might be on the block, but she's dead. What am I going to do? Ah, a replacement, I need a replacement princess. He went and found Grand Duke Lariton. The Duke had once ruled a small kingdom on the borders of Vallermore until the Queen had made him an offer that he could not refuse. He could either allow his kingdom to be annexed, in which case he would be made a Grand Duke and retain his power in most local matters, or his country would be invaded by her army and forcibly annexed, and it's people would be slaughtered and have their homes and fields destroyed and burnt. Lariton had reluctantly chosen the first option.
He had a beautiful twenty year old daughter named Amber, with long brown hair, green eyes and a sweet nature. The Chancellor smiled when he saw the Duke and said "I have a problem which you could help to sort out. Or rather your daughter could. As you probably know, Princess Chrysta committed suicide a few hours ago. The Queen refuses to accept that her daughter is dead. Your daughter Amber looks very like the princess and we want her to..." He paused. "To replace her. With your daughter at the Queen's side, just think of the political influence that you could have, perhaps one day enough to regain your independence and rule your land as a King once more."
The Duke called his daughter in. "Amber, I would like you to do something for me. I would like you to take on the role of Princess Chrysta for me. You will have fine clothes, even better then those that you wear now, you will have a better life then you have now and you may be able to use your influence to win back my Kingdom as an independent state. When I was a king you were a princess, now I want you to be a princess again for me and for the sake of all those who live in our former kingdom and are now struggling to pay increased taxes to their conquerors."
"But father, what if the Queen finds out? We could both end up in her torture chamber and could never come out alive."
"It's our only chance to at least regain a little bit of the independence that we once enjoyed. Please, do it for me and our whole nation."
Amber nodded, and her father kissed her on the forehead. "Good girl. The Chancellor here will instruct you in what you need to do and how you need to behave to play your role to perfection."
For the next five days the Chancellor and the Captian of the Guards drilled Amber ruthlessly to play her role. "Keep a straight back, Chrysta always kept her back straight in public. If you get a mosquito bite, no scratching. You must be polite to the Queen but not too polite. Remember what will happen if the Queen ever finds out who you are-death in the torture chamber with your father suffering beside you."
Amber's jewelry of amythests and other semi-presuious stones was replaced with the diamonds and rubies and emeralds that had belonged to Princess Chrysta. She was dressed in the Princess's silken robes. As she had once been a princess in her own right she did not find the training as hard as she might have done, but as the days grew nearer to when she would meet the Queen she grew more and more scared until her hands were shaking and the jewel encrusted bracelets on her arms were clinking loudly.
The next day the Chancellor went to meet the Queen. "Your Majesty, your daughter has been bitten by a dangerous water snake, a Vindscreen Viper. She will require five days of bed rest and the Royal doctors have told me that you should not visit her in that time."
The Queen nodded. "I understand, but I want to see her without fail or the doctors will be in trouble."
The Chancellor bowed and left and went to his office at the Chancellery where he paced up and down wondering what to do. "If the princess does not show up in five days my head might be on the block, but she's dead. What am I going to do? Ah, a replacement, I need a replacement princess. He went and found Grand Duke Lariton. The Duke had once ruled a small kingdom on the borders of Vallermore until the Queen had made him an offer that he could not refuse. He could either allow his kingdom to be annexed, in which case he would be made a Grand Duke and retain his power in most local matters, or his country would be invaded by her army and forcibly annexed, and it's people would be slaughtered and have their homes and fields destroyed and burnt. Lariton had reluctantly chosen the first option.
He had a beautiful twenty year old daughter named Amber, with long brown hair, green eyes and a sweet nature. The Chancellor smiled when he saw the Duke and said "I have a problem which you could help to sort out. Or rather your daughter could. As you probably know, Princess Chrysta committed suicide a few hours ago. The Queen refuses to accept that her daughter is dead. Your daughter Amber looks very like the princess and we want her to..." He paused. "To replace her. With your daughter at the Queen's side, just think of the political influence that you could have, perhaps one day enough to regain your independence and rule your land as a King once more."
The Duke called his daughter in. "Amber, I would like you to do something for me. I would like you to take on the role of Princess Chrysta for me. You will have fine clothes, even better then those that you wear now, you will have a better life then you have now and you may be able to use your influence to win back my Kingdom as an independent state. When I was a king you were a princess, now I want you to be a princess again for me and for the sake of all those who live in our former kingdom and are now struggling to pay increased taxes to their conquerors."
"But father, what if the Queen finds out? We could both end up in her torture chamber and could never come out alive."
"It's our only chance to at least regain a little bit of the independence that we once enjoyed. Please, do it for me and our whole nation."
Amber nodded, and her father kissed her on the forehead. "Good girl. The Chancellor here will instruct you in what you need to do and how you need to behave to play your role to perfection."
For the next five days the Chancellor and the Captian of the Guards drilled Amber ruthlessly to play her role. "Keep a straight back, Chrysta always kept her back straight in public. If you get a mosquito bite, no scratching. You must be polite to the Queen but not too polite. Remember what will happen if the Queen ever finds out who you are-death in the torture chamber with your father suffering beside you."
Amber's jewelry of amythests and other semi-presuious stones was replaced with the diamonds and rubies and emeralds that had belonged to Princess Chrysta. She was dressed in the Princess's silken robes. As she had once been a princess in her own right she did not find the training as hard as she might have done, but as the days grew nearer to when she would meet the Queen she grew more and more scared until her hands were shaking and the jewel encrusted bracelets on her arms were clinking loudly.
