Andrian Adventures

By Sarah Peters

In the Kingdom of Andria, it is well known that the four royal children are always getting themselves into trouble.
What begins as a peaceful walk in the woods for Princess Celia turns into a chance meeting with an enchanted (and not very humble) squirrel , which starts off a series of (mis)adventures for the siblings. Prince Isaac causes mayhem and cases of mistaken identities when he tries on some of his sister's clothes, all of Princess Sophia's attempts at creating peace between two feuding fairy families go awry, and most importantly, will Prince Adam ever get anyone to believe that unicorns are actually evil?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sarah Peters
• Release date: Dec 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301623358

Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters is a Midwest native who now finds herself navigating the strange new world of Maine. She spends her time looking at clouds, singing in the car, and writing.

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Andrian Adventures

Sarah Peters

Published by Sarah Peters at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Sarah Peters

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Cover Art by Lauren Krieger

Table of Contents

The Royal Family

Celia and the Elf

The Young Hero

Important Visitors

Reclusive Spring

The Wedding

Adam and the Knight

The Suitor

A Wizard in the Court

Happy Endings

The Royal Family

Two years after the death of his first wife, the Fair and Wise King of Andria remarried, much to the surprise of his kingdom.

The death of his first wife, the Kind and Beautiful Queen, had been unexpected and devastating. Everyone knew that the Fair and Wise King had loved his wife dearly, and at the funeral it was rumored that he’d taken his three young children into his arms and cried with them. No one had expected the Kind and Beautiful, but now Mournfully Deceased Queen to die of the small coughing sickness that had passed through Andria City that year, leaving her husband a widower and her three children suddenly without a mother.

The eldest, Sophia, took it upon herself to replace their mother. At the time, she was only eight, but she already took after her mother with her rich dark curls, tall slender form and round green eyes. Her nose of course, was her father’s nose- a nose that was straight and noble and had been passed down from generations of royal Andrians. Both her younger siblings had inherited the same noble looking nose, although everyone agreed that it looked the best on Princess Sophia.

She didn’t have an easy time looking after her younger sister and brother.

Princess Celia, four at the time of her mother’s death, didn’t take kindly to being forced to sit through Sophia’s idea of suitable activities for children. She, unlike her brother and sister, took after their father, with straight black hair, freckles across her pale cheeks, and walnut-brown eyes. She had none of her elder sister’s willowy, graceful figure. She was, however, a comely enough child, who delighted in teasing her siblings and playing with the castle’s puppies.

Prince Adam was only three when the queen died, and although he didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about, since obviously his mother was just taking an exceedingly long nap, he reluctantly let Sophia fuss over him. He always complained, however, when she tried to teach him anything of worth. He just wanted to draw pictures in the mud and get that mud over every single one of his belongings.

Sophia prevailed, despite her siblings’ complaints, and she’d read them stories every night and sing them soothing lullabies when they had nightmares.

Despite being the heir, Sophia felt like it would be her future duty to look after her two troublesome siblings, and she was honestly quite content with that.

Then, of course, the Fair and Wise King remarried.

The kingdom couldn’t stop talking about it, for the King, instead of choosing a wife for political reasons, chose one from what some called love, but most called lust.

She was the niece of the Duke of the North, blonde, blue eyed, astonishingly beautiful, and only sixteen years old.

At the royal wedding, six year old Celia leaned towards her brother, I heard Nan telling one of the cooks that our new mommy’s going to have a baby. She didn’t exactly have a quiet voice, and as five year old Adam grumbled "She doesn’t look fat," Sophia shushed them both.

Privately, Sophia was scandalized that her father would marry someone who was only six years older than herself, and she too had heard the rumors that the to-be queen was already pregnant.

I have to widdle, Adam announced loudly.

Adam, be quiet, we’re at a wedding! Sophia hissed, fervently looking around to make certain that her brother hadn’t disrupted the ceremony. Only a few of the guests seemed to have noticed, much to her relief.

Adam really has to go, Celia, who hadn’t yet learned the art of using quiet tones declared.

I do, Adam confirmed, wriggling in the uncomfortable, fancy seat. I have to pee!

Hurry! Celia urged.

From the dais, where the Fair and Wise King knelt alongside his Young Queen, the bride looked at the three children, as if realizing for the first time that with her handsome (albeit older) king came his children.

The King chuckled at the spectacle his children were causing as Adam’s voice got louder, Sophia tried to shush him, and Celia began to complain about her boredom.

Perhaps on cue, servants appeared; one who swiftly and gently led Adam away, the other who handed Celia two small animal figurines, placating her petulant boredom.

The wedding continued.

Seven months later, the Young Queen gave birth to a son, Prince Isaac. He was an adorable baby, with soft blond curls, rosy cheeks, round blue-green eyes, and an infectious smile. Needless to say, he was pampered enormously by his family and the castle staff.

Sophia was quite prepared to mother Isaac, just as she’d done for Celia and Adam, but on her fourteenth birthday, her tutor delicately explained that it was time for Princess Sophia to stop mothering and instead start learning how to be a proper ruler.

Although Sophia was devastated, Celia and Adam were delighted. They no longer had to be under the constant eye of their cautious older sister. They took to looking after (mostly by stealing him away from his nanny) Prince Isaac, which might explain some of the young prince’s future eccentricities.

In time, Celia and Adam found themselves calling the Young Queen mother, which always secretly warmed their step-mother’s heart. Although quite young and rather shallow, she did love her husband’s three older children almost if not as much as she loved her own. She was happy being the consort, she admired her husband, and she adored him. She delighted in attending picnics and balls, and it never crossed her mind to kill her husband and take the crown for herself or her son.

Mostly that was because everyone secretly agreed that Prince Isaac would be an awful king, but they never had the heart to tell Isaac, who grew up believing that if it ever happened, he’d be the most wonderful king in the history of Andria.

All in all, the royal family spent the next few years in relative happiness.

Celia and the Elf

It was tradition that every year the royal children would visit their father’s sister in North City.

Aunt Emmelaine had no children of her own, which was probably all for the best, because she simply had no idea how to deal with children. She often feared the annual visits more than she anticipated them, her mind frantically running through all the terrible things the princesses and princes would do in their boredom.

The siblings, of course, were always on their best behavior when they visited, so perhaps Aunt Emmelaine’s fears were rather unjustified, but she worried about it all the same.

It had been some years now since all four of the royal children visited, as they had grown older and had other engagements, and this particular year, Princess Celia was the only one to make the journey to North City. She had recently turned eighteen, and was highly disgruntled at being shipped away from the capital city for two months. Sophia, it turned out, was spending her time shadowing her father in court and taking care of the palace accounts under the watchful eye of the steward, which made her absolutely unable to take a vacation. Adam was still at the Academy for Young Heroes, and his term didn’t end until winter, so he was unable to come as well.

As for Isaac… Celia scowled at the thought. Isaac had stood in front of his parents, flattering and begging them unabashedly until they agreed to let him stay home on the grounds that he’d not skip any of his lessons now.

Celia had no such luck in trying to convince her parents that it was better for her to remain in Andria City. They’d insisted that it would be rude for none of their children to go, and when Celia insisted that she wasn’t a child, they’d replied that so long as she was unmarried, she was a child in their palace.

After five days of travel, the royal carriage rolled onto Aunt Emmelaine’s spacious estates, and with some trepidation, the aunt and niece greeted each other.

Celia could tell, right away, that she was in for two months of stuffy, quiet dinner parties, silent hallways during the day, and constant attempts to make her more graceful and elegant.

She sighed heartily.

My dear Celia, a young woman must never let out so much breath at once, Aunt Emmelaine reprimanded, rather concerned that the princess didn’t know this. It is quite unbecoming and it offers the impression that a young lady might have more on her mind than pleasant, happy, simple thoughts.

Yes, Celia confirmed, it was going to be a very long two months.

By the fourth day of being trapped inside embroidering in silence with her aunt, Celia requested that she be given the morning to walk through the estate’s extensive gardens.

Aunt Emmelaine wasn’t fond of the idea of a young lady, much less a young princess, walking alone in a walled garden, but after Celia pleaded for an hour, she gave in.

The next morning, Celia didn’t waste a moment. She excused herself from breakfast and bolted to her room where she pulled off her stiff dress and changed into an older, plainer one that she usually wore when she helped her stepmother collect wildflowers.

When she got outside, Celia didn’t even bother to admire her aunt’s rigidly designed gardens. She took in