Not Your Average Princesses

by Erin Downing

  When they washed and dried Hera’s hair, they found it had been dyed a vibrant, beautiful black—and the bold bangs framed her huge gray eyes perfectly. She looked like a completely different girl.

  As soon as Rhea had dyed her own hair teal—to match her blue skin—and added a jaunty hat to complete her new look, the girls agreed that they all looked totally different.

  Rhea pulled out the outfits she’d started to put together, and they all held the fabrics up to themselves. When the five princesses finally stood together before the mirror, everyone hidden behind their new clothes and flaunting their new hairstyles, the results were incredible. “Well?” Rhea asked, nervously looking around at the other girls. “What do you think? Are we ready to say goodbye to the princesses of the Pentangle … and hello to the princesses of pop?”

  CHAPTER 5

  “Our new band name is definitely super cute,” Luna said after dinner that night, while the princesses enjoyed a dessert of Pop Rocks over ice cream. Chamberlin claimed it was a Borana specialty … but it was also all they could scrounge up. “The Space Princesses of the Pentangle is adorable and totally catchy when it’s shortened to SPACEPOP. But I’m wondering if we want to consider a couple other options? Like Luna and the SPACEPOP or Luna and the—”

  Rhea cut her off. “No.”

  “No?” Luna snapped. “Who made you the boss?”

  Chamberlin, who had been busy clearing away the dinner dishes, looked across the kitchen with a start. “What’s this now? A band?”

  Athena nodded and said matter-of-factly, “Yes, we’ve decided to form a rock band.”

  “The five of you?” Chamberlin asked, his voice getting shrill. “A band?”

  “You have a problem with that?” Juno said, raising an eyebrow.

  “I most certainly do have a problem with that,” Chamberlin said, fumbling as he loaded the dishes into the transport’s wash pod. “What is the point?”

  Hera explained, “We all feel really helpless just sitting here on Borana while that meanie Geela holds our planets and parents hostage. We want to do something to help. To inspire our people.”

  “I’ve already told you, the most important thing you can do to help your people is keep yourselves safe,” Chamberlin said, clearing his throat—then he cleared it again. The girls had begun to grow fond of some of Chamberlin’s nervous tics.

  “We’re going to go crazy—and possibly kill each other—if we just sit here in this space transport for the next however many months and do nothing,” Juno said. “So the other princesses and I have been talking, and we’ve decided that we’re going to go out on tour. We want to write songs that will inspire people to take action. Freedom songs.”

  Athena nodded, her new pink hair swirling around her head like an enormous space helmet. “Geela has taken over the media networks, and she’s trying to brainwash our people into thinking her dictatorship is a good thing. We want to encourage the residents of the planets of the Pentangle to fight back.”

  “The citizens of our galaxy have been living in peace for so long,” Hera continued with a sigh. “But now that Geela has come in and taken over, we’re worried about our planets beginning to fight among themselves. Someone has to remind the people of the Pentangle that staying unified in love and harmony will be better for everyone!”

  “And also, we want to fight,” Juno added. “To take Geela down.”

  Rhea flashed a charming smile at Chamberlin and said, “You have to admit … our rock star makeovers are fab, yeah? We totally look the part.” She waved a hand in front of each of the other girls, urging Chamberlin to admire their new looks once again. “You must be happy we all look really different than we did yesterday! Operation: Disguise Princesses was a full-on success.”

  Chamberlin held a hand over his eyes. “I forbid you to form a band,” he said quietly. He peeked at the girls through his fingers. They all smiled back at him, saying nothing. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”

  “Not a chance,” Rhea said.

  “Nope,” agreed Juno.

  “No offense, Chambermaid…” Luna said with a smile. “But you’re totally out of your league here. It’s five against one, and princesses always get what they want.”

  “Be a part of the solution, Chamberlin,” Hera pleaded. “You’re either with us … or against freedom.”

  Chamberlin groaned.

  Athena strode across the kitchen, put her hands on Chamberlin’s shoulders, and looked him in the eye. She pleaded, “Help us fix this, Chamberlin. The sooner we overthrow Geela, the sooner we all get to go home. Don’t you miss the comforts of Athenia?”

  Chamberlin shook his head. “I was given very specific orders to keep you here, out of harm’s way. Your parents—and Rhea’s royal protectors—put me in charge,” he muttered. “Why do I suddenly feel like it’s the other way around?” He shuffled out of the kitchen. A moment later, the girls heard his bedroom door swoosh closed.

  “That went well,” Rhea said, grinning at the others. “I think he’ll come around.”

  “I think we’d have an easier time convincing him that this band is a good idea if we actually sounded like a band,” Athena said matter-of-factly. “Let’s write a song and show him we’re serious.”

  Leaving the rest of their dishes on the table (the girls’ pets had grown fond of cleaning leftovers off the dirty plates after every meal), SPACEPOP retreated to their common room. Athena sat primly in front of her keyboard, Rhea flopped onto her bed with the guitar resting on her belly, Hera stood in a corner of the room hugging her bass, Juno settled in at the drum kit with a fierce look in her eyes, and Luna stood smiling in the center of them all.

  “Where do we even start?” Rhea asked, plucking a few chords. “I’ve done plenty of composing on my own, but I’m not much of a songwriter.”

  Juno began pounding at the drums, taking out all her frustrations on the homemade instrument. “Let’s just bash it out!” she screamed.

  “Whoa,” Athena said. “You’re going to break something—relax, Juno.”

  “I made these drums out of recycled trash,” Juno growled. “If they break, I’ll fix them. I’m furious about what’s happening, so why not use my emotions for musical inspiration? Isn’t that the whole point of making music? To express yourself?” She looked around at the other girls, who all looked skeptical. “Let’s all try to bang something out. It feels good to throw your anger out there. And I think once we let all our energy out into the room, something good will come to us. Seriously.”

  One by one, each of the princesses began to play. It was a mess of chords and angry screaming and pounding drum beats. At first, they just sounded like a mess of noise. But after a few minutes of insanity, the band members all began to calm down and listen to one another. Rhea and Hera moved to stand side by side. Athena and Juno slowed down and layered their sound on top of the others. Then Luna began to sing, “We ’bout to start something big…”

  She trailed off. But the other girls nodded, urging her to continue. Luna’s beautiful voice carried over the sound of the other instruments, clear and pure. “Don’t know where … as long as we get there.”

  Rhea chimed in, layering on another line. “We ’bout to start something huge…”

  “Right here, right now!” Juno screamed.

  “Right here, right now!” the other girls echoed.

  They all quieted down, grinning madly at each other. The collection of pets returned to the room, obviously curious about what was happening. “That sounded pretty good,” Hera cheered.

  “It really did,” Athena agreed. “Should we try it again, from the top? Let’s all sing the last line together, okay?”

  They began to play again. Luna sang: “We ’bout to start something big … Don’t know where, as long as we get there.” She nodded at Rhea, who sang the next line. “We ’bout to start something huge…”

  They all sang out, “Right here, right now!”

  Then Athena dro
pped in the next line: “We ’bout to start something new! Something you can’t put in a…” She paused, frowning.

  “Box?” Hera suggested.

  “We ’bout to start something new … something you can’t put in a box!” Athena sang, laughing.

  “We ’bout to start something real!” Rhea went on.

  Juno yelled, “Can’t stop, won’t stop!” She waved her drumstick in the air and cried out, “Everyone, sing that line with me!”

  They repeated the verse again, trying the last line together again. It was long past midnight when they finally had a complete draft of their first song. Each of the girls collapsed onto their beds, exhausted. Athena quickly grabbed a pen and an empty notebook and wrote down the full song so they wouldn’t forget it:

  ((Refrain))

  We ’bout to start something new

  Don’t know where, as long as we get there!

  We ’bout to start something huge

  Right here, right now!

  We ’bout to start something new

  Something you can’t put in a box!

  We ’bout to start something real

  Can’t stop, won’t stop!

  ((Verse One))

  Wishing on a shooting star, isn’t gonna get you far

  There’s so much we gotta do … stick together, see it through

  Why be just an average girl?… You can go and change the world

  Right here, right now!

  ((Refrain))

  ((Verse Two))

  Though the journey may be long … learning what is right or wrong

  We just wanna sing our song … with each other we are strong

  Why be just an average girl?… You can go and change the world!

  Right here, right now! Can’t stop, won’t stop!

  We ’bout to start something big!

  “I think we have our first song,” Athena said, looking up.

  “How about we call it ‘We ’Bout to Start Something Big’?” Luna suggested. There were murmurs of agreement from each of the other girls.

  “I think,” Chamberlin said, stepping into the girls’ bedroom, “that song fits your situation nicely.” He smiled. “I’ve been listening to your rehearsal tonight. Though I think this rock band silliness is a terrible plan and goes against absolutely everything I’ve been instructed to do, I must say: you sound rather lovely together.”

  “Really?” Juno said, smiling. “That’s quite a compliment, coming from an old-school guy like you.”

  The curmudgeonly butler sighed, then went on, “While you were practicing tonight, I did a bit of research to see what this little rock band project of yours would entail. If you really are serious about pursuing it, we have quite a lot we’ll need to do—to travel, we would need to turn our transport into a stylish tour bus. Then there’s the matter of designing a band logo, finishing your costumes to ensure you’re properly disguised…”

  “I’m on that!” Rhea said. “Costumes will be done tomorrow, I think. There are just a few finishing touches to do on each one, but they’re looking good. Right, girls?” The other four girls nodded. Rhea really had a knack for fashion design.

  “I can handle the band logo,” Juno chimed in. She shrugged and added, “I love graphic design and art. Never get much time to fiddle around with my art back home, but I’d love to give it a shot.” The others gaped at her. “What?” Juno demanded.

  Athena smiled reassuringly. “Nothing. We’d love for you to design our logo, Juno.”

  Chamberlin shook his head, clearly overwhelmed by how much there was to do, and how little control he had over the girls. “It also seems I may need to hire something called a roadie to help with some of the heavy lifting if and when we go out on tour. There is a qualified candidate—a chap by the name of Rand—here on Borana that we could talk to. I’m certainly too old for this nonsense, and I doubt very much that you girls will be willing to haul your own gear. We can make a bedroom for him in one of the storage closets, if need be.”

  “A roadie?” Luna cried. “You’d hire a roadie for us?”

  “Chamberlin, you’re the best!” Rhea said. “You know, I heard you say, ‘when we go out on tour…’ You love this band idea, don’t you? We’re totally doing it!”

  “We knew you’d come around,” Juno said, winking.

  “Thank you for supporting us, Chamberlin,” Athena added.

  “Now, now,” Chamberlin said, waving his hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll see if we can make it work. But it will take a lot of preparation, hard work, and planning.”

  Before he could say anything more, Hera put her hands in the air and declared, “Let’s celebrate the creation of our beautiful and inspiring new band … with a group hug!”

  Laughing, the girls raced over and surrounded Chamberlin. The butler coughed in protest. “Oof!” he groaned, pushing them away. “Hands off your butler! If you squeeze me to death, someone else will have to drive this bus!”

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  “So how long have you known Chamberlin?” Rhea asked Athena as the SPACEPOP tour bus raced through space a few weeks after Geela’s takeover. The two girls had been trying to write a new song for several hours, but they weren’t getting very far. Luna was the most talented songwriter in the group, but she always kept the best lines for herself. Chamberlin had set their space bus coordinates for Hera’s home planet, Heralda, where the band’s next gig was scheduled. Hera was in the middle of the living room meditating with Roxie, Juno and Skitter were both working out, and Luna and Adora were happily napping.

  “Chamberlin has been in my family’s service since long before I was born,” Athena said. Beside her, Mykie nodded along. “He’s a member of an ancient Felian race, born and bred to serve at the highest levels.”

  “So instead of being born into royalty, Chamberlin was born into service?” Rhea asked. On the floor, Springle clumsily fiddled with the strings of Rhea’s guitar while Rhea took a break.

  “Yes,” Athena said. “He is extremely good at his job. He’s a bit old school, but it’s appropriate given his position.”

  “I wonder if he ever resents it,” Rhea said. “Being forced to take care of others, instead of being allowed to choose his path?”

  “I asked him that once, when I was little and didn’t realize it was inappropriate for a princess to ask such questions,” Athena said. “He told me he would much rather have his job than mine. He enjoys tending to others’ needs. And he believes our royal obligations are far more challenging than his duties.” Athena smiled. “I must say I agree with him—living on our own without our usual tasks has been quite nice. I certainly would have liked to have more servants around to help with painting our logo on the space bus, but some freedom from our usual duties has been refreshing.” She nodded to Rhea. “Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn’t been born into royalty?”

  “All the time!” Rhea said. “Because I wasn’t born into royalty. For a long time I lived a really different life. You know they didn’t discover I was a princess until I was five, right? I was living in an orphanage. I was moved to the palace after they discovered I have royal blood.”

  “I heard that,” Athena said. “It must have been interesting living such a simple existence for a time. What was it like?”

  Rhea shrugged. “I don’t remember much about my toddler years. But after all those years of having nothing—no servants, too little food, only one change of clothes—I certainly appreciate all of the privileges I have now.” She picked up her guitar, strummed a few out-of-tune notes, then went on, “The one thing I missed after I left the orphanage was affection. The nurses were very sweet to all of the other children and me. Once I was removed from their care and brought to the palace, I felt very alone much of the time. It’s been nice being here with all of you. It’s the first time I’ve felt like I have a real family.” She grinned. “I realize that sounds silly.”

  Athena shook her head
. “It doesn’t sound silly.” She and Rhea smiled at each other.

  A moment later, Hera skipped into the room. “Chamberlin just told me we’ve entered the Heralda atmosphere.” She snuggled her pet close in her arms and cooed, “Aren’t you just so excited to visit home, Roxie? Aren’t you?”

  Luna poked her head out of her sleeping pod, her eyes barely open. “Are we there?” Luna whispered. “Am I on? Where’s my juice?”

  “We’ll be there soon,” Rhea told her. “We should be landing in a few minutes. You probably ought to start your beauty regimen now. The show starts in less than four hours.”

  Luna looked panicked. “Why didn’t someone wake me sooner? You know it takes at least two hours to perfect my makeup, I need an hour to warm up my voice, and I haven’t even decided what I’m going to wear yet.” She stared wildly around the room. “Isn’t anyone going to lay out my outfit?!”

  Rhea glanced at Athena and muttered, “I might take back what I said about enjoying living with all of you. There was a lot less drama when I lived alone.”

  When the SPACEPOP tour bus landed on Heralda and the girls stepped outside, the destruction from Geela’s takeover was immediately obvious. Their transport was parked on a charred brown field. As far as they could see, Heralda was nothing but a dead wasteland. The sky was smoky and brown, and the only sound was the droning buzz of one of Geela’s Android ships flying overhead. Hera had been telling the other girls about her planet for days, bragging about endless fields of flowers, the lush, green prairies, and relaxing birdsong that filled her planet with hope and happiness. Now, all that was gone.

  Hera scanned the horizon, her always-hopeful expression morphing into devastation as she realized what had become of her beautiful planet under Geela’s brief reign. Suddenly, Hera took off at a run. The girls raced after her as she ran from their ship. They all scrambled up a mossy hill, then came to a stop on a rocky overlook. Below them, more burned fields and a pile of rubble littered a narrow valley. It was obvious they were looking at the scattered remains of Hera’s former home. The elegant castle was nothing more than a pile of broken stones and colored glass.