Hardships of Being Princess

                Imagine that you are the princess of a glorious kingdom. You have servants and can do whatever you want, you have royal parents that are amazing and live in a huge palace. What would happen if something terrible happened to your life? What if your parents and uncle were killed and you had to learn to be the next queen all in a matter of a few days. This is what happens to Princess Benevolence of Montagne in Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s book, Princess Ben.

                Princess Benevolence, or just Ben, used to live a life of luxury, but when she finds out that her mother and uncle had been killed and her father was missing, she lost so much. She had to learn to be the new queen, being taught by her aunt, Queen Sophia. Many people in her kingdom feel much sympathy for her, except for the Queen and her staff.

                Queen Sophia is not a gentle or extremely kind woman. When she starts to teach ben the art of being royal, she does so without any comical business. She is quick to punish Ben for her gracelessness and foolishness. She even takes out a strap and beats Ben’s hand until she cannot feel it anymore. Ben, although gripped with pain, would not let the Queen have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, so she waits until she is back in her own chambers to cry.  Her chamber, which I forgot to mention, is the highest room in the tallest tower; original, right?

                She feels like she is in her own personal hell, until she discovers a secret in the castle walls. Literally, while weeping, she finds that her hand can go through one of the walls. When she investigates, she finds a series of hidden passageways inside the walls of the tower. She finds her way to a room with a magic spell book, where she starts her self-education in magic. She starts small, but she learns a lot that comes in handy.

                This is a good book so far. All of the afore-mentioned stuff is in Part one, but I am through Part two where many other things happen. Ben escapes from her tower fate where she must be wed to Prince Florian, and flies away to Drachensbett where she lives a new, and hard life. It is so sad the things she has to go through, but she learns some interesting stuff while she’s in Drachensbett. Much about Prince Florian and her mother’s art of healing, and more importantly about what she has to do to be a good Queen.