…the reality, Carrie finds out, isn't exactly a fairy tale.
Carrie Whitmore, aspiring journalist, wakes up after a building collapse to find herself in a world where she is a spoiled, bratty princess engaged to a self-indulgent egomaniac. She has no college education and no friends at all. Carrie finds out that "she" wants nothing to do with the crown after the death of her brother and is happy being bitter, cruel and reclusive.
But that's the old Princess Barbara, lost in the tragic accident that slipped Carrie into the Princess's life. Carrie must change the way the people of the Nation perceive her. Her journey to learn who she is in this new world and to deal with the twists and turns of her unwillingly adopted life will change her perception of everything and everyone around her.
And maybe, just maybe, she'll get the fairy tale princess ending every little girl dreams of.
“Let’s go see what this Drunk Risk is all about.”
Carrie grabbed her beer off the counter and walked to the table where Emma was helping Terry, Jason and Fernando set up the game. They were already hurling insults at each other even as they were sorting the pieces out. There were little army men, cannons and mounted cavalry, as well as two different kinds of die, cards and the board. Emma had taken the little red figures just as Carrie would have guessed.
“You’ve played before?” Fernando asked. “Or do we have to explain this to you?”
“I was playing this game before you were out of diapers.” Emma smiled.
“Oh, she’s already throwing down,” Terry said. “This is gonna be good. I just want to warn you, girlie, we’ve been at this all summer.”
The smirk on Emma’s face told Carrie there was something serious tipped in her favor. Emma looked at Terry. “Just watch yourself, maggot.”
“You think you can take me down?” Terry asked.
“While you were out getting laid, I was out laying mines,” Emma offered.
“Oh, it’s on,” Jason said. He made a dramatic gesture and handed Emma the red pair of die. “Strict standard French rules, plus drinking rules—no less than one beer for every half an hour. We play tonight until someone wins or we call a draw. Ladies first.”
“Go ahead, roll,” Emma said.
“Zing!” Fernando laughed.
Carrie looked at all the little pieces. “How long does this game last?”
“It can go for days,” Jason admitted.
“Days?” Carrie asked, pulling up a chair between Emma and Jason. “And you plan on drinking during the game?”
“Trust us,” Fernando said. “Without the booze, this isn’t half as much fun.”
Sierra quickly lost interest in the game. Her girlfriend finally showed up, nearly an hour later than promised, Carrie noted, and the two of them wandered off. Carrie knew Ava really didn’t want to hang with them anyway. It wasn’t that Carrie cared that Sierra was dating a woman, it was that she didn’t care much for the woman herself. She knew the whole thing was very difficult for Sierra, so she didn’t say anything.
It took Carrie nearly half an hour to catch on what was going on with the game. The first ten minutes seemed like total chaos to her. She actually yelled at them to tell her what the hell was going on. Each move Jason made, he explained what he was doing. One of the other three usually had a comment of some sort for his explanation.
“My goal,” he put a little green man on the board, “is to make sure I have enough armies in my territories so that if Emma should attack me, I can withstand the attack.”
“You couldn’t withstand a stiff breeze.” Terry grabbed the die. He added a little blue man to one of his territories near Emma’s red men. Emma threw insults out as fast as the rest of them, and it was clear she knew what she was doing on the board.
Carrie looked up and saw Tony was still sitting at the other table, drinking another beer. There were a few more people at the table now, and they were having a good time. Carrie sighed. She really should be with him there, but this table, and their beer and war, was much more fun at the moment.
Fernando’s girlfriend, Rhonda, stood up, startling everyone at the table. “I’m tired of this game. You guys have been playing this for months, and I’m bored.”
Fernando looked at her and then back at the board, back at her and back at the board. “But…but, Ronni, we’re in the middle of a game and I just got another beer and…”
“Ugh, whatever, Nando,” she said, disgusted. She marched away from the table.
“You should go after her, man,” Terry said.
“Dude, I do not because you’re going to screw with my armies.”
Jason laughed, and leaned over to Carrie. “Ronni does this every single Friday night. She gets all huffy. She gets up, walks away, and then everything is fine. But the first few times, Nando got up and chased after her.”
“Never leave your army undefended when dealing with drunk college students,” Fernando counseled. “They will steal your infantry and hide them around the bar. Ha, ha.” Fernando changed his train of thought, grabbing one of Terry’s armies. “You suck.”
“Only Maryann would know,” Terry answered. Maryann’s eyes grew wide, and she looked indignant. “Nothing is sacred, love. Sorry.”
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