Chapter 3. Surrender.
The once clear trail to the palace was now hidden underneath a white blanket, stealing Annabelle’s every step. I tightened the cloak around myself, covering my face as much as was possible, though even that wouldn’t stop dozens of needles–like snowflakes from scraping my cheeks.
It didn’t take long for the cold to sneak into my bones, sending shivers through my already weakened body.
“You show me no mercy,” I spat at the Moon that surely laughed at me stopless.
Annabelle balked when the wind worsened its blows, almost sending us backwards.
Mother never allowed me to ride in such conditions. How could she not know that one night I might need such a skill? She wished me to fail. She wished me death—
The ache in my throat erupted like a forest catching aflame in the middle of summer. My knuckles whitened as I squeezed the reins harder, refusing to succumb to the wind’s blows.
I closed my eyes, willing my mind present, though it did nothing for my inevitably growing hunger.
Florence had forced me to feed two nights ago while I was in and out of consciousness—I couldn’t protest. Though, I won’t need to worry about that for long: I walked towards my end.
Weightless—
My body flew forward as my hands dug into the saddle—desperate to keep myself atop—when Annabelle balked against an invisible barrier on the path. She bucked again and again,until my hands surrendered their struggle and the snow caught me in its cruel, cold embrace.
The reins remained wrapped around my right wrist, digging into my flesh; my shoulder screamed in protest. The back of my eyes prickled as tears of pain threatened to escape.
“I despise you!” I shouted at the Moon. “I wish my soul to never be yours!” My voice echoed in the sudden silence of the forest.
Princess knows composure,my mother’s voice exclaimed.
Annabelle quieted.
Princess knows forethought.Mother persisted.
I mounted Annabelle once more.
Princess knows consideration.
“Enough.” I whispered.
You are to be Queen, act like it.
“Enough!” The roar that erupted from my throat silenced her at once.
The snowstorm calmed.
After the night in the woods I still struggled to navigate, and the cold spells of winter’s strikes, Annabelle was happy to stay behind once I’d said my goodbyes to her. I could only hope a kind soul would untie her reins were I to never return.
The air around me changed when the familiar battlements peered from a line of dense spruce that shielded me from the guards’ view. The snow melted through my trousers as I sat on the cold soil; the tips of my fingers now wore a grayish tint. My eyes scanned the now foreign grounds, unable to find a single familiar face.
I couldn’t remember the last time so many warriors had surrounded the palace from the outside. Mother had always been against such dangerous theatrics: giving away information as intimate as the size of the Royal army was foolish, thus the guarding outposts had always remained hidden behind the stone walls. It seemed Kane cared not to keep his numbers unknown. Was it arrogance or ignorance? I did not know. Perhaps both.
I moved an inch closer, searching for the entrance to Mother’s passage. It’d been years since I last used it... And that day I surely hoped to never have to again.
The day before the Crimson War ended—the only day in the history of our Kingdom when the Royal palace had been invaded and nearly occupied.
Sleep wouldn’t reach me on that night, as though my consciousness knew the danger about to crash upon our home.
