Written in response to the prompt at https://www.wattpad.com/1078451036-wattalegend-2021-quorin-saga-9-kingdom-afirani
Length: 875 words
The castle was burning. A building of stone and mortar shouldn't burn, but the smoke carried scent of whitewash mingled with the acrid smell of some foul magic. It was a spell I had never heard of, something they don't tell twelve-year-old girls about. I pounded down the corridor, hoping that the guards could keep the castle standing long enough for me to find the person I was looking for.
"You'll know her when you see her," Dad had told me, before squeezing my shoulder and leaving me. He was somewhere on the other side of these walls. He might be helping the guard, but odds are he was standing beside the King, like he always did when things got rough. This time was different, though. He had stood beside the King a thousand times, but I never felt my stomach twist like this before. I had never thought anyone could breach the outer walls of the castle; I had never considered that the castle could fall.
Dad was right, of course. I had never met the crown princess; I pictured her as some almost-grown-up teenage girl, tall and willowy in a long dress wearing the gold torc that represented the heir to the throne around her neck. But even if she was a hundred years old, short, fat, and wearing hunting trousers, I'd know Princess Tala when I found her. That was my skill. We had only figured it out last summer, when I was allowed to sit in the gallery when the King opened parliament. I was the only one of us four kids to inherit it. Dad had been relieved; I was the youngest, born too late for him to train himself, he said, but it was better than having to search up a nephew or cousin to take on the family burden.
I wasn't worried about finding the princess, but I was worried about convincing her to come with me. Who'd listen to a kid? Especially a kid they'd never met, who was dressed in the blue tunic of a first-year magic student? I had promised my dad to get the crown princess out of the castle, but if Tala was a bossy lady, I had no hope.
As I hurried down the hallway, I tried to ignore the smell of smoke and the sounds of screams and crashing metal from outside. I tried to focus only on the magic; not the nauseating, oily-cold magic that was trying to pull down the castle into a dead heap of coals, but the quiet, golden tingle in my palms and the soles of my feet, pulling from the tips of my fingers and the ends of my hair, calling me. Right now it was soft, a distant flourish of tiny bells, a warm prickle of golden light, but it was getting stronger. It was getting stronger and more triumphant, pushing out the foul magic. I was flooded with the strange feeling of artificial euphoria, a fake happiness that rushed from my belly to the top of my head. My hand reached, almost without conscious thought, for a door handle.
I opened the door, and stopped, staring. This couldn't be the right room, it couldn't. This was a kid's room. The most perfect kid's room I'd ever seen, with a huge dollhouse, a brass telescope on a pivoting stand, and a full bookcase. There was also a huge canopied bed, hung with white curtains overlaid by pink organza so it looked like a gauzy castle itself. But the magic was stronger now, the faint bells raised in joyous song, the tingle practically shimmering along my skin.
I stepped into the room cautiously, the slight pull on my skin wiling me forward. There was no way the crown princess could be here, but this was where the magic had brought me. I found myself standing beside the bed, the curtains and organza blocking my path like a wall. Frowning to myself, I reached out both hands, and threw the curtains open.
I was met with a pair of wide, dark-brown eyes, and the hiss of a sharp intake of breath.
"Don't hurt me!" the stranger said as I stared.
It was a kid, a girl, a bit smaller and shorter than me. I guessed she was maybe two or three years younger. She was dressed in purple silk, down to slipper-like shoes, and she had the gold torc around her neck.
"You – you're Princess Tala?" I said. I could hear the disbelief in my own voice, but a thousand tiny bells were ringing in my ears.
She nodded, tears forming in her eyes.
"Come with me. I'm here to help!" I insisted. Princess Tala pulled back, doubtful, and I knew that if I hesitated, I was lost.
Breaking every rule of protocol and every precaution my father and my school had beaten into my head, I grabbed her thin wrist. The tingle burst into a jarring, electric shock, the bells clanging and my vision overlaid with gold. I gritted my teeth, and pulled her from the bed.
"I'm taking you somewhere safe," I said, and dragged her into a run, back out into the hallway and away from danger.
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Text of prompt: The kingdom of Afirani is loved by its people for a lot of reasons. It's a safe haven where people with and without magic can live in no fear. But unrest is growing as their precious royals seem to be the target of rebellious uprising that even magic cannot prevent. You happen to be the descendent of a family of royal bodyguards, well known for their peculiar magical powers, and it is now your job to protect the crown prince / princess.
