The Forbidden Crown

Chapter I

"Emmeline! Emmeline!" I run harder from the chasing voices.

They echo down the hollow halls, the grand chandeliers overhead tremble as our feet pounds the marble.

I can't believe I did this. I've ruined everything.

God, I'm such an idiot.

"Emmy wait," That nickname almost makes my feet stop.

Damien's voice caresses my anxiety like always but then I remember what just conspired 5 minutes ago. The way his haunting silence caused my fleeting confidence to dissipate, his eyes finding anywhere to look by my own.

I wanted to crawl up into a ball and die... I still do.

I almost trip over my floor length gown, stumbling into my bedroom, and slam the doors shut for extra measure. My fingers tremble as I reach for the brass lock.

Click.

That noise should be comforting, knowing I've finally escaped my own embarrassment.

Yet, all I feel is intense loneliness.

I've never really been alone. Even when I've wanted privacy, someone is always there, watching me, protecting me. Sleep is the only privacy I have but even then my home thrives with noise.

I fall asleep to the guards posted outside my door discussing the recent sports, servants gossiping as they pass my room, people outside after hours, laughing and screaming in their drunken glee. Even at eighteen I have a curfew. I always will, but I've never wanted change until now.

My life is forever mapped out by everyone but myself. It's part of the job, being Princess is glamorous of course, but I'm a public figure. I dress and eat and behave all for the benefit of others. I just wanted to be impulsive for once.

To do something for myself.

I asked my mom if I could dye my hair dark purple. She said it would draw too much attention away from the fundraisers being hosted.

I wanted a small tattoo on my hip. My dad ended up showing me a piece of legislation that stated royals were prohibited from marking their bodies in fear of propaganda or resistance campaigns.

So instead, I strove for something deeper.

Something that no-one else but me and the other person would ever know. That meant finding someone I trusted, and in a court full of snakes that's very difficult to do.

Luckily, I'm not alone. I have them.
Ajax and Damien. My lifelong best friends, the sons of my parents' closest friends and the best part of my fated future.

Ajax will be my general when he comes of age, but for now he remains my personal bodyguard, and Damien is my advisor for all things diplomatic.

The three of us are inseparable.