Outcast (Camp NaNo 2015)

Chapter 9

I went back to my old bedroom, which had changed a lot since I had left. The walls were now a pale blue and on the far wall was a simple hovermat for a bed. It was free for me to decorate, free for me to mourn in. But I was too tired at this point to do much of anything, so I climbed into bed, crawled under the soft covers and fell asleep. I did not sleep well, however.

I ran through a maze of hallways, hearing people laughing at me from all angles. I looked at the walls to see portraits like those in the Hall of the Dead but these faces were not of royalty, but instead of friends and people I had hurt. I came to a dead end where there was one portrait staring me straight in the face, however in that portrait were two people: Blair and my father.

The laughing stopped and Blair's voice rang out, "Why did you bring me with you? Why couldn't you have just told me the truth from the beginning?"

"You have to trust me, it was for your own good."

"When did you start killing people for your own good, my girl?" Father asked, sounding concerned.

"That's not what I meant. It was an accident!" I exclaimed, backing up as they came out of the portrait and came toward me. "Please Daddy! Help me someone, help me!"

I felt the world shaking and a knock sounded as Daddy and Blair glared intently at me.

I blinked my eyes open and quickly sat up to the worried looking face of a palace attendant. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, asking what was the matter, the woman still didn't say a thing. She just looked at me as though I were in danger of crashing a ship into the continent. She said something I didn't understand and only after thinking for a moment did I realize she was speaking in the royal tongue. It was something I hadn't heard for a long time, even after thinking back to my memories on Sanurs, I could remember very few people who spoke it.

"My lady, I am sorry to wake you, but you have slept half the day away and your people are waiting for you." I finally processed what she said.

"My people?" I asked, not quite awake yet. Then it all came back to me. I breathed deeply in and out, looking out the window on the right side of my bed. The sun was high in the sky, signaling the approach of Sanurs noon. I swung my legs out of bed and went straight for the closet. I looked over my shoulder at the woman, er short blonde hair was frosted blue at the tips and her skin was a light purple, signalling her commoner descent but the fact that she spoke such a rare language told me she grew up around royalty. She had probably been a servant girl her entire life.

"Why are they waiting for me? To make an address?" I asked slowly, my tongue nearly tripping around the vowels and sounds I hadn't spoken in over a decade.

"Yes, to tell them that you have returned and are taking your father's place as ruler." she told me, nodding.

I stared blankly at the closet before realizing I had no clue where to even start. I hadn't dressed for the frigid temperatures of Sanurs for ages. How was I supposed to rule a country when I didn't even know how to dress for the weather?

"What should I wear? I don't even know anymore." I whispered to her.

"Dress warmer than you did yesterday, your High-"

"Please do not call me that. That title belongs to my father, to the man of the kingdom, not me." I interrupted a bit rudely.

"Of course, my lady, it is my mistake." she curtsied, carefully making her way forward, towards the closet and me. She took one glance at me and one glance at the contents of the closet before picking out a multitude of layers of clothing. It seemed like she was picking up enough layers to clothe the entire castle! But somehow, with her help, I got into the seven separate layers of clothing without looking like a waddling snowball.