♔𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝒮𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉♔

~1~

In the kingdom of Evermoon, in the tallest tower of the royal castle, sat a teenage girl alone with her thoughts. This wasn't just any girl, however. She was the princess and heir to the throne.

So, you're probably thinking that this is some fairytale of some spoiled, brainwashed, innocent princess who finds some pretty boy to marry and basically lets him rule and probably ends up having like seventeen babies.

Well, it isn't.

Sorry to disappoint, goodbye.

Ah, you're still here, eh?

Then in that case, let's continue.

Where were we? Right.

Our story begins in my bedroom in my family's castle. I tend to spend a great deal of my free time here. It's quieter here than most of the other floors, due to being up so high; the sixth floor to be exact. The sixth floor was reserved only for the royal family's sleeping quarters.

It was a late midsummer afternoon, and I was expecting my maid, Florence, to come and get me for dinner. I didn't want to go. My mother, the Queen of Evermoon, had spent the last two years of my life trying to set me up with every single royal or upper class male on the continent. Tonight, I'd be forced to meet Oliver, a general's son. He was always polite, but absolutely clueless.

If it wasn't already obvious, I didn't want to get married. Not yet anyways. I'd worked too hard to get distracted and fall for some random man. Most people assume being a princess is easy-peasy, but that is not the case. My days have been filled with interview etiquette lessons, history classes, foreign language studies, and long battle technique lectures since I was around the age of six. I haven't taken a sick day since I had pneumonia at the age of nine. So yeah, I'd say I'm pretty serious about my job.

Soon enough, Florence had come to retrieve me for dinner. I loved Florence. She always knew exactly what I needed.

"Are you ready, Miss?" She asked.

I double-checked my appearance in the mirror, adjusting the bodice of my dress to fit just right. It was a beautiful dress, made with white floral fabric. It had a square neckline and short puff sleeves. The top hugged my curves nicely and I loved the fullness of the skirt.

"You really outdid yourself with this one, Florence." I say, admiring her work.

"Thank you Miss, June and Mirabelle did most of the work on this one." June and Mirabelle specialized in dressmaking. They've made countless dresses for my mother, as well as my younger sister, Emilia.

I walked slowly down the four flights of stairs to the dining room. I didn't want to have to deal with Oliver. He seemed like a nice guy, but he just wasn't the one for me.

"There she is!" My father's voice booming through the dining room. He sat with my mother at the head of the table, my siblings, Eloise and Elliot sat to their left. On their right side, sat General Davis, as well as Oliver.

"Y-your majesty." Oliver stuttered.

"Highness," I corrected.

"Give him a break, Ember." My mother said, gesturing for me to sit down. I take my seat between my siblings.

"So, Oliver was just telling us about his fencing classes! Isn't that nice, Ember."

"Mhm," I mutter.

"Uhh, yeah! I'm at the top of my class," He says, blushing.

This goes on for a few more minutes, Mother doing everything in her power to keep the conversation going. Oh, how I wish I could be tucked away in my room, curled up with a book.

"What about you, Elliot?" General Davis starts, directing the conversation towards my brother. "Are you into swordplay?"

"Not really, sir," He replies. Elliot was my best friend. He was a year and a half younger than me, but my parents have always said we acted more like twins.

"I wanna play with swords," My younger sister, Elouise complains.

"Maybe when you're older," My father responds. She was only seven, and definitely should not be trusted with a sword.

The door is pushed open, revealing a blonde girl close to my eyes. After taking one look at her, I could tell that she was a member of the royal guard.

"Apologies, your Majesty," She says, kneeling before my father. "It's the rebels, sir."

Father excuses himself, rushing out of the room with the guard.

I didn't know much about the rebels. There had only ever been two rebel attacks in my lifetime, only one that I remember. The first was when I was a toddler, we spent a few hours in the bunker, none of which I have any memory of. The second attack happened a few days before my eighth birthday. I remember being scared, staying close to my fathers side.

I don't know what we did to offend the rebels, but I wanted to find out.

"Excuse me," I say after a moment, rushing out the door before they have a chance to react. I tiptoe down the hallway, moving closer towards the sound of muffled voices at the end of the hall.

"I'll handle it, sir." I recognize the voice of the guard. I hear the sound of footsteps coming from around the corner. "Your highness," She nods as we meet.

"What are the rebels doing?" I ask, a hint of authority in my voice.

"I'm sorry miss, but that's confidential." She replies. Her gray-blue eyes staring directly into mine.

"It's alright, my father says, joining us. "She has a right to know."

I glance between the two of them. Would dad really keep secrets from me?

"Let's move this to my office," He says, sighing. "Ember, Raine, let's go."