The War Of Crowns | #ONC2023

Chapter 2

When Leia's eyes fluttered open, she was not sure what day or time it was. The last thing she remembered was hanging upside down in front of the Prince of Faerie and the fear that relentlessly gripped her sides.

The gasp that escaped her lips was strained. She cleared her throat, flying out of the bed as she desperately tried to gather her senses.

The room was larger than what she was used to at her palace. She couldn't help but be a little impressed and curious as to where the faerie's wealth had originated from. She had been covered by a thick duvet, the earthly brown matching her hair, which had been braided in a crown around her head.

There was a desk by the large window overlooking an overgrown tree, its branches hanging in a curtain around the trunk. She frantically looked through the drawer but it held nothing but loose paper and a feathered pen next to some ink in an engraved glass.

She moved towards the large doors opposite the foot of the bed and flung them open, letting in much more sunlight than she was prepared for. Squinting she peered into what looked like a sitting room. The large couch sat in the middle of the room by the fireplace with countless feathered pillows arranged on it.

I've decided to keep you. The words played on Leia's mind. There were vines on the walls around her, making her blood crawl with the memory of the prince. She racked her brain but there was a gap of time where no memory filled.

In a panic she looked down and her ripped battle gear was replaced with a simple flowing floral dress that would have landed her in a lot of trouble were she to be spotted in such a garment. The straps were thin and it touched her calves when she walked. It felt like the room was spinning. She looked at her hands but her cuts were gone. Inspecting her body, she realized where the vines had drawn blood, was now untouched skin.

Leia looked outside again trying to figure out where in the castle she was put. She couldn't see the ocean from the windows in the bedroom so she must be on either the southern or eastern side of the castle. Judging by the line of trees in front of her, she would guess it was the former.

The door closest to the bed creaked as it swung open and what could only be described as an imp sauntered in, its crooked hands clutching a simple pair of slippers and a thick coat, similar to what she would wear back home.

It turned its misshapen face towards her and its eyes, black as coal, widened. Leia screamed first and the thing screamed a horrid response, dropping everything and scuttling behind the bed. She looked around frantically for a weapon, but there was none. Instead, she grabbed the feathered pen and held it like a knife. Surely if she got a good aim at the neck she could do some damage.

The backside of the thing stuck out behind the bedframe and it was... shaking. Leia lowered the pen. "I –I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said. Her face softened as she took a cautious step towards the creature. It was unarmed and didn't seem to want to hurt her.

The door flung open again and the pen was back in an armed position in Leia's hand. The creature squeaked and dashed out of the room so quickly that all she saw was a blur.

"Brownies don't like to be seen," Prince Dakath said coolly as a greeting. He leaned against the door frame with his legs lazily crossed by the ankles. He no longer wore the crown from the night of the celebrations. Instead his curls were neatly brushed back and tied on top of his head. He wore a loose cotton top and pants that were so white it seemed to reflect the sunlight back into the room.

"It's the middle of the day, I'm not sure what it was expecting," Leia said. She tossed the pen onto the bed. It would be no use to hold onto it to try to use it against him. He took a step forward and she took an equal step back. His blood red eyes lit up with amusement. He offered his hand which she now saw was filled with some sort of nuts. "The day begins at what you would call late evening for us."