Caged Heart

Chapter 15

As Serenity passed through the corridor that would lead her to her bedchambers, she was startled by a figure stepping out in front of her. She was even more surprised to see her mother staring at her, lips pressed in a thin line and her hands folded in front of her.

"Mother? What are you—"

"I overheard your argument with Prince Godric," her expression never changed, still looking at Serenity as if she had done something wrong, "and I believe that you have allowed yourself to be led astray."

Rolling her eyes, the princess scoffed, "If you overheard the argument then you must know that I have already been lectured once today, mother. I do not require another."

"I am not going to lecture you, but it seems you do need a reminder of what your duties are to this kingdom."

"And what about the duty I have to my heart?"

"It means nothing in the grand scheme of things, my child. This kingdom needs resources and allies, and—"

"You can get those things without using your children as pawns. The tradition, mother, needs to be eradicated." Serenity held her head high, "Genevieve wished to refuse the traditions, but you and father were too stubborn to allow her and I—I was too caught up in blindly serving you both to keep your happiness; to live up to your expectations. But I see now that my sister was correct in her refusal. Your fear of The Flame—the tradition that came to be because of that fear—is what killed my sister. If this cycle continues, I may be next; or Caleb, or Godric for heaven's sake. We cannot keep doing this."

"There is a difference between doing something out of fear and doing something because it works. It is the latter option for us, my dear, and because it has worked for many years, it will work for many more."

"Mother—"

"You will marry Godric whether your heart is in it or not. You may grow to love him once again or you may not, I'm afraid that it does not, or will not, matter. The alliance to Kingdom Vithe will come to pass. My suggestion to you," Violette caressed her daughter's face, smiling, although there was still a hint of grief in her eyes, "is that you learn to accept that, and work harder to push the feelings you believe you feel for King Emerson away."

Serenity pulled her face away from her mother's touch, looking at her with a respectable amount of disgust. She shook her head and pushed past Violette, who turned to watch her daughter walk down the rest of the corridor. It astounded Serenity that her mother—her own grieving mother—would still push for something as hard as she was that ended in tragedy for one of her daughters. It had not worked, Serenity thought, and since the first bullet had been sent out in the air, the princess wasn't sure if the tradition of arranged marriages would ever work again. The same fear The Flame had instilled was beginning to be instilled in all of the kingdoms—save for Dahlia and Vithe, apparently.

Finally arriving inside of her room, Serenity walked straight to her bed and fell on top of it. She buried her face into her pillow and screamed into it, all of the emotions she couldn't let out in the halls coming out. Lifting her head, she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

There was a clear path to be taken now: Godric; her mother had made that perfectly clear in the hall, and there was nothing Serenity could do about it. She had thought that expressing her concerns about it would be enough, but it wasn't; her hopes that her parents would finally listen to her instead of ordering her around were crushed in a fraction of a second. Her mother's words still circled her mind. Even seeing and feeling the pain that Genevieve's loss had caused, they would not break traditions—not even for the safety of their other two heirs. It pained Serenity to believe that her parents thought her and Caleb expendable, but it was beginning to seem that way.