The Commoner's Princess

13

Miranda could not sleep the entire night. She sat up in bed with her legs crossed. There were guards at the door so she could not go anywhere if she wanted to. She cried for hours on end. Her eyes were red and burning and she could not catch her breath.

The next morning grief hung in the air as she made her way to the bridge. Her head was throbbing but she pressed forward.

"Ben," she cried out taking her shoes off. She descended the bank. Her feet sank into the soft mud as she reached the water's edge. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the water.

She moved slowly, her eyes scanning the surface of the river as she searched for any sign of the man she loved. She didn't want to see him dead but she wanted to know. To have closure.

For hours she searched, her heart pounding in her chest as she combed the murky water for anything. But there was no sign of him to be found.

Exhausted and defeated, Miranda finally emerged from the river, her clothes clinging to her damp skin as she collapsed onto the muddy bank. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she mourned the loss.

"You weren't going to find him here. Bodies travel down the flow of the river and are discarded properly." A guard yelled out from the top of the bridge.

Ignoring him she got up and walked into the market square. She didn't care who knew who she was and why she was there or how crazy she looked soaking wet.

Standing in front of a mess, her eyes widen.
Ben's clinic was now wreckage. She felt a surge of anger course through her. This was too much. Her stomach was hurting and she knew all this stress was not good for her baby.

"Miranda. My brother?" Curt asked with tears in his eyes.

"King Tucker found out about us. They tried to arrest him and Ben jumped into the river and he never emerged." She cried as she explained.

Curt's fists were balled as he grasped what Miranda was telling him.

Horse hooves interrupted her conversation causing her to look in that direction.

"Miranda, get in the carriage, and let's get back to the castle. You don't belong amongst these people. let's go." Tucker shouted leaning his head out of the carriage.

"Sorry about your brother," Tucker apologized but none of it was genuine.

"You are a monster," Miranda said before looking at Curt apologetically. She took one last look at the ruined clinic before getting inside of the carriage.

The following day, Miranda came through the trees with her horse and her eyes widened. She got off of her horse and her knees immediately buckled.

Ben's home laid in ruins, all that was left there was blackened timbers and smoldering embers. Miranda sunk to her knees amidst the ashes, her heart shattered into a million pieces, her tears mingling with the dust and debris that surrounded her.

"Fuck!" She yelled slamming her hand down on the dirt. She had nothing to remember him.
They completely erased him as if he never existed.

She knew she needed to go visit his father. That was her last stop before heading home.

As Miranda approached Ben's father's house guilt began to eat her up even more. She took this man away from his dad and brother.

She knocked on the door and waited for a while. Curt came to the door and held a solemn expression on his face.

"Come in," Curt said opening the door so she could step through.

When Miranda came through the door James looked at Miranda his expression grim and eyes dark with anger and sorrow. "What do you want, Your Highness?" he asked, his voice laced with bitterness.