The Heir of Promises

Chapter 4 - Odessa

Tomorrow is the first day of the tournament, almost every room In the castle is occupied by contestants, so now I am locked up in my room, unable to even walk the halls of my own home. I hear men walk by my room all the time, stopping to see if they can hear me talking, I never am, I never really talk anymore, not unless I must. Some men knock on my door and tease me, saying stupid things that only little boys would say. I frequently sneak the young boy from the other day into my room, to play cards with him, or I teach him how to speak like a proper man. "Sit up straight, boy, do not slouch" I order and he nods, straightening his back and staring ahead, with his head high, I smile. "good. Now I am a lady you are meeting for the first time, introduce yourself." I stand up and walk back a bit, The boy stands up and clears his throat, before confidently walking up to me, he bows and I put my hand out to him. He gives it a kiss and says "Your M-Majesty" I frown at his stutter, we will work on that. I hold my head high as I smile down at him, I then give him a curtsey and kneel down as I hold my hand out for a high five, he smiles as his hand meets mine. I have taken this young boy under my wing, I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe, He will not be forced to marry me and become king at such a young age, nobody should take that job at 8. The young boys name is Christopher, although I call him Chris. "do you usually stutter, Chris?" I ask and he shyly nods as he looks away from me. "we will work on it, deal?" I hold out my hand for a handshake and he smiles, "O-Okay" he says as we shake hands. He usually sneaks into my room early in the morning, and he laughs as I tickle him when he wakes me up, he is the first thing that has made me happy in a long time. One day Sylvanna, Chris, and I are sitting in my room, eating food as we chat, "Dessie why is it you c-can't be Q-Queen?" Chris asks and I swallow my food before answering, "The King thinks that I cannot manage a kingdom on my own." Sylvanna chokes on her food when Chris frowns and says, "your d-daddy is s-silly." I smile warmly at him, it has now been a month since that night that I stopped adressing him as my father, my life has just seemed better ever since. "Just a little advice, do not ever say that to the kings face or out loud again" Sylvanna says as she pats Chris's hand, he nods swiftly, turning a bit red.

I must dine with a different man each night, The king has made a roster that I must follow, 8:00AM I go feed horses with John Stray, 10:00AM, Stroll through the gardens with Gerald Moony. 8:00PM, Dine with Blaise Polster... I never want to do any of this, but I will follow the kings rules until they become relentless and stupid. To which I will stop doing as he says, although my future is uncertain at this point.

Sylvanna dresses me up into my Dining outfit, which includes a dark Purple dress with a black pattern swirling around it. My hair is let out for tonight, one side on my hair pulled back with a clip, to show my eyes off. I enter the Dining room and once again, The king is not present, so it is just Sylvanna, the contestant and I, again. Blaise stands up and bows to me, and I expect him to pull my chair out like a gentleman, but he just sits back down. Sylvanna notices and does it for him, coming up behind me and pushing the chair in as I sit down, I thank her and Blaise looks confused. "you do know the rules of being a gentleman, do you not?" I say to Blaise as we wait for Dinner to arrive, He sits back lazily and looks at me. "why, do I have to push the chair in for you?" I frown at him and nod sharply, "Would you like to re-enter and have me do it right?" he asks sarcastically, smiling at me and I shake my head "no, there is no need for that now." "maybe you also need to be taught how to be a man" I add on under my breath and his head tilts, "Hm? What was that Milady?" "nothing" I say staring at my empty plate, where is the damn food. I look to Sylvanna in hopes that she will start a conversation but she just looks at me like she is saying that this is my battle. "so what is on the menu tonight?" Blaise says picking up a spoon and picking at grout in his teeth, I cringe at his actions, "I believe it is Lobster that we are having, and please refrain from picking at old food in your teeth in front of me." I look away in disgust and he smiles, placing the spoon back down, "am I getting on your nerves princess?" "no, never. You are nothing but a man who wishes to be king." I say too quickly and he chuckles, "and what if I told you that I was forced to be in this tournament?" He says and I look at him, frowning. "well then I would say you are nothing but a Liar. Every man wishes to be king." He smiles, "whatever you say, Princess." "Pardon me?" I snap and Sylvanna looks horrified, he smiles at me and opens his mouth to answer but he feels something at his feet. He looks under the table and He scoots back in his chair, eyes wide as he jumps up, "Oh My Valas!" he says and I lift an eyebrow, "is something the matter?" He stutters as he points under the table. I peek underneath and I see Altan slithering towards him as he backs up more. I smirk as I clap and stand up neatly, "Altan! There you are." Sylvanna stands to get him but I put my hand up to stop her, she looks at me for a moment before nodding and sitting back down. I walk around the long table and Altan moves closer to him, "get it!" he says and I take my sweet time getting to him. I pick Altan up and he slithers along my arm as I hold his head up. "you don't happen to be afraid of snakes, are you?" I smile and he looks at me with a baffled expression, "you did that on purpose" I shake my head "I would never do such a thing, you are not thinking straight." I hold my arm out and Altan leans his head in to get closer to Blaise and he backs up and I laugh as I return to my seat. After Blaise had calmed down, he sits back down, just then as he sits the King comes rushing into the Dining room. Blaise sits up straight away and fixes the spoon he once picked up, I put a smile on my face as Blaise bows to the King as he sits down at the head of the table, "sorry for my late entrance, the Queen wanted to talk with me." I nod at him curtly and Blaise waves a hand towards him, "it is no problem at all your Highness" my top lip curls upwards at his words, why is he so rude and the least like a gentleman when it is to me, but he is so proper towards the king? "you are too Kind sir, what is your name?" The king says and I cut in, "This is Blaise Polster, your majesty." Blaise looks at me offended that I stole his moment of fame, and he also looks like he is questioning my words, that I am calling him Majesty. "well then Blaise Polster, you are my favourite so far of the men." Blaise tilts his head up in confidence, proud of the praise he just got, I sit back in my chair. Sylvanna grabs my hand and squeezes it, to assure me that she is here and to not freak out just yet.

The food arrives after what seems like years of Blaise and the King talking amongst themselves, not allowing me to say anything. I poke at my food but I place none of it into my mouth, I have suddenly seemed to lose my appetite after the king entered. Halfway through Desert I stand up abruptly and the men snap their focus to me for the first time since Dinner started. Sylvanna looks at me with warning in her eyes, but I ignore her. "what is it you are doing?" The king asks and I look to him, "I am sorry but I must go." The king frowns and Blaise obviously wants to know why I am leaving. "you are not free to go, there is a guest and you are to sit until Desert is done." He takes a bite of his Sticky Date Pudding and I look at him in disbelief, "but I must relieve myself in the bathroom chambers, surely I can go-" "no. sit down, I will not ask again." I stay standing, feeling suddenly rebellious. "if I do not relieve myself soon, I will not be able to control my blad-" "Sit down now, Girl. We do not want a repeat of the other night, do we?" I tense up at the words, he still dares to call me Girl in front of guests? He has no right. It seems that Blaise has also stiffened at the words, he must not know how hard it is being the Daughter nobody wanted. I close my fists together, so close to punching him, but I bite my gum and sit back down. "good choice, you wouldn't disobey me, now would you?" He smiles and I suddenly feel sick. These words that are flying out of his mouth sound so possessive, like I am a slave to him, and that I will do anything he says, well I won't. I do not touch my dessert, because I fear if I place the sweet Food into my mouth, it will just end up back on the plate. So I just stare at my food, no longer sitting up straight, for I do not care. As soon as the Desert was taken away, I jump up, quickly curtseying to Blaise and I run off towards my room, not bothering to excuse myself or say goodnight to anybody.

Girl. I pace my room, already in my nightgown even though it is only 9:00PM. I dressed myself and I think I ripped the ribbon of the Corset off, because I did not feel like I was in my own skin, so I just pulled it apart. You Wouldn't Disobey Me. My hair has been ruffled because of my hands continuously running through it. I may have pulled a few strands out, I do not notice though because my hair is thick, too thick. Not Free. I bite my lip, my teeth ripping the vermilion. My eyes blur in an attempt to wake up out of this dream I must be having. My Favourite. I was never his favourite, never. Lukas always won that title, he was the dream person, not only because he was a man, but because he lived up to the Kings expectations. He was a Captain of the Guards, he protected the kingdom already, while I was balancing books on my head so I could walk straight. He always had stories to tell from battle while I always had bruises from the Corset around that constricted my airway. I have never been perfect, but I surely did not expect to be treated as if I am a porcelain doll, who is to be sold off to the 'highest bidder' but in this scenario, I am sold off to the victor. Forever trapped in this skin, this body. I wish to be free, to explore the world outside of these damn walls. I am becoming more unstable by the minute and if I don't break some major rules soon, I fear I will never be free of this feeling. I must be rebellious; it is what I am known for. I will be rebellious.