Nereyda

Chapter 1 || White City

PART ONE --- A ROYAL FALL

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Chapter 1 - White City

Nereyda

The plush carpet tickled my bare feet as they pressed into it. The heavy white dress that I wore trailed behind me, my waist length white hair drifting serenely. I was leaving the castle today. My heart rate accelerated at the prospect of my first glimpse of freedom. This was it, my first chance to see the world for what it was.

Palace guards surrounded me on all sides, wearing nothing but a white cloth wrapped around their hips. This could get rather distracting for me as a pubescent seventeen year old but I understood the need for efficiency should they need to phase.

As convention demanded, I kept my eyes focused forward and walked in even, carefully measured steps. When I was exactly ten metres from the towering metal gate I stopped. I sensed a guard come up behind me and he draped a weighty shawl around my shoulders. The wolf fur tickled my face as I brought my hands up to tie the shawl's ribbon around my chest.

The white iron gate screamed as it slowly rose, giving way to the autumn scenery behind it. I was surprised by the noisiness of the gate, someone would be getting hurt for that later. My breath came in fast white puffs in front of my face. More measured steps took me to the carriage. I clenched my stomach muscles as I was lifted on to it, making sure to keep my posture perfect.

Simon jumped up and sat in front of me, taking the reigns of the horses and whipping them into a slow trot. We started away from the ice of the castle and into the blazing colour of the forest; it was breathtaking.

Everywhere I looked were explosions of orange and yellow, browns and greens. Even as we rode, leaves fluttered effervescently through the wind, one getting caught in my hair. My lips twitched with hints of a smile but I easily repressed it, knowing much better than to smile in public. I slowly unwound the brilliant amber leaf from my snow white hair and let it float away on the breeze.

I dared a look over my shoulder but immediately regretted it, for the sight of the five other carriages in royal formation reminded me of my caged life.

"Are you comfortable your highness?" Simon called back to me over the whistling wind. He was breaking the law by speaking to me but Simon had always been one to live on the edge and he knew that I didn't approve of the silence rule.

"Very well, thank you Simon," the quiet response fell off my lips without any thought.

The veins in Simon's muscular back were vivid blue and goosebumps mottled his skin. He was obviously dying to phase into his leopard form but convention was convention and rules were rules. Escorting the Snow Princess was an honour and a placement he had obviously worked hard to attain.

I allowed my head to fall back against the feathered cushion and gazed up at the slate white sky.

The carriage lurched slightly as we hit the cobbled street of the outer city and I raised my head to look around. Houses in great states of disrepair surrounded me, women and children huddled together on the road in torn white robes and pieces of cloth. I could feel my forehead beginning to crease into a frown and I quickly smoothed my expression into one of blankness. Emotions were weakness, I had to keep myself composed.

Looking ahead, I saw many people turn away from the chariot when they saw it, bundling their children inside their peeling white shanty houses. How could anyone live in a place like that?