The Forgotten Princess

Chapter One: The Beginning

I'm supposed to be dead, yet here I am-- still breathing.

Before the revolution, I was the kingdom's darling, the Princess. Now, I am forgotten, another face among the sea of civilians.

When the sovereign of Ameritus dies, a tattoo appears on the wrist of the next ruler. My uncle has tricked everyone; he claims he is the Chosen One, flaunting a intricate design of a crown on his wrist. Only I know better than to believe him. After all, I am the one who had a tattoo burn itself on my wrist.

Seven years after my uncle took the throne by force, I'm out for vengeance. For my family, for myself and for a kingdom that has been fooled, I must regain the throne.

****

I opened the door to the throne room with the giddiness of a child breaking a rule. My parents told me to go and play with Carter because they were busy, but it had been a while now and I was hungry. I quietly slipped into the throne rooms and saw the two of them sitting on their chairs talking with a man.

My father looked at the man with a tinge of annoyance. "I see no reason for an increase in the research facility's budget."

"Mommy? Daddy?" I called out, cutting into the conversation before the stranger could respond.

My dad frowned. "Alexia.Why are you interrupting... "

The man turned around. He had dark eyes and a slick smile that stretched wider as he turned towards me. "You must be Princess Alexia?"

"Yes, who are you?" I question curiously observing his face. I felt uneasy as he watched me like a cat about to pounce on its prey.

"Lord Ellington at your service."

I nodded before switching my gaze back to my parents. "I'm hungry. Can we go eat?"

Mommy and Daddy glanced at each other before looking the mysterious figure. "Shall we resume this meeting tomorrow?" Without waiting for a response, Daddy reached out and took my hand.

"Wait."

We all turned to the man who was now blocking the doorway. "You're not leaving this room."

Daddy simply chuckled. "What are you talking about, Lord Ellington?"

He spoke softy, "There will be no meeting tomorrow or any time in the future." As my family stood flabbergasted a few feet in front of the man, he drew a gun and fired three shots.

There's this moment after a gun is shot when everything is silent. After the echo of the bullet leaving the chamber and before it hits something. Anything. A wall, a body, the ground.

No one deserves to experience that moment of silence when your eyes trail a speeding metal, with the knowledge that it will hit someone of value to you. You want to do something but you're frozen in shock -- forced to watch it --simply waiting for it to stop.

At age nine, I had to witness that moment. My name is Alexia Marie Lyndbyrn, former Princess of Ameritus. I had to watch my parents die at the hand of someone who I had idolized since birth, my uncle.