The Last Princess

Chapter 5

As I regained my hearing, I heard the noble elves clapping.

Of course they would.

A quick glance to my right showed Forreston grinning from ear to ear at this announcement. Ivy was smiling benignly on the crowd, like she had done them a great favor.

I couldn't breathe.

Forreston the King? Forreston, in the Throne my father or Laurel should have been on. If not Laurel- Sylvan, or Olive, or Ash, Willow, Holly, Juniper-or me. Anyone but Forreston. He wasn't even royal bloodline!

Okay, that was unfair. Yes, bloodline really shouldn't have mattered in choosing the next Monarch, but it did to my ancestors. But someone like Forreston would really be a horrible ruler.

Worse than that.

I began to quake, thinking of what this would mean for our Forest, so I missed the rest of the speech. Before I knew, the guards were leading me down another hallway- not the one I had come from, but where I really lived.

It was a longer hallway, down red-carpeted stairways. Finally, in a corner of the castle, the guards opened a door and left me to walk down.

There were guards lining the stairs, but I reminded myself to keep my head up and pretend that I wasn't humiliated. Leaving me to walk down the dripping, stinky stairs on my own was a special type of cruelty. A more subtle one, designed to make the victim feel...vulnerable. Ashamed.

I was determined not to let it work.

The stairs were made of plain stone, rough and uneven and practically endless. As I walked down, they became more slick with slime and water.

Finally I reached the bottom. And sighed. There was a channel separating me from my cell. I had to wade through the sewer to get there. Luckily, it was guardless.

My mother had at least that much respect for my privacy.

I hefted up my skirt and stepped in. It was cold, which I could deal with, and smelly, which I had gotten used to. Pieces of garbage hit my skin as they floated by.

I shuddered every time something touched me.

I finally made it across. The sewer water reached till my waist, so my legs were soaked and covered in green slime by the time I got across. The door was ever open for me, not that I could escape, what with the guards everywhere (I had tried).

I climbed into my cell, where there was a stone bench supported by iron chains in one corner, next to a stack of hay. Where I slept.

At the center of the wall was the part I hated the most. Blood smears ran across the stones. I turned away and sat on a bench, knowing it was only a matter of time.

Two years ago, Juniper had been here with me, and before that Holly, before that Willow. I'd been fourteen when Juniper was killed, twelve when Holly died and ten when Willow was murdered. I barely remembered Ash anymore.

They had been company.

Now, the silence got to me. That was one thing I absolutely could not but had to stand. I had come into the habit of singing to myself when I was feeling particularly afraid, sweet lullabies I remembered from my time as a child.

But there wasn't time.

Sure enough, three footsteps were heard in the distance. I recognized the noise of Forreston's boots, the soft tread of my mother and the sharp walking of Sir Branch.

They reached me soon enough, standing before me. "So. Impudent. Rebelling. Answering back to my son?" Ivy started. "I'm your daughter too!" I exclaimed. Her eyes widened. "And talking to me like that? Forro, I grant your wish. You can do the punishing tonight. Anyhow, soon you will be King. You need to know how to deal with these situations."

My eyes fell to his hips, where in place of his belt, was a whip.