The Brutal Truth behind the Bloody Crown

The letter

Dear the people of Celeste,

I am writing to you as a notice that my darling daughter shall not be making anymore public appearances. My queen and I have thought it would be best to take Princess Crimson out of the public eye, letting her focus all on education. My daughter shall one day be ruler of this kingdom and I find it only fair she learn what that truly means. She will host one final ball this Friday night, right after sundown. We would like to see everyone make it to this outing in your best groomed clothing. We sincerely apologize for this late notice, but all and all it was a rushed decision. My wife and I only want the best for our daughter and we're hoping you only respect this. Best of wishes.

Thank you for all understandings,

The Royal Family of Celeste

Rigid pieces of glass cover the wooden floor underneath of me, yet my mind continues to travel off to some galaxy far far away. I hurriedly tip toe over the pieces making my way to my just made bed, sitting all of my body weight on to the edge. So many different thoughts cloud my mind blurring out the outside world until a knock coming from inches away echoes throughout the room. I snap back to reality calling to whoever it is, "Yes? Come in." Anna, my maid, my teacher, and practically a second mother figure walks into my room her eyes growing wide as soon as she sees the glass on the floor. Anna is thirty five this year but her face tells you a completely different story, she has beautiful brunette hair that sways over her shoulders but she always wears it up in a scarf. I guess she does this because she's constantly working, half of everything done in the palace only gets done because of all of her hard work.

We have hundreds of servants in the palace, but Anna and a few others who have been here the longest do a majority of all the work. Sometimes I feel so distant from them. I don't think I could ever do the work of anyone else but Mother says quote on quote "It's just the royal blood talking." Although I believe it's really just me talking.

Anna looks at me with a disappointed look which makes me jerk my head away. "Crimson, the ball is in less than two hours, and what is with all this glass?" I stand up and go to apologize but I guess she saw it coming because she hurried out of the room ranting on, "Don't apologize, just go get dressed. I'll clean up this glass and come help you with your hair and makeup." Rushing out of my room I enter what mother and father call "my own personal dressing room."

Taking a second to view myself in the ballet mirror hung up against the dark crimson wall mother had painted a few days after my birth. She has always found the beauty in such colors hence why she decided to name me after it, Crimson Ataly Haven. No one knows my entire name no one except mother, father, and Anna. Surrounding the ballet mirror are painted black leaves and flowers, they make the room feel a lot less empty. Shaking my head I escape thought, undressing my body out of the white nightgown I've worn most of the day. I step into my dark red ball gown, it glistened in the natural light that peaked in through the window.

Looking back into the mirror I admire the beauty in the huge gown. Tears fill my eyes blurring all vision except for a few blurred colors. How could this be my last ball for such a long while. I'm only fifteen and I feel like my entire life is about to come to an end. Father gave no actual reasons for removing me from public events, but from the letter him and mother sent out it claims it's "education." I think it may be because of the riots and war that are coming, at least father believes is coming. Thinking out loud I mumble under my breath but still audible to anyone listening, "How could this be happening?"

Anna must have been in the room for some time now because I hear her laugh from the door. I scream swirling around so quickly I almost fell in my gown. Anna gave me a caring smile before sweetly trying to calm me down, "darling this is only the beginning." She runs a brush through my hair, swirling pieces one way and then another. "You have your entire life, your ruling period, marriage, and hopefully kids." A smiles creeps along my face, viewing myself in the mirror once more, my hair now up in a graceful bun. I struggle to change the topic quickly as I swirl back around to face Anna, "here goes nothing," slowly moving to the door to walk out. I grip onto the cold golden doorknob whispering, "Anna... I love you." and with saying I walked out of the room.

Now all that is left is the wish of tonight lasting forever.