Her Portrait

In The Court Of The Angry King

The throne room was busy that morning, there had been a knighting so many of the castle staff were busy tidying and trying to clear the room.
King Eustace looked up from his throne as his daughter entered the room, his brow furrowed as if he'd forgotten about her and then it cleared as she cross the room and stood before him.
"Good morning, Father." Princess Arianthe ventured.
"Arianthe." Greeted the king, shortly.
She nervously picked at her sleeve, what would her father say? All she knew is she couldn't bear to spend the night in a cell again.
"Arianthe, do you know who you are?" The king questioned.
"I am the Princess Arianthe, daughter of King Eustace." She replied hesitantly.
"That is correct."
Her father stood up from his throne and started to pace up and down in front of it.
"And to be the heir to the throne you have a great amount of responsibility for your kingdom and your family. You must be wise, powerful, obedient and most of all; able to make decisions."
Arianthe wondered where he was going with this.
"Did you notice how I mentioned obedient? Obedience in a woman is a trait most adored by men and in essence, you don't have that trait. You are unreliable, selfish and so driven by your own curiosity you don't bother to think about the damage inflicted on your family and kingdom."
Unreliable? Selfish? Arianthe knew she was many things but she never imagined her own father would be this cruel. Let's force you to live your whole life in one room, never let you go out and lock you in the dungeon when you get bored of it and see how you like it. She glared at her father in fury and hurt.
"Stop looking at me like that; you're as bad as your mother was." Snapped King Eustace.
The Princess' head shot up. Her father never mentioned her mother.
"What about Mother?" She demanded.
The king looked completely taken aback; he hadn't expected his daughter to stand up to him like that.
"I mean your mother was always as driven and angry as you are," he spat "always telling me what to do and telling me how to treat you like I don't already know." He breathes out hard through his nose "Almost good that I..." his voice trailed away and he looked away from his daughter.
"Good you did what?" Questioned Arianthe, angrily.
He glanced at her and then the same knight that had visited her this morning.
"Sir Denver please could you escort this young lady back to her cell, I still don't think she's learnt her lesson." He snapped.
Sir Denver looked surprised.
"Are you sure, Sire?" He said "she's already spent the night there."
"DON'T YOU QUESTION ME," King Eustace shrieked "TAKE HER BACK TO HER CELL!"
The knight bowed his head and took the king's daughter gently by the arm.
"Come on My Lady," he said softly "best to do as he says."
Arianthe didn't struggle; what was the use? She allowed herself to be lead back to the dungeon again.