Saving Her Kingdom

♡ Prologue

*Edited*

Prologue

I woke up to the smell of smoke and the sound of Ella, my maid, bursting through the door. It was barely dawn. "Princess Annabelle! Wake up! The house is on fire! You have to escape now. Your father is waiting for you at the back of the house."

I looked out the window and saw bright orange light of the flames. I quickly rushed out of my bed and ran towards Ella, grabbing my mother's necklace on my way.

I ran through corridors and stairs, following Ella. I could feel the heat of the fire on my skin, but I didn't stop. I could hear shouts and cries of pain, and horses getting restless.

Ella made me pass the backdoor. "Your father is over there! Go to him quickly!"

"Annabelle!", my father called and waved at me.

"Over here!" I ran towards him. A carriage was getting ready near him and I saw my older sister Marguerite getting in. My father put his hands on my shoulders.

"Annabelle, you must know that this fire was not an accident," he explained. "I am sure the Rutherfords sent someone to start it. Now, they expect every one of us to be dead. I will take care of this, but it's going to take some time. You and your sister will go to the neighboring kingdom, our ally, to keep you safe. Everyone will think we died, so you have to keep your identity secret. There are spies everywhere, so don't trust anyone easily."

A part of the roof collapsed. The people of the staff ran for their lives through the flames.

"Now go and run away! I will come and find you as soon as I can, but it might take years. Don't lose hope, my little daughter. Never forget, I love you very much, and your mother did too."

"I love you too, father," I said through my tears. "Please take care of yourself, and don't forget us."

"That, I will never. Now go to your sister and run away before it's too late!"

My father kissed my hair and I ran towards the carriage, and got in.

Marguerite immediately put an arm around my shoulders and wiped my tears from my cheeks. "It will be alright, Annabelle. I'm sure father is going to make it," she comforted me.

"I know, but I can't help worrying. What are we going to do, Marguerite? What is going to happen to father?"

"I don't know, Annabelle. But there's nothing we can do now. The Rutherfords have always wanted to take over the kingdom, and they have become more and more powerful over the years. I don't know what father is going to do, but I hope he will find a way to stop them. We have to go to the nearest kingdom, ruled by the family of Tannerson, who are our best and most powerful allies. But no one can know who we are! We are going to pretend we are maids."

"But how? I don't know how to serve people. And we can't go in our nightgowns."

"Don't worry, Ella gave me two maid outfits. And you know how Ella served you, right? Just imitate her and you will be fine." She grabbed the maid outfits and passed one to me. "Now, please put this on now, so people don't get suspicious."

I changed out of my nightgown into the maid outfit, and Marguerite did the same.

"We will arrive at an inn and we can start asking for work there," Marguerite said.

"What if we get separated?"

"Then you go on without me. We will see each other at the palace of the royal family anyway. Don't forget that you have no one to count on but yourself."

"I love you Marguerite, and father too. I hope everyone will be alright."

"I love you too, Annabelle. It might take some time, but I'm sure everything will work out eventually. Now, please be quiet, we will soon pass the gates of the park."

We listened to the horse hooves slamming on the ground and wheels of our carriage rolling beneath us. Suddenly, we heard shouts and gunshots. "A carriage! A carriage!"

Marguerite and I looked at each other. "Oh no...," we mumbled.

We felt the carriage slow down. "Let's go!", Marguerite said, alarmed. I opened the door, darted towards the woods and hid behind the bushes just in time to see cavalrymen with the Rutherford's crest stop at our carriage. Marguerite was beginning to run towards me, but they saw her before she could hide. "Take her! Don't let her go!" Both Marguerite and I had tears running down our cheeks. Just as one man grabbed her from behind, Marguerite looked in my direction and mouthed to me 'Go! Go!'.

I covered my mouth with my hands to cover my cries. As they dragged Marguerite towards the horses, I heard a man ask, "Don't they have two daughters?"

"The other one probably died in the fire," another man replied.

I looked at Marguerite one last time, and when our eyes met, I could see the desperation on her face, that probably mirrored mine. I ducked behind a bush just as one man turned around to look at where Marguerite was looking.

I didn't wait more and ran into the woods along the road, but keeping a safe distance from it to avoid being seen.

I ran as far as I could, never stopping and looking back once.

~~~~~~~

I ran and walked until dusk. I was exhausted. I sat down on a tree and relaxed a bit. Now, I believe, would be the time to explain my situation.

My name is Annabelle Aurelia of Ravenport, princess of the royal family of Ravenport. Right now, I am 14 years old. My father Ludwig of Ravenport is the king of our kingdom, and my mother, Christina of Ravenport was the queen. Unfortunately, she died bringing me to the world, so I never met her. My sister Marguerite of Ravenport is 4 years older than me.

Our family has always had the throne, but the family of my aunt, the wife of my mother's late brother, were jealous of us, since forever. They are the Rutherfords and I was always told they were our enemies. Now, since my mother and her brother died, the Rutherfords tried everything to snatch the throne from our family. They said that since we didn't have any male heir, it was fair if one of them would be the successor. But my father always refused to give up the throne to one of the Rutherfords. Everyone knew it would be a disaster if one of them became king. They were greedy of power and never thought about anything but themselves. My father was a fair king, and our people loved him.

But the Rutherfords never gave up. They always found a way to trick or sabotage my father's people or actions in the kingdom. Over the years, they became more and more powerful and clever, making sure that anything that happened to our family looked like an accident.

Today's fire though, was the worst they had ever done. They simply tried to kill us, not caring for the other lives inside the house, and destroying our possessions at the same time.

So here I was. Alone and cold in the dark, sitting under a tree. I stood up, determined to save myself from the wild animals and started walking.

Soon, I found an inn, where I saw the light of candles through the windows. I knocked at the door and waited as I heard footsteps on the other side. An old lady opened up and looked at me up and down. "What's a fine girl like you doing here all alone?", she asked.

"I am lost, I don't have anyone with me and I have no money. If you let me sleep and eat here, I promise to work hard for you and do everything you ask."

"You're lucky. My last maid got pregnant and left last week. Come in."

"Thank you, ma'am."

That's how I started working, owning my own money, to travel closer and closer to the royal palace of the Tannersons.

__________________________

Hi friends,

Thanks for choosing my book! So, what do you think so far? I know it's dramatic, but don't worry, it'll get better. ;)

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Love,

Floriane