The Pains Of Being A Royal

Bitter Truth

The breeze blew my hair away from my face as my eyes fluttered open once I'd calmed down.

Maybe I had acted rash and foolish but I couldn't stand the way my eldest brother looked down on my foster family or rather just humans in particular.

Yes, humans were different from them and I couldn't deny that they were far more powerful but that doesn't make it alright to look down on someone as weak or irrelevant.

I scoffed.

Why couldn't they see things my way?

It was me whose life turned upside down.

I pushed myself away from the balcony railings as I made my way back to bed while grumbling and cursing under my breath.

Merida stood a distance away simply guarding the door and kindly giving me the privacy I needed.

Why do they keep denying me the truth?

I wasn't a child! I could take it.

I sat back the weight of the gown only irritating me further. I ran a hand through the loose strands of hair that had escaped Emily's organized hairstyle.

I need to calm down.

Inhaling and exhaling as slowly as possible I tried my best to push all thoughts away to focus on the view in front of me and that's when I noticed something.

The sky was pleasant and blue just the way it had been since I had woken up and more strangely it was exactly the same way.

"Merida..." I called out frowning. "Is it normal for mornings to last so long over here?" 

"Morning?" Merida questioned turning around confused until her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh you mean the human world hour system?"

"Yes?" I called out uneasily.

Merida chuckled her red curls dancing to the flow of the wind.

"Here in the demon world, we don't have have the concept of morning or night my lady." Merida chuckled. "In our world time works in a different manner. Out there humans calculate time by the rising and setting of the sun but since we don't have that concept here, we calculate our time through different means."

"What?"

No day and night?!

I gazed at my guard with an open mouth.

"But then how do you-" I paused remembering the words of my brother. "You don't sleep or eat...do you?"

Merida shook her head.

"No, we don't lady Helen. Devils and Demons don't need any kind of food or sleep or anything that humans need to survive. Sure we can have some food for pleasure maybe but they don't affect us. The nutrients in the food keep the human body stable." Merida paused as she lifted her hand and flames erupted from the heart of her palms. "As for us, it's our powers that keep our body stable."

"That's so cool." I watched the burning flames with fascination.

Merida chuckled in amusement, "If only your majesty had seen her demonic form. That's what I would call cool."

I looked up at her with a small frown as the flames disappeared out of sight.

"My demonic what?"

"Your wings and horns your majesty."

I stared at her my mouth hanging open and my eyes widening.

"I have wings?"

"Of course you do," Merida responded. "You're a devil."