Two Worlds
At dawn, the forest was her kingdom.
The palace walls still slept, the courtiers still dreamed, but Elara? Oh... Elara. Well, Elara was already racing through the Veilwood, her velvet cloak trailing behind her like a shadow. Here, beneath the towering silver-barked trees and blossoms that glowed faintly with their own strange magic, no one bowed to her or whispered about her destiny. Here, she was not a princess bound by rules, she was Elara, barefoot, wild and... alive. When was the last time you felt alive?
She climbed the mossy rocks as if she were chasing the wind itself, hair tumbling from its careful braids. A forbidden laugh escaped her lips when she startled a pair of glowing foxes from the undergrowth. The forest was dangerous, her father always warned, but Elara thought danger tasted a lot like freedom.
And yet, as the sun climbed higher, reality tugged at her. By noon, she would no longer be Elara the wanderer. She would return through the hidden gate, slip into her chambers, and allow the maids to fasten her into a gown full of pearls, that could feed villages in the wintertime. She would sit beside her mother, her father looming at her other side, and pretend that her heart did not belong to the wild.
She would always move her chair a few inches further away from her father, but no one ever notices the details. Except, her chair would magically move to its original position, so someone did notice, but they would not dare speak, it was not worth it.
Her father’s gaze was enough to keep her silent. King Tharion’s shadow stretched long across her life - and even though she despised the iron grip of his rules, she had never dared to defy him openly. At least, not yet...
But even in her safe place, in the Veilwood, she was not entirely free. The weight of the throne followed her like a ghost. Sometimes she caught herself replaying his harsh words beneath the trees or imagining his disapproving glare hidden in the shifting branches. She wanted to leave the palace behind when she ran to the forest – yet her father’s voice clung to her, heavy as iron chains.
It was harder and harder to keep her two worlds in control, and what happens when she can’t tell them apart anymore...?
Some mornings she brought her palace fury into the forest, stomping through leaves until the animals scattered. Other times, she carried her longing for the forest back into the gilded halls, hiding it behind a perfect smile and a jeweled crown. The feelings bled together, overwhelming her, like two rivers that refused to flow separately and were constantly drowning her.
She pressed her palm against the rough bark of a tree, closing her eyes.
- Just a little longer, she whispered to herself. Just a little longer before I go back.
But deep down, Elara feared that one day the two worlds would collide, and when they do, she would be forced to choose which one she truly belonged to.
