The Royals

Lonely. Isolation. Worthless. Weak. Unwanted. Words I know all too well. But today is different, today I am free.

I try to casually walk down the street as I see other people do, all I need to do is pretend to be like them. I pull the grey scarf around my neck up to my nose as tiny strange white things fall from the sky. The cold air whips up my spine, sending a chill cascading down my body. I’m not quite sure where I’m going, I just need to get as far away from here as possible. I need to get away from the lies, the acts, the impostors, the unending rules, and the merciless people that rule Malania. I turn right and left looking up and down at buildings and people.

“Excuse me miss.” I hear a voice call from behind. I look at the ground hoping they won’t recognize who I am.

“Yes, what is it?” I ask not bothering to face the voice talking to me. The voice sounded male maybe 17ish, so about a year older than me but somehow the voice itself seems older, more mature.

“Are you ok? You seem a little lost,” he replies in a concerned tone that catches me off guard.

“Umm....yes. Just admiring the beauty of the city.” I try to make my voice sound as calm and casual as possible.

“But there’s trash everywhere, not to mention the streets are overcrowded, and all the factories are causing the city to smell retched.”

“I guess that’s one way to look at it, but I don’t see it that way. At least it's colorful and open.” I say stealing a glance at the boy. His hair is deep black and his eyes are a vibrant light blue which reminds me of something I saw on the television once, they called it an ocean I think. It's a devastating combination that leaves me not wanting to look away, not even for a second.

“You’re sort of strange, miss.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” I mumble while looking at the ground.

“Ya know it's rude not to look people in the eyes when they’re talking to you, especially a knight.” He replies in a mix of a stern and playful tone.

My heart drops, one beat missed, maybe two. If this guy is a knight he’ll recognize me for sure. I turn as if I’m going to face him but I keep my head down. The first thing I notice is his black boots, polished to perfection and shining with full arrogance. He’s definitely a knight.

“I must get going.” I try to sound as stern as possible. I need to convince him to let me go without questioning who I am or what I am doing.

“Of course, miss.”

I turn around without looking back and start walking at a normal pace. When I turn the corner I run as fast as I can the other way. I’m almost to a small cafe when I feel a pair of strong hands grab me and drag me in-between two rundown buildings. My body freezes immediately. I'm not familiar with the life of a citizen. I'm not familiar with being grabbed. Could this be normal and customary for city life? I think I do remember my brother Crow saying it was common for such instances to occur within the downtown districts.

An irritatingly cold breath touches my neck followed by a scratchy voice, “Give me all your money and I won’t hurt you.”

“Ok, if you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

“Seriously, you are one weird girl.” I look up at the man who towers over me, he looks exhausted and stressed, almost like he could die any second. I start to take out all my money which is roughly about 23,000 malens, easily enough to buy a decent-sized house, when I hear a familiar yet unsettling voice. Can't this boy just leave me alone?

“Hey, what are you doing?” The boy yells in our direction, it was the same boy from before but this time I see his uniform. He isn't just any knight, he is one of the Three Legendary Knights.

“Mind your business boy.” The man yells back at him.

Then just in a blink of an eye the boy is standing right behind us reaching for the man’s arm and twisting it behind his back and whispering something in his ear. The man's face molds into a look of terror and as soon as the boy releases him he goes sprinting off.

“Are you alright?” He asks kindly while looking me up and down as if he has to check for himself if I’m really ok.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I forgot to give him my money though do you think he’ll come back to get it?”

“You were going to give him your money, just cause you wanted to?” He gives me a weird face like he's shocked or something. Does he regularly deny those in need? Am I supposed to deny those in need?

“No, I was going to give him my money cause he asked for it,” I reply plainly.

“You’re not from around here, are you? What’s your name anyway?” This boy is full of questions, but what am I supposed to tell him. If I say Maytaya he’ll know I’m from the royal family.

“Umm...I’d rather not tell a stranger,” I whisper while stuttering.

“Ok, then I’ll just call you Blondie.” He smirks mischievously like a little boy who just pulled a prank. Yet somehow it seems more menacing like a warning that shouldn't be ignored.

“Who are you?”

“Well, I’ll be nice and tell you. I’m Ace pleasure to meet you Blondie.” I can literally feel the color draining from my face as I finally realize just exactly who he is. I was right he is one of the Three Legendary Knights, Ace Flamestin, our second-best knight in the whole nation, the only one better than him is Alec Mlester.

“You’re a Knight of the Three aren’t you?” I didn’t mean for the words to slip out of my mouth, but I hadn’t realized until they did. The Knights of Three were practically celebrities because they’re known as war heroes, well that’s what we tell the public. But only the royal family and some other nobles and military leaders know their real purpose. They're different from other ordinary soldiers and knights, their secrets are some of the most heavily guarded in the entire nation. The people that know are the only ones that call them the Knights of Three. Which is why my mistake is definitely about to cause a reaction. He slams me against the wall and looks me dead in the eye which immediately confirms my slip up.

“Are you a spy, his majesty told us that we had an infiltration. Must be my lucky day if I caught ya.” The kind voice he once had has been replaced with what sounds like fury. His hand casually guides his gun to the side of my head as he stares at me like he's just caught his prey. But I can’t die here, I haven’t seen the world yet, I haven’t even seen the city yet. Desperation is a dangerous thing and unfortunately it sometimes causes stupid decisions.

“I’m a part of the royal family!” I yell as fast as I can. My hands tremble as I try my best to keep my heart from beating out of my chest.

“Why would a princess of the royal family be out here without supervision or security?” Ace interrogates as his finger inches closer to pulling the trigger.

“Because I snuck out. But please please please don’t turn me in, please. I’d rather die than go back there; in fact if you’re going to turn me in then you might as well shoot me!” I scream way too loudly. My etiquette teacher would have my head if she saw me now.

“You really don’t want to go back that bad?” He asks curiously and for a second I see it. A wavering in his eyes, a questioning, and a chance I need to exploit if I wish to live.

“I don’t want to sit in one room all day looking out of a window knowing that they won’t let me go outside, knowing that I’ll eventually be married off to some faraway prince for some political matter, knowing that I’ll never be free. I-I ju-st c-an’t.” I can feel the tears coming but I try my best to blink them away, hoping that Ace doesn't notice. He heaves a sigh before putting his gun back in its holster.

“I’m sorry, my lady.” He mutters while formally bowing.

“No need for that.”

“Of course, sorry, my lady.” I sense a little bit of venom when he says my lady. For a knight he seems a little too rebellious and rebellion is something you mustn't show. I have learned that lesson way too many times.

“So Sir Ace, will you report me?” I ask pleading in my mind for him to say no.

“I will not but only on two conditions. First, you must tell me your name.” He replies sounding a little bored.

“I’m Princess Maytaya La’rose 3rd in line for the throne,” I respond using my full formal title.

I nervously bite my lower lip while I wait for him to tell me what the second condition is, which doesn't go unnoticed by him. He put on a serious face and then throws his head back....in laughter? Laughter? What is he laughing about?

“I’m sorry Princess, it’s just I hadn’t realized what you were wearing til now!” He covers his mouth as if he's trying to choke back another wave of laughter about to wash over him.

“What’s wrong with my clothes? Also please don’t call me Princess in public if someone hears you it will be over for both of us.”

“Alright, then Blondie and it's your clothes. Where should I even start? You look like a maid mixed with a little girl.” He chuckles playfully. He has the warmest laugh I have ever heard. It's so kind and sweet, I don't think I have ever heard anything like it before. I look down at my clothes and examine them for myself. My black and white tutu seemed presentable enough and my striped red and blue shirt didn't seem out of the ordinary. My shoes are both different colors: one orange and one green. That's not odd though, I know I've seen this style before.

“What are you talking about? I look just like the people that I see on TV. Isn’t this how all normal people dress?” I thought all the normal citizens dressed like this, I watched so many shows to make sure I would blend in just right.

“Are you telling me that you based what you should wear on some television show, that’s insane!”

“I’m sorry if I look ridiculous,” I respond while looking at the ground. When I look up again I see his face full of regret and kindness.

“Stop apologizing, Blondie. I’ll take you shopping, let’s go.”

“I’m sorry..errr...nevermind. Wait! Can you tell me what this strange white stuff is falling from the sky?” I ask confused. I hear him sort of gasp as if surprised, he suddenly stops and turns to face me.

“You don’t know what snow is?” His face gave away the impression that he was shocked but also slightly disgusted.

“Snow” I repeat, thinking about how intriguing of a name it is. “So this white stuff is snow?”

“Yes, Princess Maytaya. This is snow.” He put his hands out in an attempt to catch some and show me. “Please forgive me if I’m being rude, it’s just I’m shocked you don’t know what snow is.”

“I was kept in the Palace all my life, we don’t have snow in the palace.”

The Palace has always been deemed a special place due to its very unique capabilities as well as technology. One of the most remarkable inventions was the glass dome carefully constructed around the entire Palace. The dome allowed the weather contained within it to be controlled at the King's will or more recently than not, my step mother's will. She hates winter and fall therefore the weather within the Palace dome is always warm and unaffected by the outside circumstances. My father claims it is necessary for all royals to have control of their environment and that even the weather shouldn't be an exception.

“Oh, I see, well let’s get going. I know a good clothing store where we can get you some better clothing.” I study the boy for a long few seconds before deciding that I should follow him. I watched him turn and start walking in the direction of the palace, I was nervous that he would turn me in. But something tells me I can trust him, but at the same time, I know he's hiding something. And I’ll just have to wait and see what it is.