Of Gears and Humanity

| 03.1

[ELENA]

I'd never screamed so loud in my life. There had been a time when I was a child when a wild rabbit broke into my room from an old den just below my bedroom window. How the animal was able to climb a castle tower to reach me baffled everyone, but it hadn't mattered because it was dead the moment I screamed.

That figure, the shadow who had run towards me from the opposite side of the Gate. no one was with me to kill it. There were no guards to keep me safe. I did the only thing I could do; I fell. Thankfully, Carmine remained right there, ready and waiting. How I managed to land on him without causing him harm was a mystery, but for once, my curiosity waited for no answers. I grabbed onto his reigns and allowed him to run through the wastelands, back through the forests towards Homestead. And I didn't open my eyes until I heard the quiet laughter of playing children.

"Oh, look! It's the princess!" a small voice squealed in delight. Upon opening my eyes, I saw a young girl clutching a bowl filled with water in her hands. Her dress was dirty at the ends, but her face was clean. Had her day just begun?

Her morning adventure is much safer than mine.

"Oh, the princess!" A woman appeared beside her. She placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, instructing her to bow. When the small child dipped her head forward, the woman did the same. Without looking at me, she said, "Homestead praises you, princess."

Homestead praised me. I wonder if those kind words would continue if the people of my town, my home, learned how sheepishly I ran at the first sign of trouble. My goal this morning had been to be rid of my fears, to throw them over that Gate.

Instead, I clutched it against my chest and brought it back home with me. My heart hammered away still.

Having realized I hadn't moved, the woman lifted her head and stood beside Carmine. There was a worried frown on her face. "Are you well?" she asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Perhaps it was a ghost and not an Attribution. If it were the machine, I was sure it would've killed me on sight. Instead, it ran and waved what I thought were arms. Could it be the spirit of someone who died? Was the poor soul reliving their final moments on Earth?

Thinking it was that easy, I gave the woman a small smile as I straightened, adjusting myself on Carmine's back. He neighed as he shook his head, all while I nodded towards the woman and said, "Ghosts linger in our forests but I'm fine, no need to worry."

The woman laughed. The young girl beside her peered up at her with a curious smile as she said, "Ghosts forever linger, this is true. Be safe on your adventures, princess. We await the day you become queen."

What the woman said should have warmed me, gave me hope. Instead, as she turned to walk away with the girl at her side, I frowned. With a slight kick of my heel against Carmine's side, I urged him to walk deeper into town, towards the castle. I knew once I arrived there, my father would have my head because I disobeyed my morning orders.

Mentally, I apologized to the woman. Silent words paired with somber thoughts.

I was not ready to be queen.

*

"Marleth!" I called once inside the castle walls. Carmine had returned to his stables for the meal he'd missed that morning, and I hurried inside to find my best friend. The only person who could talk me off a ledge. Not that I remained there, but I shouldn't have gone. I wasn't ready. "Marleth!"

The halls of my castle home were always welcoming. Floors made of stone, covered by deep red carpets, were paired with white walls and golden drapes. Just after the entrance was the grand staircase leading up to the sleeping quarters of everyone residing in the castle. I supposed I could have found Marleth in the room we shared, but at this hour of the morning, I knew she was elsewhere. And as I passed the stairs with their respective guards, I hurried down the hall lined with marble statues, I called for her still.