Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Two

Despite the dark curtains spread across, sunlight still managed to blaze through the centre burning through my eyelids enough to force me awake. Birds chirped from their place on the branch, almost in rhythm with the vicious throbbing against my temples. Every morning the irritating animals chirped outside my window like clockwork, like they too were bound to the same rigid schedule as me.

I turned away from the window, closing my eyes so I could drift off to sleep again. That's what you do, right? Sleep to avoid your problems. And I tried. Until a knock on my door forced my eyes open again.

The firm pillow muted my groans as I buried my face in it and listened to the door creak open. I didn't bother lifting my head because I already knew who was striding across the smooth wood toward me.

With one rough tug, she threw the curtains open.

I groaned again at the light pouring into the room.

After scolding me for attempting to suffocate myself in the pillow, Leila stretched across the edge of the mattress. The mattress was so dense; so firm like the pillow. It barely moved as she shifted, shuffling across the beige cotton toward me.

I swung the thick blankets off me and rolled over to lay next to her.

The sunlight shimmered against her wavy brown hair, highlighting its red tinge. Paired with her blue-green eyes, she looked like a real  Princess.

"Well aren't you just a beacon of light this morning, Milady," Leila muttered, sarcastically.

"But of course." I sent her a quick, cheeky smile before flopping back against the bed.

Leila was my best friend and assistant, or as the King so nicely put it: peasant maid. Since we spent all of our time together, she was the only other person in the world who shared in my misery.

Pretending that we actually had a choice about how to spend our time, she asked, "what ever shall we do today?"

"Probably the same thing we do every day."

Each day was the same as the last. A schedule already created for me with only a couple of incredibly boring activities on rotation.

Leila stayed in bed and chatted with me as I dressed for the day. Although my choices of clothing were limited to the same full length dresses, I dragged out the process as much as I could because it was more entertaining than most other things I was able to do at the palace.

...

Walking through the courtyard was one of the few things I was allowed to do. If I tried to do anything beyond the incredibly short list of activities approved by the King, palace guards and staff had permission to stop me in any way they saw fit, so long as it didn't cause any bodily harm.

All of the area surrounding our Kingdom - the Kingdom of Abneer - had been wiped out over three hundred years ago after a war and a series of natural disasters destroyed the land. The land was left barren and incapable of sustaining any life.  And all of the people who lived there died with the land too.

With Abneer as the only surviving Kingdom, King Vardan Reyes was the only monarch left and his son Prince Roan Reyes was the sole heir to the throne, the future King of Abneer.

As the future Queen, I was going to be the one to give birth to the next monarch, which is likely why they kept me on such a short ... leash.

Or at least that's what I told myself.

The bottom of my dress scraped against the stones, face burning under the heat of the sun as I strolled down the pathway leading from the side of the palace to the center of the courtyard. A few trees along the edges of the path provided some shade. But the long, full coverage skirt certainly didn't help with the heat.