StormBorn (UNEDITED)

I

Her father had sent her earlier in the day on an errand to deliver a note to the King, but due to her busy schedule(busy doing nothing of importance), she forgot all about the errand until later in the evening when her father asked if the King sent any message in reply.

The sun had already set but her father was not listening to anything she said. He told her the only thing he wanted to hear from her was the King's reply to the note. She fisted her hands, took the note, and slammed the door behind her as she stormed off to the palace.

Why couldn't he send any of the others? Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't he go himself? Wasn't it bad enough to be treated as the black sheep of the Anestrom family? Must she be the errand girl too?

It wasn't enough that she had to go when the sun had set but now she had to walk there??? Her dad thought trekking from their house to the palace would make her learn her lesson. What lesson?? How to take orders?? Utter nonsense!

There were two different routes she could take to the palace: One was wide, relatively safe but longer and more time-consuming. The other route was narrow, and overgrown with weeds but it was shorter and less time-consuming. She took the shorter route.

She started off with slow and steady steps, quietly wading through tall overgrown weeds. As darkness crept in, the bushes on either side of the route came to life with crickets chirping, toads croaking, leaves rustling, and number of insects buzzing. She turned her head at every sound, her pulse quickened with every sudden movement, she stepped on a small stick and completely froze at the snapping sound.

A full minute passed before she unfroze, she tried to shake it off by constantly reminding herself it was just a branch but the more she tried to reassure herself the more panicky she became. What if the stick was kept there by a prankster and by stepping on it she had just signaled her location? Or worse what if the stick was placed there by a murderer lurking around, waiting for the perfect moment to strike? What if a snake had been alerted to the sound and was silently stalking her? Her heart beat so loud she could hear it, she quickened her pace, then she heard a snapping sound behind her, and she took off at full speed.

She didn't even look behind to see what made the sound, she just kept running as fast as she could, she had nearly reached the end of the route when her gown got caught up in thorns, she tried to pull her gown free as gently as she could but the thorns wouldn't budge, she pulled harder till her gown came free then she continued running. She only slowed down when she reached the end of the route.

Finally, she was on the path that led directly to the Palace, torches lit up this path, unlike the one she just left. The statues that adorned the path looked frightening, their eyes seemed to follow her every movement. No one else was on the path, not even a cat. The silence on this path was deafening, not willing to wait until something happened like, on the previous route, she sprinted till she reached the palace gates.

"State your business!" said one of the guards at the palace gates, the two guards stationed at the gates crossed their spears to prevent her from entering(As if the palace gates that were over 8 feet weren't enough). She bent over panting and took a full minute to pull herself together before replying.
"I have a note that needs to be delivered to the king." said Arebel.
"Ok drop it with us and we'll ensure that it gets to the king"assured the guard.
" No, my father said I should deliver it personally to the King."
"Who is your father?"
"Saryetu Anestrom"
"The son of the legendary Edel Anestrom?"
Arebel rolled her eyes in irritation, "Yes the one and the same." her grandfather's name always opened doors literally.

The guards outside yelled something to the ones inside and the huge palace gates were opened for her. She stepped inside the palace grounds and was mind blown.