Black and White

Chapter Two: Letters

                I woke up the next morning with lots of pains in my body. I’ve always wanted a slightly harder bed, but my father wouldn’t hear of it. He thinks that I need the softest bed on the entire planet. The only problem is that I can’t stand it when things are too soft, it’s really uncomfortable for me.

                I stretched out my arms very awkwardly. I raised my right one with a lot of pain because my muscles tightened overnight, which, by the way, is the worst feeling to have. I tried to raise my left arm and grab my right elbow. “Ouch!” but I ended up messing up horribly and smacked my mouth with my left hand. “I really need to get a better bed.”

                Not being a morning person, I barely managed to get off of my bed and change back into a day outfit. ‘Nothing in this castle really changes’ I think to myself as I head outside my bedchamber. As I walked down the long halls of the castle, I tried to think of new things I can do here besides normal woman duties such as cooking and cleaning. Cooking and cleaning are very important, but they’re extremely boring to do.

                A smile came across my face as I realized something I could do that I haven’t thought of in a while. I ran down the hall at full speed. But then a guard came up so I walked at a normal pace and gave the high-ranking guard a polite nod. He stopped and gave me a full bow. “Hello, your highness. How are you doing this fine morning?”

                Patrol guards are usually those annoying men that don’t have anything to say. They are usually nice people, but the patrol guards don’t have anything to do twenty hours out of the day. I’m not being mean or anything, but nothing really happens here inside the castle. There are occasional skirmishes and battles and the feuds, but they never get into the castle.

                But I have to at least have a small conversation with him to avoid being rude. So pulling on my best smile, I replied “I am doing well. How about yourself?”

                The guard obviously took that as an opening to explain his personal life story since the last blue moon, which was so many nights ago that I barely remember it. “Thank you for asking. But I fear that all is not doing well for my family. You see, since the blue moon…” honestly, I’m not sure if men purposely make life complicated for others or if they don’t realize it. But I hate it so much when people speak for too long because then I’ll start losing attention towards them and it’s hard to leave without being rude.

                I stood there and nodded and added sympathetic phrases that I’ve picked up on like “Oh, that doesn’t seem good.” Apparently those little things coax people into saying more and it made the man look so much happier that somebody would listen to him and be sympathetic instead of laughing at his problems. I start glancing at all of the walls and the floor and the roof because I cannot stand having too much more of a conversation with this boring man.

                Thanks to my father, though, I am used to listening to long rants that have no meaning to me whatsoever. I know I can sound “rude” at times, but men are just annoying. My father always has rules, my older brother flaunts his strength, and my younger always outsmarts everybody.

                “…Am I bothering you, your highness?” the guard asked.

                I nearly jumped out of my skin. I wasn’t really paying attention to the man and now he thinks he’s bothering me. Whoops, I didn’t mean to do that. ‘You really are bothering me’ I think, but instead I tell him, “No, you’re not bothering me. I just have some things on my mind that I need to go figure out. Have a nice day.” I walked away at a brisk pace, not slow like before, but not fast enough to make it seem like I wanted to get away from him.