The Curse of a Half Blood Princess

Chapter 12

"What in the world are you doing in a peasant outfit, child?" my father's deep, powerful voice says to me as disgust embellishes his voice. I can't help but shudder a little at his disappointment. It was never my intention to have him this upset with me, but I did as much as needed to keep myself from catching public attention.

"Father, I was just going out with my friends," I say nervously, watching as he paces back and forth in front of me. As soon as I arrived back at the palace, he was waiting and not feeling too pleasant about my long departure. I was hoping he would feel a little sympathy for me being stuck in this castle all the time in such a foreign land, but it doesn't seem to phase him. "I just want to fit in with the people as much as possible.

"Scarlett, we are royalty and we will be treated as such. If you were worried about people bothering you, we have guards for a reason. I'm not even sure why they let you out as you are, but I will find out who allowed such a thing and they will-"

"Father, please. I begged my maid to let me out like this. Please do not punish her," I bite my lip and glance at the ground almost as if I was hanging my head in shame. I feel that he's being irrational about this, but maybe being demon royalty entails more than I thought.

He sighs in frustration, "I guess that's not my biggest concern. Why were you out for so long? I was anxious that someone had kidnapped you and I would have never known because you didn't have someone with you. Next time, you're not going out alone. I forbid it," he finally stops pacing and sits back down on his throne, shaking his head. "What were you doing out there that could have taken all day?"

"I was exploring town. I've never been here and there's so much to explore," I say, though I'm partially being dishonest. Yes, I did find places I'd never been, but that's easy to say when you've been in a town for all but a day. He looks like he doesn't trust me, so I continue. "My friends and I spent a great deal of time in the library looking for information about...my heritage."

"Your heritage?" his brows furrow and his jaw hangs open a little, almost as if I just spoke another language. Do they not use that phrase here or something? I start tapping my right foot anxiously as I anticipate his next movement, but he just sits there in stupor. "Scarlett, what?"

"Sorry," I blush a little and play with my skirts in embarrassment. "I just want to know why the demons and the humans hate each other. I want to be free and I won't be allowed to do that until I figure out why demons and humans don't get along and what I can do to change that."

"Eloise, will you please fetch me a glass of water and bring it to the leisure hall? We're heading up there right now," my father looks at his maid and she nods, gathering her skirts and exiting through the nearest door. He turns back to me and stands up, taking off his scarlet red cloak and placing it on the arm rest of his throne. "I guess it's time we have a chat. But first, you need to go change your outfit because if I see my offspring in a peasant outfit for five seconds more, I might lose my temper. Meet me in the leisure hall in ten minutes, okay?"

A wave of shock runs through me as I start to become acquainted with my father. He is nothing like my uncle or grandfather; he has an angry, controlling side that I wasn't expecting. I do a small curtsy and hurry out of the throne room. My heart is pounding a bit, not because I'm frightened by my father, but because I worry that my plans are going to come to a halt. My friends are out there searching for the mixed town and I may not be able to communicate with them for a time. If something goes wrong, I couldn't live with myself.

As soon as I get to my bed chambers, I throw off my peasant rags and grab the nearest dress, one of which the poor seamstress had been sewing for me all day. It's a deep purple with flower embroidery lining the bodice. The skirts are thick and flow down just above my ankles, so I can easily move around without tripping. The sleeves are long and a small strings wrap around my middle fingers in order to keep the material from moving on my skin.