The Dark Tiara

1. A Princess as a Pawn

𝟏𝟖 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘 𝕷𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗

𝕿𝖍𝖊 sun had barely started to peak over the horizon when Emily awoke. Waking early had become something accustomed to her as it was one of the very few times she was able to be by herself instead of being followed around by servants, guards or her mother. It was also one of the few times she could get out of the castle, every since The King's death fear grew over another attack on the royal family, confining Emily to the castle. She crawled out of bed making her way over to the wardrobe, where she went through the cloths till she found her riding clothes that where tucked away in the back. Emily went to the room divider changed from her pale teal nightgown into her riding clothes, pulling her dark brown hair into a braid as she grabbed her satchel off of the vanity. When she finished braiding her hair she made her way out of the room avoiding the guards that roamed the halls knowing they would question her on where she was going if they saw her. Emily worked her way to the servants corridor as it was the easy place to slip out of the castle from as it wasn't watched all that often other then especially occasions. There were few servants in their corridors so early as they were finishing any details, cleaning and preparations for when The Queen woke. Allowing Emily to leave the castle with ease most days, except today was not one of those days as she was only stopped in the corridors by a servant. The servant was Merryweather a tall older lady who was most likely in her late thirties to early forties, she had worked at the castle most of her life helping to raise and look after Emily. Merryweather was wearing a bright blue dress, the skirt of the dress fan out slightly once it reached her waist. The dress was cut in a small v neck shape pushing the beginning of the sleeves closer to the end of her shoulders, the sleeves were short as they stopped a few inches down her bicep then the sleeves where cut into a piece of fabric that overlaid the rest of her biceps then rounded off. The sleeves were a dark blue patterned lace, as the skirt of the dress had a lighter blue overlay of fabric down the sides. The only other detailing was embroidered patterns along the bottom of the dress, that where a mix of silver and gold for the patterns. Her hair was a deep brown that made her hair look almost black, she had part of her hair pulled into a small bun on the back of her head while the rest of her hair hung loss with waves in it.

"You know your mother will have a fit if she finds you gone again." Merryweather advised before she quickly went on her way 

"When does she not though." Emily smiled slightly hoping to get Merryweather to laugh slightly instead she only got a partially stern look "Please Merryweather.."

"Oh fine, just don't be to long today." Merryweather smiled as she shooed Emily to leave, turning back to what she was doing with a laugh and the shake of her head as Merryweather mumbled to herself "Maybe one day I'll have some sense to stop her." 

Once Emily was out of the castle she rushed to the stables that stood on its own piece of land away from the castle. She brought her horse out of her stall, the horse was a tall thoroughbred that was mostly black but also white patches such as a white diamond on its face, hoofs and other white on its sides. She mounting her horse, riding bareback  which saved her time but she also knew her mother wouldn't approve. She rode off to a clearing that was in the forest that surrounded the castle. The light was peering through the bases of the trees slowly making its way higher in the sky starting to shine it through the branches and leaves. When Emily arrived at the clearing she dismounted, letting her horse roam the field as Emily sat down against a tree taking a book from her satchel. The field was a beautiful place that was a grassy area encircled by trees with all different kinds of flowers blooming in the center during the spring. The darkness started to fade as the sun took its place high in the sky looking down, as the rays came peering through the top of the trees they seemed to shimmer on any leaves that fell which made the clearing look like an enchanted garden.