My Princess

Chapter 17

Clara POV

Death. It's all around me. The safe haven that I held so dear now lay in ruins. The flowers in every color and species that made this kingdom alive, it's now gone. This was my mother's garden. And when those dark knights killed her all those years ago her garden must have died with her.

"Clara." I hear a familiar voice call to me. It sends shivers down my spine. I turn around to see the king. My father.

He comes to me and sets his hands on my shoulders. He looks me up and down, inspecting me. Not as a worried father, but as a man looking to see if his possession was still in good condition.

"What happened to the garden?" I ask, coldly.

"I'm afraid no one has a gift like your mother, it soon died off after you were both taken from me." He replies. "I'm glad your home safe, my dear. I always knew that Cronus would be a great knight."

"Cronus didn't save me." I pause. "Myra did."

"She is a liar, thief, and murderer." He says. "She did horrible things, therefore, she is a monster."

"Well, if she is a monster than what does that make you? A demon? The devil?" I ask bravely. then he slaps me across the face.

"I will not be spoken to in such a way. I know you have spent a long time away from society, but you need to learn your place."

"I have. And it is not with you." Myra's bravery has rubbed off on me. "She saved my life. I will not stop till you spare hers."

He looks me straight in the eyes. His cold black eyes, burning holes into me. He opens his mouth and speaks quietly.

"Her life is not worth saving. She is a worthless, weak girl. You are a fool for caring for such a beast."

"Did you know a man named Lance?" I asked. He looked as though he couldn't care less. "He was a knight that fell in love with a peasant. Her name was Grace. You killed them both." He nods.

"There are consequences to those who don't follow the rules. He broke them and he paid the price and so did she."

"And yet you spared the child." I move closer to the cold man. "It's funny, don't you think. The one person you decide to spare will be the one that will take your life."

He then forcefully grabs my arm and halls me into the castle. He pulls me along the corridors that I haven't seen in years. Then he opens the door to my old room and pushes me inside. I pound my fists against the door. Demanding to be let out, to see Myra.

"She has corrupted you, my child. You are blind to everything because you care too deeply for her. But don't worry, I will end the spell she has put on you. You will no longer be in love with another woman, let alone an evil one."

"Do you have no heart?" I scream. "Can you not feel love? For me? For mother?"

"Love, my dear, is for the weak. Those who cannot stand on their own and must rely on another. Love is a waste of my time."

"You are wrong. Love is what binds us and makes us stronger. We do not love because we can't stand alone. We love because we find someone worth sharing life with. We have to make compromises and sacrifices, and does that not make us stronger?"

"Love has made you blind. You are a naïve little girl, with no idea about how cruel this world is."

"I hate you," I scream.

"There is a fine line between love and hate." He says, mocking me.

"Which I guess that is something you will never understand. I rather feel everything than nothing. I will take the good with the bad because that what people have to do. Love, hate, happiness, anger, it's not what makes us fragile. It makes us human."

"You think I am the monster... But how will others look at you when they know you are in love with a woman. They won't accept you with open arms. People don't like change, it scares them. They will tear apart anything that they believe isn't normal because they perceive it as a threat. The ones you are defending, the people who feel and how that makes them human. They won't feel happy about something as insane as you love a girl. They will take the feelings you have and bury you alive because of them. Humans, we are selfish creatures. And while you want to feel everything I doubt you want to feel the pain of the citizens killing the girl you 'love' while they are coming for you next. I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

I can hear his footsteps move away. I keep pounding my fists on the door, crying out. I slowly slide to the ground and hug myself. Tears keep streaming down my face. He is right. I love her. So much it hurts to be away from her. It has taken me so long to figure all of this out and now that I have. She's gone.

Myra, I love you. I keep repeating over and over in my head. I head over to my bed and lie down. Remembering the way Myra would hold me close to her whenever I had a nightmare. I felt so safe in her arms.

I must be crazy. Falling in love with another woman. That's unheard of, disgusting to so many. But I have come to learn that you can't choose the people you fall in love with. But I refuse to deny what I feel. If I suppress everything I will become like my father. A soulless demon.

I can hear my father's voice in my head, telling me that I am weak. He is right. Well, was. I am taking fate into my own hands now. I am going to save her, this time.

I fashion a rope out all the royal outfits from my closet. I tie it to the bed to anchor it and then smash the window with a hairbrush I found. I then climb down the rope.

My feet hit the ground and then I take off running. I found a familiar looking green cloak and put it on. I also find a bow along with arrows. I head towards the dungeon.