Fantasy Collections

The Watchtower

~Aurora's POV~

The sky was clear and the wind was strong- perfect conditions for climbing to the highest watchtower in the castle. Assuming the watchmen wouldn't stop me, of course.

The spiraled staircase that took me to the top of the tower was, unfortunately, designed for tall men. Each step went almost to my knee, making my thighs ache as I lifted myself onto each one. Dim light from an occasional torch or narrow window was the only light in here. I held up my skirts with one hand and the railing with the other. A strong gust of wind blasted through one of the windows as I passed by it, making me stumble and almost lose my balance. I couldn't help smiling at this momentary panic. These were the sort of thrills I lived for, much to the annoyance of anyone who had to manage me.

The watchmen, of course, were no exception. By the time I emerged onto the roof of the tower, panting from the effort of climbing to the top, the two watchmen looked at me in annoyance. They both gripped the tall edges of the crenellated walls, as the wind whipped their hair and their tunics and their cloaks in every conceivable direction. Each watchman was somewhere in his twenties, with stern faces and disapproving eyes. I couldn't blame them. They had seen more than anyone else should.

"Princess Aurora," one of them scolded, "you shouldn't be up here. No one should, really, but especially not small persons such as you."

"I know," I said flatly. "That's why I'm up here. Maybe I can keep you company for a little while, since I went through all the trouble of climbing from the ground to the top?"

"But you'll get blown away!" the second watchman protested. "The king would have our heads if that were to happen."

"I won't get blown away." I ventured away from the safe center of the tower and towards the edge, unsure whether it was boldness or apathy that prompted me to do so. Either way, I wasn't quite stupid enough to sit at one of the lower gaps of the wall. Instead, I crouched behind a higher edge like the watchmen were doing.

"Get out from there!" the first watchman snapped.

"Why should I have to? It's- it's perfectly safe behind the tall edges!" But even as I spoke, the wind whipped my black hair over my face and mouth, muting me for an instant. I indignantly shoved it all back.

The two watchmen exchanged glances. "Well," the first one said, "I suppose you're not causing any real trouble in this particular moment, unless you impale us with your sharp tongue." His face betrayed a hint of a smile, indicating that he was joking now. I wondered how he knew about my little reputation of picking verbal battles with the various residents in this castle.

"And I guess you'd better stay," the second one added, "since we're the only ones insane enough to put your life in our hands."

"My life is in my own hands," I said, "but I guess I'll keep quiet now and let you do your jobs."

"Which, at the moment, consists of staring at those same stone walls, that same forest, that same village...." The second watchman stared dully at the ground, sixty feet below. "It gets rather hypnotizing, really, but I guess it's better than watching helplessly as it all burns down."

The first watchman smirked knowingly at his companion. "I seem to remember your thirty-two ideas on how that nightmare could be realized."

"Excuse me! That was thirty-three ideas! Your memory is quite faulty." The second watchman crossed his arms in feigned insult.

Meanwhile, I watched their dialogue in curiosity. "Is this really what you do all day? Stare at the ground and make jokes, and yell at curious little girls?"

"To be fair, we are also in charge of timekeeping. Ringing the bell every quarter hour and so on." The first watchman fell into silence and stared off into the distance. "But that's basically our lives. Someone has to do this, after all. And at least the view is pretty."

I couldn't deny that. I had never even been to the village just outside the castle, but you could see the entire thing from here. It looked like a tightly-packed clump of little brown cards and sticks, surrounded by a wall and looking quite out of place in that sea of trees.

"What are your names?" I asked the watchmen.

"My name is Morris," replied the first.

"And I'm Baldric," the second added.

I was just about to speak when a trumpet blast and a clamor of voices sounded somewhere below.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Morris shook his head at himself. "The guests are arriving for the annual ball."

"A ball?" I blinked in surprise. "I didn't even know we were having one!"

"Really? Did you know about the one last year?"

"No."

"Or the one before that?"

"No."

"Or the one from every single year before that?"

"No! I never knew we had any such thing! And I guess I was just so preoccupied in the past that I just... never noticed."

At this, both the watchmen stared incredulously at me.

"You never noticed all the noise?" Baldric exclaimed. "Or the hundreds of guests? Or the cooks and everyone being so frantic the week before?"

I felt the blood rushing to my face and ears, so I turned away from them.

"Well... I'm by myself a lot, you could say. I'm not really indoors enough to notice the servants. Most of my time I spend out here."

"That's strange," Morris said. They both stared at me, prompting me to tell them more, but I kept my lips sealed. Sharing my peculiar lifestyle with them was obviously not a wise choice right now. Finally, though, they both turned and watched the people pour into the main entrance, all clad in rich jewel colors such as crimson and royal blue and emerald green.

"Why was I never told? Why was I never invited?" I whispered to myself. I was the king's daughter, and thirteen years old- plenty old enough to interact properly with guests.

"If it makes you feel any better, we're never invited either," Baldric said, attempting to smile.

"Sure, but you have jobs. I don't have anything really useful to do..." I cut my words off before I could begin to mention the many times I wondered about my own place in this castle.

"Well, it is mostly business related, I think," Morris said. "I believe it's all just the noblemen and lords from various areas within the kingdom. The king needs a good relationship with them."

But that didn't answer the question of why I was never even told about this annual ball. Were my parents, the king and queen, trying to hide something?

Was my choice to live alone not really a choice at all?

(Author's Note:  Hello Wattpadders! I am back into publishing on here with  some short stories relating to my two fantasy novels. I don't expect the actual novels to be ready for the world for, like, another 10 years, lol!  But until then, I thought I would introduce you to some of the characters. Now you know where I get the "Aurora" part of my username. :)

Even though this isn't a continuous novel, I would still love your feedback! Please vote and comment, I'd love to hear from you. Stay tuned for the next installment sometime next week! Thanks for reading!)