Broken and shattered

Let the competition commence

They were all shocked to find me like that. The gatekeepers asked me who I was, and well, when I told them I was Raven ShadowBlade, they didn't believe me. So they called the king over, the king apparently knew the face of every girl he chose. I was still bitter about my mother though. so instead of showing him the letter, I crumpled it up and threw it at him with all my strength, causing him to almost fall backward onto the ground. everyone that could see what happened, fell speechless. I as my father's daughter after all.

The king chuckled as he uncrumpled it to check the letter. "definitely Alexander's daughter." I didn't like the guy, everything about him, his face, his posture, his reaction to things, all said one word, sly. I didn't know what he wanted, and why he had me come and compete for his son's hand. I didn't want it, I would cut it off at the first chance I get. he asked me where the carriage was. I had to explain the ambush and the group of men. "so you just killed them and ran here?" I nodded. what does he expect? me to fly here?He guided me into the palace and tried to explain the old rivalry he had with my father. the first words he said about it was, "I couldn't help being irresistible..." sugar coating it. he used a love potion on my mother, of course, he could help it. but then again, my mother already had that cheating on people trait in her, so either way, she was a bitch. But I definitely didn't want to hear the sugarcoated version. after he was finished with his rather, idiotic story, I turned my head to him and smiled. "I'm not interested in this rivalry you have with my father."I began, I was, but it was best he didn't know what I was really here for. "if you'll let me, I'd like to decide for myself, what I think of your family, not what my father thinks." as soon as I said this he let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "thank you." but little did he know, I already decided what I thought of them. and trust me, o great and mighty king, you won't like it. he showed me to my chambers. "we're having a masquerade ball in a few weeks to welcome all of you. we expect you to attend." a ball. really? dancing and ways to make us feel like we weren't in a prison were unnecessary. but how could I refuse his majesty the great? I was no stranger to luxury, we were good friends, but I had always felt a little excited when I met it. They installed private hot tubs and pools all over the place. there were a few in the courtyard below. A swim to calm me down couldn't hurt. and if anyone saw me, I could care less, I wasn't that hideous in a two piece. I quickly changed into the black swimwear and went. Other girls were already down there, sitting on lounge chairs gossiping about the "super hot Prince Nathaniel" no doubt. I could hear them squealing about him from all the way over there. Oh well, I wasn't at the pool to hear their awful conversations. I was here to swim, and I would. I set my timer at the edge of the pool. letting my long wavy hair flow as I swam laps. I felt free, I almost forgot about the competition, the rivalry between my family and the royals, about everything. about after a few hundred laps, I ended the timer. 5.2 seconds. not my best. I was tried again and again to try and beat my 3.8-second record. until finally after so many tries, 3.5 seconds. I had tried all year to beat it. who knew that I'd do it in a royal pool? The pool at home wasn't much different than the one here, but then again, nowhere is better than home. I wondered what father was doing now. it was an hour until the ball, I had to get ready. after all, the least I could do was to look good. I walked back through the palace gardens. it was full of exotic flowers and plants. my eyes wandered to the flowers my father gave to the royal family last year. well, not much of flowers, rather, carnivorous plants. I still remembered the day we shipped them off the men that were carrying them were nearly scared half to death. half of the plants tried to bite their head off. I asked dad why we were shipping them, out of all the plants in the world. he said it was because their garden was too boring. and now, I see what he meant. the flowers may have been exotic, but there's no action. they just stood there, waiting to die. and all of a sudden, I caught a whiff of cologne. I didn't know who it was, better to be patient if the guy was trying to kill me. he got just close enought foe me to know who he was.

"you know, everybody's talking about the beautiful and deadly new competitor in court." well look who it was, the guy I was supposed to win over. Prince Nathaniel.

"save your idiotic flirting for someone who cares." I gestured to the group of girls batting their eyelashes, trying to look as desirable as possible.

he knew who I was talking about and raised his eyebrow, expecting some kind of resemblance to them. as if I would be as stupid to try and win over him. as far as he was concerned we were all his playtoys. the one with the best body would win. he smirked. "it's funny how you act so tough." he was trying to act all smart now was he? "in truth, you couldn't hurt a fly." he smiled, revealing his "oh so royal fangs". so I couldn't hurt a fly now, could I? well let's find out. He continued to smirk as if I couldn't say anything back. a fly perched itself onto the prince's shoulder. just in time. i took out my stake and threw it as hard as i could at it. I watched every second as the stake punctured the fly and landed itself on a tree behind him. His face not showing any embarrassment, not I had expected any. I turned to him."you were saying?" He cracked a humorous smile at my comment.
"See you around. Raven isn't it?" I scowled at him.