The Key to Ruling a Broken Kingdom (Girl x Girl)

4: Megan

When I felt the cold sheets beside me, I panicked. A lot. I shot upright, and called out for Persephonie. A maid burst into the sleeping chambers, and scowled at me.

"Where is Princess Persephonie?" I demanded.

"The queen requested that you leave as soon as you woke" the maid replied, turning to leave. "Please leave the princesses' sleeping gown on the bed," she said, obviously referring to the gown I had put on last night.

"Where is she? Where is Princess Persephonie?" I asked again.

The maid looked back at me and scowled again. "It should not concern a commoner like you. You're not even supposed to be anywhere near the sleeping quarters." With that, she left.

I changed back into the clothes I had worn yesterday. It was Persephonie's old dress. A pale yellow one that was a little tight around my waist, with long, baggy sleeves. I put my hair in a knot and grabbed my bonnet from the dresser, tieing it under my chin as I walked out the door. The maid that had come in earlier was standing by the door and glared after me as I walked away.

As I made my way to the courtyard, the guards glared after me. None of the castle's staff liked me too much. King Patrick didn't mind me so long as I stayed away from the castle, and so far he believes that, that's what I've been doing. But Persephonie's sister, Princess Venus avoides me as much as she could. To her I'm wallpaper. Princess Athena, however, loved me almost as much as Persephonie did. Sometimes she would come and play with Persephonie and me. On the other hand, Queen Sophia despised me. If she ever caught sight of me, she would scold and me and send me home.

I had crossed the castle's grounds and was nearing the town. The stench of urine hit me suddenly, but I was expecting it. The first time I walked home from the castle, after getting the poisoned berries for Ma, the sudden stench had made me gag. I couldn't stop thinking about how happy I was that Persephonie never had to experience this.

Persephonie. Where was she? Had she left for Bruvia? But why would she leave without telling me? And in the middle of the night? Then it occurred to me that the maid said that the queen had requested I leave after I woke up. Queen Sophia! The woman that absolutely despised me! She yelled at me if I was caught talking to Persephonie and forced me to go home. But then... why had she let me stay after she had seen me sleeping on the same bad as her daughter?

"You! Girl!"

I leisurely turned around to see a woman who seemed to be missing a few teeth, looking directly at me, holding up a fly-infested piece of fish. "Buy this here fish would ya? Just caught 'em this morning. Fresh from the 'ake."

I ignored her and continued to walk home. More venders tried getting my attention. But I ignored them. Vendors don't usually ask ten-year-old girls to buy their items, but I was tall, and partly matured, looking around thirteen.

"MEGAN!"

I jerked my head to see a scrawny, dark-haired man walking to me. David. I immediately changed my course and dodged people, dogs, and cats to get to him. I accidentally stepped on a small rat, killing it. Oh well.

David grabbed my wrist, and dragged me to my house. It wasn't easy because David was not the most intimidating, and people didn't care if he died or not. Most of us here were starving, and we only looked at a person if they looked well-fed or had food on them.

A little ways away, I saw a rabid dog bite a small boy. The boy cried out in pain and ran, with the dog in hot pursuit. I just hoped the boy wouldn't run anywhere close to me. Then, I shifted my gaze to see a girl, no more than eight years old, trying to steal some bread from the basket of a woman. The woman caught the girl's wrist and slapped her across her cheek and pushed her away. The girl staggered back, but didn't fall. She walked away, trying to hide her tears. Some older boys tore the girl's dirty bonnet off her head and ran away with it. I re- tied my own bonnet to ensure that I wouldn't lose it.