The King's Daughter

Prologue

To be honest, he scared us greatly. Especially me. I always liked to pretend that I was a brave princess who could handle anything, but there was something about this man that caused shivers to race up my spine. He would even appear in my dreams, masked and armed with the the gun he always showed off.

And there was something in his voice that penetrated my soul and caused my illegitimate fear to become even worse. But as Catie went on to describe what the group of men had done to the poor people, I found myself growing anxious.

"But isn't that horrible?" Catie said with raised eyebrows as she finished explaining how the Royal guards had found the bodies burned and tied to stakes in the town square.

"Indeed." I nodded, searching the crowd. I knew it was silly, but I felt like I was being watched, even though the ballroom was filled with hundreds of people and many of them were in fact looking at me. I suddenly felt the gaze of someone who didn't belong here.

"Miss." A man came up behind us and we both whirled around, slightly frightened by the talk of such gruesome nature.

A man with flaming red hair bowed deeply to me. "Highness." He addressed me politely before turning to Catie. "May I have this dance?"

She blushed and smiled shyly. "Yes, you may."

I stepped back as she and the man made their way onto the dance floor and amongst the other couples as the music started up again.

Causally, I glanced around for anyone who wanted to dance with me, but surprisingly no one was paying any attention to me.

I fingered the delicate golden threads of my gown and bit my lip, a habit I had yet to break. My mother hated it when I did that. The pink and white diamond studded mask I wore was beginning to itch and I wished to take it off for a while, but I decided against it.

Just as I thought I'd have to sit this dance out, a figure appeared in front of me and held his hand out for me to take. He wore a very striking dark blue suit with a matching mask that covered most of his face except for below his nose. He had nice brown hair that was perfectly styled in an upward wave. I'd never seen him before.

Caught off guard that he hadn't asked me to dance and instead simply took my hand before I could say anything, I let him lead me over to the end of the line of dancers with a small, "Oh."

The music began and I watched him curiously. He had an air of power and confidence as he took a few steps toward me and took my hands as the dance started off.

"What is your name, sir?" I asked him, holding his hands as we turned in a circle and switched places.

But he didn't answer me, he simply kept his piercing blue eyes on me and continued dancing as if I hadn't said anything.

To not respond to something a royal says to you is utterly rude and offensive. I could have reprimanded him and gotten him in a lot of trouble, but I hated to do that, so I pretended not to care.

His lips remained shut the entire dance. Not even a smile crossed his features as he stared at me unwaveringly. I tried to ask other things to strike up a conversation, but he didn't reply, not even once. He might have been deaf, but I decided that was unlikely.

He even had the audacity to hold onto me longer than needed whenever we touched. His hand would settle on my waist and stay there even when others had moved on to the next movement. Three times we almost caused the dance to fall apart because he was lingering too long when our hands touched.

His rudeness was beginning to get under my skin, but since I was a princess and was under extreme scrutiny, I couldn't exactly do anything about it. So I sucked up my pride and finished the dance, curtsying politely and allowing him to escort me back to my previous spot.

As soon as we reached the pillar I had been standing beside, I removed my arm from his and turned away, not saying a word to him. That man had been rude and arrogant. I couldn't wait until midnight when we would all remove our masks. I'd like to see who he really was.

But before I could even collect myself from the infuriating dance with him, his mouth was suddenly beside my ear as he whispered with a hint of mockery, "Thank you for dancing with me princess."

Eyes widening, my heart slowed and I froze.

That voice.

That voice sounded so familiar and yet I had never heard it in person before. But the horrible realization of where I'd heard his voice before hit me hard. It had haunted my dreams and caused my skin to crawl even in broad daylight whenever I recalled it.

But when I turned to look at him, he was gone.

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Welcome back after my account was deleted. I don't know when I'll start writing again. But hopefully I can at least upload the chapters I had already written.

Also: most of the photographs in this book are taken by this amazing photographer Elizabeth Messina whom I discovered one day. The girl is Ashlyn Pearce and I just think she is stunning.