Royalty (Book 1 of the Supernatural series)

F O U R

Chapter 4: Thoughts and Promises

"This is where you will be resting, another servant will be here to attend to your bedroom needs." Sophia quietly walked towards the bed and stiffly sat upon the edge whilst glancing at her slightly reddening wrist. Her head was cast down but she could hear steps shuffling about the bedroom. Finally a voice spoke out, "Another servant should be here to help you with any other needs you may have, I am only your escort." The girl solemnly spoke. 

Before she could leave Sophia to her burdening thoughts, she spoke, "If I may ask what is your name?" She quickly glanced up to catch the gaze of the girl's back just about to leave the room. At the sound of Sophia's voice, the girl froze and her back became stiff. The room was quiet for a brief moment before the girl spoke up, "Azemere". There was a slight clear of the throat before Azemere quietly left the room leaving Sophia alone. 

After a moment of thought, she arose from the bed and glanced around. What was she going to do? She couldn't escape. And even if she could, the king would have her head and call it treason against the kingdom. A slow breath was released as Sophia found herself next to the window sill; eyes wandering about the glorious view of the kingdom. So glorious as it was, for a moment she couldn't see it anything but a prison within the walls of the land. 

All she could do was wait to be married off to the Prince and give him whatever power he wanted. 

Inhale. Exhale.

It had been about five minutes long as she continued to rehearse her breathing exercise in her mind. Her eyes had closed off as she rested against the wall in the corner and her elbow on the sill of the window. And suddenly, a knock resounded off the walls and into her ears. Someone was here.

She quickly spun on her feet to see an elderly woman, who looked about to be in her late fifties to early sixties. Her hair was almost completely covered in grey, yet she hardly sported any wrinkles on her face. She stepped further in with a small smile on her face when she recognized me.

"Hello dearie." And before Sophia could even greet her with a smile back, she was reminded of her meeting with the king. Her mood grew even more sad as she heaved in another breath. 

"Hello madame. I assume you are here to help me?" She questioned, raising her eyebrow. She glanced down and noticed a bucket filled with water and a small rag.

"Yes milady, I am here to help you with your bath. My name is Lillieth but feel free to call me Lily." Sophia wanted to decline and say that she could do it just fine on her own, but she didn't want to sound rude, so she accepted with a nod of her head.

Quietly she stripped down her clothes, while Lillieth prepared the bath. As she went to step in, she heard a small gasp. Sophia glanced upwards to see the lady staring at her shoulder where her flesh was marred and left to become a scar as a reminder of her past.

Lillieth spoke no words, as she urged Sophia into the tub. While scrubbed, Sophia decided to speak as the silence was too unbearable for her, "It happened when they were attacked. My clan...-" Soon she was cut off as lillieth hushed her, "It is alright proelia, you don't have to explain. I don't need to know." 

And with those small words, Sophia heart had warmed. And as she looked up into Lillieth's eyes, she saw the same admiration and warmness her mother had looked at her with when she was young.  She didn't even need to know whatever term of endearment she had used to refer to her. Before, Sophia could even get emotional, her bath was done and she was being tucked into a towel. 

"Thank you, Lily." She whispered once she had finished getting ready for bed and Lillieth was about to leave. Lillieth, however, did not say anything in return, the only response she gave was a small smile. And as she was about to turn off the lamp that provided the light for the room, Sophia quickly requested that it be left on. "Of course, Milady. I will return in a few hours to prepare you for the Prince's arrival." And with that, Lillieth was out the door leaving a wide awake Sophia alone. 

The room was quiet and all Sophia could hear was the wind softly blowing and the sound of a tree branch gently knocking against her window time to time. She rolled in the large bed, twisting and turning. Despite the softness of the bed and the smoothness of the warm sheets, she hardly found any comfort laying there. 

Sophia had spent what felt like hours upon hours thinking about the events that were to come in a short while. She couldn't fall asleep knowing that her life was about to change forever; it had already changed in fact. All she could imagine was the haunting face of the King and his wicked smile. After a while she found it hard to lay in one spot so she got up, knowing she would not be sleeping for the night. 

So instead, she found her way back towards the window, staring out into the starry night. From a distance, she could hear howling of the Lupens. She spotted a small chair in the corner and pulled it towards the window and gathered a small bedsheet to wrap around her body as she sat watching the moon run its course with the night, and the sun returning to take back its shining glory. 

She thought about a million things that night to make her feel at peace like she did every night: her family, her clan, her memories. But a daunting thought always returned to haunt her; the King and his proposition. She couldn't understand what powers the king desired out of her. She had heard marvellous stories of her clan's work to the kingdom, but nothing of any power. She sighed, and continued to stare into the sky.

 After some time, her eyes had shut close and she had fallen asleep to the sound of the early birds chirping away. 

She was suddenly awoken by the slight shake she had received from Lillieth who looked quite understanding of her circumstance. "Dear, are you alright?" She asked with a slight worried look as she glanced into Sophia's tired eyes. Sophia didn't respond. She was quiet for awhile before softly nodding her head. She was going to be alright.

Lillieth looked like she wanted to ask more questions and dig deeper. The poor child was clearly troubled and who knew what amount of things could have been troubling her. Sophia cleared her throat as she sat up, "Don't you worry about me Lily. I'll be fine." She said with a reassuring smile. She had even convinced herself with those words, even if it were only to be a temporary fix.

"It's time, proelia."

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 K. Haye