Prince Daniel: It Kills To Be Royalty

𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓏𝑒 | the maze

I cried when I got home.

I shouldn't have, but I did. I couldn't hold it in.

I held my head in Roberta's lap and sobbed. All the built up pain and fear came tumbling out when she came up to bring me my suitcases.

That was the last time I would cry. I won't slip up like this again. Now, I sit on my bed and rub the sheets. The silk slides in between my fingers as I reach up to touch my feather stuffed pillows. I never appreciated or really thought about how good I have it. I always resented it because I felt like I didn't deserve any of it. Now I was leaving it for three months, and hopefully,  I would return back.

Just stop him. That's not that hard is it?

Two soft knocks sounded from my door. This was a lot different. I had always memorized the certain knocks that the maids made. For Charles, I always deciphers them on his mood.

"It's me Daniel." Her soft voice makes me freeze.

I stand up and cautiously walk to my door. I open it to see her smiling sadly at me, a small box in her hand.

"May I come in?"

I shrug. "You're the Queen."

She chuckles as she steps in, She places the box on my bedside table and I watch as my mother looks around my room. I notice her blink several times before pointing to a small corner at the far edge of my room.

"What happened to that painting easel I gave you? You used to be so excited to sit at it after your lessons."

I start ripping open the packages of 'regular clothes' and shoes that the maids had brought to my room after my trip and place them in my suitcase.

"I got to big for it remember? That was when I was eight. I do everything at my desk now."

She walks to it. "Ah yes, you know your father designed this? He tried to be better than me after I designed my maze."

She gets a galaxy look in her eyes as if she's on another plane far away. "We played together so much in there."

Guilt pulls over me as I see her mouth pull downward at the corners. I start wondering if she was sad that we don't spend a lot of time together anymore. Suddenly, she seems to shake off whatever she was thinking and comes back to the present.

"Daniel this desk space is a mess! I've told you how many times to be neat and organized?" She starts gathering up my papers and touches the knob on my drawer.

"Who-who was the princess that always slept?" I say quickly. I still haven't destroyed my assignment and I didn't want her to find it. From yesterday though, it sounds like she already knows what it is.

She freezes. Her eyes get that far away look again and I hope I hadn't broke her.

"Her name was Aurora. But she's known for the name Sleeping Beauty."

I pack in some shoes that had a checkered design on them and some black socks. "Why did she sleep?"

"She was cursed. A witch had put the King and Queens firstborn under a spell that not even she could break. When she turned 16, she would prick herself in a spinning wheel and sleep until her true love kissed her awake."

I frown at my suitcase and turn to her. "Why didn't they just threaten the witch. Why did they let that happen?"

She smiles sincerely. "Daniel you must know, that the victim is actually the witch in this story."

"What?"

"A long time ago, her and the King had fell in love when they were children. But the King had soon grew up, he was power driven for the crown and cut off her wings. She seeked revenge."