The uncontrollable power lurking beneath Princess Alethia's skin can either be the savior of the Four Kingdoms or its destruction.
Princess Alethia was raised on three principles: (1) Mercy is for the weak, (2) Emotions are an unwanted distraction...
A/N: Did you miss Alethia? I felt like it's been forever since I wrote in her point of view. I hope you guys enjoy!
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The sound of the horses' hooves resonated in the air as they crossed the drawbridge laying over the moat surrounding the castle. Grey stones rose from the land, boldly soaring high to defy entry to outsiders. And that's exactly what Alethia felt like—an outsider.
Her chest tightened at the thought. She stared at the back of Aydin's platinum hair and his clothes that were ripped in places from the battle. They hadn't stopped to wash the blood from their skin. Alethia looked down at the blood crusted on her pale fingers, which were stark against the rapidly falling darkness in the sky.
She remembered how she used to rush to get the blood off of her skin. How she had scrubbed her skin raw in an attempt to get rid of the itchy, dirty guilt that coated her skin. Now Alethia felt nothing. She flexed her fingers, staring down at them as if they were disconnected from her body.
Ever since that moment in the throne room, Alethia hadn't been able to decipher the little emotion she had remaining. Her heart had iced over and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Fragments she feared she would never be able to put back together.
Alethia glanced over at Ren, who stared straight ahead on his horse, blue eyes searching their surroundings. He had been the first person in a long time to make her feel in the smith's shop. It had been his words that attached a piece inside of her. Ren helped her learn about who her father was while he was banished.
In the shop, she could feel her father's presence. The blood and sweat he put into each weapon he forged. Weapons that she knew he disliked but only forged because of his need to survive in a new kingdom. There were many things she had longed to know about her father over the years.
Alethia's head tilted back as she took in the vast main gate between two stone towers. Guards stood at the top, arrows nocked in their longbows, and she could see others moving through the towers from the various openings.
Aydin called to the two men stationed in front of the gate, who rushed to open it at his command.
Ren stopped his horse, reaching across to yank Alethia's reins out of her hands. He glared at Aydin. "Look, prince. We're not walking right into your little castle. Hide us somewhere first."
"If this is a problem for you, then I suggest you turn back," Alethia said, lips pressed in a thin line of displeasure. Despite the request her father had made to Ren, she didn't require nor want his presence on her journey. The woman that the prince spoke of had shared her mother's surname, it was someone related to her. Possibly the last family member she had.
"It's a problem that you're too blind to see because you're angry," Ren snapped, eyes narrowing at her. "Anger makes you stupid, and stupid gets you killed."
