Not Your Damsel in Distress

Dear Auntie

The situation has been getting more and more strange with each passing day. You know more than anyone how happy I was when mother met Isolde. After father's passing she hadn't been herself, but when she came in her life it was like mother was a new woman. She was happy and there was a spring in her step. But something hasn't been right. She... Isolde has been acting strange lately. She has got rid of more than half of the palace staff and has been putting more work onto the shoulders of those who remained. All the while acting as if the staff is not good enough. She has been doing all the talking during the meetings, brutally shutting down anyone who would dare to speak against her. She has even went so far as to ask me to exit the room on one occasion when I stood up to her about the taxes she wanted to raise.

I am worried for mother as she doesn't say anything, meaning she either supports Isolde's terrible actions or she doesn't have the courage to stop her. I believe it is the latter because my mother knows right from wrong and, as you know, Isolde is a witch and that automatically puts her into a stronger position than my mother.

I am also dealing with another concern. You know how I talked about Isolde!s son Leif in one of my previous letters to you? He has been acting strange towards me. It is clear that he is really trying to convince everyone around that he earned his knighthood by himself and has been acting very politely around me, as the knight code dictates, but it feels forced. Not to mention Isolde herself making remarks how me and Leif should court, but I can feel my stomach flip just thinking about it.

But most of all I am worried for my people. They have been protesting against the changes Isolde has imposed, but were shut down by the slime creatures she has the ability to summon using her magic bowl filled with that peculiar liquid that she keep in the work room. People are forced to work harder and have most of their products taken away. I tried to reason with Isolde on multiple occasions but she always finds a way to silence me or make me seem irrelevant in front of the council, that she has already rearranged the way it fits her. She has also broke all of the trading contracts and dismissed all of the allies from outside the kingdom, isolating us thus making us vulnerable. As a princess it is my duty to protect my people but I see no possible way of defining her as she is now more of a queen than my mother. I think the only thing stopping her is the fact that I am the heir thus she cannot get all of the power she so desperately craves as long as there is breath in my lungs, which is the exact time I will not let her do everything she pleases without stepping up to her.

But more than anything I am scared for myself as well. Aside from the remarks about courtship with Leif Isolde has threatened me with her magic, her influence and even my own mother's well being when I promised the people help when they asked for it. I am scared for my own well-being but as much as I want to take you up on your offers of coming to you, I must stay. My mother is already broken and I worry about her. And Isolde need some opposition because who knows what she would be capable of with free hands. I must stay for as long as possible.

I want nothing but the best for you and am immensely grateful for your support,

Charlene.