Prologue
TWINKLING STARS LIT UP THE SKY Like they were ballerinas in one of the traveling groups that had come to the kingdom just weeks before.
Tonight the whole kingdom sat under those stars, waiting for the beautiful 9 year annual star shower. The king and queen, though still struck with the grief of losing their firstborn, decided that it would be better to go out, and watch the star show on the cliffside. Oh, how the kingdom rejoiced at the sight of their king and queen when they saw the two out of the castle.
Everyone was happy, all except one. The lone soul of the castle, and the soon-to-be crowned prince Instead of being out with their parents, they sat alone in their dark and dreary room. Sitting on their window seal they look out into the beautiful sky, staring at it with a familiar longing.
Then the stars began their tango in the sky, they shot across the sky as if an army racing into battle, leaving only paintings in their wake. The sky was painted a shade of lavender and pink, it was magnificent.
But, amidst the lavender and pink that guarded the sky, a small speck of yellow sat. This sparks the child's interest, for they had not seen any stars of yellow that evening. They stare with an intense interest as the peck of yellow moves towards them.
Soon enough, the yellow dot turned from a hazy blur to a vibrant star that sat just outside their window.
They gaze in interest, and reach to open the window. The window opens with a click, and in zooms the star, leaving behind a trail of stardust.
Before they could even react to what was happening, the star burst, blinding them temporarily. They let out a piercing scream, alerting the guards and nurses nearby of their pain. On their skin lay burn marks, dotting everywhere, from their face to their arms.
When the guards finally rush into the room they see the child crumpled on the ground. Their royal garments were burnt, as well as the tips of their hair.
After that, the castle doctor was called. Their parents hadn’t known about the weird and awful incident until they had gotten back the next day early in the morning, and immediately the queen rushed to their side.
Over the course of the weeks following that everything seemed fine, until one day they suddenly grew sick, with no warning. The sickness was similar to the one that the queen had when she was pregnant with her first born, but it wasn’t the same, it was.. Different somehow.
So just like when the queen had gotten sick, the people scoured the book of library shelves, in search of something to help the sick child.
Until one day, a woman came to the castle, saying that she knew the reason for the sickness, and she did. But before she could ever finish her story, she was dismissed by the king, and sent away, but not before telling of a prophecy. No one knows what the prophecy entails except for the king, and some think they never will.
Though somehow, through a miracle, the child grows healthy again, as if it had never happened. The only evidence of the event ever happening being a star shaped scar that sat directly in between their eyes, as well as a few scattered areas of burn.
The kingdom rejoiced, they were so happy that they had not lost another royal child, and so life continued on as usual.
Eventually, the kingdom forgot all about the event, and as was the prophecy. It’s laughable really, the kingdom was worried for weeks upon week, and then they just forgot, as easy as that.
Until it wasn’t. The princette doesn’t remember the event, but the ball of pure star power stays with them, waiting for the next time the stars and earth meet.
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Over the many years [name] grew, and over those many years they helped the kingdom out of many things, such as a potential war. Nothing their father couldn't have done, he was just far too busy grieving and ignoring them. In all honesty there were too many times to count instances when they had done something for the kingdom, it was their duty, so they spent so many extra hours doing stuff that would have never gotten done if it was handed to their father.
Most of the time it actually was handed to their father, but he rarely ever did it, even when he said he would, so normally they would end up doing it. It wasn’t the most fun, but the kingdom would fail without it.
Over the time that [name] had been crown princette, which was just over seven years, their father had missed six royal banquets, five birthdays, and several festivals. It was tiring, because every time he went off with a search party, he left them to do all the talking, along with their mother of course, but not only that, he ended up spending so much money every time he went off on one of these searches.
It wasn’t anything that the kingdom couldn’t handle, but it was still a lot.
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On [name]'s 13th birthday, they were so happy, well for most of the day anyway. They woke up, got dressed in their best attire, with the help of some maids, they then immediately rushed down the steps of the west tower, and into the kitchen, where the chefs told them to go wait in the dining room, and they did. They waited for a few minutes, hoping for their parents to show up, but they didn’t. The only person who came into the room was a singular maid, who went by the name of Psyche. She placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of them, smiled, and left.
They frowned, but ate the meal anyway. They continued on with their day, getting small ‘happy birthdays’ from some of the staff. Eventually it was time to open presents, the sun was low in the sky, and a blanket of darkness was close to being lifted over the land, and they still had yet to see any sign of their parents.
They sat in the room of presents, it wasn’t that big of a room, but it could easily fit all of the presents, there were 15, they had counted earlier in the day when they got bored. A maid brought out a cake, a small one, maybe enough for three to four slices, but it was still lovely. They blew out the candle, and smiled slightly as they watched the smoke float up into the air.
After a moment of silence they cut themselves a piece, a small one, and saved the rest for later. They ate and handed the plate to Psyche, the maid who had given them the cake, as well as the breakfast from earlier in the day. They smile, and thank her, before slowly reaching for one of the boxes.
Eventually they got through most of the presents except for two, one from someone unknown, and the other from their father. They opened the one from their father first, there was no letter, only a book, a really, really big book. A book of Greek myths, something they had never necessarily been interested in, but a gift they didn’t like was better than no gift at all.
Then they move on to the final anonymous box. They open it slowly, and in it lay a necklace,and a ring, along with a note. The note said ‘Good luck, you’ll need it’ and that was all, quite strange. They set the note back down, and started to examine the ring and necklace. The ring was designed in the way of a maze, it was quite intricate, and beautiful. The pendant of the necklace showed a half man half bull, from what they could tell of course, and it was, well.. Odd, they didn’t know who exactly would give this to them, but they were still grateful.
And so the day ended, them still having not seen their parents, and unknown sources watching over.
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[Name] yawns as they refrain from slouching in their seats at the banquet table. Normally they wouldn’t even be eating in the same room as their parents. Normally [name] would be eating silently in a small area near the kitchen, a place that one of the maids had shown them. Their parents would usually be already done eating, or just not eating anywhere remotely near them.
But, in the past three months or so, their parents had been hosting dinners, and introducing them to new people. It was odd, the way that their parents spoke of [them]. They always spoke to the people with a prideful tone, saying all things that they were supposedly good at, some of which they had never heard of.
As of this second, [name] was waiting for a nod from their father that signaled that they could eat, but, as luck just so had it, their parents were off talking with some snobby rich man, not even glancing behind to see if they were okay.
The thirteen year old sighs, and glances around the room. There wasn’t anything out of the blue, all the guards stood at their proper stations, and all the butlers and maids rushed around, with platters filled with all sorts of expensive fruits and other goodies.
Eventually their eyes drift to the windows in the banquet hall. There weren't that many, and the few that actually existed were very small, and hard to see out of. [Name] often found themselves looking at the sky, the stars that littered the night skies like lanterns mostly.
Finally their father looked back at them, with a slight grimace that they pretend to not see, and gave them a nod, allowing them to take a bite of their portion of food.
The night grew darker and darker, as people waved their goodbyes to [name]’s parents. [name] stood just behind them, waiting for a speech from their father about how they had not followed the proper etiquette that they had been taught since before they gained consciousness. But the lecture never came, instead both their parents turned around, with soft smiles.
[name] was confused, that is until they started to speak.
“ They’ve found your sister” [name]’s heart pangs, as they stare at their parents in shock. Behind their back their hands clenched together, turning their knuckles white, and forming small crescent shapes on their palms.
“ Lovely”
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[name] suppresses tears as they are told the news “ you are relieved of the duties of crowned princette” the words made their heart sink, it made them want to run, and never ever, ever look back. They look at their father, with watery eyes, and give a shake nod.
“ Thank you for the news father” They bow, and wait to be dismissed.
Their father gives them the signal, and they leave the throne room. Almost instantly they break into a sprint, running past guards, maids, butlers, and anybody who stood in the halls they passed through. They burst through the doors to the garden, and run into the gold night.
Tears flood their vision as they fall to the ground, surrounded by sunflowers, their- the kingdom's official flower. Maybe they were being over dramatic, the crown had done nothing but burden them, and strip away their childhood, so why- why did it hurt so much?
They- They didn’t know, and it scared them.
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{1959}
Okay so I hope you enjoyed it, and I am actually so sorry for doing this. I just didn't really like we're the story was going before, but I hope you like it more now! Also here is the spotify playlist, I'll add more songs as it goes on, and if you want you can recommend songs to add as well.