I was always disobedient, even before I could walk or talk. At least that was what everyone told me. I often heard my caretakers talking about how when I was one year old, the Queen had tried to ask me to do something, such as being quiet or doing whatever she asked me to do, but I never obeyed her. She tried this again when I was two, then one more time when I was almost three, but I still did not listen. Thus, she gave up and hated me since. And I knew my caretakers were not lying because the first memory I had of my mother was my mother looking at me very coldly and telling me that I was nothing but trouble and that I would never be a good Princess. So, I knew very clearly that I was my mother's disappointment, an eyesore, someone she hated.
But I did not think she would look so peaceful telling me how I would die.
Although I should have known, maybe a part of me did expect that from her after so many years of hate, maybe that was why I did not feel shocked hearing her words.
But I was angry.
I was furious.
Seeing my sister's overjoyed face at my demise, I wanted to kill them right then right there. All of them. My hands almost reached for my dagger under my sleeves, but that was when I was called.
"Princess, we are leaving," The Beast called out as he started walking away.
I clenched my hands, gritted my teeth, turned around, and followed him without another word. I did not look at my family anymore. As far as I was concerned, I no longer had a family; I never did.
I wanted to get out of the castle as soon as possible, and I did not feel like walking behind the Beast like the rest of the monsters, who were also following their King, so I sped up my steps. It was difficult since I was wearing a gown, and almost fifty weapons were strapped to my body while the Beast casually strode away with his long legs.
"Curse his long legs!" I muttered under my breath, but finally, as we grew closer to the castle gates, I caught up with him.
But my achievement was short-lived because the moment I looked outside the castle gates, I froze.
"Devils!" The monster, who was walking behind me, cursed. "You do not know how to walk or what?"
Hearing him, the Beast stopped walking as well and looked back at me. But I barely paid any attention to them. My eyes were solely focused on the lizard-like creature with enormous wings lying outside the Castle Gates.
Dragons.
"I will not feed you to him if that is what you are worried about," the Beast's mocking voice got my attention.
"I am not worried," I said, glaring at him. "I am not afraid either. I just realised how unfair the war was. This very morning, I saw your Dragons burn my Kingdom. They were your biggest advantage against my Kingdom."
Maybe I should not have voiced my thoughts so soon after the wedding, but I was angry. Angry at everyone around me. Everyone just kept threatening me and wishing me dead, so why should I be cautious? If I were going to die anyway, I would speak my mind, there was no point in holding back.
Surprise flickered on the Beast's face as he regarded my words, but it was his monster who spoke up.
"As if you pathetic humans stood a chance without the Dragons," said the monster standing behind me. "Your little warriors could not hold their ground even when three of them fought one of us."
"Lyall –" the Beast began, but I did not let him finish.
I rounded on the monster behind me to look him in the eyes. He had angry thunder-blue eyes. I knew what kind of monster he was. A Wolf.
"Yet, you lost 47 of your warriors, did you not?" I asked, and his eyes, if possible, got angrier.
"You –!" He looked as if he would kill me right there, but the Beast's voice rang out.
"Lyall!" The Beast did not yell, but his deep voice immediately sobered up – this Lyall and he sharply stepped back from me.
"My King," He bowed as if to apologise.
"You will fly with me, Princess," The Beast said with an amused tone. "I am guessing if I let you fly with anyone else, you would definitely pick a fight and would be thrown off even before we reach Scafera."
"Fly with you?" I turned to the Beast, surprised. Of course, we had to fly; the Emerald Sea lay between Atrofall and Scafera, and the only way to pass it was through ships or, in this case, flying over it.
"Yes," The Beast said before he started walking again.
I stepped after him, keeping my eyes on the Dragon. His eyes were closed, at first he looked asleep, but as the Beast and I stepped closer, the Dragon's eyes opened and he looked at me like a well-fed cat, like I was the prey he was too lazy to grab. My stomach did not react well to that look, and a strong knot formed inside me.
Without any hesitation or wait, the Beast skillfully mounted the Dragon, and I hesitated and hated myself for it. I should not look weak in front of monsters. Not now. Not ever.
"Your Highness?" A man's voice softly called me from behind.
I was surprised because I already knew that voice. I turned around and sure enough, the Army General stood near the castle gates. He cautiously stepped forward but then hesitated. It was so unlike him. I have known Neven, the Army General of Atrofall, Arthur's father, my entire life. He became the Army General even before I was born, and since then, he had defended this Kingdom with everything he had. A lot of my weapons and fighting skills were from him. He once caught me sneaking out of the castle and watching the soldiers' training. To my shock, he did not report me to my father but decided that since I was curious about fighting techniques, I could learn. After that, whenever he would try to teach his son Arthur some use of weapons or fighting techniques, he would teach me alongside him. That was how Arthur and I got close in the first place.
"Forgive me for the interruption even before your journey began," Neven bowed his head slightly towards the Beast. "I need just a moment with the Princess."
The Beast looked at the General and then at me. After a moment, he nodded.
The General and I stepped aside, and the General spoke very quietly, which surprised me more, because he always had a booming, loud voice, the one everyone expected from a big, tall, formidable General.
"I wanted to ask . . . what you said about Arthur, was it true?" He said, looking rather uncomfortable.
As soon as I realised what he wanted to know, my anger spiked.
"Do I have any reason to lie about that, General?" I asked irritably.
"According to Princess Leonora, many," the General gave a small smile, like even he did not believe what my sister told everyone about me.
"Yes, it was true," I answered. "It has been true for more than five years."
"Five years?" The General almost shouted in shock. I realised he did not expect at all how long and how deep his son's deception ran. But then he looked around and remembered where he was and quickly recovered. "I apologise to you, Your Highness. For everything. I truly am sorry for what happened, and I hope . . . I hope you survive. No, I know you can survive. If it were Princess Leonora, I would doubt it, but you, I know."
I stared at Neven, and for the first time today, I felt like crying. Maybe because he was more of a father figure to me than my own father, and he looked humiliated and guilty, but also adamant that I would survive this, which made something inside me tug at my heart. I cleared my throat before the emotions could flood in.
"Farewell, General," I said with a nod and he gave me a respectful nod back.
"Farewell, Princess. I will wait for your return."
My throat threatened to close up at his words, so I did not risk speaking up. I quietly stepped away from him. However, I stopped noticing the fire column beside the gate. Without waiting, I dropped my flower bouquet on the fire and watched it catch fire.
I would survive, I swore, looking at the fire, and marched back towards the Dragon and the Beast. The Beast watched me curiously before reaching out a gloved hand towards me, probably trying to help me up the Dragon and to show me what a helpless little human I was. I ignored his hand and looked at the Dragon, I saw how the Beast climbed on.
"Just do not throw me off," I muttered, looking at the Dragon, and I could swear he was smiling and mocking me.
Taking a deep breath, I braced myself on the Dragon's scaly neck and hoisted myself up. With the gown and the weapons under my gown, it was difficult; I almost slipped off once, but eventually, I managed to sit in front of the Beast, though it was not as graceful. My weapons, however, clinked on the Dragon's scale, and the Beast leaned towards my ear.
"How many weapons do you have on yourself, Princess?" He asked with humour in his voice.
"Pray you never have to find out," I remarked, leaning away from him, and the Beast looked like he was hiding a smile. Of course, a little human like me amused him at best.
"Rise!" The Beast shouted, and immediately the Dragon got up.
I was thrown back at the Beast's broad chest, and his hands came around my sides to hold me in place, so I did not fall down. I wanted to protest, but the Dragon took off to the sky, and I felt so light that the protest could not make it to my tongue, since it was busy holding back a scream.
As the Dragon climbed higher and higher, the wind blew on my face without mercy, and my back almost got stuck to the Beast's chest. His large hands also held me firmly, so I could not move even if I tried. Suddenly, I realised why he said I would fly with him, at that moment he was the only thing keeping me on the back of the Dragon, the others could have easily chucked me off the Dragon and just called it a mistake. Then again he could still do that if I pissed him off enough.
Against my better judgment, I looked down and immediately regretted it. I did not need to know already how high we were in the sky, but then my eyes found my Kingdom. A big part of Atrofall looked burned and completely destroyed. Looking at the condition of my Kingdom, I wanted to throw the Beast off the dragon.
I knew the anger was futile; I would be on the ground dead before I even laid a hand on the Beast, but that did not subdue my anger. And that was when I noticed it.
Atrofall did not look completely burned down. At first glance, it was difficult to see, but when the Dragon went higher and I could almost see the entire capital of Atrofall, I realised the burn marks mostly grazed the top of the high building, as if the fire was just to scare my people, not obliterate them.
I turned around slightly to look at the Beast, and still, half of his face was hidden from me because of the wind wiping his cloak. I wondered why he would do that. Why he would just scare my people when he could easily finish them off?
Unless, from the very beginning, their goal was never to destroy my kingdom. It was something completely different.
[To be continued]