Chapter 1 (Cora)

The sound of the slap registers long after the stinging of my cheek takes hold of me. My head whipped to the side as tears filled my eyes. Elanora is upset.

Gripping the laundry basket tighter, I bowed, apologizing for something I did not do. I could feel Elanora's seething gaze on me.

"Cora, do you know why I'm upset right now?" Elanora hissed through gritted teeth.

It could have been anything that had set her off today, but I can't say that. I know the Duke came to the palace for an audience with the king. Elanora was in love with the Duke, though she had only seen him from afar, and he had no idea who she was. Something must have happened when she went to see him.

"Did the Duke disrespect you, your highness?" I could barely stop my voice from shaking as I tried to get the words out.

No matter how I answered, it was going to be wrong. My answer might lead to a beating if it angered her any further. I could feel her moving away, but I didn't dare look up. When I heard her throw herself into the chair across the room, I quickly got up and attended to her, kneeling in front of her.

" Why didn't you tell me the Duke was here to discuss a marriage proposal with my father today?" She looked down at me, and I could see the tears in her eyes.

She was upset with whatever transpired when she went to seek out the Duke. I had heard of his visit but wondered why he was visiting. Living in one of the palace's annex buildings, we heard very little of what happened in the main building.

Elanora Via Floraden was born to a concubine of the king. She was beautiful; her slim, willowy figure complimented her gorgeous brown locks and amber-colored eyes. However, as the second princess, she had very little power in court and has lived in solitude in the annex building since birth. Very few people had seen the princess since birth, and no one truly knew what she looked like besides the annex staff and the royal family.

" How could Father even think of marrying the Duke and my sister when he knows of my love for the Duke?" She wailed.

It was better to let her vent and scream than to try and calm her down; that only led to her throwing things, and I couldn't let her hurt herself. That's when she turned to me, her tear-streaked face twisting again into anger.

"It's all your mother's fault! That mother of yours didn't teach me properly. If I were better at etiquette and politics, my father would marry me to the Duke, not my sister." She began kicking me from her seated position; her pointed gem-encrusted outing boots still on her feet.

My mother became the king's servant after the king invaded my mother's country. He had taken her as a servant and slaughtered all highborn nobles and the royal family. As the daughter of the fallen countries' Duke, my mother was given a respectable position within the palace as Eleanora's nursemaid. I was almost a year younger than Elanora, and we grew up together for the most part.

With each kick to my gut, her anger subsided. Once she was satisfied that I had truly understood why she was upset, she dismissed me for the night after I helped her change into her nightgown and tucked her into bed.

Limping down to the servants' quarters, I stopped by the kitchen to pick up two bowls of soup and bread the kitchen staff had left for me. Making my way towards the small room I shared with my mother, I opened the door to find my mother where I had left her.

Tucked into bed, her small frame looked weak. Her once beautiful lush blonde hair looked dull and frizzy, and her light gray eyes looked dark and sunken. Most people used to call me my mothers mini-me, and I relished the thought that I could one day be as beautiful as her. She would turn heads as we walked down the palace hallways from high and low-born men. Even with her head bowed, she was the epitome of grace and elegance as she walked. Something no one could beat out of her though many tried.

I could tell by her reddening cheeks her fever was back. Putting down our supper, I laid my cool hand on my mother's forehead. She had been like this for the better part of two months and she wasn't getting any better. The little compensation the palace gave us for working was barely enough to keep us alive, and we couldn't afford a doctor to look at her. I had resorted to picking herbs in the early morning when everyone was still asleep to make homemade remedies for her, which my mother had taught me about in her medical books.

My mother had given up most of her duties after she got sick to Rupert, the head butler, even though she spent all of her days in bed now many of the staff still respected and admired my mother, they always talked about how she had held everything together, even with how powerless the princess was in court. Choking back tears as memories of her old self flood my mind, I stood to grab her bowl of soup as I felt her waking up. I didn't want my mother to see me in this state.

"Baby girl, are you alright?" I could hear the concern in my mother's voice. She must have noticed the bruise forming on my cheek, from Elanora's slap earlier.

Turning around, I smiled so she wouldn't see how much it pained me to see her lying there sick. I sat on the end of our shared bed while handing her her supper. I told her how the Duke had come to visit and the reason for his visit. I didn't need to explain further for my mother to understand what happened in Eleanora's room.

Grabbing my hand, I could feel how skinny her fingers were getting. I could see the veins running along her hand. She patted my hand gently. She never tried to promise me a better tomorrow, we both knew that might never happen, but she did try to comfort me in her own way. I clung to that comfort and love like a lifeline; it was the only thing that kept me going in this miserable life.

My mother chatted with me about all the things she had read in her book today, while slowly eating her soup. I layed down next to her just listening to her. I loved these moments. It reminded me of when I was little and she would lecture Elanora and I about the things we needed to know about being a part of the noble class and what that entailed. I could feel my eyes getting heavy as I listened to her letting sleep take hold of me.

Before the sun came up the following day, I headed into the forest behind the annex; while it was still part of the castle, no one came out due to the increased monster activity. They had started slowly migrating closer to the kingdom and the palace's domain when the drought started a little over a year ago. We had seen little rain, and the only source of water we had was the small river in this forest.

Thankfully, Tate, one of the knights of the annex, had given me a sword to protect myself with. Monsters were usually nocturnal beasts, and early in the morning was the safest bet for going into the forest as they were falling asleep. While I only knew the basics of wielding a sword, carrying one made me feel safer about going out alone.

It always seemed that the early morning air smelled of wet grass and new beginnings. I loved how peaceful it felt. The early morning silence enveloped the kingdom, and all you could hear was the chirping of birds and buzzing of the bugs. Walking along the rooted deer paths towards the river, I could catch a glimpse now and then of either a rabbit or deer alongside the trails.

Hiking down the slight incline within the forest led to a river where I could find the herbs I needed to make a cough syrup for my mother to help ease some of her pain. Crouching down next to the bank, I could feel the cold river water on my fingertips as I grazed my fingers over the top of the water as I washed the herbs I had collected. When I was little, I would come out here with Tate, now a knight of the annex, to play. We would run over the tree roots, find wild fruit trees to eat from and come to this river bed to cool off on hot summer days.

From in front of me on the other side of the river embankment, I heard a soft twig snap; looking up expecting to see a deer or other animal taking a drink, I found myself face to face instead of with a man coming out of the tree line. He was tall and muscular, with a scar running from the side of his temple to the top of his jawline. On instinct, I grabbed for my sword, ready to draw it. He looked up from the stream, as he seemed to have just noticed me he took a step back. Looking me up and down, and as his eyes landed on my sword he smirked, like an adult smirking at a child when they do something amusing.