Alexia
Dragons were dangerous, deadly beasts with a strong temper. Wild, impossible, the greatest weapons that could be used to destroy kingdoms or even exterminate nations if they managed to master them.
It wasn't uncommon for dragons to bond with mortals, for some unknown reason they would choose us and thus form the knights and generals who ranked just below the kings, they are powerful, envied, feared and idolized by the people.
I had never come so close to a dragon before as I had just a few seconds ago, and if I had stretched my hand out a little further I would have touched its skin, now I could smell the burning, the heat, the stinging on the right side of my thigh from the way I fell and the weight on top of me.
I looked around as my vision stabilized and raised my head to look at Estevan who was already getting up off me, everything had happened too fast for me to notice, Estevan was quicker to throw himself on me to protect me.
"Estevan," I said exasperatedly, getting up. Estevan seemed fine as I tapped his pants, from which a small spark began to ignite. "Are you all right?"
I looked him up and down for any sign of injury, but found none.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"What were you thinking?" I asked in exasperation, walking up to him angrily. "Why did you do that, you could have hurt yourself!
"Why did you do that?" Estevan's question left me unresponsive, I bit my lips, still irritated "What were you thinking, Charlotte? If I hadn't arrived in time you would have been pulverized, there wouldn't have been a scrap of skin left."
"Everything was under control!"
"No, it wasn't!"
"Yes, it was."
"I'm sure it wasn't," he said angrily, his face taking on a reddish hue.
"He was calm, you made him angry. Why are you so stubborn?"
"Why am I stubborn?" He raised his voice. "You're the one who's stubborn, Charlotte, you're leaving reason aside."
I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything he interrupted me by saying:
"This discussion is ridiculous, you lack common sense and you will never go near a dragon alone again Charlotte, do we understand each other?"
Estevan's words were for my own good, I understood that, but the way he said them reminded me of where I was and who I was, I was facing a prince and I wasn't a princess, even if I was all that arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere so I just shook my head and watched him leave angrily.
I went back to my room and waited for Estevan to come back, but he never did.
The next morning when the maids came to tidy me up, they took the sheets from which a small trail of blood was evident and hung them in the bedroom window, an old tradition which served to say that the woman he had married was in fact a virgin, but for me it was embarrassing.
I, who had already woken up in a bad mood because I had been left alone on my wedding night, now kept looking at the door hoping that at some point he would come through.
"What do you think of that dress?" One of the maids asked, putting the fabric in front of me so that I could see it in the mirror.
"It's a bit flashy," I commented, looking at the rich silk fabric, the embroidery details on the edges and the perfect, eye-catching fit.
"Your Highness, if I may say so, it's your first day at court, so the more beautiful you look, the better."
I thought about her words, all I wanted less was to attract attention, it wouldn't be a good thing if everyone's focus was on me so if no one bothered me, I'd stay in my room all day pretending I didn't exist to hide my sins and survive these remaining six days.
"Do I have an agenda today?" I asked the light-eyed girl curiously, not intending to ask her name because I didn't want to get attached to anyone "After all, it's my honeymoon."
I looked into her eyes, waiting for an answer.
"The king and queen want to have lunch with the princess."
I shook my head slowly, trying not to show my growing nervousness, I didn't know how to behave in front of them.
"All right, get dressed," I asked.
My thoughts wandered far away while they got me ready, when they finished I barely recognized myself in the mirror, I touched my hair, it was tied back in a formal and elegant hairstyle, the weak make-up accentuated my features, my eyes and my lips, the dress was incredibly beautiful and the gloves that were used to hide the marks on my hands had gone a bit out of fashion, but I still needed them for now.
I asked to be left alone and stood at the window for the first time, looking out at the view from up there. I realized how big the kingdom was, perhaps it was bigger than Torrem but I had no way of knowing since I had never been to Torrem and I had never walked there, but I was used to the view from Torrem from which the field of vision was wide open, it seemed big as it stretched out to the sea.
Olimper had a similar terrain except for the mountains in the distance and from where I was standing you couldn't see the sea.
The door opened, making my whole body stiffen, I turned sharply and saw Estevan enter.
He looked me up and down quickly before stopping his eyes on me and saying.
"You're ready."
I didn't need to ask, I knew he was still angry with me from the distant look in his eyes and the closed look on his face, I hated this atmosphere between us, but maybe it was better because it would avoid closeness and, with it, questions that could complicate things for me later.
"Yes."
"Then let's go."
"Where to?" I frowned.
"Lunch with my parents, they want to meet you."
I looked at the clock on the wall, the time difference was an hour, it was midday in Olimper which meant that in Torrem it was eleven o'clock and I still wasn't hungry, I didn't have a set time to eat, sometimes it was ten in the morning and sometimes three in the afternoon, when I found a gap between chores I would run to the kitchen and sometimes eat the freshly made food that was ready early enough for all the servants to eat and then sometimes I would just eat the leftovers from three in the afternoon.
I shook my head in agreement and walked towards him, although irritated, Estevan held out his arm, which I didn't understand.
"Take my arm."
"Why?" I asked, not at all eager to approach him, still angry about the night before.
"You're my wife."
"I'm not obliged to do anything!"
"It's not, but it would be easier if we left the fighting in the bedroom, you like me understand what it's like to be the future heir to a kingdom.
I thought about his words and softened my harsh expression, understanding that he was talking about keeping up appearances. I took his arm against his will and looked into his face for a moment, Estevan was looking at me and for a moment, my heart raced and I looked away.
"Let's go," I said, trying not to show my nervousness.
I'd never felt like this before, so disconcerted, so nervous, just one look from him was enough, from the first moment I felt this teenage euphoria that I'd never had before, I had no time for flirting, I'd grown up with all the other servants and none of them caught my eye, the men of the court didn't look at me and those who did, only made indecent proposals that I couldn't report.
No man had ever been so kind to me, so, still angry, I felt very attracted to Estevan.
We entered the corridors in silence, all the people passing by bowed, it was strange to have their eyes on me just as it was strange to see them bowing.
I didn't feel like myself in that dress, in that position, with that make-up, wearing the most expensive perfumes and jewelry around my neck, it all seemed like a distant dream I'd never dreamed of, living in Charlotte's shoes, that's what I was doing.
Attempting against my own life, the dream of every little girl in the palace regardless of position, was actually my greatest fear, my nightmare. I didn't want the life of a princess, Charlotte was going to live and die inside the castle so I never envied her, I wanted to know what was behind the walls and I longed for the week to pass quickly so that I could finally realize my dream of being free.
I didn't know how I was going to survive, but I was going to manage, being the maid of a princess taught me to improvise the most variable solutions at inopportune moments when it was necessary, I would survive, I just needed to hide my identity until then.
When we entered the great hall, we were greeted with joy, glasses were raised, there was shouting and euphoria.
I frowned in confusion and turned to Estevan.
"You didn't say it was a party."
"I thought you already knew, the party's been going on since yesterday, the guests stayed overnight in the castle to celebrate our wedding."
"Good," I said, trying not to show my displeasure, but the words came out harsh.
"Believe me, I'm not in the mood to celebrate either!" He let go, making me even angrier.
Estevan put a broad smile on his face and walked back, I smiled too and said hello to the people who came to talk to me, again they were just sycophants whom I recognized from seeing how they treated Charlotte, the exaggerated manner, the meaningless compliments, the exaggerated expressions for people who had never seen her before and treated her as if they had been friends for years, the way they idolized her and feeling this was a contrast to what I was, a nobody.
We stopped at the king and queen's table and I bowed.
"King Acácio and Queen Soraya."
"Why does she bow so much when she bows? " Soraya asked, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "She bows as if she were a servant and not a princess."
I realized I had bowed the wrong way and quickly corrected my posture.
"She's very pretty, but she's thinner than I thought. Are you ill, Charlotte?" Soraya asked, her words taking me by surprise. I hadn't expected her to be so direct and rude, I didn't even know how to respond. I opened and closed my mouth, feeling horrible at her words: "Will you be able to have children like this?"
She looked at her own glass and turned it around, taking a sip and ignoring it, she didn't even seem to expect an answer, she just wanted to spill her venom, but I noticed, she was sneering at me, something I hadn't noticed the night before due to the lack of proximity.
I didn't know if I should be offended, but I was very offended, her words were rude and realizing that I was still looking at her, Soraya turned to me.
"You still haven't answered, do you think you'll be able to give Estevan children?"