Alexia
"Open the gates" I said to the guards as I carried a large box of books, I looked at their faces as they stood still and I felt suffocated by those walls.
I knew that as princess of Olimper I couldn't leave without Estevan, something I hated with all my might.
I was fed up with a lot of things and I wouldn't bend to kings.
"I'm not going far!"
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I don't have authorization to let you leave on your own."
I looked at the guard angrily and nodded, it wasn't his fault.
I looked at the stone path that led to the large castle doors and lowered the box right there, took out the metal can of oil and poured it on top of the books, then set fire to the first book with a lighter.
It was just one copy of hundreds more that were kept in the library, but it still made me cringe to do it, my form of protest was a way of driving Queen Soraya mad and I intended to go much further to be heard.
I threw the burning book on top of the others, seeing that the fire spread quickly, the guards looked at the flames and did nothing, I couldn't, but I could see the criticism and judgment in their eyes, because I was acting crazy.
"What are you doing?" Soraya asked from the castle, I turned to her who looked at the books and then at me as if she was going to choke me with her hands " Have you gone mad? "
"Yes, I've gone mad!" I said.
She held my arm tightly with her nails and whispered close to my face, saying:
"You want to take away my patience, you don't know how bad I can be!"
"Your Majesty" Lord Francis appeared, he frowned at the sight of my small fire "Is something going on?"
"No, why would it be?" She cracked a smile and turned to me, rubbing my arms "Hide that lighter and put on a smile, here we have eyes everywhere and savages like you don't last!"
She turned with a gentle smile and he approached.
"Queen Soraya" He bowed and then looking at me said "Princess Charlotte".
I gave him a gentle smile, realizing that his eyes were locked on the fire that was so striking and out of place in the situation.
"I wanted to discuss the farms on my land with the king, we still haven't settled on the distribution for next year"
"He must be in the throne room," said Soraya.
"He's not, I've already been there"
"So he's in a meeting with Prince Estevan, I'll remind him about the farms, we still have a lot of things to close for the beginning of next year." She said and followed his eyes which were still stuck in the scythe, then touching his shoulders she turned him around. "In the meantime, tell me how your daughter is, I heard she got married last summer, I was hoping she would visit us too."
"It was her wish to come, Your Majesty, but she's expecting her first child so a long trip might not be good for her health," he said and Soraya looked surprised and happy as she walked away to talk to him.
I looked at my fire and threw the lighter on it, I knew I wasn't right and that any rebellious attitude could be harmful, but I needed to somehow get their attention because talking was getting nowhere and I needed to know what was going on, because I knew that after the banquet given for me where people from all over the world were invited, news about me had already spread and soon it would reach Charlotte's ears that I was still alive.
She didn't know how far she could go, but to the witch's words about being wary of a woman in red. Red was the color of the Torrem flag, as well as the color that Charlotte wore almost every day.
Even from afar, without even knowing where Charlotte was, with a piece of paper she imposed on me and had me given poisoned tea and taken as an indigent to the forest to be buried.
The weather was cloudy and soon drops began to fall on Olymper. I wrote a letter to Mariah in response to hers and told her about Silver, leaving out the part where I was poisoned, the part where I ended up in Zaim and the part where she didn't even know my real name.
Now, when I walked through the corridors there were more stares than before, attention seemed to be completely focused on the novelty of the castle.
Silver was now inside the castle, but without handcuffs, lying on the throne room next to my chair, he stayed almost all day as if I were his home, his family, and when he disappeared, all I could think about was Dragon Island.
Without asking for consent or waiting for the gates to open, I broke the rules again by climbing onto the dragon and disappearing into the sky.
The rain that beat against my face, whipping it away, didn't bother me, above the clouds only the sun and the icy wind.
Spinning and falling through the sky, I advanced over the boundary, stopping before the trees, got off Silver and smoothed him down.
I looked towards the forest, from there I would still be alone.
"Do you feel it?" I asked him as I smoothed him down "I'm nervous and scared, but that's already a constant"
Silver let out air through his nostrils, the rain over our heads I was already soaked, the cold in my belly and the racing heart were just a detail, it had come because of fear and anxiety, I needed to do something or I was going to freak out, I felt that that storm in the skies wasn't the worst so I looked for the witch, walking carefully on the muddy ground looking for the figure that had once given me mysteries and riddles.
Her cloak covered her entire body while her face seemed only a distant shadow, I bypassed the fright by standing my ground, she turned and walked, I went towards her and this time she didn't move away, she kept walking until she reached an old wooden hut, she climbed the rotten steps that creaked and entered the door leaving it open.
I climbed the steps without thinking and slowly opened the door, it creaked, the light came on, the house smelled of dust and was cold.
The fireplace came on abruptly and I looked at it, the witch removed the hood from her head and walked through the room, the annoying noise of a teapot gave me a fright.
"I knew you'd come back, Alexia" she said, turning to me "Sit down, the tea's ready!"
She walked into the kitchen, I sat on the sofa waiting for her to come back, she returned with a tray of tea and cookies.
I looked at the tea, remembering my history over the last few days.
"I think I'll have to refuse," I said.
"It's just tea, there's no poison or drugs in it," she said.
I blinked in surprise at her words.
"How do you know my name and the name of the poisoned tea?"
She stopped stirring the tea and lifted me up.
"See if it's good with sugar"
I looked at the tea for a moment and then brought it to my lips, taking a small sip.
"That's good," I said and she nodded, turning to the other cup as she filled it.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" She asked, her putrid appearance, her expression marks said that she was nearing the end of her life, her nails looked poor and her lips were purple.
On her head, the white, unkempt hair was so sparse that her hairy body stood out more visibly, but none of that mattered, she seemed to know more than anyone else.
"You seem to know who I am and my future, but you speak in riddles. I came because I need answers to my doubts and fears, so no, I'm not afraid."