Broken

Adia's body jumped as Boris' yell resonated in her head. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to him, her body trembling slightly. She had only heard that shout once before but it wasn't targeted at her, but now as she heard it again, this time her being the target… her legs trembled in fear.

"HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE CASTLE? HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO HIM? HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE CASTLE BEFORE SPEWING ACID ON THEM?!" Boris barked, unable to control the harshness in his voice.

"I-I.. No… but even a blind man can see Boris… EVERYONE CAN SEE THE NONSENSE WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH, YET...yet… you still stand by his side. Why are you still supporting and defending him? WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING A TYRANT?!"

"NEVER!" Boris snapped, "NEVER CALL MY PRINCE THAT!"

"Your… what?" Adia muttered, stepping backwards, her cup breaking into pieces at the words 'my prince.'

"DO NOT blame the foolishness and bruteness of other royals on someone you don't even try to know," Boris looked up at Adia, his eyes reflecting guilty anger. He knew he was being harsh, but he couldn't stop the words from coming out, "you don't want to know anything about him, yet feel completely comfortable with building accusations and pinning them on him. You have no idea what he has been through."

"AND WHY DON'T I KNOW?!" Adia retorted, her voice trembling, "The people should be able to know the matters of the kingdom."

"Before learning everything about the kingdom, learning how to lead an army, then going to war and placing a large kingdom on his shoulders with watchful eyes who judge him, DO YOU THINK HE HAS ENOUGH TIME TO TELL YOU? BY THE TIME HE HAS FINISHED TELLING YOU, HE WOULD HAVE ALREADY DROWNED IN HIS ISSUES!!"

"I-"

"Besides you think you'll stop judging when he tells you more? No, you just seek someone to blame and he's the perfect target as no one actually knows that much about him, right? And even if you did know something or everything, you'll simply blame him for being unable to deal with his problems on his own and relying on his kingdom," Boris scolded, "STOP LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO BLAME AND INSTEAD TRY TO FIX THE ISSUE. You want the kingdom to notice, but we are in the middle of a war and we don't even have enough men. If we wanted to help we couldn't since we don't have enough resources, which is why I'm here, seeking help, but instead you would rather diss us that use this as a time to get help."

"I- didn't mean to, I just.." Adia stumbled backwards, falling into her chair and covering her face with her hands, "I.. don't know what to do. Everyone is complaining about the other royals taking our money and I don't know what to do. A lot of people are looking for answers and a place to get help and as you know most of the people know us and their children who we help are now looking for ways to help their parents who are running out of work."

Adia stood up and looked out the small window onto the streets at a group of boys sitting on the steps of the building. "Every day the number of kids on the streets gets larger and We don't know how to solve things anymore. He wants to gather them up and attack the kingdom, but I don't know… it sounds dangerous… so I don't want to join him...but what can I do? I have little to no money to look after the kids in this building who are getting more day by day. Neither do I know how to help the people." Adia turned to Boris, tears running down her face, "what do I do?"