The_inanimate_

Me? Chosen to be the princess, I doubt it but everyone in my village would love me to succeed. I am the only female to survive through childhood in the last 50 years and I am now 16 which means I have to leave for the palace. 

I have to prove my worth, beauty and power to the whole kingdom, but especially to the king. 
It shouldn’t be too hard, right? His punishments are nothing but arousing. He is hard to resist. Will I fall into his power? Will I fall for him? 

But to risk my heart and power for a position, I believe is an unavoidable problem.

Fallen

The road to the city was boring and uncomfortable and portly lit, that I could barely see anything outside the carriage.


    It was almost sunset and we were now at the gates to the city. The gate was huge, made of marble and disappeared into the clouds. They were such a sight to see, they could have been the only delightful thing the city had to offer and I would be satisfied with them.


    We went through the gates and towards the palace. It looked nothing like the gates; it was dark and ominous. The streets in the city, from what I could see, were buzzing with life. People were singing, laughing, dancing and drinking. I heard a man say:


  'Today the sixteen year olds visit the palace. When they get dismissed there will be fresh meat in the city for me to take hold of and enjoy.'  This scared me but I don't know if what he said was true, the man was drunk and dancing outside barefoot in winter.


'No' another man said,' they belong to the king, he decides what is to be done with them.' The two men chuckled


I started to fall asleep until the driven suddenly spoke,


'We're here miss. We're at the castle.'


I was surprised the journey felt so short.


'Okay, what time is it?' Asking the driver.


'Not yet five miss, we made it it on time'


The door opened and the driver helped me out of the carriage. The castle was massive, the spires loomed over me and were terrifying. Everything about the palace scared me.


  'Miss follow me,' a servant of the palace had come to collect me, ' I will show you where you are staying and take you to the king afterwards.'


      We entered the palace. It was massive. The ceilings were painted with angels and devils fighting, all decorated with gold and silver. The entrance was lit with a grand chandelier that reflected all light that hit it. The floor had a thick deep red rug covering it. Walking on it felt like walking on clouds. The doorways were carved with so much detail they themselves could tell a story with no words. I was in a trance. I had never seen such splendid history in one room.


  'Miss,miss' I was awoken from my trance,'please keep up or you will be late.'


We walked up the steps and into a room. 'This is your room miss, all the girls are on this floor.' I placed my bag on the floor and followed the servant down to a large hall with tables full of food and girls sat on both sides.


'You made it just on time, you are the last girl to arrive.' The voice was low and loud, almost terrifying, 'Sit the feast is about to begin.'


Chapter 3: the city