Painful Reign

The ground was rumbling beneath her feet. She could feel the soles of her sandals vibrating against her skin. There was shouting. Lots of it. Rising up from below her. Hundreds if not thousands of mouths all competing for attention. Raised to the air, bellowing out commands, cheers, and questions.

All her life she had lived with her aunt and uncle, along the outskirts of the city. Her neighborhood was built upon rows and rows of sodden homes. Raised from the same dirt that covered the streets. Lost among the beggars and pleaders. It was always a normal life. She didn't know anything else. Those around her were just normal people, like herself. Born into the world without much. But it didn't matter. They survived on what they were fortunate enough to have - roofs over their heads, food, and loved ones to carry them through each day. There wasn't anything else they needed. At the time, she didn't know she was special.

Before she could remember, she had been sent away. Her mother and father were nothing but a memory in her head built from stories she had heard from others, put together from words. There were no pictures. No images in her mind. But whenever she thought of them, they were stunning. Her mother was extravagant - radiating beauty. Her father was as chivalrous as the knights of lore. She missed them, but was never ashamed - because she loved them as they were in her mind. And nothing would keep them from coming back for her.

But now here she stood, not sure as to why she was there, tucked below the railing of some building, standing between her aunt's legs. The crowd below her was louder than before. She could feel their unease slowly building. They wanted answers as much as she did. Looking up, she made eye contact with her aunt, pleading for an explanation through her stare. Her aunt squeezed her shoulder and mouthed "it's time."

And before she could do anything, she was in the air, cradled in her aunt's hands, raised high enough for all those standing below her to see. There were many more than she had ever imaged. Thousands upon thousands spread out before her. Looking up at her. Cheering and smiling. The tension in the air had all but gone, replaced with joy. To her left, she could see her uncle, silencing the crowd with gestures - finally beginning to speak when the last few people below calmed. She could hear his voice bellowing out above them all, reaching all ears.

The girl before them was the princess - now their queen. She had been in hiding since birth - her parents fearing for her life from an unknown enemy that had been drawing nearer everyday. She was next in line for the throne, to fill the space her parents left. There was no need to worry - her parents had led the city through its golden age and she would lead the same - to glory. It was her time was now. As she hung there in the air, she couldn't comprehend it all. The people. The power. The wealth. The responsibility.

But more importantly, she couldn't comprehend that her parents would never come for her.

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