Crowned Warrior

ONE

    Seraphina had been dozing off as she listened to one of her ladies court, Vesper Knightwood, talk about how charming of a man she'd met in the market earlier that day. He had been a nobleman on official business from a neighboring kingdom, clearly not the one they were at war with. Seraphina's parents, the King and Queen Ashburn, wouldn't let her go to battle because they said it wasn't serious enough for her to go, despite being the best warrior in the Kingdom.

"Your highness, are you even listening?" Vesper asked, her hands on her hips. Her bright green dress brought out her eyes and suited her hair nicely, though it was a color Seraphina despised.

"Of course I was, Vesper. You were rambling about the man you met in the market," Seraphina answered.

"Quite ridiculous how easy you are to fall in love, Vesper," the second and only of Seraphina's ladies court, Lyra Theron.

"Like you're one to talk! You're to be married!" Vesper argued, sitting down with a huff. "I wish I were to be married. Mother and father insist I wait until at least nineteen."

"Don't rush love, Ves," Lyra said.

"Love is overrated," Seraphina answered, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "I'll probably never be able to find love for myself. I'll be pawned to use to end the war, most likely."

Lyra and Vesper both frowned. The awkward tension in the air was thick. Seraphina sighed and stood up. She said nothing as she walked from the garden to the castle doors, Lyra and Vespa rushing to catch up with her. It was almost time for lunch, which meant a quick fix up on her looks and hair. She dreaded speaking with her parents. She knew what was coming. She'd overheard them talking about it that morning.

Luckily, her ladies court would be there for support. The usually sat next to her. The lunch table was typically empty save for her ladies court. It was tiring being the only child. She always wished her parents had given birth to another child. A brother perhaps. She walked aimlessly to her bedroom, the sounds of Lyra and Vesper's quiet chatter as she walked to her room.

Her door creaked as she walked in, her ladies court behind her. Her room was big. A king size bed in the middle of the room, night stands on either side of it. Her sword lay propped against the right-side stand. Her vanity on the left side of her room where her closet was, and on the right side of the bed was a table for one where she typically ate her breakfast while her hair was being done. There were two large glass doors that lead to her terrace on either side of the bed and a changing screen that also hid all of her workout tools because her parents said it was un-ladylike.

Seraphina walked over to her vanity, sitting down, and looking at herself in the mirror. Lyra sat down on her bed and Vesper came to stand by her at the vanity. Seraphina examined her features in the mirror. Her pale hair was much lighter than her mothers, her blue eyes much icier and bluer than her fathers. Her slim jawline more defined than her mothers and her father's nose squarely in the middle of her face.

"Your highness, what has you looking... well, empty?" Lyra asked, sitting up on Seraphina's bed.

"Will you two please just call me Seraphina?" She asked, looking at Lyra through the mirror. "And I'm just lost in my own thoughts. I was thinking that tonight, we could go for a horse ride, watch the sunset in the Maypalm Valley."

"Where we used to play as kids?" Vesper asked, Seraphina answered with a nod. She pulled her hair up onto her head, looking at herself in the mirror. A scar ran across her collar bones. She'd gotten it from her asshat of an instructor when her parents put her in fighting classes. She touched the scar with her free hand. It had made a bump in her skin that she quite disliked.