Tied to the Throne

chapter four

A loud bang awakens me. Startled, I sprung up, rubbing my eyes. Quickly realising what woke me up was just thunder. It had been storming all night, I remember falling asleep to the sound of rain, along with my mother. Wait. I turn to look beside me, noticing an empty spot. She must've got up already.

I cannot tell what time it is due to the storm, but I know it had to be before sunrise, or someone would have already come to wake me.

Fuck, I have to leave today.

Groggily, I make my way up and out of bed. I hate waking up early. I glance at myself in the mirror. I look like a fucking racoon. Mascara all around my eyes, creating dark shadows and uneven clumps. I forgot to take my makeup off last night.

Quickly I found a makeup wipe and aggressively rubbed my eyes until there was no black stain anymore. But it was now red from the aggression of the tissue.

Deciding it was probably time to check what time it was, I make my way over to my nightstand and open the top draw. The clock read: 4:40. The gold hands graciously directing me. Okay, I have an hour to get ready.

After I finished packing toiletries, doing my hair, makeup, and getting dressed, I make my way over to my door. This will be my last time stepping foot in this bedroom. The only bedroom I've ever known.

But I shouldn't dwell on it. For I would end up ruining my makeup again.

With my bags in hand, I open the door. Looking outside my room and down the hallway, I notice how early it really is. All the maids are running around, and the suns rays aren't providing a warm light, but rather a gloomy cast and candle lanterns barely lighting the slim space.

As I walk down the dimly lit hallway, many maids pass me, some giving me sympathy looks. But others whisper among themselves. Only one maids mumbles really stick out to me.

"I fell bad for the poor soul, prince Nikolai is known to be unforgiving. I would be terrified knowing his reputation."

Reputation?

In the spur of the moment I decide to dig further into the situation, marching my way back over to her. She looks startled at the sudden change in movement.

"Sorry to bother you, but what do you mean reputation?" I inquire, trying not to seem rude.

The lady looks around, perplexed for a second then turns back to me. "Umm, well prince Nikolai is known for being a feared warrior across many kingdoms." Her voice is soft and respectful.

WHAT?

I thought this couldn't get any worse but here we are! Oh, of course he's a feared, skilled warrior. Just my luck, I have to marry some guy who isn't exactly known to be nice. I thought maybe he was rude to me because we were getting married, but no. That's just him.

"O-okay, thank you," I go to read her name tag, "Jane".

"No problem your highness, good luck." She replies, quickly turning around presumably to go help around the castle.

Now I'm even more worried than before. What if he like kills me?! He wouldn't. Right? But he could. Fuck, I'm just freaking myself out even more. I need to drop it.

"Arabella, hunny! I'm glad I found you, we need to get a move on. Need a help with those bags?" My mother comes running up to me. She has always been such a kind person.

"Yes please." I say back with a smile on my face. She never fails to improve my mood, even in the lowest of times.

My walking sped up as mother's did. Now we were slightly jogging through the castle walls, far too many bags in our hands. Finally we make it to the coach outside.

My mother goes to stand beside father, them now staying hand in hand. They don't act like it, but deep down I know they still love each other, I can see in their eyes.

"Oh, I'm going to miss you so much," the cracking of her voice if followed by tears running down her face.

"I'm going to miss you too Mother," I return, engulfing her in a warm embrace. I soon turn to my father. He still has the same stone cold look he always wears. Of course he doesn't care that I'm leaving, he was the one who gave me away.

After saying my goodbyes, I put my bags away and step inside the carriage quickly trying to avoid the last of the rain. Hearing my mother's sobs pains me as the carriage stars its journey. I couldn't bear to look outside the window, I knew seeing her would make me break. It would make me even more scared of what my life was about to become.

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Hours past once again. The sun was now high in the sky, but provided no warmth as we ventured father north. The Witlock's castle came into view, and as beautiful as it was, I just can't image living there. But i have to.

The horses trots soon stop, and now all that can be heard is the rattling of reins, and knocking of bags. The small doors open and I step out, snow crunching under my foot. It's freezing, holy shit.

"Arabella!" A man's voice welcomes me. Aiden! I quickly turn to face him. "I'm glad to see you're well, I wasn't too sure what you'd be like since the last time I saw you, you were all over the place." His comment seemed backhanded. Nevertheless, I brushed it off and hugged him lightly.

"Haha, yeah," my laugh, clearly forced and uncomfortable.

"Why don't we get you inside to see you're new room, it's freezing out here!" Oh god. Right, I have to live here. He helps grab my bags and walks me inside.

I admire the decor once more. The palace seems much less appealing now that I am being forced to live inside it.

This is my new home.

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is this boring? i kind of feel like it is, but i'm trying to get the plot going in a bit. don't worry you'll get more arabella and nikolai interactions soon! thanks for reading :)
1060 words