War Is A Twisted Game

Longing For Peace

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The breeze was cool, the sky was a light shade of gray, and the smell was horrid. It smelled of blood. War was going on as it always had been all these years. Adeline lived in one of the towers in the castle, so she could always hear and see the bloodshed, right from her mahogany frame window. The cries of the men constantly at war became a normal thing for Adeline to hear during her Hungarian language tutoring or her violin practice.

Though, in Adeline's opinion, she'd rather not listen to the cacophony the men howled nonstop. She would rather tune into the delicate chirps of the kinglets at her windowsill, or the commoners chatting amongst themselves in the marketplace. She longed for the old days where the baker would come out of his shop at around noon with a tray full of fresh baked bread, or when the merchants would shout on and on about the amazing deals they have on their fish, or their priceless one of a kind jewelry. For now though, the only bargains she would hear would be from her father, begging her to marry the Prince of Persia in exchange for peace. Of course, she would do anything to stop the bleeding, but by anything than marriage.

She has heard stories of marriages ending wars, but she didn't want love. She wanted to be out in the real world, with out having to be cautious if Persian soldiers were nearby. Adeline gazed out the window from her rich velvet bed with golden tassels at the ends. The sights of men slaughtering each other was a horrific sight, but that wasn't what Adeline was looking for, as she scanned the terrain. She stood up, strolled over to the seat that matched her bed, and promptly sat down.

She placed her hands on the edge of the windowsill and slowly leaned forward. She could see something farther in the distance. A sort of field, untouched by the brutes to the east and west of her window. She could see small patches of color that up closer, would be beautiful groves of wild flowers in every color imaginable. Adeline smiled, reminiscing of the times years ago, where she would wander blossom fields and her mother would watch after her, making flower crowns to pass time.

Adeline snapped out of her day dream just in time to stop herself from falling over the edge.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" A burly man's voice bellowed. She looked behind her, but the door was shut. She turned back to the window and looked beneath her. A guard that was holding his post was watching her as he waved his hand frantically.

She could see very little of his face, but she noticed his goofy grin. She smiled, holding back a little giggle, and waved elegantly like her mother taught her. "YOUR HIGHNESS!" He shouted once more. Adeline was awfully confused. She had already waved at this man, what more does he want?

She leaned forward a bit and looked down. "Yes?" She called out to the guard. He jolted back, in shock that she had replied. The man hesitated for a moment before responding. "Make sure you don't lean forward too much! You could badly hurt yourself!" She knew this too well already.

Her father has always told her never to lean out the window after what happened to the family's last nursemaid. "Thank you!" She waved at the guard, before she heard the creak of her door opening. She swiveled around to see her tutor sheepishly peeking in from behind the hazel door. " Y-your highness, are you r-ready for your H-Hungarian lessons?" She squeaked, waiting to be allowed in.

Adeline always knew her tutor was quite reserved. The first time she tutored Adeline, she was too shy to even teach her anything. Adeline nodded her head, signaling her tutor to enter...
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