One touch

Prologue

~Prologue~

I smiled and waved gently at the people below me, as I was taught to. Although, to be honest, at that very moment I wished to close my eyes and simply scream, I did not. As a princess, I had to act like a 'proper lady'. It was suffocating at times-which is, to say, most of the time-but that is the way it was, and there was nothing I could say that would change it. Of course, being a princess had its advantages, I could not deny that, nor was I trying to. And it was not that I didn't appreciate all that I had, but I just was not certain I could handle all these responsibilities and expectations.

I believe I could act beautiful, polite, smile and wave all day long, that was not the problem. The issue was to find a suitor and give my life, my freedom, to someone I did not know, merely for the 'sake of the kingdom'. I adored my people, really, I did. I tried my best, because of the love I feel for my people in my heart, but that was one thing I desired to choose for myself when the time came. I could not sit still and look pretty much longer, for I did not want my life to revolve around something so useless and pitiful. I want to be a royal the kingdom will never forget. I wished for them to love and cherish me as I would, in return, feel for them.

And really, I was normally quite a cheerful individual, which made it far more simple to smile and act polite in front of everyone, it was difficult when all I wanted to do was scream or cry or perhaps just crawl into a corner, hide, and never come out again. The infuriating part of being someone socially respected, the most socially respected you can get, in fact, was that you could not often show your true feelings to anyone. It was all a well-prepared disguise that you had to keep up all your life. Or most of it.

A princess should not have such thoughts, scolded my inner voice, which gave me a sharp reminder of how my cranky, old, childhood etiquette teacher used to sound like. The memories were bittersweet, because I wasn't sure if I missed her or not.

She would often reprimand me for little things such as how to sit or the way I presented my voice, even. It got irritating from time to time, but I made it out alive and that is all that matters. But she kept me company throughout the lonely times and she was someone who didn't tell me I was perfect simply because of my high status, she said what she meant and that was a huge part in improvement in my life.

Although, I don't really want to be alive right now. As I waved, I felt my stomach churning with my bad thoughts. Add a stomach-ache to an already bad day. Isn't the princess life just great? But it wasn't a stomach-ache. It was a bad feeling, an instinctual feeling; as if something bad were to happen.

I froze when I heard the first scream. A loud, high-pitched scream. Then it started- the panic, the bloodshed, the horrible crunching of bones and the fighting. I felt numb, my mind clouded with an unidentifiable fog and I couldn't think straight. But even through my daze I heard guards talking around me, pulling me along.

"Keep the princess protected!'

"What about His Majesty and the Queen?'

"Don't worry. We've got the queen and him at the entrance of the passage. What's the situation outside?'

"Many people are dead. We just need to get the princess safe."

"Wh-what's going..." I mumbled.

"Do not worry, princess Olivia, we will keep you safe, and that is all you need to know."

"M-my people...!' I gasped in horror. My people were dead!
How could I take the pain of that? It was too much for the me, I was ready to collapse any moment. I stood on the sideline when my people died. I was a horrible leader. But I was too weak, mentally and physically, to pull away and run back to help my kingdom. I could do nothing as I was dragged along. Neither could I do a thing as calloused hands were abruptly against my mouth and a cold, sharp, steel object was pressed against my neck.