The Forgotten World

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I have a secret. I've been exploring more of the grounds. I don't think anyone knows about my midnight explorations except the night guard that I paid off with a few necklaces. He doesn't seem like he would tell my father anyway. He often complains about how he is stuck on night duty and gets bored, so I think he enjoys following me around the grounds. Last night I finally found my way through the hedge maze. It took me a while, but I finally did it without assistance. Anyway, I must go now, I'm awfully tired.

Lyanna put her journal in the locked drawer of her nightstand, where it belonged. She carried the key to the drawer with her at all times. Not necessarily because she was afraid anyone would read her journal, but because of the stash of daggers and various weapons she kept in there. It took her years of planning and hiding and scheming with her father's staff to gather them, and she wasn't willing to risk losing them. After all, her father was less than thrilled to know that his daughter, the princess, had been training in archery and combat. There are more than a dozen weapons hidden around her room that would be greatly frowned upon, to put it lightly. Her father knew almost nothing about Lyanna, but whatever he did find out usually disappointed him. Keeping her training and arsenal a secret was easy and very beneficial. In her father's mind, Lyanna should be doing nothing but preparing for her slaughter, well, her future marriage. Lyanna had no issues with the concept of marriage, she had issues, however, with the idea of being married off to a man she had never met. She had even more of an issue with her only purpose in life being to be married to a man who would silently rule while she was the face of the kingdom. It's not like Lyanna wanted to be Queen or to lead, but she wanted the choice, the choice that she would never have. Her entire life was determined by her absentee father without taking her into consideration. She wanted to be in control of her life and to be able to choose her path. In all reality, Lyanna just wanted to be noticed. To be seen and understood. She wanted to not be on her own all of the time, something that her father took from her.

Lyanna was always lonely. Ever since a young age, she had always been on her own. She wanted friends, and even had a couple of them in her youth, but they would always end up leaving. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she realized that these friends didn't disappear by chance. Everytime she made a friend, that friend would mysteriously leave soon after, no matter who it was. Many of her friends were servant children, as they were oftentimes the only children in the castle. It also didn't help that her mother died shortly after her birth, leaving her with an angry and absent father and the kingdom with a widowed king. Whenever she questioned these disappearing people, she was told that they had moved somewhere else, got reassigned to some lord somewhere, or she was just simply ignored. Eventually, she just stopped asking and stopped trying to make friends. To help cope with the eternal loneliness, Lyanna read. A lot. Books were her solace in what seemed to be a never ending loneliness. Most days she could be found in the library, reading through every new book the scholars found. Though she read all the different types of books, she really enjoyed reading the ones where the young hero or heroine would have the courage to stand in front of the villain and fight. This was something she truly could not imagine doing, even though she had all the weapons she could ever need. She was reading that type of book now, thinking about how someone was capable of having so much courage.

"Don't tell me you're fantasizing about some imaginary kingdom again," said General Drystan, making her jump.

"General!" She gasped, jumping out of her seat in the process. "You're back. How was your trip?" She was relieved to see him in one piece. The General was one of her favorite people and one of the only people that didn't disappear, even though they were close. He was kind to her and practically raised her. Though he was always off doing something important for her father, he always made her feel important and loved.