I descend the staircase at the end of the hall, gripping the golden bars engraved with ivy vines. I follow it down around a corner to the first floor of the castle. The hallway opens up into the wide atrium soaked with amber light as the sun passes through the stained glass windows overhead. Pillars, carved into swirls at the base and top, support the roof.

Here, the stone floor is different, checkered with white and black, and polished till] it shines. The click of my shoes changes to a clack, a tang of glass rattling around the room with it.

I turn to the left and approach the looming doors to the throne room. Each one stands twenty feet tall, the mahogany decorated with gold designs, the metal poured into the carved grooves then cooled to become one with the door. Each handle is a rose, the stem where I firmly hold and push inward. A shuddering groan echoes through the atrium as the hinges twist against each other.

The black and white floor pattern continues into the throne room, a purple oriental rug running through the center, extending from the door to the thrones at the far end of the room, ten feet in width, and filled with gold, black, and red. To me, it has always looked like a battle unfolding, boiling blood and fire, charred bodies, the golden screams lacing it all together. It continues this way, neither side surrendering until it reaches the Queen and she calls off the battle, sending the soldiers home unsuccessful and ashamed, allowing our Kingdom to remain poisoned by Illimere’s Moon army

“What is going on with your hair?”

I rapidly lift my head, startled, eyes focusing on the Queen situated on her throne, engulfed in a crimson gown. Her golden crown, encompassing a purple gemstone, rests on her head, surrounded by two braids. The rest of her hair drizzles over her shoulders and down her back. Pale and perfect posture as always, she looks down on me, hazel eyes filled with irritation.

“I thought since it’s my eighteenth birthday, I could have some say in how I appear,” I answer, wishing I had a mask of makeup like her to hide the red fear thundering in my cheeks. I begin to feel that trunk of mine shrinking rapidly, reduced to a frail stem once more. “I figured since-”

“You know how I want you to appear,” the Queen says, lifting her chin. “As presentable as you can be with your hideous looks, but certainly not this...mess. You look like a wild child of the forest. If you came across a young man, you'd scare him away with that mane of yours before he could even tell you, his name.”

I shouldn’t feel so pained by that comment after being hidden for eight years, but I still feel it strike deep in my stomach.

“How could I even meet a man?” I ask, a bitterness to my voice, perhaps a little too strong, a little too daring, but I will never be anything more than a helpless child to her if I continue to back away and hide whenever she speaks to me that way. “I’m not permitted to see any of the ones who set foot in this castle.”

“That’s about to change,” Queen Elsyra says immediately after.

“What?” I can’t keep it from leaving me, my heart beginning to thunder beneath the tight bodice.

“Tonight, in honor of your eighteenth birthday, I’m hosting a ball,” the Queen says casually.

Everything freezes, a rush that suddenly stills, dropping and falling, then stopping just before I land.

Queen Elsyra straightens. “You are turning eighteen, the proper age to take the throne if need be. It’s only logical for me to start introducing you to the Kingdom. They need to know you, become acquainted. In the rare chance that I either die or am dethroned, you must be ready to take over. Hiding you away no longer will benefit me.”

“A ball with people?” I stammer, in shock, still floating, hovering just above the ground, waiting for that final thud. I know the look that is on my face, the way my words tumble out of my mouth. Any other day, the Queen would tell me to shut my mouth, to stop gawking, but based on the humor I see shining in her eyes, this is the very reaction she wanted from me.

“Yes, Alea, a ball with people—Dukes, Duchesses, Royals, young eligible men, potential suitors for you,” she explains with a growing smirk.

“F-For me?” I breathe, my entire face pounding now, my vision starting to redden around the edges, a crackle of fear and excitement lacing through me.

“For you.” Queen Elsyra’s eyes narrow on me. “And I expect you to find one. Otherwise, it will be up to me to find one for myself, so he can take over instead of you. However-” she says, holding up a dainty hand.

I swallow, so close to falling.

“If you are to do anything today that makes me upset, I will deem you unfit to go tonight,” she threatens, leaning forward, looking down at me, her typical smirk dancing on her full blood blood-red lips. “Is that clear?”

I nod, beyond myself in excitement, pure exhilaration. I will not fail you, Queen Elsyra,” I say, bowing at the waist, my hair spilling over my shoulders and twirling around my face, swaying as my insides do.

She scoffs. “We'll see about that. Now go.”

I continue to bow for another second, then turn, my whole body numb except for the tingling sparks shooting from my feet to my head. Everything has a white glare, excitement swirling around in wisps, reaching to the red and gold ceiling and far stone walls, consuming me. The towering throne room doors are weightless as I shove them open, now running, skipping, dancing across the shining floor. The amber atrium becomes a blur as I begin spinning and spinning, heading toward the staircase to my room to tell May the wonderful news.

I collide with a dark figure, grunting as my spinning ceases and I slip, stiff shoes sliding against the polished stone. I throw out my arms, holding tight to the figure to keep myself upright, but it’s too late and we're both falling.