1 Chapter 1

My destiny was to be born a princess. That was what fate wanted for me, and I am sure that all the normal girls out there would wish with all their hearts to be in my place. Oh, if only they knew how lucky they are that are not in my place!

My name is Kira, and I am King William's and Queen Madeline's daughter. I have no other siblings, and this is my great misery; they would be consolation to me, but on the other hand, they had to suffer as I had. So, I don't know what would be better.

But it wasn't always like that.

We lived and still live in the kingdom of the Red Valley that stretches open and wide. It is a beautiful valley blessed by productive land, surrounding by high mountains which their ridges are perceived blurring on the Southwest, a volcano on the North, and a harbor on the East.

The castle is built at the beginning of the valley on a hill. The whole valley stretches below this hill.

The valley is crossed by a river called Heavenly River, and it is carrying crystal clear water that falls from the high waterfall at the vertical edge of the mountains. Their high peaks in winter stand out white from the snow.

As I mentioned, the land is blessed, and the soil is very fertile. People here can grow everything, and they always have good and rich crops. When spring comes, the valley's landscape becomes colorful by the wildflowers, and their beautiful scents pour out everywhere.

The valley is divided into equal shares among the people of the kingdom. They plow the ground, and when the grains germinate and grow, they turn the valley into a bright green sea, and when a gentle breeze blows creates gentle ripples like a natural sea's surges under the power of the wind.

When I was a little girl, my father took me and went for a walk outside the castle in the valley. I still have well-kept in my mind and heart the whispering sound field young cereal sprouts make.

The Red Valley got its name because of its blood-red soil. And this is due to the volcano that exists beyond the port, on the Northside. The lava that poured from its awakenings has made the earth red and so fertile.

When I was younger, my mother told me that the last time it exploded was a hundred years ago. Since then, nothing, silence. Legend has it that when the last brave Amazon princess returns, the volcano will wake up again. It's said that the valley used to be Amazon's home.

My parents and I lived happily together in the castle. The father was a good king for the people and beloved by all. Peace reigned in our kingdom, and our people were happy.

Until one day, my father fell seriously ill bedridden. My mother called all the doctors of the kingdom to find out what he had and cure him, but no one could, and my father died. The kingdom got into deep mourning for the good king it lost forever.

Four years have passed since we lost him. I was fourteen years old girl. Shortly afterward, my father's best friend and right-hand, Ethan, began coming and going into the castle.

Over time, his visits became more frequent, and he attended almost all meals, even breakfast. I always wondered how he managed to come to the castle so early in the morning.

Some months passed until one cold winter evening while we were sitting in front of the fireplace; they announced to me that they had decided to get married.

Their announcement came as a nasty shock to me. I didn't want anyone else man takes my father's place but seeing my mother shining with happiness next to Ethan; I decided not to object as she had the right to find happiness again since my father left us so early.

The wedding ceremony took place in the early days of spring, and Ethan was crowned King of the Red Valley.

That was when Ethan showed his real face. A hard and greedy man who only wanted was power and money.

Our people were enslaved under the wishes of the new king—more taxes to be paid to him and less food for our people. In time, the smile faded from their lips, the glow from their eyes disappeared, and unfortunately, there was nothing I could do.

Worst of all, the glow of happiness from my mother's face was gone as well. The smile disappeared from her lips. She remained locked in her room all day without any mood for anything. Not even for riding that I knew she loved.

She had lost a lot of weight, and I was afraid for her health.

It has been years that prevailed the same sad situation.

The people have used to poverty and misery, and for me? I was trapped in the castle. My stepfather didn't allow me to leave the castle. Not even for a walk in the garden. The castle I loved so much had become my golden cage. But what bothered me the most was the reason why this was happening.

And that unknown information scared me the most.

Even at annual balls, we went to neighboring kingdoms; my stepfather and mother didn't leave me from their side. I wasn't even allowed to talk to other girls of my age, whether they were princesses or daughters of nobles.

Even when the girls did the first step to approach me, my stepfather, with my mother, turned them away before I could say a word, and a big question mark prevailed in my mind. Why? Why all this treatment?

My only company and consolation were Brielle, my chambermaid. We had become friends, and this was our secret.

I was sure that my stepfather forced my mother to treat me in alienation from everyone and everything.

Worst of all, it was not long before that happened, and it would answer the question that had been on my mind for years.

I didn't see it coming. Not even in my worst nightmare.

It was just a typical dull day like all the previous ones when my stepfather called me to visit him in the great hall. That meant he wanted to talk to me about something important and official. But again, my mind didn't suspect what was waiting for me. Not in the least. And I should have.

I entered the great hall and started walking in slow steps towards him.

The place was bathed in sunlight, and a gentle warm breeze came in through the large windows to my left, gently stirring my hair.

He was sitting on his throne magnificently dressed, and I wondered why. The protocol says that only in exceptional cases or in balls or welcoming of great personalities is the king obliged to be dressed like that.

He wore tight red pants combined with a red coat decorated with gold details and black leather boots. The lace embellished his neck from the shirt he wore under the adorned coat.

Over the coat, he wore a green velvet mantle with fur on its collar.

How can he be so heavily dressed? I thought. I looked outside at the bright summer sun and then my silky cool dress.

I kept looking at him and his appearance in red clothes, and with the green mantle thrown over him, he reminded me of a giant watermelon. With that in my mind, a smile wanted to make its appearance on my lips, but I held it back. I had to be serious in front of the king.

My stepfather glanced at me with his rugged look. His dark hair was perfectly combed in a low braid back to his neck.

His dark, black eyes looked at me impatiently and with greed. I was always afraid of his gaze on me. He always looked at me as something valuable that he wanted to sell at a very good price.

"You asked for me, Your Majesty," I said and bowed. My heart started pounding in my chest.

"Yes, Kira. I asked you. Last week was your eighteenth birthday. It's time for you to get married. So, I announce to you that in two weeks from today you are getting married."

His words took my breath away.

My head started spinning, and my ears were ringing. I felt like I was losing the ground under my feet.

Although specified in the protocol, my father always told me that I could choose the prince I would marry. That he would be a prince was not negotiated, but at least it would be my choice.

"I want you to marry out of love, like me and your mother." That's what he always told me. I, a little girl, wasn't aware of all this, I couldn't fully understand the value of his words, but I used to say to him.

"Okay, father. I will do anything that makes you happy."

Shortly after we lost the father, my mother had told me that even though my father had died, she would not change his wish.

And now I get this? An arranged marriage?

"What? I am getting married?" I asked him, feeling my voice tremble.

"Are you deaf?" he was sarcastic to me. "I said you are getting married in two weeks from today. And you don't have to worry, you don't have to do anything. Everything will be ready. Even your wedding dress."

"My… wedding dress?"

"Look, kid, I'm starting to get annoyed so go» he dismissed me with a disparaging movement of his hand.

"Wait, one last question. Who… am…I…marrying to? "

"Oh, yes," he looked at me, stroking his beard. "You irritated me so much that I forgot to tell you. You will marry King Henry."

I couldn't believe this was happening to me.

I couldn't think that my mother didn't defend my father's wish.

I couldn't believe that she allowed something like this to happen to her daughter. His words made me sick.

Hearing the king's name that I was forced to marry with, I managed not to scream. I still remember this king. My stepfather had introduced us at the last dance we had attended. And I still remember him for the exact opposite reason that I would remember someone because of his impressed beauty.

He was an older man, with a potbelly and rolls of fat under his chin. Almost bald, and any hair left on his head was white. He has the disgusting habit of talking while at the same time filling his mouth with food, with the resulting food falls from his mouth into his plate or, even worst, to his interlocutor plate. When I first saw him eating and saw this, I felt like vomiting.

At the dance, when I met him, I noticed that he feasted his small eyes on me, and a slimy smile was stuck on his face, but I didn't pay further attention.

He has been widowed for the last few months, and he was probably looking for a new bride.

My stepfather made this advantage profitable for him, marrying me with this horrible man so that the two kingdoms to be united. Ethan needed allies, and King Henry was ideal because his kingdom was immense and his power gigantic.

"With him?" I asked.

"Yes, with him, and I don't want to hear a word more."

His arrogant look and his commanding voice made my blood boiled inside me, filling me with rage. The injustice I was forced to endure became a knot in my heart that gave me the strength to resist, and I said to him: "Not a word, uh?"

"Yes, none."

"Well, listen to that. I refuse!"

I had heard enough. I was not going to let him use me as a commodity to close his deals.

"I don't want and I am not going to marry him," I shouted indignantly.

He looked at me and smiled ironically. "The agreement is closed. You will marry him whether you like it or not ".

I clenched my fists and felt my face burn with anger.

I turned my back to him abruptly and started running towards the exit of the hall.

"You have nowhere to hide, Kira," I heard him say behind me, and then I heard him laughing. An evil laugher that made my blood freeze.

Tears flooded my eyes. My eyesight blurred, but I didn't stop running.

I went straight to my mother's chamber. I rushed in without knocking on the door.

She was sitting on a chair by the window, looking outside.

"Why?" I shouted at her. "Why mother?"

She turned and looked at me. "For what?" she asked me back.

"Why did you not object to the marriage your husband has arranged for me? Did you forget my father's wish? "

She got up abruptly from her chair and approached me with quick steps.

Her gaze became dark, full of malice. "That's enough of your lip! I forbid you to refer to Kind William again. He was mine, only mine!"

"What are you saying mother?" I asked her without shouting anymore. Her words disarmed me. Can't I talk about my father?

"You heard me. You are to blame for my misery!" my mother's voice was dripping with bile.

"What do you mean?" I couldn't understand what she meant. She had never spoken to me like this before.

"It's your fault because you didn't have any objection of marrying Ethan."

"What are you saying mother? I was only fourteen years old then. What could I say? What could I do? Besides, you seemed so happy with him."

"Shut up!" she screamed and slapped me hard. My head shook to the side, and I felt my cheek sting intensely.

"You are the only one to blame for my misery," she continued, "and I will pay you back in kind," she told me, and a wicked smile appeared on her thin lips.

Her statement shocked me. My eyes widened, and my mouth opened.

I was shocked by what I heard and by what I saw.

And what I saw was hatred on my mother's face for me.

She kept talking to me, dripping more of her poison.

"Every day, I wish you had died instead of my beloved William. Now everything would be perfect. But since nothing remained for me but you, and since you are to blame for everything, I don't want you around anymore. I want you to get married and leave here as soon as possible, so I will not have to see you any longer.

And, to know, I was the one who gave the idea to Ethan to marry you with King Henry.

In this way, I will get rid of you and get my revenge."

No, this was not possible. My mother? A scream escaped my lips, and I covered my mouth with my palm. My eyes opened wide even more, and I started to take steps back towards the exit.

She started laughing, and I couldn't bear to hear her anymore. I ran to my room. I fell face down on the bed and cried as I have never cried in my life.

By the dawn of the next day, I had made my decision. I would run away from this hell!

And I would do that without any feelings of guilt.