Chapter 7

Crecylla reflects upon the things she's been through. There's a harshness to the way she grew up as the only heir to the castle. There's the looming pressure of being the best, and ruling as perfection. One slip up and the entire empire would have their eyes on her. So when it was announced that she would be married off to Phoenicia, she was elated. Marrying off to an empire that didn't care too much about their rulers was a dream come true. But she knew she wasn't allowed to have what she wanted.

There was a handful of things that Cyrus was yet to find out about Crecylla. She talked about her home often, but she never really talked about her childhood and her parents. He had plenty of stories with his parents, yet it was strange that she had never talked about her parents. Her sister was mentioned often, but her parents were usually out of the question. He wondered why she never mentioned them, perhaps she didn't like mentioned private matters?

Luna reflects upon her childhood. She had been doted over for her whole life, so now that her sister was gone, the yelling and screaming in the castle had left with her. She remembered what Crecylla had written in her diary at some point. 'Luna was born lucky, I was lucky to be born'. Luna hadn't figured out what that meant until she left the castle. The yelling of their parents left with her, and the looming stress as well. Perhaps Crecylla hadn't been as lucky as she had thought, ruling an empire came with a lot of things.

Helios taps his fingers on the table, and thinks over Crecylla's movements at the castle, and just as he thought, she had been avoiding the King and Queen. He wasn't sure if she was doing it intentionally, but her movements around them was calculated, and stiff. She had escaped the room as quickly as she could, and it seemed that she feared them.

There's a silence that had settled in Diana that no one seemed used to. Their perfect little princess was gone, and all sorrows and life had drained from the castle. They knew it was the wedding that caused her to leave, but the princess had never been so excited to leave her home. She was supposed to be a perfect figure, a perfect ruler for the throne. She leaves the empire completely, and she doesn't look back once. No one is more aware of this than her nanny.

Luna hates what Crecylla had become. Their parents took out all their stress in ruling the empire onto her sister, and reasoned that it would help her rule the castle one day. Emotional abuse from that, and that was just another excuse for them to hurt her. Crecylla took Luna's faults and hers and hid them from the world. It didn't matter how she got hurt, but she had never let anyone lay a hand or word on her. So when Crecylla suddenly got married off, she hated it. She would start blaming herself for the other things, and it would be impossible to stop her.

Cyrus knocks on the girl's door. She ignores it and continues scribbling down notes she thinks will sound decent with the rest. She's stressing again and the aura in the room sends a chill down Cyrus' back. He wondered if the marriage was the stressing factor, or if someone had told her that he planned on taking his old girl back. He wants to be there for the girl, so when he's ignored completely, he's confused.

Crecylla knows Cyrus is in her room, and that he's knocking at the door. She doesn't want him in, she refuses to let someone in that won't take care of her. She isn't willing to accept that people would befriend her for something that wasn't beneficial to them. That was just how royalty worked.

Cyrus leaves the room, an action that he would later on learn to regret, but it didn't matter at the moment. He's confused as to why she didn't let him in that easily. His lover had told him everything. Did she not love him? Were they just not meant to be? Or maybe she just didn't trust him yet. There was a strangeness to her. She wasn't an easy case, and not even Helios had gotten into her yet. Did she not wish to get married to him?

That was exactly it. She wanted to run away from home, move to the colonies, and become a farmer. She wanted to live in a field of flowers, and live off of the produce of the land. She didn't want to live in a castle full of fears. She wanted to live in a quaint little village and be simple. No ruling a kingdom, no screaming at people, and no mishaps and abuse. All she ever wanted was a happy household.

Things click for Helios and he knows what Crecylla wants. She never asked for a kingdom or happiness. She wanted nothing more than to live in a cottage in the fields. He knows this because she wanders with the flowers often. She was never in her room in the day, so when the servants whisper about how she hadn't left her room in hours, he knows what's going on. She's stressing out, and she's having trouble fitting in. He opts to join her in her room instead.

Crecylla knows who comes in and out of her room. She had done a great job ignoring everyone that came in, and she hadn't forgotten to thank the servants for the treats they brought in. She was being taken so well care of, yet for some reason she wasn't happy with her life.

Rigel knows he's going to get reprimanded and yelled at, but he doesn't care. News of the princess not leaving her room had spread through the castle and he couldn't just sit and watch. He enters through the passageway, and Crecylla jumps in her seat. He shushes her and motions for her to join him. There were few in the castle that knew about the passageways. Only the royal family and guards. So when Rigel motions for her to follow him, she goes without thinking. He takes her past a thousand corridors, and then finally makes his way outside the castle. She glows, and they take the horses outside. He leads her to a haven, the prettiest place she had ever seen, and he shows her a little cottage. He tells her that she can stay the night, but she had to make it back by tomorrow.

Crecylla cries when she hears the news. She thanks Rigel through her tears, and he gallops off on his horse. She wanders around, and she's happy to find a bed and a piano in the cottage. She knew her plants, so she would just live off of the fruits in the back. Perhaps this was a place for the royals during summer. Helios had been nice enough to let her here, she would have to take good care of the place.

When Rigel returns to the castle, no one notices how he sneaks in. He tells Cyrus that the princess was sent to the summer cottage, and Cyrus fumes. She wasn't allowed to leave the castle before they got married. What if she cheats on him? He needs to make sure that his heir was legitimate and not some random other peasant's. Rigel leaves the prince to calm down, and he rushes off to his own room.

Crecylla spends the night in peace, the winds outside are calm, and they lull her to sleep. It's the best rest she's gotten since she was 5. She just hopes that her family was sleeping as well as she was.