Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Valoria
I lead a charmed existence…for the most part. My home is a castle, my parents adore me, I have been named the most beautiful girl on Terrasia every single year that I've been eligible for entry. Everything I want is mine the moment I ask for it, except for one very important thing.
I want Graxoth to stop being such a despicable lecher!
But that is not going to happen because somehow he has managed to make himself the most important person on the planet. Once in a while I entertain the fancy of explaining my plight to my parents, the emperor and empress. I'm certain if they knew how many sordid letters he's written to me, how many vulgar drawings he's sent me or the way he somehow includes his tongue whenever he kisses my hand, they would execute him.
And then all industry on the planet would grind to a halt, the treasury would run out of money, the peasants would revolt, we would all be beheaded etc, etc. Even if I were just a very pretty princess with nothing but pink cotton candy between my ears (as everyone assumes) it does not take a genius to see that. The emperor putters around the garden, the empress entertains and Graxoth keeps the kingdom running. So I never leave my rooms unescorted, the door to my chamber has all the locks its frame can hold and I bide my time until I can escape without triggering any major upheavals. Noblesse oblige and all that.
It's just that something has changed of late. And not for the better. Graxoth, who despite my very clear rejection seems to think his feelings for me are mutual, has been winking at me conspiratorily and chuckling to himself for the past few weeks. I almost wish I had not burned all his most recent letters unopened. In any case, I have wracked my brain and the only reason I can come up with is that he has found a way to marry me sometime next month when I turn nineteen.
The love I have for Terrasia and my parents can only go so far. Upheaval be damned, the time has come to run away.
Will Valoria escape? And if so, how does she intend to survive the many, many dangers that lurk beyond the castle walls and off-world?
Stay tuned for the next installment, definitely eventually 😉.
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