✦𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗔✦
The palace always woke before I did.
Footsteps echoed faintly through distant corridors as servants began their morning duties. Doors opened and closed somewhere far beyond my wing, voices murmuring as the day slowly came alive.
None of it reached me properly.
My rooms sat at the far edge of the palace, hidden behind quiet halls most people had no reason to walk through. It was peaceful here, almost too peaceful, as if the rest of the world had forgotten this place existed.
Sometimes I thought that was exactly what had happened.
"My lady, you should wake up."
I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head.
"Amelia," I muttered, my voice muffled by the pillow, "it is far too early for princess duties."
"You do not have princess duties, my lady," Amelia replied gently.
That, unfortunately, was true.
I pushed the blanket away and squinted at the light spilling through the tall window across the room. Morning sunlight stretched across the marble floor and crept slowly toward my bed.
I sighed.
Being a princess sounded wonderful in stories.
Golden gowns. Royal feasts. Admiring crowds.
In reality, being me meant living in a forgotten corner of a palace that barely acknowledged my existence.
I was the king's daughter, yes.
But not the queen's.
That small detail made all the difference.
I sat up slowly, rubbing sleep from my eyes as Amelia opened the curtains. Outside, the sky was clear and bright, the kind of morning that made the world feel wide and endless.
A world I had never been allowed to see.
From where I sat, I could just make out the distant rooftops of the city beyond the palace walls. The markets would already be opening, merchants shouting over one another, people filling the streets.
Normal people.
Free people.
"Do you ever wonder what it is like out there?" I asked quietly.
Amelia paused.
"My lady…"
"I mean truly wonder," I continued, climbing out of bed and walking toward the window. "To walk through the markets. To talk to people who do not bow every time you breathe."
Or worse.
People who pretended you did not exist.
Amelia joined me at the window, folding her hands together.
"The outside world is not always kind," she said carefully.
"Neither is the palace."
That earned a soft sigh from her.
I rested my hands against the cool stone of the window ledge and stared at the city again. From this distance the streets looked small, almost peaceful.
It fascinated me.
Every day I watched it like this, imagining what it would feel like to walk through those crowded streets unnoticed. No whispers. No curious glances. No careful silence from servants who had been ordered not to speak about me.
Just another person among thousands.
A life that belonged to me.
Instead, I remained here.
The hidden daughter of the king.
The child of a concubine.
A princess in name, but little else.
"Will the princes be training today?" I asked after a moment.
"Yes, my lady," Amelia said. "In the south courtyard."
I almost laughed.
Of course they would be.
My brothers spent their days learning to fight, ride, lead armies, and command the kingdom one day.
Future kings and generals.
Meanwhile, I was hidden away like a family secret.
"Perhaps I will watch from the balcony again," I said.
"You know the queen does not like it when you wander near the main courtyards."
"The queen does not like that I breathe."
Amelia tried very hard not to smile.
I turned away from the window and stretched lazily.
"Come," I said. "If I must spend another day imprisoned in luxury, I would at least like breakfast first."
Amelia moved to prepare the room, but before she could speak again, a distant sound drifted through the quiet halls.
Heavy footsteps.
More than usual.
We both paused.
The palace was always busy in the mornings, but this sounded different. Guards moving quickly somewhere beyond the outer corridors.
Amelia frowned slightly.
"That is strange," she murmured.
"What is?"
"The guards rarely come through this wing."
I listened more carefully.
The footsteps faded after a moment, swallowed again by the silence that always surrounded my rooms.
Perhaps it was nothing.
Still, a small uneasiness settled in my chest.
The palace might have forgotten I existed.
But something, somewhere, had just changed.
"Even better if there is this much movement," I said thoughtfully. "I could explore the palace and no one would notice."
"I advise against it, my lady. The queen will punish you," Amelia warned.
"She cannot punish me if she never finds out."
Amelia sighed deeply.
"There is no convincing you otherwise, is there?"
"None at all," I said with a small grin.
I slipped out of my dress and chemise before heading toward the bathing room.
Warm steam filled the air as I sank into the water. For a moment the quiet returned and the tension in my shoulders eased.
But my mind refused to stay still.
Why were guards walking through this side of the palace?
They never came here.
What could they possibly want?
A thought sparked in my mind and refused to leave.
Maybe I could sneak farther than usual today. If the palace truly was this distracted, I might even reach the strategy room.
The idea made my heart beat a little faster.
Quickly stepping out of the bath, I dried myself and walked to the old wardrobe standing crooked in the corner of the room. The wood had faded with age, its once rich polish now dull and cracked.
It suited this forgotten wing of the palace perfectly.
"My lady, your breakfast is here," Amelia called from the other room.
"Coming," I shouted.
I pulled on a pair of trousers and buttoned a loose shirt before stepping back into the room.
Amelia turned toward me and immediately froze.
"My lady," she said slowly, "you cannot dress like that. Especially if you intend to sneak around the palace."
"Why not, Amelia?" I asked innocently as I approached the small table where breakfast waited.
"Princesses do not dress this way."
I bit into an apple.
"I am no princess, Amelia. I would need the queen's blood for that."
"But you have the king's blood," she replied softly. "And you carry the features of the royal family."
I shrugged.
"You have been here long enough to know that black hair and blue eyes mean very little in this palace."
Her expression softened.
"I only want what is best for you, Assyria. You have already suffered enough."
"I know," I said gently. "But today everyone seems far too busy to notice me."
I leaned against the table and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Trust me. I have been sneaking around this palace since I first learned how to walk."
She studied me for a moment before finally sighing.
"I trust you, my lady."
"Back to the honorifics already?" I teased. "You can call me Assyria. You just did."
"I will keep that in mind, my lady," Amelia said with a smile.
Something told me she did it on purpose.
But I could hardly fault the closest thing I had to a friend.
I finished the last bite of bread and brushed the crumbs from my fingers.
"Do not wait up for me," I said lightly.
Amelia looked horrified.
"My lady."
"Relax," I said. "I will only look around. Nothing more." She crossed her arms.
"That is what you said the last three times."
"And nothing terrible happened," I replied cheerfully.
"That you know of."
I grinned and moved toward the door before she could protest further.
The corridor outside my chambers was as quiet as always. Tall stone walls stretched in both directions, lit only by narrow windows that let thin lines of sunlight fall across the floor.
This part of the palace always felt forgotten.
Which made it perfect for disappearing.
I slipped down the hall, my footsteps soft against the cold marble. The further I went, the more the quiet began to fade.
Voices echoed faintly somewhere ahead.
Guards.
I slowed my pace, pressing myself closer to the wall as the corridor opened into one of the larger passageways that connected to the main palace.
Two guards hurried past the intersection, their armor clinking softly as they moved.
They did not even glance down my hallway.
Strange.
Usually the guards avoided this wing entirely.
Today they were everywhere.
Curiosity tugged at me like a stubborn thread.
Carefully, I stepped into the main corridor.
The palace felt different here. Servants rushed past carrying trays and folded cloth. Guards moved quickly through the halls in pairs, speaking in low voices.
Something was happening.
And no one had bothered to tell the king's hidden daughter.
I followed the corridor toward the inner part of the palace, moving quietly whenever someone passed. Years of practice had made sneaking around almost effortless.
Soon the familiar carved doors of the strategy hall appeared at the end of the corridor.
My heart skipped.
I had never been this close before.
Voices drifted through the heavy wooden doors. Deep voices. Urgent.
I hesitated only a moment before slipping behind one of the tall pillars near the entrance.
The doors were not fully closed.
Just enough space for voices to escape.
"… scouts confirmed it this morning," a man said from inside.
"Impossible," another voice replied sharply.
"They would not dare."
"They already have."A third voice spoke, calm but heavy with concern.
"The eastern border has been breached."
My breath caught.
Breached?
"That means war," someone muttered.
Silence followed.
Then another voice spoke quietly.
"And their king has sent General Kael to lead the army."
The room inside fell uneasy for a moment before someone spoke again.
"Kael?" one man said, his voice tightening.
"The same Kael?"
"Yes."
A chair scraped loudly against the floor.
"Gods help us," another voice whispered.
"They sent him?"
"They say he leaves nothing standing," someone murmured.
My heart pounded in my chest.
A foreign army.
Led by a man feared even by his enemies.
The voices inside continued, but I barely heard them anymore.
Because for the first time
in my life, the quiet little world I had known inside these palace walls suddenly felt very, very small.
And somewhere beyond those walls, a war was already on its way.
I did not know it yet.
But that war was coming for me too.