Valera

Valera was standing on the balcony outside of her bedroom, looking into the distance. She watched as the birds flew in the sky and took notice of the clouds that lazily passed by. There was a cool breeze in the morning air that ruffled her nightgown and tickled her long black curly hair against her bare shoulders; closing her eyes, she welcomed the cold air.

She could hear the servants getting ready for the day, the groundskeepers in the garden, and maids shuffling about the castle. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came barging into her room, she turned her back toward the balcony. She entered through the high double doors into her room. Valera didn't care for life as a princess; she longed to live a simple life, out in the world free of the place she thought to be a prison.

Walking over to her bed, she threw herself face-first into the pillow as she screamed. Hearing the door creak open, Valera turned around and watched as her handmaiden scurried about the room getting her clothes ready for the day. Not wanting to leave the comfort of her bed, Valera rolled around in her duvet until she wrapped herself like a burrito. Not less than five minutes later, her handmaiden unraveled her from the duvet.

"Why must you always ruin my mornings?" Valera asked while giving her handmaiden a distasteful look.

Sighing, her handmaiden just shook her head, saying, "Why must you ask me this same question every morning?"

Letting out a sound of annoyance, Valera got up from her bed and walked over to where the bath was, and proceeded to strip out of her nightgown.

"I think it's a bit odd considering you always come into my room in the mornings to watch me bathe," Valera said as she climbed into the tub.

"Come now, Valera, you know that's not the only thing we do." her handmaiden said with a wink, causing the young princess to roll her eyes and the other maids in the room to giggle.

For as long as she could remember, it had always been like this. The maids would come into her room and wake her up to get ready for the day. Picking out dresses and styling her hair, she didn't want to be treated like a doll for once in her life. Valera was tired of being a princess and just wanted to be a "normal" girl for one day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her tutors always found it rather difficult to teach her because she was forever daydreaming. Valera would find herself staring out the windows, longing to be anywhere else but the castle. She was never allowed to go outside by herself because her mother knew that she would try to run away. The king, Valera's father, never understood his daughter's fascination with life outside of the castle walls. For within, she had everything she could ever need or possibly want. But what she wanted most of all, she couldn't have.

Freedom...

Valera always found it troublesome when her mother entered the room; it was like a cloud of doom/misery followed her everywhere she went.

Valera sighed as she sat up from her slouched position on the couch in the drawing-room; as she adjusted herself, her mother made a beeline toward.

"What is it now, mother?" Valera asked in an annoyed tone, which she immediately regretted once she noticed the look in her mother's eyes.

"I've been told you're not paying attention to your lessons." her mother said as she sat across from her daughter, who continued to fiddle with the lace on her dress.

Valera let out a groan as she leaned back into the couch, looking up at the ceiling; she fantasized about being anywhere else but here. She didn't know exactly why, but she couldn't stand being around her mother, the queen. It was like the life was being sucked out of her, always finding it draining whenever she was around.

She could hear her mother in the background droning on and on about how she needed to be more respectful to her tutors and give them the attention they deserve. By now, this wasn't something she wasn't used to dealing with. At some point in the day, her mother would find her and lecture her on respect and responsibility. Valera pretended she was a normal girl who lived in the village outside of the castle, as her mother talked in the background.

That was when Valera got the crazy idea to run away.