Heir of Vengeance

I don’t remember anything before Mama. She found me wandering deep in the forest, too far from any village or town for my own small legs to have carried me there. My first real memory is the feeling of her warm scales and the deep hum of her voice as she sang me to sleep in our cave.

As I grew, Mama taught me everything I would ever need or want to know. We spent hours pouring over the various books and interesting objects she had gathered over her long life before me; Mama never discouraged my curiosity.

When I was older and able to keep myself safe, Mama offered to take me back to live with other humans; I refused. We lived a good life in the forest, I was safe and happy, and she was the only mother I knew. Nothing human life could offer was worth giving up everything I loved so dearly, but the sun must always set and even the brightest of days will fade into darkness.

That day, I had walked into the forest in search of something sweet to complement our dinner. I spent the warm summer morning in my favorite berry patch, eating nearly as much as I put into my basket, and the afternoon in the nearby lake enjoying the cool water against my flushed skin. As the sun sank into the treetops, I gathered my things to head back to our cave. Mama’s pained roar rent the serenity of the forest and I ran. I approached our clearing as the knight drove his spear deep into her chest, tearing both our hearts in a single blow. I screamed as Mama shook the earth with her collapse and the knight turned to face me.

“So it is true. You are truly found at last!” he exclaimed. I charged him, but how could I do with my weak human body what Mama could not with her fearsome claws and teeth and flames? What hope did I have? He caught me and tried to soothe me with calm words as if he had not been the one to destroy my world. I struggled to no avail until he forced a bitter liquid between my lips.

“Sleep now; you’re finally safe,” he murmured as my world waned into darkness.

***

I awoke in a lavish room, on a bed too soft, near a fire that, despite its stifling heat, could never rival Mama’s warmth. The day was filled with visitors who simpered and cried and rejoiced at what they called my “return”, filled with physicians who left tonics by my bedside for my comfort, filled with a growing hate for all those who held me against my will. I nodded as they called me their lost princess, their daughter, their sister. I nodded and I waited.

***

“Eleanor?” I flinched at the sound of the name [imposed/forced] upon me by my “saviors”. It didn’t matter to anyone that it wasn’t the name I knew, only that it was the name given to me at birth by the parents I never knew.

“I’m here.” I responded as pleasantly as I could manage. For now, I needed them to believe I was adjusting well, that I was happy. Prince Alexander, my apparent elder brother, rounded the shelf a moment later.

“I might have known I’d find you here in the library. I’ve been looking for ages!” He made a show of acting exhausted and dropping into a nearby chair. My smile was small, but genuine for once. Alexander was one of the few tolerable people at the castle, and the only one who seemed somewhat interested in my life before.

“Anyway, Father and Mother wish to see you in the council room. I’ll walk with you.”

“Of course,” I rose and smoothed the overly large skirt, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. We walked silently through the halls, gilded with ridiculous displays of unnecessary wealth. The weeks here only intensified my longing for my simple home in the woods.

The council chamber was less frivolous than most of the castle, holding mainly the tables and chairs for meetings and a few desks along the walls for scribes or other aides to work.

“Ah, here she is! Have a seat, Darling.” The man who called himself my father stood and motioned to a chair across the table from himself and the Queen. “Your mother and I have excellent news! Now that you are fully healed, Sir Aldric has asked for your hand in marriage. We thought it a just reward for slaying the beast and bringing you home, so we agreed. Congratulations, my dear!”

I wanted nothing more than to refuse- to tell them I would sooner die than marry the man who murdered Mama and ripped me away from everything I ever loved- but I needed them to trust me. Instead, I pretended to be too overcome with gratitude to speak and simply nodded once again. They needed no more encouragement to wish me joy and begin discussing dates, guest lists, main courses, and many other things that were “necessary” for a grand royal wedding.

***

I left that night, under cover of darkness. I took nothing with me but the map, stolen from their library, that I might finally find my way home. I’m sure they searched for me, but I know how to move in the woods without leaving a trace. I went back to our cave to find it ransacked and anything of value gone; my anger grew. I hated them all. I longed to clean the mess they left behind out of respect for the life we had lived there, but there wasn’t time. Soon it would occur to someone (probably Alexander) to search the cave, so I dared not tarry.

Upon opening the secret rooms, I was relieved to find them unspoilt by the vermin who believed themselves heroes. I would take the magic, the potions, the wondrous items and spell books that made up Mama’s hoard. I would take them and soon I would use them to bring justice to that accursed kingdom and every fool who stood with them.