"But

  he has always been in my care. This is something he should hear from

  me, I was the one who birthed him and has attended to him since."

  A

  voice outside my door woke me from my slumber and I sleepily raised

  my head expecting to find the dawn streaming through the window.

  Instead my room was still dark with perhaps the barest hint of light

  straining against the night. Not

  even the earliest of birds were chattering outside. The

  night song of the crickets and other insects was still going strong.

  "A

  pity that he has been babied for so long, that ends today."

  The

  second voice I did not recognize and the chill behind it caused the

  hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. The voice sounded

  foreign, or at least like no one in the kingdom I had heard before.

  The accent was refined, the speaker obviously of some high born

  background, no commoner could ever enunciate each syllable so

  effortlessly.

  "It

  is so early-"

  "None

  of that," the accented voice commanded, "know your place."

  There

  was a long silence, then footsteps trailed away from my door, fading

  into the distance. Whomever was left outside the door waited until

  the echoing sound had faded from hearing before opening my door and

  entering with a lit candle in hand. The flame illuminated a woman

  with sharp, angular features currently drawn up into a look of

  dominance. Her hair was stark

  black and straight as a pin down to her waist. She

  wore a jeweled hair pin of a gleaming sun to pull the strands to the

  right side of her head and away from her face. The feature that

  struck me the deepest were her dark eyes, seemingly empty pits

  despite the flame, they bore into me, making me feel uneasy. Her

  choice of clothing was strange, a plain, pale yellow cassock covered

  her from just below her chin to her wrists and ankles. It reminded me

  of the outfit the castle priest sometimes wore when blessing the

  birth of a new child or overseeing the death ceremony of someone in

  the castle.

  "Good,

  you are already awake."

  "Who

  are you?" I asked.

  "I

  am here to right a wrong," she said as she stepped further into

  my room, setting the candle on my beside table. "I also come

  baring harsh news."

  I

  sat up straight in my bed, eyes widening at what kind of news would

  bring someone dressed like a priest to my room before sun up.

  "Your

  father has died," she said simply. The expression on her face

  did not change to one of sympathy.

  It

  felt like the air had been sucked from the room. I had always known

  my father was not the youngest of kings and my time might come sooner

  rather than later, but I did not at all feel prepared to take over

  for him. I was barely old enough to have the first signs of being a

  man coming to fruition, how could a whole kingdom look to me for

  leadership? Pressure like never before slammed down onto my mind and

  my limbs felt heavy, like I was being pinned to the bed.

  "I

  know you must feel like you need time to mourn for your father,"

  she continued, "but I'm afraid that there is much that you need

  to do."

  Yes, mourning, that was something I was expected to do. I had always

  thought that when the time came I would be inconsolable, but instead

  I mostly felt embarrassed that my first thoughts hadn't been of

  sadness and grief. I did not know what that said about me, but I'm

  sure it wasn't positive.

  "Come,

  it is time to rise and prepare for the day, a ruler must learn to

  awaken before the glory of the sun. I will await you at breakfast."

  She said no more and left the room, not looking back to ensure I was

  complying.

  With

  stiff, numb hands I quickly pulled on trousers and a more formal

  shirt than I was used to wearing. It felt right to look more royal

  now and

  it

  was the only thing I could grasp that seemed like I was capable of

  doing. Even that was not nearly good enough. My

  father had dressed regally every day in fine garments of silk and

  embroidery. The

  only outfit I had to my name that really held a candle to that had

  been constructed for my mother's memorial

  and

  I had experienced a major growth spurt since. I thought it would

  likely be worse to walk around in a comically undersized, but elegant

  attire than just accepting that I would have to be less formal for

  now.

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  The

  dinning hall was mostly empty, as to be expected for so early in the

  morning. The only soul present was the strange woman whom was already

  eating her porridge and an exhausted looking servant girl who placed

  a bowl in front of me. The woman did not look up to acknowledge my

  entrance and instead kept her focus on the bowl before her, eating

  seriously as if it were the upmost importance to finish the meal as

  soon as possible.

  Awkwardly,

  I began eating, frowning as soon as the porridge hit my lips. The

  servants knew how I liked my breakfast, but there was not an ounce of

  sweetness or spice to the dish.

  "Servant,"

  I said with annoyance, "why have you brought me my meal not as I

  ask?"

  The

  girl nervously snapped to attention and glanced towards the woman

  still engrossed in her meal. She worked up the courage to part her

  lips to speak, but was interrupted.

  "The

  time for childish ways of life has come to an end," the woman

  intoned. "A healthy body and soul are not built on indulgences.

  If you are to become a good and powerful king, you will need to leave

  such things behind you."

  My

  face scrunched up into a look of confusion, it didn't make sense to

  me for there to be a connection between how I preferred my food and

  my abilities as a monarch. Father had never mentioned, nor shown any

  restraint on the matter, in fact he had always been very vocal about

  his preferences and quick to lash out when they were not forgotten.

  It had seemed like it was a monarch's privilege to have the best of

  everything they liked without question.

  "This

  kingdom has allowed its devotion to languish, it is no wonder that

  you have not been trained in the proper ways to be pious," she

  continued. "It is no matter, it begins being righted today."

  I

  pushed the bowl away from me and crossed my arms over my chest,

  staring at the strange woman who had decided that she had more power

  than the current reining monarch. Perhaps I had been too sleepy when

  I was first awoken to question what was happening, but the more my

  grogginess was fading, the more indignant I was becoming. This was

  not how a monarch should be treated.

  "Girl,"

  I commanded to the servant, "fetch me a new bowl to my liking"

  "No,"

  the woman said simply, her eyes passing over the girl with a look of

  warning.

  "I

  am the king, you are not," I said, voice raising, "I could

  have you put in the dungeon, cast from the kingdom, or worse."

  A

  slight smile tugged at her lips and she shook her head. "You

  will do none of those, I answer to a higher power, the almighty

  divine."

  "The

  last time I checked, no priest or priestess held power over my

  kingdom."

  "Then

  you do not know much of your kingdom's history, a deep shame."

  She reached out and pulled the bowl of bland gruel back towards me.

  "If you are so defiant, it is within the Great Church's purview

  to declare a new heir. I hold that power right now, so when I say

  eat, eat."

  I

  looked at her in shock, trying to decide if her words were some kind

  of bluff. Surely if the Great Church had held power over my father I

  would have been told about it before. My father was not a man who

  would have allowed such a thing to stand, there had to be something

  more behind it.

  "Eat,"

  she said again once I had failed to comply. "I will not ask a

  final time and you do not want to find out what happens to defiant

  children. I cannot stand when children believe that if they stomp

  their feet long and hard enough that I will give in. I will not."

  "What

  happens?" I asked with a scoff, still refusing to listen.

  The

  woman turned her dark, dispassionate eyes to me and it felt like she

  was staring directly into my soul. Goosebumps arose all across my

  body and a lump began to form in my throat. There was nothing

  outwardly threatening about her appearance, but something was making

  fear dig claws into my mind. Despite the defiance in my mind, I found

  myself reach out to the bowl, picking up the spoon, and bringing it

  to my mouth. I kept telling myself to stop and put it back down, that

  a monarch should not give in, but my body did not comply, I was not

  in charge anymore. I wanted to scream in fear as I chewed and

  swallowed, then my hand went in for another bite. I was a guest in my

  own body, I could not even open my mouth to utter a word, I was just

  a puppet being controlled.

  "I

  do not need your acceptance or consent, it is merely a matter of

  politeness that I ask at all."

  With

  that, I felt my control return, my arm thunked to table loudly.

  Though I knew I could, I did not move or speak, trying to comprehend

  how she could have done such a thing. My mind instantly snapped back

  to the maid telling me about the evil magic of my mother's family,

  but surely it was all just commoner fantasy.

  "Now

  eat and do whatever else I say and I will not find further reason to

  take matters into my own hands."

  Of

  my own will, I did as she asked, though with shaky hands. I was now a

  king, master of his domain, it should not be that I had no free will

  at all.