[Fantasy novel, completed ✓]
In a world filled with magic, dragons, witches, demons, deadly creatures and other magical beings, the life of the king's daughter Victorine changes with a single blow when her kingdom is attacked.
She loses not only he...
Thinkin' that they've won it's only just begun, when I go into that ground I won't go quietly, I'm bringin' my crown and when I go into that ground oh, they gotta bury me, bury me face down - grandson
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- Victorine -
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After what seemed like an eternity, I felt my breathing upper body rise and fall slightly. I tried to organize my thoughts and calmly relate what had happened.
I lifted my arm and grabbed my face, wincing as I grabbed my open eyes, which left a burning sensation. Slowly, I straightened up. My throat was dry as dust, my eyes were watering and I was coughing hard.
I clenched both hands into fists and struggled to my feet. A wave of emotions flooded me. Anger, despair, and a pervasive, consuming uncertainty. My legs trembled as I walked up the aisle, feeling my way with my hands.
At some point, I encountered a resistance that felt like a door. I couldn't find a handle, so I pushed against it with all my might. It was no use. Breathing heavily, I sank to the floor and fekt a cold, pointed object against my leg. I took it into my hand. It was my mother's crown.
Stunned, I pressed it to me and took comfort in the object that seemed to be my only support at this moment in this endless darkness. I forced my quivering body to stand up. My left hand was tightly clasped around the metal of the crown. With the other, I groped my way in the other direction.
My ice-cold evening gown stuck to my body and hindered my walking. I stumbled a few times and forced myself to walk more slowly. My whole body ached. Having to struggle up after a fall would cost me precious energy.
At some point the ground got wet and after a few seconds my feet were standing in water. It stank of indefinable smells. Where was I? In the sewers? I continued to walk while the cold water rose higher and made my bare ankles freeze under my dress.
After some time, I caught sight of a faint glimmer of light. Far too quickly, I was out. The daylight blinded me and I held a hand in front of my eyes. Suddenly I had no more ground under my feet and felt myself falling.
As I fell, I wrenched my eyes open, recognized blue water below me, and held my breath. In the next second, I slapped the surface of the water and submerged. I opened my eyes and swam upward, orienting myself to the brightest spot. Then I hit the surface and gasped for air.
Holding the crown, I swam toward the shore, where I pulled myself out of the water, propped myself up on the ground, scrambled toward some bushes, and hid there. Cautiously, I looked around. I had fallen out of the sewer pipe which was on the edge of the village that surrounded our castle. The sun was high in the sky. Had I really been lying in the corridors all night?
