I wake up tucked in soft silk sheets with a canopy blocking the majority of sunlight from reaching my eyes. I reach up to rub them and find my hands littered with several cuts and scrapes. I stare at the purple and swollen marks, horrified at their transformation. I tap a bump gingerly. OW! Nerves send sparks across my whole body. My palms ball into fists and shoots away from the contact, accidentally knocking into a vase. It shakes for a few heart-stopping seconds, stilling for a moment before toppling off cabinet.
A woman in maid's clothing hastily opens the door, face flooding with relief when she sees me sitting on the bed unscathed. Mostly, anyway. "You're awake," she lowers her head and bows her legs in a curtsy, "Princess Ezmera."
WHAT!?
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I pause to think. If this would keep me inside and away from those zombies, those 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, I will do anything to stay here. "Good morning," I raise my hand in a tentative wave, "How are you?"
Shock spreads across her face and she stutters out a response. "I-I'm doing alright, thank you for a-asking," she lowers her head nervously, "b-but your wellbeing is my top priority!" Was I kidnapped by a roleplaying club??
"Why are you so nervous?" I ask, "come sit next to me so we can talk without having to raise our voices." Her face immediately turns red. "A person like me can never be at the same level as someone with such a high status as yours!" And, well...you don't...usually..ask these kinds of questions....normally, you would be ordering us around." This time, it's my turn to be taken aback. "I-I'm sorry for anything I did in the past. But I'm different!" I run and wrap my arms around her. "From now on, I will be your friend, not a stuck-up princess with an ego larger than this castle." I tell her with a wide grin. The maid smiles back at me. "It's nice to meet you, new Princess Ezmera. My name is Joy."
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Joy leads me to the dining hall for breakfast. Lanterns hang over a spacious room with a long wooden table in the middle with plenty of chairs accompanying it. An aged man with a gray beard is sitting next to a woman with a rather worn face. They smile when they see me walking through the entrance.
The man addresses me with a nod. "You're here. I was starting to worry, but all is well. My daughter, let us eat our morning meal."