Aurora.

That bitch crossed the line this time!

I rifled through my belongings, frantically searching for it. I knew I should have not let it out of my sight when I caught her staring at it with stars in her eyes. My perfume was here, so was my jewelry and my favorite book series, but no chocolate! Rage surged through my veins as I gritted my teeth.

"I will kill her, I will use a knife and draw a tattoo on her face, I will....."

"Who are you threatening now, your Highness?" A familiar voice said causing me to stop in my tracks as I turned around, coming face to face with my childhood best friend, Irene. She leaned on the door frame, watching me with an amused expression on her face.

"Who else? That old hag!" I said, still fuming as I reluctantly began arranging my things which I had thrown all over, while searching for my chocolate bar.

"Aurora!" She whispered screamed as she looked around before coming in and shutting the door. She turned to face me and gave me a stern look," You know you can't say things like that, especially not about her."

I rolled my eyes even though I knew it was the truth, I was not allowed to say things like that, but I could not help it, I hated them all, but her especially.

"She should stop touching my stuff then, or I shall have her executed," I said with a sneer and Irene laughed out loud before pushing me to sit down.

"Like the whole council won't be against you? Also, we have lost a good number of people already, we can't take more, and you know that." She said with a knowing look, and that shut me up immediately.

I sighed as I took a deep breath, For the one-millionth time, I missed my parents and wished they were here, they would know what to do and how to handle the situation and I would be off the hook, but that was one wish that would never come true.

My parents were abducted and murdered when I was just 12, forcing me into a position of power and attention. That was when the new council was formed, to protect me, to help me, or so they claimed. All they ever did was take advantage of me and use me as an object, a tool. It had not been long after my impromptu return because of news of the plague when I heard they had made some kind of mistake and angered the king of Astoria, the most powerful kingdom and also the major suspect of my parent's death, to declare war against us. It was not like we weren't going to fight them, we were especially after my parent's sudden disappearance and death, after refusing a deal with them, but it was not supposed to be this soon. Not when we were this outnumbered, this weak. We were not ready, but that did not matter because the stupid council who were meant to make smart decisions pulled a fast one and angered them.

"Don't do that please." Irene's voice rang in my head, pulling me out of my world of thoughts.

I blinked at her confused, "Don't do what?"

"Think. Don't think, at least not now." She said with an annoyed groan making me smile and shake my head at her. She was adorable.

"I have to think always Irene, I am the crowned princess, this kingdom is my responsibility. If I don't think, we are all going to die."

That seemed to do it, the amusement on her face whipped off the fastest I had ever seen, and her expressions sobered as she walked closer to me and pulled me into a comforting hug. I regretted my words immediately but I could not help but say my mind when I was next to her, she was my only person, my only friend.

"Shall we do something?" She said, the smile back on her face as if it never left.

"What?"

"Let's go to the lake. A little swim in the cold water will help you clear your mind." She said with an excited grin.

"It would also give me bacteria."

"That's not the most important thing now, let's go. It will be just us both, I'll tell the maids to stay back, it will help you clear your head, I promise." She said and without waiting for an answer she began dragging me along, and I thought, what would I do without her?

*******

*wrong thought, wrong thought.*

The back of the lake tasted like mud, salt, and regret. The water was so thick, that it kept my eyes open, I was drowning. A part of me wanted to just stop struggling and let me drown since I could die soon anyway, but another part of me was too selfish, too desperate to live, and kept fighting shamelessly.

"I can't believe I forgot just how unreliable you are." I chided her as I turned long enough to glare at her.

"Pardon me for trying to cheer you up!" She screamed back at me as she choked on the water that entered her mouth.

"You call this cheering me up? You're terrible at swimming, I'm terrible at swimming, this seems like a planned suicide mission!" I screamed back as we both struggled to stay up.

"You should have said this earlier! We both know you're the responsible one."

I was the responsible one between us both, but a lot has been on my mind lately that I blindly followed Irene's lead. In hindsight, I probably should have never agreed to this, and the worst was convincing my maids to not come with me, even after they reminded me of my inability to swim. I still insisted that I wanted to spend some time alone with Irene to clear my head, the only clearing I was doing now was the air, from my lungs.

"We need to get out of here, I am not in the mood to die for getting you killed even though we could die here together, I am sure Lady Natalie will kill my soul too," Irene said with a cringe as she moved towards me to get us both out.

She managed to get us both out, and we were back in my quarters, drying up. Even though the clearing my head idea did not work, I felt a lot better. I felt like I could breathe again, I guess that water did wipe off a few things from my head, and that was all until I heard a knock on my door.

Before I could even react, the door was swung open and Lady Natalie and the rest of the council members walked in, their facial expressions grave, making my heart skip a beat immediately.

"What is going on?" I asked with a neutral voice, even though I was panicking out of my mind.

"They are here." Was Natalie's simple answer. At the back of my mind, I knew who she was talking about, but everything in me begged it to not be true.

"Who?"

"The Astorians." She said with a simple expression, and my world came crashing down.

This was the beginning of the end.