Princess Calliope's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

On the morning Princess Calliope turned eighteen, her father and grandfather waited to tell her a secret they had kept her whole life. Sunlight crossed her bed. She pulled the blanket over her face. She had never liked mornings, and she liked them less when something felt wrong. A servant opened the door and bowed. "The King and King Vaughn wait for you in the dining hall, Princess." Calliope dressed fast. She laced her brown boots and pinned her circlet with the black stone into her curls. Her emerald gown slid off her shoulders. She wanted the day to be simple. Cake, presents, then the gardens. She wanted to ride past the pale spires of the castle and out to places she had never seen. She had spent eighteen years inside these walls. Today, she thought, that might change. The dining hall smelled of warm cake. Her father, King Charles, stood at the head of the table in his fur cloak. He usually met her with a grin. Today his hands gripped the chair back. Beside him sat her grandfather, King Vaughn, both hands folded over his cane. Presents waited untouched. "Sit," Charles said. "Please." Calliope sat. "You look like someone died." "No one died." Charles glanced at Vaughn. The old king nodded once. "God you really are the spitting image of your mother," Vaughn said. His voice shook. "You are old enough now. You have a right to know where you come from." Calliope's stomach tightened. "I come from here." "You were not born here." Charles pushed a small box across the table. Inside lay a ring with a black gem, twin to the one on her circlet. "Your mother wore this. She was not from our kingdom. Her people rule lands far past our realm. She left when she turned eighteen to be wed to me." Calliope stared at the ring. "Okay so what?" Vaughn leaned forward. "Her family still rules. They believe you died with your mother. If they learn you live, they will send for you. Some will want you crowned. Others will not." The cake sat forgotten. Calliope turned the ring in her fingers. Her whole life had a hidden half, and these two men had held it from her. "Why tell me now?" she asked. "Because you’re eighteen and with that age something comes, but something I cannot explain only your mother’s family." Charles said. Calliope stood. The chair scraped stone. Anger and something sharper rose in her. Fear, maybe. Or hunger. For years she had wanted the world beyond these walls. Now the world she wanted she had family in it she never knew existed. She slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit. "I'll go and see these lands myself." Calliope said softly Charles opened his mouth to argue. But instead he kept composure.