I never sneaked out again.
Not because I feared my father finding out, but because I feared what he would do to Howland for allowing it to happen.Best case scenario, he could lose his position.Somehow word of my escape got out anyway, and he only was able to keep his job because I intervened on his behalf.Howland was too important.Too much like family to me, though I longed to feel truly alone for once.
My predicament was frustrating.As seventh in line for the throne, I had never been as important as my other siblings.Everyone overlooked me, which was sometimes nice but more often annoying.No one viewed you as a worthy player when you had little to bargain with other than your royal title, yet bodyguards surrounded me like I was a prisoner.
The palace loomed before me, and I gazed up at the immense structure, not used to seeing it from this vantage point.
Home.
Such a strange word that should mean the same thing to everyone, yet to everyone it meant something different.
My attention caught on a family of four walking down the other side of the street.The father held a parcel beneath one arm, his daughter’s hand tucked in the other.The mother carried a toddler on her hip, curls peeking out beneath their cap.The daughter said something and both parents turned to each other, laughing.
I looked away.
I lived in the palace, but it wasn’t a home.I wasn’t sure what a home was supposed to feel like, I just knew mine wasn’t the answer.I had heard others talk about their families before, about the things they did and shared together.They weren’t things my family and I had ever done.I had watched husbands with their wives, and it was not the same thing I witnessed between my parents.They acted more like political allies than any sort of friends or even lovers.Yes, we were royalty, but should it really affect us that much?I knew guards who came from broken homes or no homes at all, and we all seemed to share the sense that there should be something more, something we were missing.
Family.
I wondered if I would ever know what the word meant.
You have a family.
The voice echoed in my mind.Yes, I did.Maybe it wasn’t like the others, but it was mine.My job was to protect it.Protect the integrity of the royal family.Protect them at all costs.Never show weakness, and guard from any threats.
I looked back at the Ferris Way Inn.
Weed out the threats.
Protect at any cost.
Atanycost.
Chapter Fourteen
Analleia
