In another universe not so far away from ours the world is separated into kingdoms. Each ruled by royal families that have kept the crown for years. Unlike our world there is one thing that determines whether you are worthy of ruling a kingdom, magic. Every royal has some type of magic ability. Some rulers saw themselves as gods whereas others wished for a normal life.

One of these people is Princess Kori, the second child of the Flora family. Her parents were known for ruling with an iron fist, outsiders saw them as cruel but the citizens adored them and their willingness to do whatever it takes to benefit their people. Kori was the only person who truly knew how careless her parents actually were. Her ears buzzed as her father’s selfish thoughts clouded her own mind. This girl’s power, mind reading. No matter what you may think I can not express how much of a curse this was. 

The thoughts of most people have been the same for a while. There’s been unsaid between Flora and its neighbouring kingdom Mirana. These kingdoms are small and don’t have a lot of unique resources, so it made sense to almost everyone that the lands should merge under one rule. The question was whose.

On the other side of the border lived Princess Beatrice, the only child of the Mirana family. The king had passed away and many subjects believed the queen would soon follow. So as the queen was slowly consumed by old age the cheerful girl was forced to take on all the responsibilities. She was the sole hope of the Mirana family and everyone knew it.

Kori was sitting on her bed reading a book. Since her brother was crown prince there wasn’t much for her to do during the day. The door creaked open and a maid entered, “Your parents request you in the study as soon as possible”. 

She walked down the hall, trying to shut out all thoughts of the people around her. She really didn’t care which guards the help fancied. Something a bit more interesting was that a lot of people thought her parents were going to declare war on Mirana. Is that what this was about? Why not just call Ravi it’s not like they cared about her opinion. And if you think it isn’t business then no, her parents don’t have time for so called family bonding.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She pushed open the doors and slightly bowed to her parents. They didn’t bother easing into their request because they knew the girl could see through them. “We have a job for you,” her father started, “you are going to kill princess Beatrice of Mirana, you will pose as her handmaiden”. He said it in a dull monotone voice that for a second made it seem like a normal request. She tried to argue, she really did. But no matter what she said they never seemed to even consider another option. They were going to have that land and this was how.

But she couldn’t understand why her? They have guards who could take her out without ever having to enter the castle. Did they want inside information? That wouldn’t make sense, what would it matter what her plans were if she wasn’t going to live long enough to execute it. Yes, technically ,she could ask her parents and even if they lied their true thoughts would give it away, but honestly Kori didn’t want the answer. She knew how much it stressed them out that she didn’t have her eyes on any prince. Maybe this was an elaborate plan of getting her out of the way, worst case scenario the least favourite child is executed.

Even if she couldn’t really talk to her parents, there was someone in the castle she could trust. Ravi dashed past her at lightning speed causing her to drop everything she was holding, he muttered something along the lines of “watch where you’re going” as he left. Yeah, he’s not who I’m referring to. She walked towards the kitchen. She flung the door open and was met with a short ginger girl her age in an apron. Despite being covered in flour she pulled Kori into a tight hug.

“Sally, I’m going away for a week, to Mirana”

“Ooh a holiday? Or are we being a spy? Surely, I pack you some treats! But really tell me what you’re going for, you literally never leave the castle let alone Flora”

“My parents want me to kill the princess,” the silence rang, Sally just stared at her with fear in her eyes, waiting and hoping for the moment she bursts out in laughter and tells her why she’s actually going.

“Sally I can feel your worry but I promise this is for the greater good. They want me to assassinate princess Beatrice, which I know sounds bad, but think about how many soldiers would die if we actually had a war ”

Sally wanted to point out how insane this whole plan was but she knew she had no say in the end, “Be careful”.

And so, Kori packed her bags with clothes less expensive than her own wardrobe, tied her dark hair into a neat ponytail and she was off. She had no reason to be stressed. She'd be able to know the second anyone was suspicious of her but yet she still had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to do it.