The princess saw the food table and was instantly fed up. The combination of the music she didn’t like, the poorly thought out theme, and now seafood of all things made the now 16-year-old wonder if her birthday ball was truly about her at all.

She stormed her way through the mingling people dressed in gaudy outfits and too much perfume. She knew the queen was socializing with some ‘important people’, but the princess had some equally important matters to discuss.

When she quickly approached the group, she was dismayed to see that none of them even noticed her presence. What were they all there for if not to celebrate her?

“Mother,” she ground out quietly, watching with fury as the queen gracefully turned on her toes to greet her daughter.

“Aurora, darling,” she looked like she was about to say one of the 3 recycled statements she frequently used at parties of ‘You look lovely’, ‘These are my dear friends…’, or her personal favorite added just for today: ‘The young woman of the hour’, but she noticed the princess’s face and paused. Aurora was glad to see that she could at least tell when her daughter was upset.

The queen gracefully turned back to the older men that she was entertaining and said in a smooth voice, “Pardon me, gentlemen. I believe my daughter would like a word.”

They all pretended to smile knowingly and Aurora fought an eye roll when her mother turned back to her, a sharp look in the queen’s eyes that the princess knew only she could see.

Her tone was slightly clipped, “Follow me, dear.”

And so Aurora followed the queen through a nearby door, relieved that they wouldn’t have to fight through the crowd of people just to speak privately.

Only when the door was safely closed behind them did the queen speak, looking down at the princess expectantly, “Darling, you seem upset?”

Hearing the calming voice of her mother nearly made the princess shed tears of distress, but Aurora steeled her nerves, reminding herself who she was mad at, “Mother, this party is the worst one I’ve been to in months. How could you plan something like this for me?”

The queen paused, looking down into her daughter’s eyes, “Darling,” she paused, searching for the right words, “I planned a party appropriate for this season. I cannot arrange one as you had in mind during the summer."

Aurora glared, “Well you should’ve,” her voice cracked with frustration and humiliation, “I’m not showing my face again for the rest of the night.”

Her mother’s face blanked for a moment before she reached out, gripping the princess’s arm, “This is an important party for us both. You need to show your face until it is time for you to retire.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Then I’ll just retire early,” Aurora spoke defiantly, daring to look directly into her mother’s eyes.

“Absolutely not,” the queen’s eyes sharpened noticeably, but the princess was too deep in her own indignation to care.

"Mother-"

The queen took a harsh step forwards, showing a rare side that truly frightened the princess, “Aurora, that is out of the question, you will go out there and be merry while I form new bonds or I will lock you in your room for a month,” the air had gotten colder and the princess fought a shiver as she looked away from her mother’s chilly gaze.

Aurora knew that the punishment would be much worse if she had to repeat herself, so the princess shut her mouth, fighting frustrated tears.

She took one last blurred look into her mother’s eyes and stormed away, missing the way the queen’s glare softened into slight guilt.

Aurora bottled up her anger as she walked through the crowd, knowing that she’d be in heaps more trouble if she acted on her feelings in front of the esteemed guests.

A few people here and there wished the princess ‘Happy Birthday’ and she tossed out many watery ’thank you’s before she finally reached the door that led to the gardens.

The princess wanted to cry in relief at the thought of getting away from the madness for a moment, but as she hastily gripped the handle, it opened outward.

Aurora stumbled forward clumsily, cursing her heeled shoes. Her hand tightened on the door handle as she tried to right herself, but she was caught instead. The boy’s hands wrapped firmly around her waist as he took a step back to steady them both.

Aurora swallowed back her emotions, wondering when her suffering would end.

The princess attempted to gracefully apologize as her mother would, but her voice was caught in her stinging throat. Her eyes remained focused on the boy’s shiny shoes as she tried to banish more tears of frustration.

Before she could rally herself, though, the boy offered a gracious, “Princess, I apologize. I didn’t check before opening the door.”

The princess wanted badly to correct him: it was she who was a clumsy fool. But she knew that if she spoke, her aching throat would cause her voice to crack, or worse, she’d just start crying.

Instead, she offered a small nod, eyes still focused on the ground. She pulled away from him, curtsied, then exited the building promptly.

As she rushed away, she felt a green-eyed stare follow her. The princess had avoided his gaze, so how did she know his eyes were green?

She brushed the thought aside, certain that her gift wouldn’t have activated in that short moment when he touched her.

Even if it did, though, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She sat down on an isolated bench enclosed by the long branches of her favorite tree. All she wanted was to leave this place and escape for a bit.

Sure enough, as soon as she allowed it, tears began streaming down the princess’s face as she quietly sobbed under the speckles of moonlight.

Normally, a bad party wouldn’t bother her to this extent. But this was supposed to be her night. This was supposed to be filled with laughter, favorable food, and exceptional music.

But even those small wishes seemed too much for her mother to honor.

It never mattered what she wanted. It was all about the kingdom.

The woman didn’t care about Aurora at all.

Aurora folded her body in half, releasing a scream into her puffed-out skirts, hoping nobody was near enough to hear.

She just couldn’t fight off the frustration. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to. Her grievances cultivated contempt and anguish until she was pressing her eyes closed tightly and wishing for this night to end with all her might.

Then she felt nothing.