The Fake Princess

It was a cold and rainy evening, which was an evening like any other in the capital city of Regina. Many vendors were bustling about through the unfavorable conditions, unbothered. They were quickly setting up their tents and would not let the gloomy weather stop them from making sales, as the highly anticipated festival of the year was starting today. The Queen's Festival had finally arrived once more, and it was the most important celebration for all Assalians. The great kingdom of Assala was built by the Graceful Queen Regina hundreds of years ago. She was considered the founding mother and is still worshipped as a Goddess by her people. The Festival was held for two weeks, and people from all over Assala traveled to the capital to celebrate the kingdom's founder and enjoy the countless activities and foods. Beautiful lanterns lit the damp cobblestone roads and fragrant flower garlands were hung anywhere and everywhere, to be admired by the festival goers. However, not everyone had the means to enjoy these festivities. A dozen or so beggars also lined up alongside the vendors on the streets in hopes of getting a few more donations from the incoming crowds. The bountiful kingdom only had a few causes for its people becoming homeless and poor - such as when one was severely indebted or if a woman was widowed and left without her husband's inheritance. Adessia, a fragile and dirty girl, was both. She huddled closer next to a vendor's booth, trying to shield herself from the frigid downpour as much as she could. However, the vendor noticed her right away and shooed her, for fear of Adessia discouraging the customers from coming up to shop. Adessia sighed and shivered. She looked up to the sky, but the droplets forming on her eyelids and falling to her eyes prevented her from staring too long. Tired, but in need of food or money, she began staggering along the crowd with her hands cupped in front of her. Adessia refused to look at the strangers, instead choosing to beg with her eyes downcast and her dignity in shreds. Most just moved aside, passing by her without so much as a glance. But before she knew what was going on, the poor girl found herself brutally shoved to the ground, ending in a splat on a large puddle. A girl near her shrieked in disgust, as she had been splashed by the muddy water and now sported a large, brown stain on her once-beautiful dress. Adessia dared to look up at her and was met with the angry glare of the young noble lady, who seemed to be about her age. Actually, Adessia couldn't help but do a double-take as the facial features of this girl eerily resembled her own. At least, they did a long time ago before she had been reduced to a lowly beggar. She hadn't looked in a mirror for a little over a year now and had no desire to see what worry, dirt, and time had done to her face. One thing was for sure, no one could ever have guessed she was once a noble lady from a prestigious family. Perhaps, had she still been a part of her family, she could have even been friends with the girl in front of her. They would probably have worried about what dresses to buy or if the boys they fancied liked them back, rather than her current worries of getting enough food to keep her alive. "You disgusting wench, you will pay for my dress this instant!" Adessia was snapped back to the reality that she was not friends with this girl, and that she was now faced with an even bigger problem than filling her stomach. "I...apologize, my lady. However, I don't have-" The temperamental girl stomped her foot, and huffed in anger, not even giving Adessia a moment to speak. "I don't care how you pay me back, but you will pay for what you've done!" The girl's maid was trying her best to clean her lady's dress but her ceaseless stomping about on the wet road was just adding more stains to the ruined fabric. Suddenly, the young lady stopped, the poor maid almost running into her mistress. Then, she turned with eyes narrowed and an enigmatic expression to Adessia. Adessia felt her stomach sink, she couldn't really tell what the girl was thinking, but she knew it wouldn't be anything good. "Phillip, take her to the dungeon." Before Adessia could react, a guard stepped from out of the shadows and pulled her up from the puddle. She struggled against his grip and, after registering the turn of events, started panicking. What would this noble lady do to her? She squirmed and started to breathe heavily, a panic attack was coming on. In a vain attempt to calm herself, she stopped fighting the guard, who had begun pulling her towards a fancy-looking carriage. She glanced around frantically, hoping to get help from anyone passing by, but the crowd she had been in earlier had moved away once the confrontation had started. In a last ditch effort to get away, she pleaded with the guard but he stayed silent as he pushed her into a carriage and locked the door from the outside. Her breaths were coming in short gasps and she could feel her heart beating loudly in her ears. Curling up against the soft floor of the carriage, Adessia hugged her knees and began rubbing her arms unconsciously. This usually helped to calm her body's reactions to the anxieties she faced, but she still couldn't control the hurricane of thoughts making a mess in her head. Too much had happened in such a short time that she could barely keep up with processing the events that led her here. Exhaling a shaky breath, she tried to ease her mind from her worries and finally, began to notice her surroundings. The inside of the carriage was mostly dark, but the soft light from the lanterns outside illuminated it a bit. She could see the seats were deep purple velvet with gold trim. Above the seat was a coat of arms, but she could not remember which noble family it belonged to. Exhausted, overwhelmed, and wet, Adessia decided it was best to rest for a bit. She already knew from experience that it was no use worrying about what may come. Her last thought before she drifted off was that maybe this lady would finally put her out of her misery and this pitiful life once and for all.