Chapter Text
The rain pelted down outside the windows of the stone castle, raindrops streaming down as they fell to the ground below. As the night got darker and the rain got louder, a queen quietly filled a bag with only a few items as the king slept peacefully with cuts on his knuckles and bruises on her face and arms. She stuffed the bag urgently, her face covered by her loc’d hair, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She hurried down the hall, her footsteps softened by the carpeting on the castle floor. She opened a door, the floodlight of her candle spilling into the prince’s room. She leaned over the prince and gently kissed his wavy hair.
“Momma?” He called out softly as the queen began walking away. The queen stopped in her tracks, turning around to see her son sitting up in his bed.
“…Yes, Samuel?” She spoke, pushing back tears.
“Where are you going, momma?” The young prince tilted his head, one hand coming up to rub his eyes.
“It’s not your fault-“ the queen walked to her child, kneeling down, and embraced him. “It’s not your fault, my little rose. The world is harsh and cold, that is why we each have thorns.” She kissed her son on the head once more then turned to leave again.
“Momma? Momma, where are you going?” He cried, getting out from under the sheets and following his mother. “Momma?” His small, round fingers grasped at the edge of her dress. “Momma what’s wrong?” He asked again, tears streaming down his face, for he didn’t know why his mother was sad. The queen pulled away her dress, and walked to the door of her son’s room, she had to leave now— this was already hard enough for her to bear. She stepped out the bedroom door and closed it, watching the light of her candle fade away from her son’s face. She let out a shaking sigh, her whole body quivering from the thought of leaving her son with that— monster.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered as she hurried down the hall to a window, the window was only about 3 meters off the ground of the courtyard. She jumped out the window, landing in a bush, safely. Looking back up at the castle one last time, she turned around, and ran.