Frederica of Bassett
One Month Earlier
Night... Silence and stillness. The moon’s haze hung in the gray heavens, its blessed glow piercing through the swirling clouds that resembled wisps of smoke. A gentle breeze stirred, tapping a branch against the stable window as if delivering some cryptic message, but the sharp sounds didn’t startle me. Strangely, tonight I felt an incredible sense of calm.
“Lino, my handsome boy,” I whispered softly, brushing the luxurious mane of my snow-white horse with a flower-painted comb. I remembered how I’d bought him at a fair last year from a chatty merchant from Endalasia, the neighboring empire at the heart of the United Alliance of Kingdoms, with whom we, the people of Gizenburd, maintained friendly ties. Alisha, my maid, had tried to dissuade me from yet another purchase, laughing that even the queen’s wardrobe paled in comparison to my beloved steed’s accessories. But I never regretted spending a single coin to bring joy to myself or to him. Lino was a gift from my father for my seventeenth birthday—the last thing His Majesty King Rodimir managed to do for his youngest daughter before his tragic passing.
Caring for this horse felt like maintaining a connection to my father’s soul... as if he were still here, watching over me through his gift. I know it’s mere sentimentality. I don’t expect anyone to understand, for no one, save the Almighty Himself, could fathom how deeply I miss my dad. After his death, our world changed. Nothing was ever the same again...
“Forgive me for visiting so rarely. Louisa needs help; she’s struggling right now, and I’m trying to look after her. Don’t be cross with me. I’ve brought you some treats,” I said, pouring a handful of sugar cubes from a small pouch into my palm and offering them to my beauty. He gave me a reproachful look, as if to say, “Do you really think you can buy forgiveness with sweets?” But he accepted my offering nonetheless, his rough tongue brushing against my tender skin. I laughed, pressing my cheek against my handsome boy, but then tensed. A creeping anxiety, like a venomous snake, slithered into my soul, warning of something ominous. But what? It was strange, yet lately, my intuition had been unusually sharp. It had saved my life—or my sister’s—more than once.
“Your Highness! Princess Frederica!” At that very moment, the peace of the stable was shattered as my favorite chambermaid, torch in hand, came running toward me. I wasn’t surprised. I’d sensed it a second earlier: something was bound to happen tonight. I wasn’t wrong.
“Alisha, I’m here,” I called out to the maid, who could barely navigate to my horse’s stall and risked running back and forth without finding me. Clenching my fists, I braced myself for the worst. “What’s happened?”
“A revolt, my lady,” she stammered in a single breath. Her wide blue eyes looked as though they might pop out of their sockets, so large and frightened were they. I didn’t even notice the painted comb slip from my hand, lost in the straw. At first, I couldn’t quite grasp what I’d heard. It felt like a hallucination. When you spend all day handling state affairs and nights in the stable instead of resting on feather beds, you might hear all sorts of things. But Alisha’s entire demeanor confirmed that I suffered neither from deafness nor delusions.
This time, the people’s cup of discontent had overflowed, and we faced retribution. Or rather, not we, but the one whom the subjects blamed for all their woes.
“Louisa... She needs to hide!” The thought struck me like lightning, and, gathering the hem of my dress, I bolted from the stable. Outside, I stopped, frozen in shock, as I registered the noise echoing from all directions. Thanks to the palace’s elevated position, with the city sprawling below in the valley, I could see a glow illuminating the horizon.
“My lady, please, return to the palace,” my guard whispered as he approached. Instantly, the sentries from my retinue formed a protective ring around me, ready to defend. In moments like these, when my world teetered on the brink of collapse, threatening to hurl me into an abyss, I felt fear. But alongside it came an inner strength and readiness to act. My father always said, “Only the dead feel no fear. The living must fear, but they mustn’t let it paralyze their instinct for self-preservation. If, without an army or a crown, you can protect your family, then you are a true princess. If your safety rests on the shoulders of others, you are a slave to your servants and circumstances.”
The corridors I raced through at the head of my small entourage, knocking aside anyone I encountered on this grim night, seemed far longer than usual, as if someone had deliberately stretched them to delay my reunion with my sister. I wanted to reach her as quickly as possible, yet I was endlessly grateful to be here at all, rather than back home in the capital. Mother, Queen Isabella, hadn’t wanted to let me go, but I’d insisted, as if I’d sensed that the heir to the throne would need my support.
“The doors!” I shouted to the guards from afar, demanding they open the main chambers of the palace in Vernon County, where Her Royal Highness Louisa of Bassett had been ruling—unsuccessfully—for the past two years, gaining experience before her ascension to the throne of Gizenburd, as per our laws.
Bursting into the spacious sitting room of her apartments, I immediately spotted the delicate figure of a young woman of twenty-two and rushed to her.
In the dim twilight, barely softened by a few candles, she seemed a mere shadow of her former self. Exhausted, worn, gaunt, with dark circles under her colorless eyes. In her yellow shawl, she looked almost ghostly, so much so that it was unsettling to behold. Just two years ago, there had been no one more beautiful in all the kingdom, but now... Two years of battling her own subjects to improve their lives had turned Gizenburd’s fairest into a semblance of a servant.
“Let all courtiers and servants hide in the dungeons! The guard must be reinforced, and all our troops deployed for defense,” I heard her quiet voice, tinged with a faint tremor that betrayed her emotional strain.
“Sister!” I called out, drawing her attention to me.
“Frederica! Oh, heavens, thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed, hurrying to grasp my hands and pull me into an embrace. “I was so scared! I sent for you, but they said you weren’t in your chambers. No one could find you. I feared something had happened. Where were you?”
“In the stable. I came as soon as I heard,” I whispered, gently taking her slender hand in mine. Looking around, I now noticed we weren’t alone. Besides the maids, her apartments also housed her chief aide and General Darius, head of the royal security service. “What’s happening? Can someone explain?”
“The people are revolting, my lady,” Count Sebastian of Vernon stated curtly, offering a slight bow. He was someone I’d always advised the heir to keep at a distance, but for reasons I couldn’t fathom, she’d drawn him closer instead. Though he was cold and rather harsh, he was renowned for his loyalty—a quality we valued above all here.
“I can see that for myself! Why? And how do we stop the rebels?” I snapped at him, slowly losing control. Louisa gently touched my shoulder, as if pleading with me to stay calm. She was always the epitome of composure and balance.
“The dam broke... A massive wave surged, flooding the winter crops. Property, the mill, and the subjects’ homes have been damaged...” my sister recounted in a trembling voice, and I sighed heavily. What a fine December we’re having, indeed! Who’s ever heard of such warmth in winter? Oh, this wretched climate! While the western lands suffer record frosts this year, we’ve had nothing but rain and mud! Especially in this thrice-cursed province on the southeastern border of our kingdom.
“Why did it break in the first place? Who was supposed to oversee it?” I turned on the count again, but he merely fixed me with a heavy stare and replied tersely:
“Her Highness officially refused to allocate funds from the treasury for the dam’s repair when the request was made... And the responsible Lord Eshward was dismissed from his post by the princess.”
“The reports stated the dam was in good condition and needed no repairs, and that the aforementioned lord was embezzling the funds allocated for maintenance! The county’s treasury is already meager; I had to pay the soldiers and guards. I had no choice—otherwise, they would have revolted!” Louisa countered, shooting an angry glance at the count. Yet I knew full well she blamed only herself.
“And what about taxes? I proposed to Your Highness a new tax on livestock,” the aide interjected, as if deliberately trying to provoke the heir—or rather, to further shake her confidence in her own motives and actions.
“All taxes go toward building schools and hospitals. Imposing new ones would mean leaving the subjects starving!”
“But now they’re marching here, and as the scout reported, they know it was you who forbade the dam’s repair. As the saying goes, ‘You aim for the best, but it turns out as always’...”
Listening to this pointless bickering was unbearable. Pushing open the terrace doors, I rushed to the railing and leaned over, peering into the distance. The darkness of the night was pierced by a streak of fire, rapidly approaching, intent on encircling the palace. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I could make out the figures of people carrying torches, their chants growing clearer. They were shouting, “Death to the princess!”
“General Darius, they’re getting closer! Where are your men?” I cried out, bursting back into the sitting room and interrupting the irrelevant arguments.
“Everywhere, Your Highness. The majority will meet the rebels at the gates, while others have blocked all entrances to the palace and directly to these chambers... You are safe,” responded the head of security, a tall, robust man with light hair and kind brown eyes.
“We’re safe? Are you serious? Your optimism has no bearing on reality when there’s an enraged mob outside our windows, thirsting for the princess’s blood!” I hissed through gritted teeth. Louisa turned back to the window, from which the hateful slogans grew ever louder, and wrapped her arms around herself.
“Double-check your men, General, and ensure our protection, if you please. Your Grace, I request that you descend to the dungeons and oversee the safety of your family and the other nobles,” I ordered, casting a cold glance at the count. For some reason, I had no desire for this man to remain near us. On a subconscious level, I wanted to keep my distance, as if I sensed a danger emanating from his very presence.
The general gave me a long look and, promising to ensure our safety, left the chambers behind Sebastian of Vernon. At last, we were alone, save for Maya, my sister’s maid, and my Alisha, who blended into the surroundings—a task made easy in the dim twilight.
“I remember something like this happening in Endalasia once. Queen Elsa, who was still a princess then, faced the rebels and calmed them. Do you think I could replicate her feat? Find the words to explain? I didn’t want this to happen, Rico. I did everything I could at the time...” Louisa murmured, still gazing at the horizon ablaze with rebellious fire.
“You’re the heir to the throne—where does this naivety come from?” I said in a velvety tone, standing behind her and letting out a heavy sigh. “Lou, you’re not Queen Elsa. That legendary figure ruled from her youth, first alongside her father and then over an entire empire. The people and the army followed her, but who follows you? In two years of ruling Vernon, all you’ve achieved is making the subjects despise you. Everything you’ve tried to do for their good has turned to utter ruin. There are those who stand in your way... Lou, if you go out to the rebels, they’ll kill you. You won’t even get a chance to speak.”
And that was the painful truth. She didn’t respond, or perhaps she didn’t want to. Queen Elsa had been my sister’s idol ever since, as a little girl, she’d learned of Her Majesty’s adventures. Years of preparation and training to become a leader like the head of the Alliance, all for naught. The realization of this must have weighed heavily on Louisa.
Meanwhile, beyond the gates of our palace, the first clash between the rebels and the soldiers erupted. The first blood was spilled. And we stood on the terrace, watching in panic, powerless to change a thing.
I, too, recalled that historic event in Endalasia, when a young Elsa, risking her life, faced the rebels and stopped them with her fiery speech. But neither I nor Louisa were as legendary as the Endalasian queen. We didn’t know how to laugh in the face of death. We wanted to live.
“I have to do something!” whispered the heir of Gizenburd, clutching the shawl that had slipped from her shoulders.
“Your Highness! Princess!” The doors to the chambers burst open so suddenly that I jumped in fright. Then I froze in shock as I saw the commander of the royal guard, focused but visibly distressed.
“What news, General?” Louisa asked, instinctively squeezing my hand.
“There are traitors among us, my lady. One of the soldiers opened the western gates and let the rebels onto the palace grounds. My men are holding them back, but we’re outnumbered. They’re determined. You must flee—we don’t know when they’ll breach the defenses and storm the palace,” his words struck like thunder on a clear day.