The night was quiet, too quiet. Priscilla hated the quiet for as long as she could remember. Dread and uncertainty hung in the air like smoke. She sat on a cold futon in the Royal Fairy Palace's highest, rotten chamber, staring at a half-empty bowl of leftovers the guards had given her five days ago. The leftovers had hardened over the course of a few days by the stale air. Hunger gnawed at her and exhaustion weighed on her. She had no one to complain to.
Just silence.
The fairy realm had been her home from since she was born, but it felt like a prison. The constant stares of hate, the shunning of shame. It followed her everywhere, every corner. It was not new to Priscilla at all. For she had been left in this world to shoulder it all alone.
Her family had been feared and ostracized long ago for their powerful magical abilities. She remembered the tragic fate of her family like it happened yesterday. The faint crackles in the distance as she ran home, the smell of smoke and burnt wood filled her lungs. She had been too late to save them and she was left all alone.
After her father, mother, and sister had perished in flames, she ran away looking for an escape. However, she didn't get far and was found by the royal guards who swore they would protect her. Instead, they trapped her here, on the palace's top floor of Hell where she toiled endlessly, treated like a slave.
She lifted the dusty bowl that sat in her chamber and brought it to her lips as she drank slowly. Each sip carried a bitter taste of her current reality. She didn't know if she would ever escape but she desperately wanted to be put out of her misery. Priscilla stood and walked over towards the barred window. The moon was full and it illuminated the entire palace. It was breathtaking and painful to look at because it reminded her of the freedom she didn't have.
"You! Get over here!"
Priscilla's head snapped around to see one of the guards at her door. Fear enveloped her body as she wondered what task she had been given for tonight. The tasks were always different and came with punishment if done wrong. Priscilla scurried towards the guard that stood menacingly in the shadows of the night. "How can I be of help, sir?", Priscilla asked humbly as her eyes looked downward onto the guard's shoes.
"The royal palace will have important, high ranking guests attending tomorrow night. You have been assigned to prep and serve food. I'll be coming back tomorrow early to have you start on your task. That is all.", the guard explained dryly then locked the door behind him. Priscilla slowly fell to her knees on the wooden floor. She had never served food before and definitely not to high ranking people. She didn't know what to expect but she couldn't afford to make any mistakes tomorrow.
As Priscilla laid on her stiff futon, she wondered who exactly these special guests were going to be. A prince, maybe? She indulged in fantasies of being whisked away by a knight in shining armor. It felt nice to dream, but the realization of it only being a dream stung her sharply like a blade.
She closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep, as she wondered what tomorrow would bring.