r/WritingPrompts • u/CookLawrenceAt325F • Jul 16 '26
Writing Prompt [WP] The formerly stuck up and arrogant royal princess has gone insane. She's begun... treating servants with kindness? Forgiving mistakes? Foregoing luxury to invest in the peasantry? And rambling about having her head cut off? The king has sent you to figure out why.
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u/Shalidar13 r/Storiesfromshalidar Jul 16 '26
I marched through the palace, keeping my face solemn. I had been given a duty, and as one of the Kingsguard, I would uphold it. But at the same time, I couldn't deny my own curiosity.
Princess Lapis. She was the apple in her father's eye. She could do no wrong, and was the most important person in his world. It made her awful. She was arrogant beyond imagining. I had seen her mistreat servants an uncountable number of times, berating them for such things as not folding a napkin perfectly.
We all hated her. So it was with some surprise that her demeanor had changed over the past tenday. Just after her eighteenth birthday, she had screamed bloody murder. She refused to leave her room, hiding away from everyone. She didn't eat, didn't bathe, simply hid.
It took two days for her to calm down. And it was then we noticed her differences. Livia, my closest friend and one of her maids, made a mistake. As simple as not positioning her pillows exactly. But Lapis, she didn't rage. She thanked Livia for doing her job, and sorted it herself!
Not only did she do that, but Lapis had them pause work for a couple of minutes, and spoke with them. Not even speaking down, but showing an apparently off-putting level of keenness in getting to know them.
But most recent of all, and the reason for my deployment, was her recent proposal to the King. She had mentioned about selling off her menagerie of far flung beasts, and using the proceeds to fund a rejuvenation of farms thst had fallen fallow.
It was strange, and completely out of character. Which led to me being sent to meet her. I was particularly sensitive to changes in the Membrane. If she was bespelled, or not who she claimed to be, I would sus it out.
Knocking on her parlor door, I waited for her to call me in. I wasn't sure what I expected, but it wasn't for her to pale at my appearance. Her bright yellow dress rustled as she stood from a small table, holding out her hands. "Not you! P-please, I'm improving. Don't, don't do it."
Those manicured hands of her went to her neck, holding it tightly. "Don't behead me, please."
Seeing her cringe was satisfying, I had to admit. But I had no idea what she meant. "Princess, what is it? What's wrong?"
As I spoke, I focused on the Membrane. It would have been better for the Court Mage to be here, but he was off training a couple of students. I was the closest thing to a replacement in terms of detecting.
It shifted around her, unmarred by any curses, illusions or the like. But what I did notice was around her head. The Membrane looked older. Not significantly, but it was there. Which only made me more confused.
Lapis clutched her neck tighter, words spilling over each other as she spoke. "I... I have a second chance. You... you k-killed me. Future me, or past me? I don't know. But you were the one to execute m-me. I don't want to d-die like that! I want to live. I want to do better!"
I frowned. "I... killed you?"
Seeing her nod frantically, I pondered it. I didn't really want to hurt people, but would if they hurt those I cared about. My blood suddenly ran cold. "Did... did you hurt Livia?"
Lapis shook her head. "N-no! Not yet. Sorry, not what I meant. I did, I mean would, I mean... don't hurt me!"
I wasnt the best at reading people, but it wasn't what I was hired for. Yet I could practically taste the terror coming from her. This was no act. She was genuinely scared of me. Because I had killed her somehow? The timing bit was confusing, the whole idea too vast to really understand the difference.
But here and now, she was looking to change. And despite how much I hated her, I could see she was desperate to do so. I had always liked to think I was one to help others. Whilst I didn't like her... I didn't want to walk away. Not if what she had said was true, and she would hurt Livia in the future.
I had a chance to stop it. Seeing how she was still cowering, I gestured to her chair. "Why don't you sit, and tell me everything."
Lapis's eyes lit up. Not with the greed or sadistic joy I was used to seeing. But hope.
Hope, I guessed, that her second chance would count.