They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their impending ascent hanging between them. The staircase loomed above, a stone serpent winding its way up the ravine wall, each step taking them closer to the world they’d left behind.
[name_f][/name_f]“What if I don’t want to go back?” Malarrea whispered, so softly [name_m]Devin[/name_m] almost didn’t hear her.
[name_f][/name_f]He turned to look at her, surprise evident in his eyes. "What?”
[name_f][/name_f]“What if I don’t want to marry [name_m]Prince[/name_m] Daniel?” Malarrea’s voice grew stronger as she spoke the words aloud for the first time. “What if I don’t want to return to being that person— the spoiled, selfish princess who never truly saw anyone around her?”
[name_f][/name_f][name_m]Devin[/name_m] stared at her, his green eyes widening. “Princess, you can’t just—”
[name_f][/name_f]“Why not?” she challenged, rising to her feet. “Why can’t I choose my own path? [name_f]My[/name_f] own life?”
[name_f][/name_f]“Because you’re the heir to the throne,” [name_m]Devin[/name_m] replied, his voice gentle but firm. “You have responsibilities, duties to your kingdom and your people.”
[name_f][/name_f]“I know that,” Malarrea said, pacing along the base of the staircase. “I’m not saying I want to abandon my responsibilities to Valdenius. I’m saying I want to fulfill them differently.”
[name_f][/name_f]“What do you mean?” [name_m]Devin[/name_m] asked, rising to stand beside her.
[name_f][/name_f]Malarrea’s eyes were alight with a fire he’d never seen before— not the petulant flame of her former tantrums, but something deeper, more resolute.
[name_f][/name_f]“I mean that I can be a better ruler without [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] at my side,” she said. “My father thinks this alliance with Phibia will strengthen Valdenius, but can you imagine what will happen when [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] has power? The cruelty he’ll inflict on our people?”
[name_f][/name_f]A breeze stirred the leaves around them, carrying the distant sound of the waterfall. [name_m]Devin[/name_m] watched her carefully, seeing not the princess who had fallen into the ravine, but a queen in the making.
[name_f][/name_f]“Your father won’t simply allow you to break the engagement. The alliance with Phibia is too important to him.”
[name_f][/name_f]“Then I’ll have to convince him,” Malarrea said, determination hardening her voice. “I’ll make him see what kind of man [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] truly is.”
[name_f][/name_f]“And if he refuses to see?” [name_m]Devin[/name_m] asked softly.
[name_f][/name_f]Malarrea’s shoulders slumped slightly, the weight of reality settling upon them. “I don’t know.” She looked up at the towering staircase again, its ancient steps winding upward like a promise— or perhaps a threat. “I’ve spent my whole life doing exactly what was expected of me,” she said quietly. “Even when I rebelled, it was in predictable, childish ways. I never truly questioned the path laid out before me.”
[name_f][/name_f][name_m]Devin[/name_m] watched her, the sunlight catching in her golden hair. Despite the dirt and wear of their journey, there was an unmistakable nobility in her bearing now— not the artificial poise drilled into her by royal tutors, but something more authentic that had emerged from within.
[name_f][/name_f]“If I return and marry [name_m]Prince[/name_m] Daniel,” she continued, “I’ll be sentencing myself to a lifetime of fear. And worse, I’ll be sentencing our kingdom to his cruelty when we eventually rule. No, I can’t let that happen.”
[name_f][/name_f]“You could rule without him,” [name_m]Devin[/name_m] suggested tentatively. “Find a way to break the engagement while maintaining the alliance.”
[name_f][/name_f]“How?” Malarrea turned to face him, her eyes searching his as if he might hold the answer she desperately needed.
[name_f][/name_f]“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But there must be a way. Your father values the alliance, not necessarily the marriage itself.”
[name_f][/name_f]Malarrea’s expression brightened momentarily before clouding again. “Even if I could convince my father, [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] isn’t the type to accept rejection gracefully. You’ve seen how he is— he views me as a possession already won.”
[name_f][/name_f]The breeze picked up, rustling the leaves around them as they stood in the shadow of the ancient staircase. Malarrea gazed up at the winding stone steps, her mind racing with possibilities and fears.
[name_f][/name_f][name_m]Devin[/name_m] followed her gaze upward. “Whatever you decide, we still need to climb these stairs. We can’t stay in the ravine forever.”
[name_f][/name_f]“I know,” Malarrea sighed, placing her foot on the first step. “But I’m not the same person who fell down here. I won’t let them turn me back into her.”
[name_m]New[/name_m] Word: Stairs