The dignitaries who visit revel in the gloss and glamour. They stand
awed by the precision of every surface’s change and celebrate Midas’s
power.
But I miss the way Highbell used to look.
Every gray nook, every raw chair, even the ugly blue tapestries that
used to hang in my old bedroom. It’s surprising, the things you come to
miss once they’re stripped away from you.
I knew I was going to pine over the loss of control over Sixth
Kingdom when I agreed to marry. I knew I’d mourn my father when he
died. I even knew that I’d miss being addressed by my old name and title,
Princess Malina Colier.
But I never anticipated that I’d feel the loss of the palace itself. It
wasn’t something I could’ve predicted would happen. Yet room by room,
item by item, everything was changed before my eyes, down to each pillow
and wine glass.
It was exciting at first, I can’t deny that. A gold castle in the frozen
mountains was something out of a fairy tale, and I had a king to make me a
queen. I had a marriage that would ensure I could stay here, in my home, to
carry on my royal bloodline.
But here I sit, in my gilded drawing room, my naivety long since
ripped away. I have no heirs, no family, no magic, no partnership with my
husband, and no recognition of the very place I grew up in.
I’m surrounded by wealth that holds no value to me.
This castle, the place where my mother birthed me, where my father
and grandfather ruled, where all of my fondest memories reside, has
become foreign. It holds no comfort, no excitement, and certainly no fairy
tale.
People are dazzled by it, whereas my eyes see every single scratch in
the golden surfaces of the floors and walls. I notice every inch where the
soft metal has worn down, distorting the shapes. I catch the corners where
the servants haven’t polished, I note each fragment that’s gone dull.
Gold may gleam, but it doesn’t stand the test of time. It wears down,
loses its luster, becomes nothing but a needy, malleable surface with no
durability.
I loathe it. Just as I’ve come to loathe him.
My renowned husband. The people fall to their knees for him instead
of me. I might not have magic, but resentment is a powerful thing.
