" A WOMAN OF NO GRACE "

HER MOUTH SPOKE of a warrior's sin, smoke of a thousand flames painting the plump format of her sculpted lips. She held fire in her veins, the breath of a dragon birthed into her warmed lungs. Her fists laid stained with the crimson blood of a dozen men, the droplets of scarlet running down her knuckles to fall from her limp fingertips. She was strong, her shoulders holding the weight of the world. But her mind suffocated in chains of iron, and scars marked her hips; sometimes the girl forgot she existed among the world of the living.

Below the war of man roared to life, the boisterous sound of both metal and flesh meeting in a union of death. The scars that were carved into her skin, was not by her own destruction but by those who had earned the right to touch her blissful body. A crown of silver glistened against the rays of the sun, spotlighting the girl in a warriors uniform.

With hair of the starkest blacks and the skin of milky white; the girl looked paintable beneath the shouting of men. Her lips hung heavy with a breath of fathomed wonder, her fingers remained limp with the cooling sensation of dried blood. The lightest of grass danced against her legs, tickling their way upward against her unmoving hands.

In her grey eyes laid a flame, one of decaying destruction and lost time. She felt her heartache, her bones break, and her mind rage. The time had been long past due, for the downfall of her men below danced into place. "It's over," A familiar voice of comfort washed across the girl's mind, the breathless pause of the feminine voice dragging the young girl's attention toward the master of comfort. "Augustina." The voice added with sorrow, for the image before the princess seemed utterly inspiring.

With a crown of the softest gold, and the locks of the darkest night stood a woman of dual radiance. Her bloodied hands reaching outward to capture the face of her daughter, to memorize the beauty of the future Queen. "It's not over, mother. Please, it's not over." Augustina whispered through her heavy lips, her cheeks warmed with the capture of her mother's blood-soaked hands.

Staring into her mother's eyes the girl found sorrow, lost hope, and dwindling discontent for the outcome of the small war. The girl could feel the dispersion in her voice, smell the fear of the battle field below the hill the two conquered. Behind the Princess's eyes rested the image of her dying father, his once lively blue eyes filled with the angst of embraced death.

Even from the long distance the princess could see life flicker from his eyes like a snuffed candle, his muscled body colliding against the bloodied ground below. The young girl found herself crying tears of sorrow, tears of longing falling from her eyes to mix with the blood of her mother's hands. "I love you, Augustina Camilla Aron." Her mother's words laid faint against the girl's skin, her cold lips compressing against her chilled forehead.

"I love you too," Augustina whispered, the voice small but defiant against the rage of war. "Mother." The girl added, her arms wrapping around her mother's neck in a lasting hug of love. This would be the last time the small princess would fell her mother's hands, lips and her love. The last time she would be known as the Princess of Man, the Princess of Thorndale.

"Go," The queen murmured, her hands raising from the girl's cheeks to malevolently grab her wrists. "Now." She seethed toward the child, her body on the verge of crumbling to the ground before the small girl. So much blood had stained the girl's body, from the crimson that tainted her innocent features, to the silver crown that laid speckled in droplets of red.

The girl remained standing, unmoving from the position before her dying mother. She was reluctant to leave, her heart shattering beneath the cloth that rested against her chest. "No, I'm not going." The girl murmured, her small hands raising to the Queen's cheeks. The girl knew what was ahead, even at the young age of twelve, her mind held the chains of intelligence.

"I won't leave you."

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A/N: Thank you for reading!

I am super satisfied with my newest cover, thank you so much @mahana258

Also, a thanks to Candice_Is_Crazy for the lovely banner!!