WHAT IS A PRINCESS WITHOUT HER PEOPLE

[PerfectlyPeachy 1344]

 

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Spoiler

Thankyou @spicii for helping me finish this post!

 

 

Issued by the

DUCHESS OF KREDEN

on the 8th day of the WZUVAR AND BYVCA, 443 ES,

 

 

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VA BIRODEO HERZENAV AG EDLERVIK

 

To be a princess, is to hold a position of utmost privilege, one where you have the entire world at your fingertips, your desires fulfilled with the flick of your quill - whatever you could ask for, immediately brought to you. Such is a position that I have both equally abused, and taken for granted throughout my earlier years of living - a position that I should have been utilizing to benefit the tenure of my mother and father, but instead it only brought them difficulty and heartache. Now I know the true definition of the duty of a princess, and such is not written in a mere text book or taught. It is simply one you must learn on your lonesome through exerting life lessons. 

 

Some of you may recall a challenge issued by my father, His Royal Majesty, earlier last year. Many of you partook in the proceedings yourselves, either challenging a lord of Vidaus to a contest of arms, or taming a rowdy steed native to the duchy of Reimar. I, too, partook in these trials - however, I was intended to do something slightly different from the noble populace.

 

I donned a servant's garb, and lived self-sufficiently for a year in the stables of the Morrivi Prikaz gardens, forgoing the life of luxury that I had grown so dependent on, disrobing myself of all silks, all jewels, and all foul thoughts. I lived my life as if I were a common woman born with no standing, no station, and no privilege - and I hope that you will not think ill of me when I admit that I was confounded by reality.

 

I suffered through the long, cold nights of Karosgrad with little more than a sputtering fire to last me through to morning. The numbing night was tucked under a woolen dove-grey sky, the sheer darkness of the Haenseti skies being the only thing sheltering my prolonged negative emotions. I withstood hunger - my stomach growling with each passing moment,  not a krawn in my pocket to purchase even the eldest of bread. To comprehend that others starve while you eat plenty is a form of soul death, one paper cut bite at a time. It was in these long, piercing nights that I recalled a statement made to me by my father, as he issued me this challenge. He said to me, ‘What is a Princess without her people? Who is she, if she does not understand the woes of the common folk?’

 

It was then, paired with the reality of what it truly was to have nothing, that I realized my wrongdoing. I know now that I have been selfish. I have been cruel, and I have behaved in a way that is not befitting of my station as a princess, especially due to the fact I am my father’s only daughter. When I acknowledge the pain of others my own reduced bit by bit, for in that realization there is a sense that we are all in this turmoil together. Knowledge comes with time, and maturity, and as I reach my sixteenth birthday the looming prospect of adulthood hangs overhead. Privilege is a chance to help others. It is a gift to transpire the best version of yourself, deepened in empathy, seeking chances to learn and understand situations about one another. 

 

A Barbanov’s duty is to serve, and I shall be a servant to this nation just as my parents are.

 

A Princess is nothing, without her people. 

 

SIGNED,

Her Royal Highness, Princess Analiesa Josefina Barbanov-Bihar
Duchess of Kreden

[Mady 3037]

Huddled up beside a fire in her tower, Adelajda vas Ruthern would smile upon reading the missive her best friend sent out. "A goose feather pillow is calling vyr name, Ana." The girl teased out loud. Suddenly, her face scrunched up as a shrill sneeze escaped the Ruthern. "Godan this cold. . ." She muttered, tugging her silk cloak closely around herself and scooting closer to the hearth.