Powerful: having the ability to control or influence people or things: having a strong effect on someone or something having or producing a lot of physical strength or force.

-The Old World

 Walking along the halls of this palace has never been something I necessarily enjoyed doing. With the guards and my dress trailing after me, I feel a little claustrophobic. The hallway is plenty big, but they both seem to stay right behind me.

I much rather be by myself in the woods surrounding this castle I call home, wearing the skin tight leather than moves as I move, allowing me to flow freely, not stopping my every movement as this dark blue dress does, finding its way under my feet every three seconds.

My hands gather the chiffon of the dress’s flowing shirt, and pull it up past the boots I wore, completely ignoring the black heels set out for me this morning. The maids let me get away with it on the condition that the boots were black, and had heels. They normally let me wear whatever, but my parents gave them specific instructions as to what I should wear, and to them at least, my parents are the only ones that can overrule my institutions.

I sigh loudly, making sure that the guards can hear me, and walk faster in a pointless effort to gain a little bit of space between us. And as expected they pick up their speed as well, never being more than three feet from me at all times, making me fear them stepping on the hem of the dress.

I throw the dress down and pivot around to face them, finally growing exasperated with them. “Can you just, I don’t know, back up a little bit? Just a tiny, miniscule amount? Is that too much to ask from you?”

They exchange looks with each other, not sure if the King and Queen would approve I’m sure, but they ultimately grant my wish, backing up another step, and I have to resist the urge to scream.

Spinning around again I continue down the carpeted hallway, but before I can take another step, one of the many maids working here stumbles her way in front of me, causing me to walk into her, and causing her to spill everything she was holding, which at the moment seems to be a vase of flowers. The water spills, leaving darker spots on the already dark red carpet, the blue, purple, and pink flowers scatter everywhere. The crystal glass of the vase remains untouched, unshattered due to the light carpet, protecting her from a lot more punishment than she’ll be receiving now.

I stare at her in shock, looking quickly at my dress to make sure she didn’t get anything on it, which luckily for her she didn’t. Then I look back at her, already on her knees, whispering apologies weakly, gathering everything back up, dabbing at the water with the tan common dress all the maids are forced to wear.

I consider myself nice, especially when in comparison to my parents. They wouldn’t hesitate a second to kill her. Me however, I wouldn’t kill someone over something like this. It's illegal to do so in the first place, but rules can always be bent for the higher-ups. No one under eighteen can kill. Once you are over the age of eighteen, you can kill, but only in arena fights. Wouldn’t want people walking around thinning they could murder their ruler with no repercussions whatsoever. These are only a few of the many rules put in place after our new society rose up.

Either way, even if I am nicer than they are, it doesn’t mean I believe she should get away without a punishment.