The Glassbound Princess

Liora pressed her palm to the cold, transparent wall of her tower. Her breath fogged the surface, but the sound of her desperation was the only thing that answered. Outside, her kingdom was burning. She could see it feel it the smoke rising in thick plumes, the glow of flames licking the night sky. Yet, here she stood, trapped in a tower of glass, a prison of light.

“Can you hear me?” Her voice was a whisper, swallowed by the emptiness around her. “Is anyone out there?”

The world beyond remained silent. The glass shimmered, reflecting the moonlight in mocking brilliance, its beauty a cruel reminder of her isolation.

She paced back and forth in the confines of her glass prison. Each step echoed against the cold stone beneath her feet. It was always eerily quiet, except for the occasional breeze that stirred the curtains. Sometimes, she could almost imagine hearing the distant sounds of life outside birds in the trees, rustling leaves, the bustle of the market square. But it was always too far away, unreachable.

It wasn’t always like this. Once, she was free wild and untamed, with fire in her heart and the world at her feet. She had been a princess, yes, but she had never conformed to the expectations of courtly life. She was always the one who pushed boundaries, who fought against the constraints of her title. Until the curse.

Her hands rested on the cool glass, fingers brushing against its smooth surface. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment of silence. There was nothing else now. Nothing except the never-ending ache for freedom.

Outside, Finn stumbled through the misty woods, the rain soaking through his worn clothes. His breath came in ragged gasps. He wasn’t used to this place the fog, the darkness, the towering glass structure that loomed ahead. But he had no choice. There was nowhere else to run. His past was catching up with him, and the shadow of his enemies followed him even here.

The forest felt like a prison of its own. The kind you couldn’t escape, no matter how fast you ran. But then, through the fog, a strange sight appeared a towering, crystal-clear structure gleaming faintly under the moon. His eyes narrowed. What the hell was that?

As he got closer, the stories he’d heard about the “Glassbound Princess” drifted into his mind. Legends. Old tales. But he didn’t believe in fairy tales. He wasn’t here for that. He was just looking for a place to hide.

He reached the tower’s base, his boots sinking into the wet earth. There was a door, half-hidden by ivy, and he tugged it open with a groan.

“Who’s there?” The voice was sharp, surprised.

He froze. A woman stood on the other side of the glass. Her silhouette was barely visible, but there was something about her something alive in her eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly, almost as if she hadn’t expected to see anyone.

Finn took a breath. “I could ask you the same thing.”

The woman blinked, taken aback, but then her gaze hardened. “You’re not supposed to be here,” she said flatly. “Who are you?”

Finn smirked, leaning against the glass, his hand instinctively twirling a coin between his fingers. “Well, I’m not exactly a prince, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Her brow furrowed. “You’re a thief, aren’t you?”

“I’m just looking for a place to lie low,” he muttered. “But you ”

“I’m the Glassbound Princess,” she interrupted, her voice bitter. “And this,” she gestured to the tower, “is where I’ve been trapped for as long as I can remember.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A princess? A real-life princess? This place is a prison, isn’t it?”

She didn’t answer, but the way she clenched her fists said everything.

Finn sighed. “So what’s your story, Princess?”

Liora didn’t reply at first. She glanced away, her eyes darkening. “An old curse. An ancient one. My ancestors… they thought they could stop the kingdom’s power from growing too strong, so they built this. To imprison me, to lock away the royal bloodline’s magic.”

“Right,” Finn muttered. “Seems like a bit of overkill, doesn’t it?”

She scoffed, bitterness in her voice. “You have no idea.”

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Outside, the wind picked up, the branches of the trees creaking in the night air.

“I can’t stay here forever,” Liora said quietly. “But I don’t know how to escape.”

Finn’s fingers stilled around the coin. “Sounds like a nice little setup,” he said, glancing around at the tower’s shining walls. “A princess, a curse, a tower. The usual fairy tale stuff.”

She shot him a sharp look. “It’s not a story. It’s my life.”

Finn eyed her, his expression unreadable. “Yeah, well, you don’t seem like the type to sit around waiting for someone to rescue you.”

“Rescue?” She laughed bitterly. “Who’s left to rescue me? My own bloodline put me here. There’s no knight in shining armour coming to break the curse.”

“You’ve got that right,” Finn said dryly, stepping closer to the base of the tower. “So, what do we do now?”

She didn’t know. She didn’t have a plan. She only knew one thing: she couldn’t stay here forever.

Days passed. Finn, despite his reluctance, found himself coming back to the tower. There was something about Liora that tugged at him, something real. She wasn’t like the princesses in the stories, waiting for a hero to come sweep her away. No, she was fierce. But fierce and stuck in a prison of glass.

One evening, as he wandered through the tower’s library, his fingers brushed against an old, dusty book. It was buried deep beneath layers of cobwebs and old scrolls. He flipped through the pages, eyes narrowing as he read the strange symbols.

“What the hell is this?” Finn muttered to himself, his hand tracing the arcane script. The book didn’t just tell the story of the curse it described it, laid out step by step how to break it.

When Liora appeared beside him, she gasped at the sight of the book. “That’s it,” she whispered. “That’s the key.”

Finn’s unease deepened. He scanned the page, reading the words over and over. Something wasn’t right.

“We can’t do this,” he said, voice tense. “This… it’s asking for more than we have.”

But Liora was already moving toward the altar, her hand trembling as she lifted the book. “I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

The ritual began with words that made the air around them hum. Liora stood in the centre of the tower, her hands trembling as she recited the ancient spell. The glass walls began to crack, tiny fractures splintering in the shimmering surface.

Finn stood off to the side, his nerves on edge. He could feel the magic rising, but something about it felt wrong. It wasn’t just the curse being lifted it was the very balance of things shifting.

“Stop,” Finn said, his voice shaking. “It’s not worth it. You don’t know what it’ll cost.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Liora whispered. “I’ve been trapped here too long.”

But as she spoke, the glass began to splinter faster, the cracks widening until the whole tower trembled under the weight of magic.

The tower shattered. The glass fell in jagged pieces, some large enough to catch the moonlight as they fell, others small enough to slice through the air like daggers. The curse was broken. But it had come at a price.

Liora stood in the rubble, the wind howling through the ruins. The magic was gone, but now there was something else: the kingdom’s balance was shattered too. The dark forces that had been held at bay for centuries were now free to rise. The kingdom was in turmoil.

She turned to Finn, her heart heavy. “Is it too late to fix what I’ve broken?”

He stepped forward, his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll fix it. Together.”

Liora nodded, her resolve hardening. The world outside had changed but she wouldn’t run from it. She was no longer the princess trapped in a tower. She was free.

And now, she would fight for her kingdom.