Chapter 1: Mother's Day
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from LoliRock properties by writing this story. This story is written for pleasure's sake. All rights reserved.
The topic of Mother's Day weekend came up at the dinner table as Iris was using her fork to make crisscross patterns in her mashed potatoes. She loved garlic mashed potatoes, but she was stuffed.
…perhaps it would not hurt to finish the last bite.
She spooned it into her mouth and let the buttery mash melt on her tongue.
Aunt Ellen picked up the girl's plate and put it in the dishwasher, shaking her head at Iris' self-indulgent groan. "You better have room for dessert." No sweetie, or honey, or even Iris. Not anymore, Aunt Ellen rarely spoke to her with the same warmth as before. They were back at their house in Sunny Bay, but it was not the same anymore.
They were not mother and daughter anymore. They were knight and princess, Lady Ellira and Princess Iris of Ephedia. The thought sliced through Iris like a hot knife and those thoughts had been shooting through her for the last two weeks.
Iris fidgeted in her seat. Nathaniel had asked her for help in choosing pearl earrings for his mother for the upcoming weekend.
She inhaled, preparing a question on her tongue. Ellira cut her off.
"So, what are you doing for Mother's Day?" the woman asked, like nothing was wrong between them.
Iris' heart inflated, hoping that this was the chance to somehow repair this rift between them. The last few weeks had become torturous and the loneliness was becoming unbearable. Iris did not have the words explain how she felt, she was not even sure she had the courage.
"Do you want to go Ephedia for a few days and spend it with the Queen of Ephedia?" Ellira added. "I could make a portal and send you to the capital."
"Wouldn't you come too?"
"Don't worry. You'll be fine by yourself. The capital isn't that scary," she said like it was just Iris going to summer camp for a few weeks, and not another planet.
Iris bit her lower lip. "Yeah, okay, I'll go. But, you're coming too, right?"
"Of course."
Later that night, Iris found herself crying as she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She rolled Nathaniel's ring on her finger but she found no comfort in that. What did it mean to have a mother anymore? When she had found out who Aunt Ellen truly was, she had felt a mixture of relief and betrayal. She no longer had to hide that she was an Ephedian princess even if she had been sad about Aunt Ellen hiding the even bigger secret from her. She had always thought that there were no big secrets between them until Aunt Ellen had dropped that biggest bomb on her—and it had all been because her biological mother had ordered her to.
What if Aunt Ellen had never actually loved her? Ellira was an imperial knight and a Calixan, meaning she was loyal and dutiful to a fault. Maybe Aunt Ellen had never been real and it was all a lie.
The one that had raised her—that had loved her—was gone.
She wanted her Aunt Ellen back.
To be continued... (yes, there will be more)