'ello, Mateys!
To make some things clear:
Roxy and Flora are half sisters. Their father was the king of Linphea and Flora's mother was his queen. Roxy's mother was the king's mistress. The king died and the people rebelled with no one on the throne, and some said Flora was queen, and some said Roxy, whose mother had become a duchess so she could live in the castle (her mother is dead and she is the duchess now) was the queen. They're fighting each other and the rebels and each has fled to a different castle in Linphea. Flora and Roxy have never actually met face to face, and Flora has only ever seen Roxy in an oil painting.
The Domino Royal Family has only been ruling for ten years. Before that the Solarian Royal Family ruled, but in the Magix rebellion, the Solarians were killed and Princess Stella went missing.
Tecna is an archduchess. Her mother is alive, to make that clear. Tecna isn't a princess. Zenith isn't a kingdom, it is a province; dukes, earls, lords, etc. rule small provinces, and the king rules the dukes, earls, lords, etc. her father wants her to go to court for Christmas, hoping to catch the eye of a duke or earl or something.
After the Solarian Royal Family was killed, the rebels in Magix put the Dominoes on the throne. Baltor, the secret chief rebel, is also the king's advisor, and is really the one ruling the country because Oritel listens to and does everything Baltor tells him to. Daphne is the oldest and next in line to rule because Baltor told the king to name Daphne his successor, as Daphne and Baltor are lovers. Meaning that Bloom is second princess and usually ignored, and is blackmailing Daphne with her secret about Baltor and her.
Layla's country, Andros, was conquered by the country of Trix. Layla's mother, Muriel, is Miriam's sister and Bloom and Daphne are Layla's cousins. Layla fled to Magix during the siege of the castle in Andros. However, because she belongs to the religion of Morphix, the Morphix rebels want to put her on the throne and boot the Dominos out. Therefore the queen has locked Layla up.
Christmas Day, Dragonfyre Castle
Bloom knocked on the door of Daphne's room. She knew that Daphne would be inside, sulking. Her favorite maid, Arelle, had just left service and she disliked the replacement.
"Sister?" Daphne sounded tired. Bloom opened the door to her bedchamber and smiled at her older sister.
"Sister, I propose your Yuletide gift to me be the province of Alfea's income(2)." Daphne frowned. "What are you talking about? I'm not giving you a Yuletide gift, brat!"
"Are you really not going to give me one? But you're going to give Sir Baltor one? I think that seems a bit unfair," she replied. "even if he is your lover." Daphne looked like she had been stuck.
"Y–you're daft." she hissed, always a bad liar. Bloom laughed and shrugged in an unladylike fashion. "Am I?" she asked. "Perhaps our father will disagree. When his first wife was unfaithful, he killed her and banished their daughter. Perhaps he will show mercy and simply disown you."
Daphne stared at her. "Fine! Fine. You get your way. You get Alfea. Now get out! GET OUT!" she threw her candle and candle holder at Bloom, who backed out of the room with as much dignity as she could muster.
Tecna of Zenith was sitting in her room. The Masquerade of Yuletide was going to start and she and her ladies were to be dressed as goddesses. She was to be Aphrodite, her father had decided. Stella would do better as the goddess of love, but she was Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Tecna would have rather been Athena, but it was her father's choice. (Like everything else in her life).
"This should be fun," muttered Tecna. Stella tried to look reassuringly at her, speculatively holding a golden mask over her face, then tossing it onto the bed. "It will be alright, m'lady."
"For you, at least." muttered the duchess. "You enjoy that kind of thing." Tecna thought she may enjoy it more if she was pretty, but generally had a very low option of herself in that regard—she was fashionably very pale, but that was where her 'fasionality' came to an end.
"It's not so bad," Stella replied. "Doesn't the castle have a library?" she asked, sitting up straight. "Why don't you go there and...read or something?"
Tecna nodded, happier then before. "Don't you want to come?" she asked. Stella shook her head. "You know I hate that kind of thing."
Rolling her eyes, the duchess stepped out of the room to go find the library. She had only been to this castle a few times; and had spent most of her limited court life at Flamerage.
About three hours later she was hopelessly lost.
Linphea, Earthlighte Park (it's actually a castle, not a park)
Roxanne of Linphea, or Roxy to those who knew her, paced in front of her door. Anne, a Morphix (as was all of Andros) of the former Andros, had written about a princess the queen of Domino was keeping locked up. The princess was her niece and ruling power of Andros.
Would she be willing to back up Layla and kill the king and queen? She was against killing anyone, of course, and never for someone she didn't know, like Layla. She could, she supposed, ask Layla to come to Earthlighte Park. The Queen of Magix was still maintaining that the princess stay locked up for her protection, so it couldn't hurt to ask.
Oh, hell. She would ask. What did it even matter? She had never really wanted to be queen in the first place; her mother was always telling her that she would be queen someday. She supposed as a fourteen year old she was excited by the idea. Now, a grown sixteen year old woman, she was wondering exactly what she found enchanting. She rung for a drink and her taster, Regine.
Then again, what would Muse think of putting Layla in the throne?
With taster and drink both brought, she motioned to Regine, who took the first sip without looking, probably not even tasting. Roxy counted to five before she raised the cup to her lips, but before she drank, she smelled an oddly sharp odor off the top of the glass. Setting it down quickly, she stared at Regine.
Regine was trying to say something, but Roxy couldn't tell what, and getting scared, rang for another servant while Regine tried to speak. She began to cry, spitting up what looked like vomit mixed with blood, and Roxy screamed fairly loud enough to bring down the ceiling.
"Oh, my God! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Someone come quick! Oh, Holy Saint Angela! Oh, God!" her voice went an octave higher every time she spoke. Regine was still spitting bloody vomit and Roxy, in a panic, knocked the glass over on the table and it spattered on the floor.
It hissed as it ate through the first layer of carpet and Roxy screamed higher. "OH, GOD! OH, LORD!" by now Freya and Musa were bursting through the door, followed by Sir Andrew, or Andy, as everyone seemed to call him, sword drawn and eyes wild.
Musa and Freya ran to Roxy, holding her tightly, pulling her to sit on her bed. "Oh, your highness. Oh, your grace. Please sit down and look away from that mess." Musa said comfortingly.
However, Roxy couldn't block out Regine's anguished, half-gibberish screams. Andy was banging on the door. "Send for the doctor, for God's sake!" he yelled at Gwyneth for Roxy, who was now facedown on the bed, sobbing, with Musa and Freya tearing up as well and hovering around in a frenzy.
"Oh, goodness..." Masteress Opheila, the healer, came into the room, gasping in anguish. "Oh, Lord, what has happened here?" The cries grew weak and stopped. Roxy dared not look.
Roxy sat up and pointed to the goblet on the ground. Sniffing it, Opheila handed it to Andy, who sniffed as well. "God save the queen." he muttered solemnly. "this is a chemical only known to those astrologers who study it. Hydrochloric acid, I am told it is called. Meant for you, your grace."
Roxy clung to Musa tightly, eyes wide and reddened. "Oh, God. Who would want...?" she already knew the answer: Flora. Burying her face in Musa's chest, she tried to block out the sounds around her.
"Leave, now." she tried to say commandingly, no one moved. She tossed a pillow, her nearest object at hand, at the door while trying not to look at Regine. "Get out of here, now!"
"No, your grace. If it pleases you, my queen, you cannot be alone now." Musa held onto Roxy tightly and Roxy didn't object. Musa was about two years older then Roxy, at eighteen, and though impulsive, she was a good dancer and loved to play music.
Of course, Musa was also a princess. She was King Oritel of Magix's daughter. He had hidden her mother, Matlin, away until her death, and banished then-seven-year-old Musa from Magix. Roxy reasoned that if it were up to her who sat on the Magix throne, it would be Musa, the true princess.
Musa had been with Roxy since she was ten; Roxy was the only one, as far as she knew, who knew her secret, and Musa liked it that way.
Riven, Duke of the Terrestrial Territories under his queen, Roxy, though he didn't care much for formalities, was walking in the courtyard. He liked how servants shied from his sneer; he gladly added to his reputation of being arrogant, cruel, and generally unpleasant.
Riven was only the Duke because Roxy was his cousin; no one liked him expect for Roxy, who tolerated him like she was his mother and not younger cousin.
He noticed the attractive lady-in-waiting to said younger cousin walking past him; her dark hair and the back of her dress to him as she hurried to the aid of Roxy.
Impulsively, Riven grabbed her wrist as she passed him, and she turned around and kicked him hard in the shins.
"What the hell happened to Roxy in there? Who got hurt?" he demanded. She rolled her eyes impertinently. "That's the Queen to you, sir." she said in a tone that gave no indication she wanted to call him sir at all. Or even honor him with a reply.
"Learn to be more submissive, woman. A lady's role is to follow, not to lead." with that he gave her arm a push and she fell to the muddy ground. He would've walked away—
—except for the fact that she kicked the back of one of his knees with her high heeled, pointy-toed shoe, forcing his knees to buckle and he fell to the ground as well. She got up with great dignity while he ended up uttering bloody oaths and slipping on his face.
It figured.
(2)- It means that Alfea, a town, who paid taxes to the royals, was given to Bloom; Bloom gets the money from taxes instead of Daphne. People really did that sort of thing.
And because religion differences, especially between Catholic and Protestant people, came into conflict regularly in really dark ages; since I didn't want to use real religions, all of Layla's people are Morphix, which is a religion that all the other people are not.
Let's say Tecna, Bloom, Daphne, Roxy, Musa, Flora, and Stella are all... Um... If you have a suggestion, review with it; I am not, obviously going to go into beliefs and all that messy stuff so we'll leave it at names. I just don't want to use real religions. No debates on peace in my review box! :)