Chapter 1
She woke up screaming. Her long brownish hair tangled with sweat and her eyes wide with fear. She sat up and stood stick still, as though a bolt of lightning had coursed through her veins. She shuddered and pursed her lips together. She wished her life mirrored that of the dream, as strange as it sounds...she wanted it. The biggest reason was: anything, and she meant ANYTHING was better than her life at the moment. Yeah, it sucked that bad. She got out of her bed, and stumbled towards the bathroom, stripping off her long nightdress and drawing a bath. She slid her robe up over her bare shoulders, and when she was covered, she walked out of the room to wait for the kiddie pool sized tub to fill. She settled herself down in a velvety cushioned chair, and ate a little pastry the maid had left on her bedside table. Kyma could see how you could call her life: "elegant and extraordinary" or "wonderfully luxurious." Kyma supposed they were both true in a sense, but, the biggest exception to that sense was: Ronald DeAlean. A royal pain in the butt, literally. Ronald was the only child of the Duke and Duchess of Chessinchire, and when the throne was practically handed to him, he instead decided to be "rebellious" and become a priest. Wow right? Kyma sighed, even thinking about him pissed her off, because as much as she hated to think about it, they were technically dating. Kyma called it technically, because you weren't really dating unless you both loved each other right? Wrong. Apparently, Ronald's money, and title, bought him as many girls as he wanted, and apparently, Kyma's family found they had nothing else to do with her. So they set them up. Every available moment of Kyma's free time, she was stuck in a frilly dress, and paraded in front of this religious white-faced buffoon. She hated it, hated it with such a burning passion that her dream sounded more cool than life here. Yeah, that much. Kyma slowly stood from the chair and entered her bathroom, letting the robe slide off of her body, and lowered herself into the hot water. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips and she closed her eyes pleasantly.
~oOo~oOo~oOo~
She brushed a hand across her gown delicately. The soft shimmery fabric feeling silken under her slightly wrinkled fingers. She picked up the corset, and shimmied it up into place, pulling the bright gold ribbon right across her chest, making her look stick thin, she noticed that the bosom of the corset fanned out with a soft gold sparkly fabric. Even the CORSET was fancy? This was going to be a really important birthday apparently. She pulled the golden underskirt up and tied it in it's proper place, so that the top rested against her belly button. The shimmery netting shined in the morning sun, and Kyma admired the fabric in the mirror. She picked up the actual gown, a light pale golden gown with some more bold gold accents. She pulled the sleeveless dress on over her head, and felt it settle against her corset perfectly. She looked into the mirror again, her wet hair looking strange with the gorgeous dress. The soft velvety draped straps rested under her shoulders, giving her a sort of Belle look, like the disney cartoon. The figure that stood in the mirror was breathtaking. She wore a long gown, that reached to the tips of her bare feet, and almost brushed against the floor. The top of the dress nestled tightly against her chest, and a small golden belt pushed up against her breastbone. The bosom of the dress erupted in a sparkly fan shape, meeting up with the belt nicely. The fabric beneath the belt and on towards her hips was a very soft shade of gold, and was slightly scrunched up, for fashionable purposes. From there onward, the dress erupted. The same velvety fabric swallowed her legs, and created a big dome shape. On top of this, a very thin over skirt lay, which was embroidered with the same flashy gold thread as the bosom. She smiled hesitantly, even though her life sometimes sucked, the dresses were awfully pretty. She reached into her closet, and pulled out a shoebox, pulling off the soft gray lid, she got a look at the high heels. They almost took her breath away, with their soft velvety insoles, and glittery gold colors. They were the same pale gold as the dress, with bows that matched the sparkly gold thread perfectly, each bow had a large heart shaped crystal in the middle. She slipped one of them onto her left foot, and walked out of her room, and into the living room of her chambers. She paused for a moment, and sank onto the soft couch, slipping on the other high heel and waiting for her servant. Her thoughts drifted back to the dream...
His evil red eyes contrasted with his dark black hair perfectly, and his tee shirt hugged his torso comfortably. His tee shirt was unique, with "DOWN WITH THE BLOODY RED QUEEN!" printed in blood splattered letters across the front. She turned a little, and saw the familiar red roses bursting through the snarly black thorns, twisting towards the sky, and trapping her in a never ending maze...with him. She looked up, and her black eyeshadow glinted in the moonlight.
"Ma'am?" A voice asked hesitantly, snapping Kyma out of the trance. It was her servant, Alyssa. She giggled a little, "you just seemed a little...preoccupied when I came in so..." She said.
"Oh," Kyma said, bursting into laughter, Alyssa laughed with her, and they exchanged a hug, talking comfortably of Alyssa's life as a servant, and of Kyma's, as a rich lady. "So are you here to do my hair and makeup?" Kyma asked Alyssa.
"Um, yeah! I'm not really 100% sure about this new style but...it looks cute in the pictures I've seen on Facebook!" Alyssa chimed in. Oh, right, if you hadn't already guessed, today was August 25, 2013, Kyma's eighteenth birthday. It seemed a little ridiculous that in this day and age, Kyma would have to act all...Victorian, but that was her life, here in the English countryside, it was as though Jane Austen still lived. Yep, that included the horse carriages, ballrooms, and cocky men. Sounds like a fairy tale right? Wrong. It was a horrible place to live, a horrible life to live. "So..." Alyssa started, looking down at her IPhone for reference on Kyma's hairdo. She scrolled through a little, and read an instruction. "Oh! I get it now!" Alyssa said, suddenly pushing Kyma so she faced the other way and pushing her towards the bathroom. Kyma's gold heels clacked on the hard floors, and Alyssa opened the doors for her. Once all 10 feet of Kyma's dress was inside the semi large room, she shut the door and settled Kyma onto a stool. "Okay, I need to dry your hair first," Alyssa said, picking up a hair drier and getting to work. It took about 15 minutes to be fully dry, which is when she clipped it up, and applied some base makeup to Kyma's face. Once Kyma could see something other than Alyssa's neat pressed servants uniform, she stared at the girl opposite from her, in the mirror. Her eyes were articulately drawn with lines of gold and shimmery pale silver, lighting them up with a strange, powerful aura. Her lips were coated with gold sparkle lipstick, which looked nice with her soft rosy blush.
"Wow," Kyma said in awe, "this is really amazing Alyssa!"
"Aww, thank you! Now let me tackle your hair, or we will be in here for ages." Alyssa cooed, obviously pleased that Kyma liked it. She jumped right into the hair-do, pulling and twisting strands into an ornate pattern. "Now, this is the basic braiding…" Alyssa said, looking down at the phone for reference on what to do next, "ah, I see." She twisted the whole braided section up into a semi-bun, so that the plaited strands led into the "messy" bun. She then started clipping in the sections of pearls at each woven intersection, creating a patchwork of soft white, and golden honey hues. when the masterpiece was finished, Alyssa pulled out a small diamond tiara, along with a matching set of earrings, a necklace, and a pair of soft gloves. Kyma slid the supple fabric up over her forearms, and sighed at the decadent rich texture of the fabric.
"You would almost take me for a princess," she said teasingly. But Alyssa looked grim as she studied her features.
"Yes, yes you would," she said, her tone seeming to get a little dark and mysterious. "Oh! I almost forgot we were on deadline, c'mon you've gotta be at your own party!" She suddenly yelped, grabbing one of Kyma's gloved hands and tugging her out of the door roughly.
Alyssa threw open the main door to Kyma's quarters, and stepped outside in one fluid motion, a very confused, and dolled up Kyma trailing behind as though she was Alyssa's favorite princess toy. The gorgeous white walls and crystal chandeliers flew past them as they made their way to the main staircase, towards the ballroom. "Oookay girlie! I'm only taking you this far, so you better be ready to look stunning for the guests!" She burst out, dropping Kyma's hand from her own, and giving her an encouraging shove.
"WHAT GUESTS?!" Kyma all but screeched at her friends face, it was all a mystery to her. Sure, she was wearing a ballgown, but she liked to dress up on her birthday, and even though it sounded stupid, 18 was an important one, so she wanted to look...important.
"You didn't know?!" Alyssa gasped in amazement. "There is a gigantic ball being held for you outside in the garden… and I heard that Ronald's out there." Kyma visibly groaned, Oh really. I would have never guessed. Time to go meet the guests.
"Ok. Wish me luck and all that crap," Kyma grumbled, but stood a little straighter in her little high heels. Hey, it was her birthday, and her party, so all of the eyes WOULD be on her.
"I always do!" Alyssa yelled, giving her a big hug and stepping out of her way. "Say "hi" to prince charming for me ok?" She added with a giggle. Alyssa knew about Kyma's absolute hatred of Ronald, and so they had come up with the code name of prince charming so nobody thought they were "rude" or anything.
"I will," she replied with a big smile, lifting up her skirt slightly so she could descend the staircase. This was her big moment. She took long fluid steps towards the bottom, praying the whole time that she wouldn't trip or fall and rip her pretty dress. Her hand glided against the handrail, and she smiled slightly, her footsteps slowly retreating from Alyssa.
~oOo~oOo~oOo~
Kyma's left heel contacted the floor of the main level, the resounding final, CLACK, of her right heel followed. Kyma stared down at Ronald, yes, Ronald. His pale blue eyes found hers, and his pale lips broke into what could only be called a fake smile, the kind of smile you do when you are being forced, like in a family picture or something. He extended a hand, politely, and of course, Kyma took it, politely.
"You look beautiful," he said, sounding sincere, he probably was, Alyssa had done an amazing job.
"Thank you, you look quite respectable yourself," Kyma said formally, letting him kiss her hand, and lead her towards the front door. He stopped her there, his hands around her waist delicately. Oh right, Kyma forgot about the dating/front door thing, great. There was a tradition in her family, that whenever one of the daughters was leaving the house, escorted by her "prince" she would have to kiss him, at the doorstep. It was kind of a… weird right of passage in a way, except she had to do it EVERY time Ronald took her out of the dang place. Yay right? He leaned in slowly, and Kyma put on her best: Yeah, I want to kiss you and don't feel grossed out or repelled by you at all, look. Their lips met, but only for a fraction of a second before they both pulled away quickly. "Lets go," she all but whispered.
"Yes, let's," he responded, sounding completely casual as he hooked his arm through hers and paraded through the door, out onto the lawn of the big mansion. Kyma was shocked. Her parents had really gone all out this year, there were soft lanterns hung around the gazebo near the half circle driveway, and the path from the door to the gazebo had been sprinkled with white and gold rose petals, Kyma's favorite. The rest of the lawn had been covered with medium sized banquet tables, that were covered with shimmery gold cloth, and accented with the same white as the rose petals. Big bouquets of flowers erupted as the centerpieces, and a live band played the waltz slowly in the background. Ronald looked at her face with an amused expression on his face, "pretty amazing right?" He asked, pulling her a little closer, ew. She could even tell that he didn't enjoy her company, he was just doing this so that they could marry someday, and be rich together. What a dream come true. She looked at the other guests, each in their own shimmery ballgowns, and proper suits, dancing slowly with their own partners.
"Yes, it is," she said, looking towards him. He seemed nervous, and kept looking at her, while keeping his right hand in his pocket. "What's wrong?" She asked, even though the idea of her and Ronald together disgusted her, she still care about him (at least remotely).
"Oh...it's really nothing," he said, the lie easy to see in his eyes. But Kyma couldn't just pretended that she didn't see the flash of remorse there, she hugged him tightly.
"Really, tell me," she said. Looking up at him, he seemed surprised, but the whole hugging gesture was friendly, not romantic, he saw this.
"It's a surprise," he said, a slight smile playing onto his pale features, he was really trying not to recoil from her grasp, but eventually he did. "A really great surprise." She heard something in his voice-Was that sarcasm?
~oOo~oOo~oOo~
The lights shone, almost fairytale like. They had all sat down and eaten a nice meal after conversing for a long while. Eventually, they brought out the cake, poured some champagne (which she got to try = disgusting), and started the first dance of the night. Of course, she was with Ronald, yay. They waltzed across the lawn, and Kyma eyed one of her closest friends, Jasmina, with her fiancé.
"How have you been dearest?" She inquired formally as they swished past each other, skirts grazing against one another.
"Wonderful! I have also had the delightful company of my dearest husband: Caspani," she eyed him cautiously, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Strange name isn't it? Foreign, African." She whispered into Kyma's ear as they scraped against each other. They both giggled furiously at this, and Kyma almost scolded her on declaring something of that rudeness (men from the African area took a lot of offense to the littlest racist comments), especially with BOTH of their boyfriends right there. The music got a little louder, and the dance required for all of the ladies and men to switch partners, Kyma ended up with Caspani.
"Kyma?" He said in a gorgeous, spicy accent.
"Yep, Kyma Jasquima," she said as she curtsied deeply. He took her hand and kissed it softly.
"Happy birthday Kyma," he said as they started dancing. Something about this guy...
"Thank you," he pulled her a little closer as she said it, and twirled her.
"Don't get too cozy with my husband!" Jasmina called out across the lawn, Kyma blushed deeply. Caspani was a very attractive man, with deep brown skin, and chocolate eyes that twinkled with kindness. He had broad shoulders, and short curly hair. The end of the dance was approaching quickly. He extended his arm, so that Kyma twirled away, before pulling her in again. She smiled as his arm encircled her. Snap out of it. She almost yelled at herself, but ended up only shaking her head. He laughed, a gorgeous, light, bubbly laugh that filled you with happiness and love.
"Did I scare you or something?" He said, with an air of humor in his tone.
"No, I just...needed to clear my thoughts, it's nothing important," she giggled slightly.
"Kyma?" Ronald called out across the lawn, he was standing under the gazebo.
"I better go," she said to Caspani, and headed towards Ronald. She felt Caspani's hand on her arm, the feeling sent pinpricks of electricity running across her body. He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.
"It was a pleasure Miss Jasquima," he said as he released her slowly, and turned to his wife, who was observing with a bemused smile on her lips.
~oOo~oOo~oOo~
She stepped into the gazebo, which was empty except for Ronald, who looked extremely nervous.
"What is it Ronald?" she asked, genuinely worried.
"Kyma Jasquima..." He started, and the world seemed to stop around her. A surprise...his hand in his pocket...18... It all crashed down on her as he slowly lowered to the floor. "Will you marry me?" He asked, on one knee.
"Ronald I..." She started, but knew she couldn't decline. This was her fate, to grow up by Ronald's side, and to be there for him. She accepted this, though it was extremely bittersweet. "Yes," her voice penetrated the icy silence, and she hugs him hesitantly. "I will marry you."