A.N. Another day another chapter. This one is on Jupiter. I'll be rotating
planets for the first ten chapters or so until all the Princesses are on
the Moon. Please REVIEW!
Gods of Silver Chapter 2
"Litasha! You call this silver clean? This is a disgrace! You lazy wench, can you do nothing right?" Queen Hera's harsh words echoed throughout the hall, the enraged queen proceeded to knock every candlestick on the mantle on to the floor.
The queen of Jupiter was a woman of harsh beauty and manner. Her black hair was always up in an intricate bun, never a hair out of place, and green eyes always shone coldly like emeralds. Her cheekbones were high, her nose reminded many of a hawks, and her chin came a to a perfect sharp point. Queen Hera always stood tall and erect with her chin up, shoulders back, and chest out. She dressed in the stiffest green silk and taffeta with the lowest necklines in the court. Rarely was she described as kind, generous, forgiving, or any other assortment of traits associated with creatures with hearts.
A serving maid of seventeen stood a safe distance from the queen staring intently at the floor. She was dressed in the livery of the palace staff; a simple cotton dress died a light green with a white apron with dark green embroidery on the edges. The crest of Jupiter's royal family, a bald eagle wearing a laurel wreath and holding a lightning bolt in one claw and a rose in the other, was sewn onto the bib of the apron. She was tall and had dark green hair, eyes, and every thing about her from posture to facial expression screamed subservient. Everything that is but her eyes. Her eyes burned with a fire, a strength, and anyone that looked into those orbs knew that this girl was not and never would be anyone's servant.
"Well? What do you have to say?" the queen demanded, "I've given you the entire day to clean the silver for the ball tonight and what do you do? Nothing! These candlesticks are disgusting!"
Hera picked up the last remaining candlestick on the mantle. The polished silver shone like a mirror, reflecting the queen's image at her. She then flung the object at Litasha, the maid, and missed hitting her only by inches. Litasha didn't even flinch and continued staring at the floor, she was used to this sort of thing.
"Do you see that thing? It's ghastly! Princess Serenity could clean a candlestick better than that! You are pathetic!"
Litasha kept looking at the floor but slowly the look was turning into a glare. She had been up a dawn to clean those candlesticks, hoping that if she polished them long enough the shine would blind Hera so she couldn't criticize her work. Miracles were known to happen, just not on Jupiter.
"You will have no supper tonight nor breakfast on the morrow. You need to learn that in my palace I have zero tolerance for sloth. Good day, princess," the queen's parting words were heavy with sarcasm and mocked Litasha even as the queen herself left the room, her crisp skirts making a slight swishing noise as she exited the hall.
Litasha began to pick up the mess that Hera had made during her rant. It was expected that the nearest servant picked up whatever mess the queen made during her latest bought of tantrum. Litasha came to the candlestick that Hera had thrown at her, it was scratched horribly and probably couldn't be fixed. She turned it over and looked at the maker's mark on the bottom, it was the finest silver from Venus and cost a fortune.
"I wish Father was here and not on the Moon. This would all stop if he was here," Litasha murmured to herself and slipped the candlestick into the pocket of her apron to keep, it would just be thrown out anyway.
Litasha's father was King Zeus of Jupiter and High General of the Silver Alliance. And for the first fourteen years of Lita's life she called Hera Mother. That was until her father told her that she was the daughter of Hestia, the queen of Vesta, a planet in another solar system, and was switched with Hera's stillborn baby at birth. It was supposed to be a secret but one of Hera's many spies heard them.
Hera never told her husband that she knew Litasha was not her own child and when he was around treated her the same as she always did. But then Zeus had to go on one of his frequent trips away from Jupiter and everything changed.
Lita was torn from the world she knew and thrown into the gray life of a servant all within the span of a day. All of her pretty dresses and weapons were locked in her old rooms and she was given new ones in the servant's quarters. She had to learn quickly how to do things and no one was going to help her, partly because they were bitter and partly because they were afraid that Hera would find out. So, she did it alone.
The change she saw in her foster-mother was horrifying, she had gone from strict but kind to harsh, demanding, and cruel. Everything that Litasha did was wrong to Hera whether it was or not and she was made to do things over and over again until she got things right. Lita remembered one day when she had to scrub the floor of the Great Hall six times before it was to Hera's satisfaction. Lita's hand had been bleeding and raw from the lye and her knees bruised.
When Hera got word that Zeus was coming home she had Litasha moved back to her old rooms and cleaned up. That night when she was called down to dinner with her parents Hera treated Lita just the same as she had before Zeus had left. Only a glare warning her not to tell about her time as a servant convinced Lita that the two sides of Hera were one in the same.
After that Litasha's life fell into an uneasy pattern, while her father was around she was Princess Litasha but once he was gone on another trip she was just another of the servants.
Now, Lita walked down the halls hugging the wall and her head down, trying not to catch anyone's attention. She let out a sigh of relief when she reached her room and entered quickly. Once the door was closed and she was sure that no one was listening in she placed the candlestick in a drawer of her simple desk, if she was found with it she would be beaten.
Then in a rage she kicked the frame of her bed and punched the wall. She felt her knuckles split and warm blood trickle down her fingers. Quickly she grabbed a rag and tied around her hand to soak up the blood before it stained her uniform, Hera would have her beaten for staining the livery. Rage bubbled up at the thought of being so helpless against her mother.
"I HATE HER!"
She fell onto her bed and buried her head in the pillow, alternating between screaming and sobbing. How could a woman that loved her for fourteen years become such a monster? Which one was the real Hera? Lita was afraid to know.
She cried for what seemed like hours and then finally she slept. Litasha dreamed of the day when Hera wouldn't miss when she threw a candlestick and the day her father never came back. Of the day she would die under her mother's glittering emerald eyes and cruel smile.
Lita awoke breathing heavily and sticky with sweat. Her hands shook when she went to wipe her face. Lita rose on shaking legs and stumbled to the mirror above the sink. The girl in the mirror was not the Litasha she knew. The Litasha she knew was never afraid, or meek, and she most definitely didn't let others control her life. Who had she been over the last two years? Whoever she was, Litasha didn't like her.
Lita scrubbed her face and hands of the sweat and brushed out the hair that had been up in it servants bun much to long. She let the curly green locks hang down her back and she removed her apron. Then she sat down at her desk and began writing a letter. She was going to write a letter to her father telling him everything that had been going on for the last two years. Hopefully, he would believe her but she was leaving this place no matter what.
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Review please! I'm sorry the last chapter was so boring. I had to get the backstory out of the way. Ja ne!
Gods of Silver Chapter 2
"Litasha! You call this silver clean? This is a disgrace! You lazy wench, can you do nothing right?" Queen Hera's harsh words echoed throughout the hall, the enraged queen proceeded to knock every candlestick on the mantle on to the floor.
The queen of Jupiter was a woman of harsh beauty and manner. Her black hair was always up in an intricate bun, never a hair out of place, and green eyes always shone coldly like emeralds. Her cheekbones were high, her nose reminded many of a hawks, and her chin came a to a perfect sharp point. Queen Hera always stood tall and erect with her chin up, shoulders back, and chest out. She dressed in the stiffest green silk and taffeta with the lowest necklines in the court. Rarely was she described as kind, generous, forgiving, or any other assortment of traits associated with creatures with hearts.
A serving maid of seventeen stood a safe distance from the queen staring intently at the floor. She was dressed in the livery of the palace staff; a simple cotton dress died a light green with a white apron with dark green embroidery on the edges. The crest of Jupiter's royal family, a bald eagle wearing a laurel wreath and holding a lightning bolt in one claw and a rose in the other, was sewn onto the bib of the apron. She was tall and had dark green hair, eyes, and every thing about her from posture to facial expression screamed subservient. Everything that is but her eyes. Her eyes burned with a fire, a strength, and anyone that looked into those orbs knew that this girl was not and never would be anyone's servant.
"Well? What do you have to say?" the queen demanded, "I've given you the entire day to clean the silver for the ball tonight and what do you do? Nothing! These candlesticks are disgusting!"
Hera picked up the last remaining candlestick on the mantle. The polished silver shone like a mirror, reflecting the queen's image at her. She then flung the object at Litasha, the maid, and missed hitting her only by inches. Litasha didn't even flinch and continued staring at the floor, she was used to this sort of thing.
"Do you see that thing? It's ghastly! Princess Serenity could clean a candlestick better than that! You are pathetic!"
Litasha kept looking at the floor but slowly the look was turning into a glare. She had been up a dawn to clean those candlesticks, hoping that if she polished them long enough the shine would blind Hera so she couldn't criticize her work. Miracles were known to happen, just not on Jupiter.
"You will have no supper tonight nor breakfast on the morrow. You need to learn that in my palace I have zero tolerance for sloth. Good day, princess," the queen's parting words were heavy with sarcasm and mocked Litasha even as the queen herself left the room, her crisp skirts making a slight swishing noise as she exited the hall.
Litasha began to pick up the mess that Hera had made during her rant. It was expected that the nearest servant picked up whatever mess the queen made during her latest bought of tantrum. Litasha came to the candlestick that Hera had thrown at her, it was scratched horribly and probably couldn't be fixed. She turned it over and looked at the maker's mark on the bottom, it was the finest silver from Venus and cost a fortune.
"I wish Father was here and not on the Moon. This would all stop if he was here," Litasha murmured to herself and slipped the candlestick into the pocket of her apron to keep, it would just be thrown out anyway.
Litasha's father was King Zeus of Jupiter and High General of the Silver Alliance. And for the first fourteen years of Lita's life she called Hera Mother. That was until her father told her that she was the daughter of Hestia, the queen of Vesta, a planet in another solar system, and was switched with Hera's stillborn baby at birth. It was supposed to be a secret but one of Hera's many spies heard them.
Hera never told her husband that she knew Litasha was not her own child and when he was around treated her the same as she always did. But then Zeus had to go on one of his frequent trips away from Jupiter and everything changed.
Lita was torn from the world she knew and thrown into the gray life of a servant all within the span of a day. All of her pretty dresses and weapons were locked in her old rooms and she was given new ones in the servant's quarters. She had to learn quickly how to do things and no one was going to help her, partly because they were bitter and partly because they were afraid that Hera would find out. So, she did it alone.
The change she saw in her foster-mother was horrifying, she had gone from strict but kind to harsh, demanding, and cruel. Everything that Litasha did was wrong to Hera whether it was or not and she was made to do things over and over again until she got things right. Lita remembered one day when she had to scrub the floor of the Great Hall six times before it was to Hera's satisfaction. Lita's hand had been bleeding and raw from the lye and her knees bruised.
When Hera got word that Zeus was coming home she had Litasha moved back to her old rooms and cleaned up. That night when she was called down to dinner with her parents Hera treated Lita just the same as she had before Zeus had left. Only a glare warning her not to tell about her time as a servant convinced Lita that the two sides of Hera were one in the same.
After that Litasha's life fell into an uneasy pattern, while her father was around she was Princess Litasha but once he was gone on another trip she was just another of the servants.
Now, Lita walked down the halls hugging the wall and her head down, trying not to catch anyone's attention. She let out a sigh of relief when she reached her room and entered quickly. Once the door was closed and she was sure that no one was listening in she placed the candlestick in a drawer of her simple desk, if she was found with it she would be beaten.
Then in a rage she kicked the frame of her bed and punched the wall. She felt her knuckles split and warm blood trickle down her fingers. Quickly she grabbed a rag and tied around her hand to soak up the blood before it stained her uniform, Hera would have her beaten for staining the livery. Rage bubbled up at the thought of being so helpless against her mother.
"I HATE HER!"
She fell onto her bed and buried her head in the pillow, alternating between screaming and sobbing. How could a woman that loved her for fourteen years become such a monster? Which one was the real Hera? Lita was afraid to know.
She cried for what seemed like hours and then finally she slept. Litasha dreamed of the day when Hera wouldn't miss when she threw a candlestick and the day her father never came back. Of the day she would die under her mother's glittering emerald eyes and cruel smile.
Lita awoke breathing heavily and sticky with sweat. Her hands shook when she went to wipe her face. Lita rose on shaking legs and stumbled to the mirror above the sink. The girl in the mirror was not the Litasha she knew. The Litasha she knew was never afraid, or meek, and she most definitely didn't let others control her life. Who had she been over the last two years? Whoever she was, Litasha didn't like her.
Lita scrubbed her face and hands of the sweat and brushed out the hair that had been up in it servants bun much to long. She let the curly green locks hang down her back and she removed her apron. Then she sat down at her desk and began writing a letter. She was going to write a letter to her father telling him everything that had been going on for the last two years. Hopefully, he would believe her but she was leaving this place no matter what.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Review please! I'm sorry the last chapter was so boring. I had to get the backstory out of the way. Ja ne!
