*~
In every fairytale, there is almost always an evil witch, a princess in distress, and a handsome prince who defeats the witch and rescues the girl, and they live happily ever after in a pink glittery castle surrounded by fluffy clouds and rainbows and sunshine.
In my fairytale, a clumsy servant girl who used to be a lady, is meet up against her own sister in a horribly twisted tale that ends in confusion, and all is definitely not well.
I walked home in a daze, and amazingly didn't even trip over anything on the way. Silvia had just killed a senior priest with her dark magic. I was there, and watching helplessly onwards. And she had seen me, and threatened to come after me... It had been devastating seeing her murder in cold blood without even flinching.
How had she become like this? When had she become so cold, so frightening?
And most importantly, was I to become the heroine of this story?
*~
I settled into my new position in the house comfortably.
I had changed quite a bit from the pampered young lady I had been only days ago. No longer was I Lady Charmaine of the Tage House. I was now Isabella, Ona's 'niece', who worked as a servant in the kitchen.
The servants accepted me without discrimination. Most of them were sent away soon, as Elaine could no longer pay for all of their services. I saw Jewel quite often in the distance. She no longer looked like the wild butterfly party girl, but was tip toeing around the house, worn out and worried.
Father was hadn't come home for a while, still on his travels. The King seemed to have put us out of his head of the moment at least, and forgotten completely about his head Merchant.
Silvia was said to have used her evil witchcraft to kill the priest, and in retaliation the Lady has supposedly fizzled her with thunder bolts.
Just shows how idiotic nobles can be...
I actually enjoyed working as a slave/servant better than my old life. The work was hard, but it was better than sitting on a window seat and trying to pointlessly embroider little tiny flowers.
When I had the time, I would sneak down into the library and look in old ancient magic books for the purpose of the cloaks. The one remaining cloak remained under the loose tile, carefully hidden. None of them mentioned anything at all. I was beginning to give up on ever figuring out the mystery.
Father came home one day with gifts for the whole household from the city of Teora in Aria, the city of magic. I'd read that it was the city of Mages, Seers, Healers and other magic uses. Magic was forbidden in Thyreles, and had been for centuries constrained to allow priests and healers to use their magic, but every other form was forbidden, as Hrizan the 3rd had been a paranoid old git who thought that magic would take away his throne.
Funny, isn't it how madness seems to run in families, with the present majesty dreaming about plots in his spare time.
Anyway, I was clearing the path from leaves when he arrived, looking warn and dusty and tired. His cruel mocking face of the past had softened rather and he looked worn and wiser from his last visit.
He looked at me without any recognition at all in his dark blue eyes, but he smiled like quite suddenly, and approached me.
'Here girl, you remind me of someone I once knew. Bella... she has purple eyes just like yours, and her hair was the same beautiful colour of red and gold...'
I looked at him, my eyes wide. Could he be talking about my mother?
Father, who was really no father of mine seeing as he did not recognise his youngest daughter dressed in rags right in front of him, reached into one of his bags and pulled out a deep scarlet rose, it's edges lined with sweet threads of gold, and gave it to me.
'Bella loved roses. I rode past a bush full, and as they reminded me of her, I picked one to place on her grave... but here, I have an extra,' he murmured, lost in his own memories.
I fingered the rose. My perspective of him had changed completely. He was no longer the nasty, cruel shadow of the long past who did not recognise his own daughters one who had sunk deep into evil, but a sorrowful man who lived in his past mourning for his lost love, Bella, who could possibly be my mother.
I no longer hated him. He was simply a human being who had loved once and lost and had so strayed down the wrong path.
*~
In every fairytale, there is almost always an evil witch, a princess in distress, and a handsome prince who defeats the witch and rescues the girl, and they live happily ever after in a pink glittery castle surrounded by fluffy clouds and rainbows and sunshine.
In my fairytale, a clumsy servant girl who used to be a lady, is meet up against her own sister in a horribly twisted tale that ends in confusion, and all is definitely not well.
I walked home in a daze, and amazingly didn't even trip over anything on the way. Silvia had just killed a senior priest with her dark magic. I was there, and watching helplessly onwards. And she had seen me, and threatened to come after me... It had been devastating seeing her murder in cold blood without even flinching.
How had she become like this? When had she become so cold, so frightening?
And most importantly, was I to become the heroine of this story?
*~
I settled into my new position in the house comfortably.
I had changed quite a bit from the pampered young lady I had been only days ago. No longer was I Lady Charmaine of the Tage House. I was now Isabella, Ona's 'niece', who worked as a servant in the kitchen.
The servants accepted me without discrimination. Most of them were sent away soon, as Elaine could no longer pay for all of their services. I saw Jewel quite often in the distance. She no longer looked like the wild butterfly party girl, but was tip toeing around the house, worn out and worried.
Father was hadn't come home for a while, still on his travels. The King seemed to have put us out of his head of the moment at least, and forgotten completely about his head Merchant.
Silvia was said to have used her evil witchcraft to kill the priest, and in retaliation the Lady has supposedly fizzled her with thunder bolts.
Just shows how idiotic nobles can be...
I actually enjoyed working as a slave/servant better than my old life. The work was hard, but it was better than sitting on a window seat and trying to pointlessly embroider little tiny flowers.
When I had the time, I would sneak down into the library and look in old ancient magic books for the purpose of the cloaks. The one remaining cloak remained under the loose tile, carefully hidden. None of them mentioned anything at all. I was beginning to give up on ever figuring out the mystery.
Father came home one day with gifts for the whole household from the city of Teora in Aria, the city of magic. I'd read that it was the city of Mages, Seers, Healers and other magic uses. Magic was forbidden in Thyreles, and had been for centuries constrained to allow priests and healers to use their magic, but every other form was forbidden, as Hrizan the 3rd had been a paranoid old git who thought that magic would take away his throne.
Funny, isn't it how madness seems to run in families, with the present majesty dreaming about plots in his spare time.
Anyway, I was clearing the path from leaves when he arrived, looking warn and dusty and tired. His cruel mocking face of the past had softened rather and he looked worn and wiser from his last visit.
He looked at me without any recognition at all in his dark blue eyes, but he smiled like quite suddenly, and approached me.
'Here girl, you remind me of someone I once knew. Bella... she has purple eyes just like yours, and her hair was the same beautiful colour of red and gold...'
I looked at him, my eyes wide. Could he be talking about my mother?
Father, who was really no father of mine seeing as he did not recognise his youngest daughter dressed in rags right in front of him, reached into one of his bags and pulled out a deep scarlet rose, it's edges lined with sweet threads of gold, and gave it to me.
'Bella loved roses. I rode past a bush full, and as they reminded me of her, I picked one to place on her grave... but here, I have an extra,' he murmured, lost in his own memories.
I fingered the rose. My perspective of him had changed completely. He was no longer the nasty, cruel shadow of the long past who did not recognise his own daughters one who had sunk deep into evil, but a sorrowful man who lived in his past mourning for his lost love, Bella, who could possibly be my mother.
I no longer hated him. He was simply a human being who had loved once and lost and had so strayed down the wrong path.
*~