The sudden bustle in the halls came as a surprise to Marrok. He was returning to his chambers to relax a bit before the next court function, but now he would have to change his plans; outside the room, servants were moving furniture, clothing and toys down the hallway. He quickly noticed that they were Levana's. Jannali supervised the whole ordeal, directing the servants around.

"What are you doing?" Marrok approached her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Levana is moving in with Channary into the big room."

"Excuse me?"

"I've decided that we coddle her too much. She needs to learn to live a bit without us."

Marrok spluttered. "But I—you know that hate having her around Channary!"

Jannali rolled her eyes. "That's why I didn't bother to ask what you thought. You would just bitch and moan like you usually do." She approached him, rising up to his height and getting in his face. "Don't tell me you're going to do that now. I get enough as it is from our children."

The king frowned.

"Besides, she'll want to have a room away from us eventually. Might as well get that over with now."

"But you're putting her with her sister…this is a recipe for disaster."

The queen laughed. "Ah, but that too, must be done! Channary has had her spoiled way for far too long now; she needs to learn how to share and get along with Levana. Making them live in the same room will do just that."

"I still don't agree."

Jannali hunched her shoulders. "Well, that's just too bad! Most of the moving has already been done. The servants would hate to have their work mean nothing."

Marrok scoffed. Never have the servants' feelings ever mattered to Jannali. Never have anyone's, for that matter. A raging headache had settled upon him, and he groaned. He was much too tired for this now.

"Mama! Where are all my things?!" Channary came running, her eyes glistening with tears. She gritted her teeth and faced her mother, completely ignoring the king's presence. "Why is my room empty?!"

"You're going to have a bigger room now, and you'll be sharing with Levana."

At first, Channary simply narrowed her eyes; surely it had to be a joke. But when it became clear that Jannali meant business, her entire face reddened. She let out a scream, as well as a long string of curse words. "WHY?!"

Marrok flinched. "Because," he sighed, "your mother said so."

"Well, you're the king, are you not?! Tell her she can't! She's not even a real queen; so I say no! Put my stuff back!"

Jannali froze for a moment, before bursting into clamorous laughter. Marrok's blood iced. "I am the king," he seethed, "and I tell you to shut up before I throw all of your things into the lake!"

"I HATE—"

"One more word and I throw you into the lake!"

Channary stuck up her lip. She began to cry in earnest, like the spoiled brat she was. "Why do you hate me?"

"Come here, girl." Jannali shushed her, placing a hand on the princess' back. She rubbed it soothingly. Channary was not at all comfortable in her mother's arms, but she was kept in place by Jannali's glamour. "No one hates you, and I understand that this is not an easy thing for you to accept. But you'll see: you'll come to enjoy rooming with your sister."

"Doubtful," Channary spat.

"Most certainly," Jannali insisted. The queen then released her daughter, who made sure to scamper off as quickly as her long skirt and tight shoes would allow.


"Levana, go to sleep!"

"I can't! I'm too scared!"

Channary groaned loudly, burying her face in her pillow. Levana was too far away to be throttled at the moment; the two girls had each been given their space on either side of the large room. The center was empty, save for a baby blue rug. Levana never dared to cross that rug, although Channary wasn't shy to stalk over to give her sister a beating—at least when she wasn't dead tired. For the moment, all she wanted was rest. But Levana wouldn't stop whining, crying and fiddling with her toys.

"I want Mama and Papa," Levana whimpered.

"Well, they're not coming, so shut up! Stars, you're annoying. Do you even know how terrible you are?"

In the dark, she couldn't see Levana's face, but she could hear her begin to cry even harder. Channary cursed. "Shut up, I said!"

Silence suddenly veiled over the room. Channary let out a sigh and rolled over, wrapping herself in her sheets. Finally, she would get to sleep. She cracked an eye open, however, as she heard the door slowly creep open. A flood of light from the hallway spilled into the night. She saw Levana's little shadow slip through the threshold and out of the nursery. Before long, the voice of a guard, as well as Levana's annoying whine, rang in her ears. They then disappeared down the hall and left behind only silence. Channary simply closed her eyes again. Good riddance.

When sleep began to find her, Levana returned, crying again. Channary's anger increased tenfold. "What is it now?!"

"I…I—" Levana gasped, "I went to Mama's room, and Papa was there, and—"

"And what?"

"They were naked, and Mama was hitting him really hard…his back was all bloody! She kept on punching him with a piece of metal!"

Channary fell onto her pillow, her chest heaving. Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment and disgust. "I don't need to know that!"

"Mama told me to leave," Levana continued. "Papa didn't say anything. He didn't stop her; he seemed asleep."

"People do that sometimes. It's not something that you need to worry about."

Levana wiped her nose. "Can I...can I sleep with you?"

"GET LOST!" Channary screamed.

Levana let out a gasp, then stood silent. Tears pooled in her eyes. She then turned to face away from the crown princess, her small shoulders quaking. Like a little mouse, she scurried over the rug, to her side of the room, and surrendered herself to her own bed.


Channary gathered her hair in one hand, while grabbing an elastic in the other. As she tied back her chestnut curls, she couldn't help a smile from making its way to her sweet lips. Her reflection revealed tender beauty, a thirteen-year-old goddess. She wore a gown that had been given to her a week ago by Lord Ptolemy, the fifteen-year-old noble she had begun to court. Her friends had told her that a boy of that age was no good catch, but Channary figured she ought to give him a chance anyway. She had never been courted before. Her heart fluttered at the thought of it. She had not yet slept with him, but she hoped to soon. The other girls loved to boast about their first time and the many times after that—the princess longed to be able to tell stories of her own, and not just lies made up on the spot.

Just one more elastic, as well as a fresh rose, and her hairstyle was complete. She cupped her face in a coy pose. She was worthy of a painting. "Thutmosis Ptolemy, do you know how lucky you are?"

"Very lovely, dear."

Channary jumped. She put a gloved hand to her chest, hoping that she still looked dainty. She imagined that she was a lovely young woman, on her way to a date, until she was attacked by a jealous rival. It was a lot more fun to think that than to simply accept Queen Jannali's presence. "Mother," she acknowledged. She then dipped into a shallow curtsey.

"That little Ptolemy is very lucky indeed. You are simply," Jannali grinned, "exquisite. Your grandmother would be proud."

"What grandmother?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Both of them were a waste of time."

Channary rolled back her shoulders. "Do you need something, Mother?"

"I have something you might want to play with." The queen ran her tongue over her teeth. The action was strange and repulsive; Channary made a face in response. Jannali then slipped her hand between her breasts, deep in her corset. She pulled out a small box of matches, worn with use. The queen smiled, her eyes gleaming, her smile wide and predatory. Channary had never seen her mother so excited; she only then realized just how little she even saw the queen.

"Someone left these on the altar in the great hall," Jannali giggled.

Channary gulped and forced her own smile. "Why are you giving these to me, Mother?"

"I thought that you might have fun with them." She came up behind the princess and bent down to her ear. The box of matches was slid into Channary's hand. "I've heard that you've always wanted to see a real fire. Instead of a holograph."

Channary nodded. "You…you did?"

"Yes. Why don't you go try them out?"

"It's against the rules," Channary murmured.

"No one has to know. It'll be our little secret."

The princess trembled, unsure. It had been drilled into her head since childhood: don't play near the candles. You'll burn something. You'll ruin the air. You'll hurt yourself.

Jannali leaned down and brushed the girl's ear with the tip of her nose. "Perhaps you could show them to Levana. She might like them too."

"That seems like it would be fun," Channary replied, as if in a trance. Her eyes were glossed over.

"You know, if you wanted to burn her with these, it wouldn't be a problem. No one would find out. No one would care."

"Wha—"

"Wouldn't that be nice? She deserves it, after all. For annoying you so much."

Channary gulped. "Why would you want me to do that?" Her voice quivered. She could feel Jannali's warm breath on her skin; this caused her to break out in goosebumps. She was suddenly afraid.

"It's all part of Mommy's plan," Jannali cooed. "You don't need to worry about the why."

The princess nodded, her fear slowly ebbing away. It was replaced by Jannali's contagious joy. She eyed the fireplace in the middle of the nursery, where there lay nothing but hollow darkness. She imagined how beautiful a real fire would look in there, as well as how it would smell; like burnt wood, ash, smoke, and the breaking of rules.


"Come here, baby sister. I want to show you something."


Marrok dug his nails into his palms. This would be the fourth hour in a row that he'd spent in the waiting room of the intensive care unit. His skin tingled with the strength of his frustration, his exhaustion, his despair. He couldn't bring himself to once again leave his chair and look at Levana through the thick glass window. It broke his heart every time he did so. It was like looking at a ghost. After the doctors managed to get her vitals stable, her fluids back in her body and the smoke out of her lungs, she was wrapped in bandages from her head to her knees. He couldn't see her face, although he could imagine that what was left of it didn't begin to resemble his pretty little girl.

The doctors assured him that she so pumped with various narcotics that she wouldn't feel a lick of pain. She was to remain in an induced coma until her body could bear to be taken off of life support, in part to prevent her from inflicting any further harm to herself. They don't know yet whether she has any severe brain damage, but they told him that she would certainly be partially blind, and perhaps deaf as well.

He buried his head in his hands, trying to prevent more tears. He had cried plenty over the past few days. He hardly ate or slept, his stomach too much in knots to do anything other than panic. Jannali sometimes stayed with him, her head resting on his shoulder as they lay together in silence. They didn't say anything to each other. He couldn't tell whether Jannali was angry, sad, or indifferent; he strongly hoped, with all his heart, that it wasn't the latter.

He lifted his head at the sound of footsteps wandering in. He closed his eyes, expecting it to be just another nurse passing by. When the footsteps didn't leave the room, though, he peered through his eyelids. To his great displeasure, Channary stood by the observation window, she hands pressed against the glass. She seemed wholly amused by the sight of her battered and comatose sister.

"She's gonna be quite ugly," Channary giggled.

Marrok's fists clenched. "Get out of here. I don't want to see you right now."

The princess smirked and tossed her hair. "I just want to see her. I have a right to be here."

"When I tell you to leave, you leave."

"Yeah, yeah." Channary waved a hand. "I am the one who saved her, you know. She would've died if I hadn't pulled her out."

Marrok didn't believe that for a second. He knew very well since the incident happened that Channary forced Levana into that fireplace. Jannali had warned him to not punish her, though. No one could know that it had not been an unfortunate accident, and he obeyed her, of course, he did.

It sickened him to think that Channary would get away with it. That she was now rubbing it in his face. The little brat deserved nothing less than death for her humiliating existence. Marrok believed her to be the biggest failure of his life, beyond that of worthy kingship and his ruined friendship with James. He was ashamed to have her carry on his name, and to one day have her sit on his throne. He should've talked his wife into an abortion all those years ago—then he wouldn't be burdened with such stupid offspring.

He had considered disowning Channary many times. Renouncing his paternity and declaring her a bastard would've made Levana the sole heir to the crown. However, to do that would mean that he cared. He wasn't supposed to care. He was the king with not a care in the world. When the time would come for him to be replaced, it would no longer matter to him who came next.

Marrok watched as Channary continued to relish in her handiwork. Her grimy hands tainting the window. Her lips pulled in a disgustingly smug smile. In that moment, he knew that he couldn't just let it go. There had to be some form of punishment for her actions.

He exacted his revenge on her a few days later, when she was alone and stupidly off-guard. She was wandering the halls, obviously skipping out on her literature lesson. It was simple, pure, blissful luck that she happened to be on the uppermost floor of the palace at the time. Hidden behind a pillar, Marrok gripped onto his daughter's mind and had her throw herself out of one of the open windows. He had hoped that the fall would kill her, but no such luck; she landed on one of the balconies of the lower floors and came out with a shattered pelvis. She was, unfortunately, quite alive after impact. Her screams of agony shook the entire palace. It disgusted the king to have to fake concern as she was taken to the hospital wing for emergency surgery.


Three weeks after the fire incident, the doctors announced that Levana could be revived and that they could remove the bandages that she had been wrapped in. Both the king and the queen were eager to see her awake again, but also felt a great amount of dread at the thought of what had become of the girl. The result of the burns was truly awful. A nightmare. Something straight out of a horror film.

Looking at her, it seemed like her whole face was gone. Her left eye was buried under scar tissue and she had lost at least half of her pretty hair. She was awake, but just barely. Breathing seemed to be a terrible chore. Her good eye was fixed on the two figures standing above her. "Wha…"

"Hello, Sweetling…" Marrok pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "Are you feeling okay?"

Levana took a long breath. She seemed extremely confused.

Jannali joined her husband and took Levana's uninjured hand in hers. "We've missed you, Baby Girl. Did you miss us?"

"Who…who are you?"

A long, painful silence. The air seemed to have been sucked out of the room. Marrok trembled, his eyes watering. The sight of her, so destroyed and hurt, was bad enough. But this…it couldn't be. "We're your parents. Mama and Papa. You know us!"

Levana tried to blink. "I don't…I've never seen you before."

"That's not true! Remember, I took you to the carnival a few weeks ago? And I got you that rocking horse." Marrok dared to touch her head. He gently ran his fingers through the remnants of her hair. "You loved it, and told me I was the greatest Daddy in the whole world." His voice broke. "Don't you remember that?"

"What's a carnival?"

Marrok's shoulders slumped, and he was unable to stop the tears. His sobs were overwhelming, and he forced himself to back away before he accidentally hurt her. It was only then that he noticed Jannali's vacancy. She said nothing else, and she didn't move, either. Her expression was a mix of annoyance, despair, and disappointment.

Finally, she spoke. "It'll come back to her eventually."


Hello, readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter...please remember to fave, follow and review for more! I'm thinking that there will be about 4 or so more chapters of this story left. It's nearly over :O