—BOOK ONE—
The elder sister, the sun, was worshipped and glorified, while the younger, the moon, was shunned and ignored.
was that time again. The anniversary of when King Marrok rose up to power. Ten years ago, he was still just a mere prince, barely able to claim his crown.
But now, April would also be the month marking his second child's birth.
It had been at least a day since his wife had went into labour. A day of having to endure the screams coming the hospital ward in the palace. Two days with absolutely no news whatsoever. A day of having to endure his eldest daughter's persistent questions, wondering where her mother was.
With Princess Channary, it hadn't been nearly as long or tedious. He was afraid of losing his wife and more importantly, his child. His son, his little prince.
They didn't know for sure, but ever since Channary was born, they had desperately wanted a little boy. A fine young prince that would someday rule Luna as a strong and powerful king. They had even thought of the perfect name—Prince Lukas of Luna. Once they found out that Queen Jannali was pregnant, they were ecstatic. Channary wouldn't stop talking about her new baby brother. The five year-old princess came up with a list of over fifty names for the baby, most of which were quite silly, such as 'Teeny' and 'Booboo'. He chuckled as he remembered his daughter's disappointed face when he told her that they couldn't name him 'Prince Muffinman'.
"Your Majesty?"
The king snapped out of his thoughts with a jolt. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest as he turned around. "Don't scare me like that!" he shouted, trembling slightly.
The maid who had snuck up behind him bowed curtly. "My sincerest apologies. I just came at Her Majesty's request. She would like an audience with you."
He blinked. "What is it? Is she hurt? Is my son hurt? Is he…dead?" His blood had started to run cold at the thought of his little boy being stillborn.
The maid held out a hand. "Calm down, Your Majesty. Both Queen Jannali and the baby are perfectly fine. Come with me, for she wants to introduce you to your child," she said, with a nervous smile. Marrok was too relieved to notice it, however. He bluntly dismissed her and nearly ran into a wall as he stormed down the halls to the hospital ward.
The deserted maid huffed slightly, blowing a lock of platinum blonde hair from her face. "How rude," she grumbled.
Marrok was panting by the time he got to his wife's room in the hospital wing of the vast palace. Even in his excitement, he took a moment to catch his breath before opening the sliding door. As soon as he entered the room, he noticed a very angry looking Channary pouting in a corner. Her arms were crossed over chest and she was letting out big huffs, an obvious plea for attention. Dismissing it as punishment for being too rough with the baby, he looked over to his wife. She was in a seated position, holding a little white bundle in her arms.
She looked terrible—she had huge bags under her eyes, her face was pale and clammy and there were still blood stains on her blanket and nightgown, despite the midwives' effort to clean her up. Her dark hair was tangled and her dark eyes looked cloudy, as if she were about to pass out.
"So? How is my wonderful new son doing?" Marrok asked cheerfully, not noticing the queen's distasteful expression. She let out a deep sigh.
"No, not your son, your daughter, and she is fine."
A moment of silence.
"What."
Jannali glowered. "You have a little girl, Marrok. A princess."
The king's expression darkened. He looked over to his wife and asked her to give the child to him. She was happy to oblige. He pulled back the blanket and looked at the baby girl. She was tiny, born a bit underweight. Her face, although chubby, had a distinct heart shape to it. She had a cute button nose with a splash of freckles covering her cheeks. A thin tuft of auburn hair covered her head. When she opened her eyes to look at her father, the king saw his wife's charcoal ones copied into her face. She blinked them quickly, gazing at him, her expression full of wonder. Although she was cute, she was nowhere near as beautiful as her sister, with her shimmering golden hair and chocolate brown eyes.
The king sneered. He was angry, disappointed, and confused. He had wanted a son! A prince! Not this...child.
He grit his teeth. "I can't believe this..." He gave the baby a cold, hard glare, making her cry before shoving her back into his wife's arms. He then stormed out of the room, stomping down the palace hallways while the servants stood clear of their furious ruler.
Queen Jannali slumped back on her pillow, so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Normally, she would've gone after her husband, but she was just too exhausted. The grueling two days of physical exertion had left her incredibly weak.
And she had her second daughter to thank for that.
The midwives in the room could all see the queen's exhaustion. Coming to her aid, one of them and took the baby from her so she could rest. She hummed a soft lullaby into the infant's ear until she fell asleep. The queen let out a tired sigh. Finally. She could find peace and quiet. And maybe, just maybe, she could escape to her dreamland, where it was just her and her books. And maybe a few friends, if she still had any.
Unfortunately, Princess Channary had other ideas. She was just as mad the fact that she had a sister instead of a brother as the king was. She decided to make this fact quite clear by getting up and throwing a huge tantrum.
"But you said I was getting a brother! A boy! Mommy, I don't want a stupid little sister. All she'll do is steal my dresses and my dolls! She'll embarrass me in front of my friends with her ugliness! I want her gone!" Channary screeched.
The queen mustered the energy to give her daughter the mother of all death glares, pinching the bridge of her nose with her pale fingers. She was so tired. She had absolutely no patience for the princess' wailing and complaining.
"Channary, please, don't start."
"BUT I DON'T WANT A SISTER!" Channary screamed on the top of her lungs. A few of the midwives flinched back. The one holding the newborn quickly backed away, cradling her protectively.
"Malissa, would you please escort Channary back to her room? Her complaining is really exhausting," she called out to her head maid in a raspy voice. The maid smiled and nodded, taking Channary's hand and leading her towards the door.
"NO! I won't go! You can't make me! I won't leave until you get rid of that dumb baby!" Channary shrieked hysterically. She sounded like a dying banshee.
The princess ripped her hand away from the maid's and glared at her. Before the queen could fully register what was going on, the maid was on the floor, writhing and wailing in pain. Channary was towering over her, her brow creased in concentration. Most Lunar children could only disguise themselves at her age, but the princess' glamour was the most powerful anyone had ever seen. At only five years old, she could already disguise, manipulate and see through glamour. It was nearly as strong as her parents', which was already stronger than the average Lunar's.
And Channary loved to take advantage of it.
"PRINCESS CHANNARY LUCIA OF LUNA! STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!" Jannali roared, slight flecks of spit coming from her chapped lips. The action left her coughing and gasping for air like a fish out of water.
Channary let go of her hold on the maid's mind immediately, cowering back a bit. Her mother only used that voice when she was furious. The queen's yelling had woken up the poor baby, and she started to cry softly. The midwife started to hum once again.
"Sweet Crescent Moon…, Up in the sky…," she sang a few bars of a song, a lullaby that sounded new, yet familiar at the same time. "You sing your song, so sweetly after sunshine passes by..." The soft and comforting lullaby had managed to calm the baby, and she gurgled softly before closing her eyes once again. By then, Malissa had somewhat recovered from the assault, standing up and shuddering. The queen gave her an apologetic smile.
"Channary, please follow Malissa to your room. That is an order," she said calmly, trying her best not to faint from her earlier outburst. Channary hung her head and started walking towards the door.
"Yes, mother," the girl grumbled. Malissa opened the door and lead her out, the princess paying her no mind. The opaque glass door slid shut behind them with a soft click.
The queen let out a strained breath. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Maybe if she did, none of the day's events would have ever happened. That would've been nice.
Unfortunately, there were still a few things to do. One of the midwives took out a netscreen and opened up a document for a birth certificate, the time of the baby's birth already recorded.
"Your Majesty, may I inquire the name of the young princess?" she asked. The queen thought about it for a moment. Unlike her husband, she wasn't completely certain that the child would be a boy, so she came up with a few girl names, just in case.
"Princess Levana of Luna," she mumbled hoarsely. With that, she sighed and closed her eyes, falling into a peaceful slumber for the first time in weeks.
A week after her sister was born, Channary had finally decided to go and see her for the first time.
She tiptoed through the nursery, afraid that even the slightest creak would summon her mother, who would just shoo her away. The princess grabbed a short stool from the corner of the room and placed it in front of the crib, mounting herself on top of it. She peered over. Levana was sleeping soundly, a baby blue blanket clutched in her relaxed fists.
"Pssst! Hey! Wake up!" Channary hissed, prodding the baby's face. Levana gurgled a bit before lazily opening her eyes. She smiled innocently at the sight of Channary looming over her.
"So. You're my new sister," Channary deadpanned. Levana made no sound.
Channary inclined her head, so that her waterfall of sunshine hair cascaded over her chest. "Since we're going to have to live together, it's about time that I set down some rules."
"Rule number one." Channary pointed a finger to herself. "I am the crown princess. The throne is mine. You," she pointed her finger out towards Levana, "are the worthless spare. Therefore, you shall obey me, and I shall treat you like the peasant that you are. Understood?"
Levana cooed.
"Rule number two." Channary spun around, displaying her beautiful white sundress. "All my dresses are mine. All my shoes are mine. All my jewelry is mine. All my tiaras are mine. All my dolls and toys are mine. You are not to touch them. Ever."
Levana just stared at Channary.
"Ugh. You're so boooring," she huffed. The baby continued to stare at her.
Channary rolled her eyes. "You should know that you're probably the stupidest creature that I've ever met."
Levana giggled, holding her small hands out to her older sister. Channary's right eye twitched in irritation.
"Channary, darling, what are you doing?"
Channary jumped slightly at the sound of her mother's voice. She twirled around, clasping her arms behind her back, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Nothing," she said.
Jannali quirked an eyebrow. Channary huffed. It would take more than that to deter the queen. "I'm telling stupid here," Channary pointed a finger to the crib, "what the rules are."
Jannali placed a hand her hip. "Why are you calling your sister stupid?"
"Because I ask her questions and all she does is stare at me. It's stupid."
Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. "She's just a baby, Channary. She can't understand you yet."
"I wish she could. That way she'd know how stupid she is."
"Say 'stupid' one more time," the queen came forward and prodded Channary towards the door, "and you won't be getting any desert tonight. Now run along."
"But Mother—"
"Don't you have a music theory lesson to go to? We wouldn't want you to be late, now would we?"
Channary hung her head. "No..."
"Good. So go ahead, have fun. I'll see you at dinner later this evening."
Channary huffed and walked out of the room, grumbling audibly. Her stomping feet could be heard all the way down the hall. Jannali sighed and turned over to her youngest daughter, who was busy giggling and playing with her feet.
The queen smiled. "Oh, what am I ever going to do with you, Levana?"
Levana gurgled and held her hands out to her mother. The queen picked her up and cradled her to her chest, singing a soft lullaby to make her fall back asleep.
"Come little children..."
She planted a kiss on the baby's forehead.
"The time's come to play..."
Jannali gently placed her sleepy daughter back in her crib, taking great care not to hurt her. She imagined one of her china dolls that she would play with as a child, with flushed cheeks and bows in its silky hair. Soon, Levana's hair would grow long enough so that she could style it, and put bows in it as well.
Levana gripped one of Jannali's spindly fingers with her tiny hand, moving it up and down. Her dark onyx eyes were alight with curiosity. With her soft skin and already high cheekbones, Jannali knew that Levana would grow up to be stunning. Maybe, just maybe, even as beautiful as her.
"Here, in my garden of shadows..."
The queen slipped her finger out of the baby's grip, lightly running a perfectly manicured nail down her daughter's chubby cheek. She traced up and over, lightly touching her button nose.
"What a cute little doll..." she cooed. "Lovely and delicate."
Jannali pulled her hand away. Levana gurgled.
"You're nice and new." The queen cocked her head to the side. "It would be a shame if you were to become...defective." The last word carried a bit of a sneer, as if she were dreading the day that her shiny new toy would get scratched or broken.
Levana closed her eyes, once again clutching her soft blanket, as if it were a lifeline.
"Sleep well, my darling..." Jannali trailed off, laying a final kiss on Levana's forehead. She then left the nursery without a sound, closing the door silently behind her.