Before
Hi! Welcome to Salt and Steel my new writing project and first on Inkitt! Checkout the short prologue below! :D
She perches on the edge of a gilded chair, her legs swinging above the polished sandstone floor. The ballroom around her is too big, too bright, the chatter of adults bouncing off the walls in a muddle of words she doesn’t care to understand.
Nine-year-old Juliette Wai is bored.
She tugs at the silk ribbon around her waist, wishing she could tear it off and vanish into her plush chair. Across the room, her parents laugh with some important looking people. Her father’s hands sweep the air dramatically as he speaks, while her mother nods at all the right moments. Juliette knows better than to interrupt them.
She looks down at the plate in her lap. The cake is beautiful, a little tower of spun sugar and cream, but she hasn’t touched it. Her stomach twists. She feels small and invisible, even with the tiara, even with the dress that sparkles whenever she moves.
It’s her birthday. But her parents are too busy posturing to notice their only daughter. Juliette’s attention drifts from her plate as her Uncle Lucian approaches, holding a small, neatly wrapped box. He smiles, ruffling her hair, and places it in her lap with a soft chuckle. “A birthday gift for my favorite niece,” he says, his voice warm but carrying the air of someone who’s often busy elsewhere.
Juliette marvels at the box; it’s not a toy—she’s grown too old for toys, but it’s something small and mysterious. She reaches for the ribbon.
“Juliette,” her mother snaps, breaking through the moment. “Time for bed.” She motions for a servant to collect Juliettes things.
“Can I go outside first?” she asks pleadingly. “Just one more time, to the balcony? I want to see the sunset.”
Her mother’s gaze flicks over, her lips tight with an expression Juliette knows too well. Disapproval mixed with exhaustion. She has business to conduct.
But after a long pause, her mother sighs. “One more time and quickly—.”
Juliette nods eagerly. She slides off her chair, and clutches her ribboned present to her chest. Juliettes feet whisper against the polished floor as she hurries toward the grand doors that lead to the balcony.
She steps out into the cool evening air, feeling the shift in temperature as the sun sinks lower on the horizon. This sky is a painting of pinks and oranges. If you live high enough in Zen-Yue you can see the True Sea. There’s nowhere else in the city that feels like this, she could dive past the jagged rockface, slice into the water, and then just keep going and going. What lies beyond the True Sea the little girl wonders?
Her thoughts are interrupted by a rustle on the terrace behind her. She turns quickly, expecting to see a servant or someone else from the party. But instead, there’s nothing. The wind brushes her hair across her face, and she shakes it off, convinced it was just her imagination.
The sun sets fast in Calion. Darkness moves too quickly and it soon swallows her up. Juliette looks over the edge of the balcony just as a strong hand grips her shoulders, lifting her back to her feet. Her present tumbles out from her hands and rolls to the edge of the balcony. Another hand covers her mouth, muffling the scream she wants to unleash.
And then the world goes black.
