Chapter 1
Please know that this is all a first draft. Also, Reia's character gets better, though she may seem bratty and annoying at first.
Enjoy!
Reia.
enjoyed
the life of a princess.
With all the parades and enemies, all the family problems, I’ve never liked it. I've especially never liked the whole 'people are out to kill you' part. Or the curiosities that will never end. And the never-ending pressure. That is what I hate the most.
No matter how hard I beg, how many times I ask, my questions about the wonders of the Light Kingdom will never be answered, always on the other side of the Silver Wall, a mix of black and white that forms a border between our kingdoms.
Even my five-year-old self in history asked about it. The look on my instructor’s face is never different, her features always morph into a scowl whenever I ask. A look of pure disgust. But, the stubborn girl I am, I still believe I’ll see it one day. I know I will.
The Shadow Kingdom is just so dark and intimidating all the time. Clouds cover the sun nearly every day, and I’m not fond of it. In fact, I despise it. I have lived like this every single day for fifteen years, ever since I was born. Soon enough It’ll have been sixteen. Sixteen years of living in the dark.
My ginger hair falls into my face as my head rolls into my hands. I immediately jerk my head back up, the freezing claws of my instructor’s hand on my arm fully waking me.
“Strike two!” She announces. Her voice is so pitchy and sharp. Annoying.
I mumble what is supposed to sound somewhat like an apology, but it comes out as a blob of sound. My lips barely even move.
“Strike three!”
I scoff, glancing up at the clock on the wall, away from her. It reads 1420.
Ten minutes. I must endure this for ten more minutes.
Training with my brother is what keeps me going everyday. I look forward to it as soon as my eyes open at six o’clock in the morning.
Evelyn’s red heels click on the smooth marble floor every step she takes. The transparent part of her black dress flows behind her. When she walks, you’d think she was the queen. She takes long strides, as if she had more power then my father,
King Arnold the second, King of the Shadow Kingdom.
She spins to face me when she reaches the chalkboard.
I glance down at the lesson I'm supposed to be listening to. It says: what happened to the rebels? Where are they now?
The answer is that they are hiding in an island outside of the kingdoms, supposedly building another kingdom and trying to get enough people to rebel. Enough to start a war. I don't say it aloud.
“Thank the Crows you don’t have public lessons with the other girls in the village,” she quietly chuckles. “You’d be the class clown.”
“Thank the Crows,” I pinch my nostrils together as I speak, mocking her.
She squints her eyes and purses her lips.
“Strike four.” She draws three more perfectly straight lines next to the first one I had an hour ago.
I sigh, not trying the slightest bit to hide it.
“I see no good in your future,” she spits right before my brother, Samuel, knocks on the door to steal me from this evil lady.
I jump from my desk and rush to the door, fumbling at the handle to open it and finally be free. Sam wears a serious, princey look on his face as he always does in front of other people.
“Hello, Reia.” He says, his voice dead. He looks to Evelyn and offers a quick nod before turning away.
As soon as the door closes shut behind us, he tears the stupid look off his face and rests his features. He releases a breath.
“So, Prince Samuel,” I tease. “How were your kingly lessons?”
He snorts, trying to hide the stress I see behind his eyes.
“They were so very dull.” He answers, playing along.
I gently nudge him with my elbow.
“But seriously what did you do?” I ask, now honestly curious.
“It’s top secret,” he leans into me as he says it, even though he towers over me as we walk.
Then I remember how our father’s 60th birthday is tomorrow, as is Sam’s coronation. I remember how much stress he must have, feeling the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders. Sam has been twenty years old for a month and a half now, but we’ve been waiting for our father to make this official. His eyes follow his feet as we walk.
Once we’ve finally reached my room, he stops.
“I’ll see you in training,” he mutters, walking away as soon as my fingers touch the door handle.
With a sigh, I slowly wander in, suddenly not as energetic as I was just a few minutes ago. Poor Sam, I think to myself.
I close the door behind me and gently unzip my dark crimson dress. Stepping out of it, I pull my undershirt back over my stomach. As I walk to my closet, my eyes locked onto my training outfit, all my lost energy suddenly rushes back to me.
Even if it is only a black jumpsuit with a collar that reaches just under my chin, I still feel excited when I grab it from the closet.
Then Marie, my maid, rushes through my bedroom door. Without making a sound, she hastily walks in front of me and snatches the jumpsuit from my hands. She spins me around, and lifts each of my legs and shoves them into the outfit. Her hands find my shoulders and spin me around again, so I face her. She yanks the thing over me and grabs the zipper, pulling it up.
I only get time to register what is happening until after she has dressed me.
“What—” I stutter.
She interrupts me with a violent shake of a head, spinning me around again to press a small, delicate hand to my back and pressing me to the bathroom connected to my large, dark room. I sit down in the stool in front of the vanity, staring into my emerald-eyed reflection that stares right back.
I watch with wide eyes as Marie yanks my hair back into a tight bun. She’s never seemed more stressed.
“Are you okay?” I ask, genuinely concerned.
She hurriedly nods, then gets me to stand.
“Your guard is waiting outside.” She mutters in her usual high voice.
“Okay.” I mumble, rushing out the door with her speed and urgency.
My guard, Kasper, a tall, dark-skinned boy my age dressed in a black and red uniform, awaits me right next to the door. He has an earnest look on his face. I notice his outstretched elbow, and loop my arm through it. We then begin to rush to the training arena.
Now I’m really confused. Two people acting as if something is wrong? My guard escorting me?
“What’s happening?” I hiss.
He inwardly sighs. “Your mother,” is all he says.
We then continue to the training in an awkward silence.
My mother? I question. What did my mother do? Did she do something wrong? Did she schedule something? Is she injured? What is going on?
We rush through the hallways and down three flights of stairs, all the way past the dungeon and to the training room.
The two wooden doors are already propped open. Kasper lets my arm drop. He nods as I walk in, turning on his heel to walk in the opposite direction.
I hear him mumble something under his breath.
“Don’t stress.”
When I whip my head back, he’s already gone, rushing past the dungeon and back up the stairs.
I take a deep breath, feeling the air inflate my chest like a balloon. I keep it there in an attempt to relieve the stress Kasper just ordered me to drop. Perhaps suggested would be a better way to put it.
When I step in, Sam is already training, throwing punches at Tal’s padded hands.
I let the air deflate from me. Tal is the trainer that makes us fight for the entire two hours, with breaks every thirty minutes. Although, at least it’s not Amaya. She makes us work until we feel like we might pass out. I hate the sore feeling I always get after training with her. She must’ve left the castle or gotten another job, though, because we haven’t trained with her in forever.
Here I am free. I remind myself, sauntring towards them.
As soon as I reach them, Sam stops punching and Tal turns toward me. Sam flicks his head back, his hair flying to the side and spraying sweat into the air.
“Have you really been here this long, or do you sweat that much?” I tease.
“I think he just sweats a lot,” Tal answers.
I nod once, offering a smile.
Tal inhales deeply, then claps his hands together.
“Let’s get to work.”
•••
Sam throws another punch at me, but I dodge it again. Sparring with him is easy. He’s pretty much just a big hunk of muscle, whereas I am smaller, and am able to use his strength against him.
Sometimes I do use my own strength, though.
Kasper’s words have been slowly coming back to me, though he said not to worry.
“Your mother.” The words unfortunately distract me.
A hand-wrapped fist slams into my jaw. I groan, stumbling back into reality. Head spinning, my back hits the rubber bands surrounding the fighting pit.
“Focus, Rei,” Tal reminds me from his seat, viewing the fight.
I quickly nod, turning back to face Sam. He bolts toward me, and I finally decide to do something other than dodge. Something else I am good at. I use his strength against him.
As he rushes at me, I hold my foot out to trip him, and it works. He faceplants into the ground, making a weird noise that sounds like a groan that was supposed to be a word. I chuckle, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him up. He sits on the ground, forcing something like a pout onto his lips.
“Do you surrender?” I ask.
He shakes his head, dropping the pout. “No.”
I furrow my brows in confusion, wondering how the hell he plans on winning this.
Using all of his strength, he kicks me in the knee. I gasp aloud, falling back. He jumps to his feet, determined to win.
That’s gonna leave a bruise.
Sam stomps his way behind me as I struggle to find my footing.
What a baby. I think in frustration.
His big hands find my shoulders and drag me backward.
Not knowing what to do, I grab his hands and twist one over the other, then pull them to the ground. Holding them there, I get back on my feet and kick him in the knee, just hard enough to get him off balance so I can tackle him to the ground. I hold him still with a forearm to his chest.
“Do you surrender?” I ask one again, this time panting through gritted teeth.
“Fine.” He growls.
I hold a fist up into the air, standing, and letting Tal know that I’ve won.
He slowly claps for yet another victory from me.
I offer Sam a hand, but he slaps it away, infuriated by my triumph. He does this every time I win. I can’t help the satisfied smirk that creeps onto my face.
I follow Sam out of the arena and walk to Tal, who holds two white towels. Grabbing it, I turn to the clock and see that it’s nearly time to leave. And nearly time to figure out what my mother did.
Kasper suddenly rushes through the double-doors.
“My lady.” He bows.
I turn and slightly nod to Sam and Tal, then turn back to Kasper. I loop my arm through his, then we leave, walking up the stairs and, to my surprise, into the main hall.
“What are we doing?” I hiss.
“Like I said earlier, this is Queen Helena’s doing,” he mutters, trying to hide the confusion coating his words.
I take a deep breath through my nose and out of my lips, preparing myself for anything that could happen.
