THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 2: MOTHERS & MONSTERS

II.
CHAPTER 2
Mothers & Monsters
-

My mother was once a living goddess. At least, that was what I had thought as a child. Her cold beauty and inconsistent affection had me striving for her approval. Her dark hair and starkly pale skin— so opposite of my own, apparently had a long list of suitors killing themselves in the face of her rejection.

And when I had expected—wished for really, to see her old faded beauty before me, I was immediately disappointed. My mother, the Empress of Elysia, was as beautiful as ever.

She sat at the end of a long armchair, wearing a simple white gown that made her look like an apparition of light. I couldn't help the biting feeling in my chest when I saw her. It was confused with my childlike want to sink into her arms and weep, something that I had suppressed the moment she stood before me all those years ago and called me cursed.

Her reaction to seeing me was not what I had expected. I dreamed of seeing her guilt, even her fear at the sight of me. I would have even accepted her aversion if it meant she would show an ounce of emotion towards me.

Instead she looked upon me blankly, her perfect features composed as she waited for me to cross the room. I did not bow. Perhaps she didn't expect me to, because even that was not a cause for reaction.

"Adalina."

She nodded in acknowledgement, pointing to the empty chair before her. I suddenly felt slightly embarrassed to be so disheveled before her. When I sat, I was suddenly aware of my dirt-stained linen dress touching the pristine white cushions of my mother's drawing room.

It was a curious decision to greet me in the drawing room rather than the main hall. Perhaps I truly was a guest.

I heard the door click open behind us. Turning my head, I witnessed Aerves walk in. He silently went to the corner of the room, as if to protect the Empress from me.

Looking up, I smiled gracelessly at my mother. "What does a creature like me owe to have such dignified company?"

She didn't react in the slightest to my words. They were her own after all, but I wondered if she even remembered that. You are a creature birthed from heresy, not from me. My mother had said once.

When she finally spoke, the softness of her voice almost undid all my hatred.

"You've grown."

Yes, I wanted to scream, and you weren't there to see it. I had gone from being a bony, awkward child to a malnourished adult. Perhaps she made that connection as she looked upon me. Her daughter had, after-all, never become as beautiful as her.

There was a cutting silence after that. I was caught in between wanting to yell and weep. There was so much I wanted to say to her, so many days I had dreamed of the parting words I would give to my mother. On that night, the night I had wanted to end it— I had even wrote a letter to her. But standing before her now, I realized how silly it all was. Even if I collapsed in front of her and repented, even if the ground split open and took me under; she would stare back at me blankly.

"Aerves, come." My mother looked past me, as if I didn't exist. "We must address the matter now, there is no point in stalling it."

"What matter?" The words jumped out of my mouth unexpectedly.

"The matter of your arrival." Aerves replied, taking the seat beside me. Another hint of his informality towards my mother. She didn't even invite him to sit.

"Ah, yes. I forgot to thank you for freeing me from the prison you put me in."

My mother looked back at me, her doe eyes sharp. I remembered that look from the time I had once asked her why Aurora was not allowed to sit with us at meal times. When a bit of my naivety had faded, I realized that Aurora was in fact a bastard. Which was why the mention of my elder sister's name would turn my mother cold. It reminded her of her greatest shame— my father's unfaithfulness.