ꋊꄲ꓄ ꋬ ꒒ꄲ꒦ꏂ ꇙ꓄ꄲꋪꌦ- ꋬ ꋊꏂꅐ꓄ꂵꋬꇙ ꇙ꓄ꄲꋪꌦ

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3: 𝔗ℌ𝔢 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢

 The cold stone floor was shocking to Newt's soft bare feet as his sister led him down the hallway her hand softly clasped in his. The castle moved around him foreign as the world outside, people preparing the rooms for the day to come. Maids carried things from room to room quietly chatting with friends about things around the town.

"Did you hear that the tavern got shut down due to staffing issues?"

"I heard it was because one of the employees died"

Most bowed or curtsied to them as they passed but some didn't notice them which didn't bother Newt much who had never really felt like royalty. He pondered the things he had heard,

What was a tavern?

Did someone really die or was it just a stupid rumor?

He hoped that this news had not reached the ears of his mother, the queen. Her cold eyes and stiff posture reminded Newt of a Greek statue, tall, daunting, and intimidating. She would not take the news well and this anger would probably be projected onto him. She had made it clear many years earlier that he was not wanted here, not useful to her or the kingdom below.

Alby, his older brother, was important to his mother as he was first in line, his sister Elizabeth or Lizzy he liked to call her, was the only daughter and meant to be married off in a few years to a preferably rich spouse, but he had no purpose, he had simply been a mistake, a boy when they had wanted a girl.

"We have no use for another boy" He had once heard his mother say, "He will do nothing to bring our kingdom glory!"

Many times, over the past few years Newt had tried to please her, bring her flowers, volunteering in the villages, and had even gone as far as baking a cake on her birthday.

All of the attempts seemed for nothing being either smashed, shut down, or thrown away.

"Flowers make you weak,"

"Volunteering is for the poor,"

"Cake will make me fat,"

He had slowly started to forget about pleasing her and instead just tried his best to not get on her bad side. But this was also no use, she seemed to blame everything on him even coming down to if she didn't like the way meat was seasoned, she would find a way to make it all on him. He knew for a fact she would have killed him years ago if weren't for the people's liking of him. His mother was cruel but that doesn't stop her from being smart, she knew that if she killed one of her own, she would have a full uprising on her hands.

"Newton, Elizabeth" Someone called at the end of the hall the voice sharp as a dagger, it was her, his mother.

She stood there her hands on her hips; hair pulled tightly back into a bun, perched on the top of her head. Newt felt his sister let go of his hand and step toward their mother shielding him from her line of sight. Lizzy looked like their mother in many ways her eyes not being one of them, besides the contrasting colors his sister's eyes were bright full of kindness nothing like the woman before them.

"Good morning," Lizzy said stiffly "We can go sit down now."

She grabbed his hand again pulling him along behind her like he was a dog on a leash. He stared determinedly at the back of his sister's head not wanting to look back into the woman's seething eyes and instead hurriedly walked behind his sister into the long dining hall.

The dining room was elegant with white paint trimmed with gold. His brother, already seated and waiting patiently, smiled at them as they walked in relief flooding into his face. The room was big and the thought of eating in there with only the company of the queen seemed to bother him even though he was tall with dark skin and eyes like their father, and built like an ox, with strong arms and legs from the hours training with royal guard and easily able to overpower their thin small royal parent. He would never do anything to her or them for that matter.