City of Starlight

Chapter 16 - Strangers To One Another

(Aurelie's POV)

I managed to sneak out of our rooms whilst mum was deep in a conversation with my aunt. My palpitations quickened as I hurried down the corridor to get away from my family whom I had trusted, whom I thought I had known. Little did I know that they were all strangers to me.

Everywhere I went was just another reminder of what had been hidden from me. I shuddered at the very thought of the things that I had seen in my vision. I had been too afraid to ask my parents about what I had witnessed but perhaps the answers to my questions would be written in some books on this curse that is possessing me. Surely there must be a library in this place. 

My thoughts were interrupted when I caught sight of a huge painting that was hanging on the wall beside two banners. I bent over and looked at the plaque at the bottom of the golden frame. Here, my sister was the same age as me, but could not be the more different. In the painting, she was wearing a purple gown with layered lace sleeves that started from her elbows. The glittering tiara in her hair matched a heavyset diamond necklace and earrings. One satin gloved hand was resting gently by her side whilst the other seemed to be indicating towards a crown sitting on a cushion in the dark corner of the painting. In the background, there was a banner like the ones that hang around the palace, but it had been modified so that it would feature the initials, 'DM'. 

What if the painting had some kind of memory like the apple tree? I had no clear idea on how to use this gift of mine, but I thought of how I had fallen into that trance yesterday. I was holding an apple and asking questions repeatedly about what Daniella had been telling me. Not wanting to damage the artwork, I placed my fingers gently on the golden frame and closed my eyes. Nothing happened. Hang on, maybe it requires some thinking to summon the magical energy. I thought of the powers that I had, imagining that I was summoning them from hiding but it didn't work either. I kept my eyes shut. No, I had to find out, I must find out the truth. The Queen said that I must learn to control my powers because if not, it will become my undoing. Please work...

.................

When I opened my eyes again, I gasped. I was in another scene, but this time it depicted my sister. She was standing on a little pedestal with maids fussing around the gown that she wore in the painting. I held my breath as the Queen waltzed into the scene with a box in her hands. She dismissed the maids and set the box on the stand next to Daniella. Carefully, she took out a tiara and placed it on Daniella's head. When she proceeded to place a dark purple sash like the ones from prom around my sister, Daniella took it off. I couldn't see the Queen's expression as her back was facing towards me but she appeared to be speaking with my sister. 

My sister's eyes were red and something glittered in her hand. Was it a brooch? Or a pin? Oh, a medallion. Like the one I found hidden under the floorboard back home in New York. 

Gradually, faint voices echoed through the air but they were nothing more than a jumble of incoherent sounds. I grimaced as I concentrated and wished for the voices to untangle themselves and make sense to my ears. A crack sounded through the air and suddenly, they became audible. Daniella's shaky voice filtered through the air, "I don't want to wear it-"

The rich silky voice of the Queen met my ears like a ballad. "Why not? It's supposed to symbolize that you can now sit beside me on the throne in court, rather than observe from the periphery."

My sister mumbled in reply, "It should have been him instead." Afterwards, she looked down and added quietly, "Sorry, I know you don't like it when I talk about him."

With a sigh, the Queen placed the sash and medallion down on the stand and said, "It's alright. It's only natural that you'd miss him." My sister bit her lip and stammered with a broken glare, "You do too." The Queen didn't reply, but didn't say no either. I held my breath as I knew exactly who they were talking about. Then, my sister asked in one breath, "Do you think she'd know about us?" I assumed that the 'she' was me.