Burned by water

Chapter 1

I had never needed an audience to make a spectacle out of myself.

The soldiers were as they always were, boring. But I knew better than to blame it on them. 

I danced around them, pulling the strangest faces I could and making wild gestures with my hands although there was no reaction. My long and heavy red gown was slowing me down from my usual swiftness but I managed to fool around in front of everyone before the King and Queen entered the room.

''For all Saints, Sapphire, will you put on your shoes and stop messing with these poor guards?'' 

I turned to my older brother Taz breathlessly. He was standing right behind our parents, tall and serious with all the duties resting upon his shoulders. He was the oldest and soon turning twenty-five which meant my father would pass down his crown and become his advisor. With his long brown hair tamed in an elegant coiffe and a majestic blue tailcoat making his eyes stand out, it was hard to believe he had found no match yet. But here we were today, having another ball for him to find a wife from the various Ladies of our court. 

''Relax Taz, it's not like they will talk about it once they're off duty.'' My older sister Esmee chastised him with her arms behind her back. She was poised as always, respectfully dressed in a dark blue army uniform but a sly smirk tugged at her lips as she watched me put on my high heels. I knew what she was thinking: high heels will make your feet hurt before the end of the night, they will slow you down in an eventual attack. They're useless in my humble opinion. I liked to think they made me tougher to pain.

My tall and beautiful sister was mistaken for my brother's twin most of the time, yet she was two years younger. She did look older for her age and her traits were scarily alike Taz'. 

I had inherited my great grandmother's blond almost white hair and scary grey eyes, which got me the nickname of the Royal ghost at court, one of the reasons I had decided I wouldn't wear light colors anymore. But the damage had already been done and the nickname stuck.

Both my parents stared at me with small smiles. Being the youngest with two older siblings who made my parents proud already meant they had fewer expectations for me. I didn't have to become a perfect heir or a humble lieutenant, I could do what I wished and had barely a displeased sigh sent my way.

I took both my parents in, their hair turning grey and lines multiplying on their faces, it had shaken me a few months ago how they had seemed to age so suddenly. Was it my brother becoming King in the next few months or my sister falling in love? I couldn't pinpoint the exact moment, the exact situation that made them seem older. They were both in our country's color, deep blue like the oceans they controlled, my father's tailcoat very much the same as my brother's whilst my mother had a simple gown of silk that trailed on the floor, her bodice made of intricate laces over the silk.

She had convinced me to put on a more impressive dress made of satin and silk with tulles making the skirt wider. It went to the floor in waves of dark crimson red, the bodice made of silk and laces as well but where my mother's lace spread to the arms, mine stopped short to leave it strapless. More so, for it to hold up, my lungs had traded some useful space and my crushed ribs were now fighting the dress with every breath I took.

I used to complain whenever my mother would try to put me in something not fitting my siblings, making me even more of the black sheep of the family. But she once told me that red made me look fierce and untouchable and that was all I needed to be able to confront the many stares at the ball.

''You look regal darling.'' My mother couldn't help herself to comment on her wonderful work. ''But please stop running around, I don't want you to start sweating if it's not during a dance.''