Once Upon a Prophecy

28

I woke up feeling sick. A man hovered over me, inspecting myself. I felt the soft lumps of my bed beneath me, supporting me. Someone draped a cool cloth over my head, which soothed the heating sensation from my forehead.

"She isn't dead," The man glided over his words.

"She never is." A familiar voice muttered beside me.

"I suspect, most likely, magic."

"Most likely?" I felt the cool rag drop completely on my forehead. "Most likely?! I have been living in this world enough to know it is never not magic!"

"Please, sit back down." I heard my mother's voice come from the room. It was quiet for a few minutes, nothing but silence. However I felt the tension between the man and the person. My eyes calmly opened, to reveal a hooded girl sitting next to me, picking back up the rag and dabbing my forehead. The doctor, above me, muttered things to himself.

"Ana!" I about shrieked. My voice was dry and dull, but I forced a sound. I sat up from my bed, giving her a hug."I thought you were gone!"

"Well, I was going to leave. I fleed to your castle, when who decides to show up, but a slimy, ugly wolf. I told him I don't have time for this, but of course he replies with, go and see the flowers. My instinct tells me no, but everything in my story happens. My story forced me to see the 'lovely' flowers. And low and behold, he runs to your castle, eats your mother, sorry about that, eats me, your father has to come out and cut us out, leaving me with a wolf skin." She groaned. Her detest for her story had grown a considerable amount. My mother sighs.

"I feel bad for you." I reply, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

"Don't be. It was the best time in my entire life." She sat up, eyeing the man. "Thank you for your time and efforts. I believe I will take it from here." She about pushed him out, leaving him outside the door. "So, what happened to put you in this disaster, again?" I began to tell her everything about my arrival. My mother scuffled out at the point I got to her. There was silence as I ended my story.

"I'm beginning to hate this bed." I stood up, forcing my weak limbs to cooperate. Ana managed a laugh.

"I missed you." She said. "And, well, Peter." Her smile slowly faded.

"At least he's now a damsel in distress." She laughed. I walked to my desk, my eyes narrowing to the silver armor. I walked over, touching the silver wiht my hand. It didn't hurt, partially because
I happen to not be a witch, but more like my reflection stared back. I knew what I had to do.

***

Elissia sat in her cupboard, sobbing. Her life felt ruined. She never had to tell the Prince her story, you would never do that. She didn't feel as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders, she felt as though a giant slate of coal was placed there. She quietly slept in the midst of her tears and cries.

Waking up, she felt horrible. She opened her door, and began to work. As she worked she felt tired from the night before. She did her work lousy, which happened to be new for her. She began to work on the stew, as someone grabbed her shoulder, pulling her to look in the eye of a man.

"I've heard things about you," He began. "All-Fur." He said the word with a smug face. Some of the workers snickered. Elissia felt her hair slowly dip into the stew, but she never dared acknowledged it. The man huffed in her face, smudging barely the bit of ash on her face.

"My name is not All-Fur." She frowned. Elissia immediately remembered her story, leaving him taunting her. He let go at this point, so she turned around, working on her stew. Elissia's mind was covered by too many thoughts as she churned the stew, splitting it into several bowl for the royal family. As she did, she felt a small piece of the dress from beneath her cloak fall into a bowl. She noticed, but dare speak of it.

"What is your name?" He taunted, never ignoring her. At last, as her last ftroke of patience fled, she slapped him. Not a playful slap, like one of flirting, but a hardcore one. A red mark was left on his face, slowly turning to a purple on the rim.

"Leave me alone." She spoke sternly, her voice echoed through the suddenly quiet room. She went back to work, going up to deliver their food. As she did, Elissia kept her head low for the Prince. Maybe he would notice her right away, or be clever and ignore her. She passed out the soup to each member, handing the Prince the stew with the dress item. She quickly scurried off, hiding behind the door, listening to the words they muttered.

"What an odd maid." The King said, taking a small sip.

"Any news on the ball last night, dear?" The Queen inquired. There was no reply.

"Son, if you must say something, please do." Few minutes of silence.

"What about the magic case, isn't that more important than me?" The Prince demanded. Elissia heared his footsteps nearing her. The door opened just as she climbed down the stairs to the kitchen. The new cook stood in her way, giving orders. Elissia slowly climbed around him, hiding in the crowd, then turned to go to her room. Her refuge. Only to await the nearing story.