Solislunar

Chapter Four

I wake up in a dark space.  I reach up to feel my head, but something catches my wrist.  I open my eyes, and see a thick bloody chain on my wrists. I realize with a start it's not a room, necessarily, that i'm in, but a cell. I also realize with cold steely anger that my chest is bare. The cold, dank cell isn't helping, either. Oh, and apparently i'm completely naked? Okay, yeah, that's just fine, considering I think I know the person who did this. Just fucking lovely. I raise my head, and see that there's someone, asleep, behind some thick rust-covered bars. My clothes sit in a messy, bloody pile on the floor beside her, and a clean, delicate blue dress hangs from the rafters above her head. A door opens, and I tense. Footsteps sound, and soon a thick man comes into view. Upon seeing me, he promptly turns away, toward the sleeping woman. "Elmira, wake up. Her Highness will be here to pick the uh....royal prisoner... in mere moments. " he says, shaking the woman awake. Her eyes open, and she raises her head with a sigh. "Right, then. Have her ready in an hour's time." he says, and turns around, going back the way he came. The woman - Elmira -  grips the arms of her chair, heaving herself from the seat with a groan and the creaking of bones. She pulls a thick chain out from under the hem of her shirt, the cell's key hanging upon it. Unlocking the door, she grabs the dress and a corset. As she gets closer, I realize, with cold horror, she's covered with silver scars, all over he arms, her chest, her face. When she reached down to unchain me, I see a T-shaped scar on her palm. With her other hand, she reaches down to pull me up, but my eyes are fixed on her scar. She notices, rasping out, "T for Thief." she says, her voice like shattering ice. She winces, and I wonder if it pains her to speak. "Up, girl," she rasps again, the sound grating. She has wrinkles around her eyes, and they crinkled when she has been undoing the manacles, frowning at a stubborn cuff.  She pulls me toward her, fitting the corset around my hips. She cinches the corset so tight, I gasp, struggling for breath. Next comes the bodice, the lacing in the back stuffing me even further into the tight clothing. Elmira stuck the dress over my head, the delicate lace sleeves a perfect, surprising fit. 

The thick man comes back, two guards in his wake.  The guards had thick, black feathers on their helmets, their uniforms a mixture of rich, blood red and plum purple. "You still don't have her finished, Elmira?" the man says, and Elmira shakes her head behind me. "Wound," she says by way of explanation. "Damn you, the Queen is here, waiting for us to bring the girl up!" he says, anger laced heavily through his thick voice. "Raise your voice at me again, Arthur, you'll sorely regret it," Elmira says, her voice angry but her hands gentle as she applies a numbing salve to the knot on the back of my head. The man yanks the cell door open, pulling Elmira away from me and striking her hard across the face. Blood spills over the floor, pooling swiftly around Elmira's feet. She drop to her knees, the side of her face hidden by her hand. But even with her hand blocking the damage, blood still seeps through her fingers. Arthur raises his hand to strike her again, but I step nimbly in between them, the hem of my skirt skimming lightly in the blood. "Enough!" I say, put authority in my words. I stand a good foot taller then Arthur, though he clearly has seventy pounds on me. He lowers his fist quickly, stepping back from me and Elmira with a respectful bow, even though his eyes were filled with hatred. "You, guards, why would you stand there while an innocent woman is bloodied by a low life like him?" I ask, my eyes pinning the closer guard with my gaze. "S-sorry Madame! Up with you, sir." the guard says, bowing at me, a tremor of fear in his voice. I'm extremely surprised and confused about his reaction, but I don't have time to think it over, because Elmira is up, finishing the braid she had started, just before Arthur had struck her. Two more guards descend the stairs, and I'm guided up, up, up, out of the jail, into a brightly lit  corridor, servants and butlers bustling around in a frantic, dizzying way. 

"Solis Harper, the Queen's special guest!" a bard announces the moment I walk through the doors of the Great Hall. "King Kiran, Queen Aonani," The guard on my left says, bowing deeply.  The King wore rich purples and blues, his face young and unmarred. The Queen wore a gown of a deep, deep blood red. "Solis, my darling!" The Queen says the moment her eyes light upon me. Her... green eyes? The same shade as mine...."Solis," the King says by way of greeting, inclining his head in such a way that his thick shock of honey-colored locks fell over his forest-green eyes. Where the Queen's hair was pale yellow and her eyes a sage green, the King's had a much healthier look about him. A tall man sat behind the King and Queen, his hair a mixture of Kiran and Aonani's. "This is Prince Flare, your brother. Ah, and there are your sisters, Sunrise, Shine, and Bask."The queen says, as three young, beautiful women seemingly glide through the throne room's wide double doors. "Wait.. sisters?" I ask, and as soon as I voice it, everything falls into place. The King and Queen's insistence on meeting me, my dress, Elmira, the Guards. I can't speak, I'm so surprised. Bask stepped nimbly over to me, her violet dress swishing with every little movement she makes. "Mother says you are our sister, and the Heir to the throne. I am Bask, the youngest.  This is Sunrise, the second youngest," Bask says, extending a hand to the girl in the green gown. Sunrise bows deeply, her eyes the color of emeralds. "And this is Shine, the second eldest," Bask adds, gesturing to the severe-looking woman in the star-patterned ball gown. "So," Shine says, a bite in her voice, "You are the new...heir. How pleasant." She says sarcastically.  I'll have to watch out for her, I think. "You had another brother and sister, twins, but they perished last year from Scarlet Fever. I miss them dearly, but now you are home and we can celebrate!" The Queen - my mother, I correct myself - says, her eyes glittering with happiness and potential tears.