What lies underneath

Prologue

It was a stormy night, lightning flashing and thunder rolling. The midwife looked out the window for a moment, distracted from her job. But she immediately turned away, for she had a job to do. A commoner, one of the luckier ones, who had a decent wage and decent house, was giving birth. Not only was there a storm outside, but a blizzard. The midwife thought back to the last time weather like this happened. If she recalled correctly, it was when a blood royal was born. But there hadn't been a commoner blood royal in decades, so that was unlikely. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or another blood royal was being born somewhere else.

She sighed and returned to tending to the commoner. After a few minutes of pain, the child was born.

She had brown skin and eyes that looked like chocolate. For a baby, she was beautiful. The midwife handed the baby to the mother, who was in love with the child already. "Naomi," said the mother. The child cooed happily, and thunder was heard overhead. Suddenly, the mother screamed.

The midwife rushed to her side, ready to help when she noticed what was wrong. On the child's right hand was a mark. A crown mark.

The commoner baby was a blood royal.

The midwife's hands trembled as she took the baby. This child, this innocent creature, was destined to be a queen. To be powerful. To be a killer. And this child was a commoner. A rarity. What an unusual night. The midwife pitied the mother, knowing that all blood royal babies were taken away from their families since they were young, never to see their parents again. The mother sobbed, trying to get one last glimpse of her child before it was taken away.

The midwife left, holding the child, on her way to the mansion where the blood royals would be raised.

And this was the start of Naomi's long journey.