Zemblanity

Chapter 1

She could barely breathe or move in the white dress that covered her body.

White...Color of peace and purity.

The Berretta slogan for life was simple but not even remotely close to being effective.

"Elige Pater de Caelis. Ipse solus potest perdere tremores creata a calignosity"

"Choose the Father of Heaven. He alone can destroy the tremors created by calignosity"

White looked good on her. She looked beautiful but she didn't want to look beautiful in front of people who claim to worship the angels but cannot even stay faithful to their own spouses.

People of Berretta had a strange concept of 'Good'. For them protecting and helping the people of their clan will bring them heaven.

Loyalty however did not fit their criteria of path to heaven. She belonged to the royals of Berretta. Fortunately she was the second child. She had her fair share of responsibilities but nothing she cannot handle.

White looked well on her, it complimented her eyes. A beautiful blue with soft specks of grey but the color never matched the dark emotion they held. It always contradicted them.

Her hair was a beautiful shade of brown, flowing down her shoulders. Her tattoo evident on the inside of her forearm. Showing how she belonged to Berretta. The two angels on her tattoo reminded her every day that she worshipped the angels and the angels were nice. They wore white. They despised darkness.

Darkness... Berrettas' sworn enemy. They had a name too, but right now this gathering of adorers of Angels was more important.

She somehow managed to descend the stairs without falling on her face. The moment she was down her ears rang with the usual chant.

"Pater sancte caeli nos gratias ago tibi"

Holy Father of Heaven, we thank you.

"Seraphina, mother is waiting." She heard her elder sister Talini. She gave her a firm nod and followed her in the direction of their mother.

Seraphina Berretta; belonging to the central royal of Berretta, daughter of Cassiel and Gloria Berretta. Freshly twenty years old made eye contact with her mother who had a strange glint in her eyes.

Her feet walked her up to her mother who was standing with a man who was around twenty-five dressed in all white with a charming smile.

"Malak these are my daughters, Talini and Seraphina."

"Pleasure to meet you, Vere Deus decoravit Te duo, cum pulchritudo. (Truly God has graced You two, with beauty)" he voiced out in perfect Latin.

"What other languages can you speak sir?" Talini continued the conversation.

"Boró na milíso elliniká. Puedo hablar español.Astatie 'an 'atakalam alearabiati. What about you amor?" Malak asked. "I can speak those three and YA mogu govorit' po-russki." Talini responded. Knowing languages was an appreciated skill in Berretta. After the Veneration War the destruction was too much for the development of different countries. The UN was shattered three days after the beginning of the war. After the war, the world was divided into two clans. Berettas were the congregants of the angles. They worshipped the angels and gods of every religion without any discrimination.Berettas did not care about the religion. They had no churches, no mosques or any other building that show cased one religion. They however had seven buildings where they worshipped the angels. Every building had paintings and statues of different angels and gods throughout the years. The only thing they cared about was that the angels were happy. Their knowledge of different languages was a way of showing their unity. "Seraphina, how many languages do you know?" Malak asked her.She swallowed before answering effortlessly in all the languages she knew. "Boró na milíso elliniká. Puedo hablar español.Astatie 'an 'atakalam alearabiati. YA mogu govorit' po-russki. Main Hindi bol sakati hoon. Posso parlare italiano." Malak nodded his head, clearly impressed. She had no intention of impressing him. She doesn't want another reason for her mother to convince her to marry someone. The age twenty marks the age of marriage for everyone in the royals. The age twenty four marks the start of the rule. Talini turned twenty-four last month. Berettas believed in equality. Their concept of equality was strange. According to them a woman is capable of ruling an entire clan but cannot choose her own husband. The guy will choose her.Any affection that wasn't between a man and woman was considered to be going against the Angels' wishes. Talini continued her conversation with Malak. "Excuse me; I have to visit the ladies' room." Seraphina excused herself and walked towards the washrooms. She entered the room and stared at her reflection. Her eyes scanned the dress hugging her body. She hated that color. Seraphina was a rebel. Not literally but sometimes she enjoyed doing things that went against the written rules of Berretta. Don't get her wrong, she loves her clan, her family.There are some things that have no logic behind it. Her dress ended on her lower thighs. Her dress was fitting. It captured her body beautifully. The sleeves ended just below her elbows, showing her tattoo. Covering the tattoo anytime except extreme weather conditions was an offence. Even during a Berretta member's funeral, the presence of the tattoo is a must. The tattoo was their identity. It separated them from the clan of crepuscule. The only thing common between both the clans was that only royals could have a last name. That too is supposed to be the name of their clan. People of Berretta were allowed to wear any color except black, grey and navy blue. According to them that represented obscurity. She splashed cold water on her face a few times and exited the room. She walked back to where Malak and Talini were and saw them laughing at something one of them said. "Care to share the joke?" Seraphina made her presence known. "Oh Malak was just telling me how once his sister made a nasty comment about our "cohort" clan and one of them was behind her." Talini said or managed to choke out between laughs. "Oh, my lord. That is awful." Seraphina said with a small smile. Laughter in her eyes. "That woman gave her such a dirty look but said nothing as she was on the airport owned by the Berretta. But it was hilarious. Her face was priceless." Malak said. The rest of the night just faded away in drinks, laughter, introduction, dancing and singing.Malak was a decent guy. Well-mannered and completely respectful. Seraphina kind of liked him. Once she was inside her room, she proceeded to take her makeup off. Her dress was next. Once she was in her sweatpants and comfortable, she walked outside to her balcony and looked out.Berretta was quiet at night. Berretta has a habit of being punctual. Time was an important thing in this clan. She was taking in the cool air of ending October. Her eyes closed as the wind touched her skin. She heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. "Come in."' she said. Her mother entered her room followed by Talini and Arial. Even though Ariel was not a royal and was two years older than Seraphina, she was still her best friend.Her mother gave her a bright smile. Gloria and Talini made themselves comfortable on the bed. "Did you enjoy the party, Sera?" Gloria asked. "I did. I was not expecting to have fun, but I enjoyed it." Seraphina replied. "Would you like to drop the bomb or should I do it Arial?" her mother asked with a playful tone. "I think you should do it Ma'am." Arial replied. "How was Malak?" Gloria asked Talini. "He was nice. Really sweet and funny. I enjoyed his company." She replied. "What about you Seraphina?" Arial asked. "He is nice." She said. "Wonderful! Girls, he is the one who will choose between you two for marriage. Your father and I decided that he is the perfect guy to stand beside the ruler of this clan." Gloria said. Seraphina nearly fell from the railing due to the shock. Before she could voice out her shock, Talini stood up from the bed. "Mother, how can you put us against each other? Considering our age gap, isn't this the violation of the peace clause?" Talini said. Her voice rushed and panicked. "Don't worry about that sweetheart. That is taken care of. You just have to think about him marrying you and you taking the throne of the clan." Gloria said."You are fine with this, Sera?" Talini asked. "I am not. I am not at all fine with this." Seraphina said as she walked closer to her mother. "Well none of you have an option." Gloria said as she stood up and made a move to exit the room. "Why him?" Seraphina asked. Gloria turned around and gave her a smile. "Because your father said so." With that she walked out. Arial followed her and after a few minutes of silence Talini exited the room too. The moment Seraphina heard the door shut she sat on the floor. Her back against the wall beside her balcony door. Thoughts were running through her head without a break. She had no clue how to react to this. Her inner rebel was telling her to run away but inner Berretta was begging her to stay and let things fall into place.She sat like that for an entire hour staring at nothing in particular. Then she picked up her phone and called Arial. "Hello?" "I need to get out for the night. Help me." Seraphina said."Sera, relax you are not getting married tomorrow. If you want I can come to your room and we can watch a film." "Arial, you don't get it. I have to go out for my sanity. Please make the arrangements right away." "Okay but promise me you would not run away." Arial said with a sigh. "I promise." "Okay be down in fifteen minutes." "Thank you so much." The moment the call ended, Seraphina dressed herself in a pair of denim jeans with a white linen shirt and a maroon jacket.She walked down and entered the car that was waiting for her. She settled herself in and texted Arial telling her that she would be back before sunrise. "Where to Ma'am?" The driver asked. "Majesta" "That is out of the area of Berretta." He said. "Doesn't fall in forbidden lands either." "But Ma'am-" "Just drive."