It's too late

Sophie, Lucía and Agatha's Fairytale

Sophie had been waiting her whole life to be kidnapped. But that night the rest of the Gavaldon teenagers barely slept a wink. If the Headmaster took them away, they would never come back. They would never have a normal life. They would never see their families again. Sophie dreamed of princes. Arriving at a gala ball held in her honor at a castle, she found hundreds of suitors in the hall with no other girl in sight. For the first time, she was in the presence of boys worthy of her, she thought as she walked past them. But just as she passed what she thought was the best of all, a prince with bright blue eyes and ghostly white hair, a hammer smashed through the walls of the hall and smashed the prince to pieces. Sophie opened her eyes. The hammer was real, the princes were not.
-Dad, if I don't sleep nine hours, I wake up with puffy eyes.
On the bed next to Sophie, a lump shifted. From between the sheets came a girl the same age as Sophie, tremendously beautiful. She had waist-length dark blonde wavy hair, deep green eyes, tan skin, a high-bridged nose, thick eyebrows, and medium sized lips.
-Good morning - Lucia said with a smile.
-Good morning - Sophie replied. Neither of them waited for their father's response. They were both born on the same day, but their father, for some reason, didn't love them. With Sophie he tried to be a good father, although he was somewhat cold. But with Lucía he acted as if she didn't exist.
-Everyone whispers that this year they are going to kidnap you -intervened her father, addressing only Sophie, as he nailed a plank of wood to the window- They tell me to hide you, as if I believed in that nonsense of fairy tales. But tonight no one enters here, I assure you.

There was an awkward silence in the room, broken only by the sound of the hammer. Steffan spoke again:

-Anyway, I don't know why everyone thinks it's going to be you. If what that Rector is looking for is kindness, he will take Gunilda's daughter.
Sophie and Lucia looked at each other, stiff.
-That girl is perfect -argued their father with sweat soaked hair- She prepares a good lunch for her father and takes it to the factory every day. And, in addition, she gives the leftovers to the old beggar in the square.
Lucia wrinkled her nose. She also prepared lunch for her father every day, and distributed the leftovers among the abandoned animals on the streets. Her sister must have thought the same thing, because then Sophie said reproachfully:

-Lucía prepares lunch for you every day.

Steffan didn't answer, as if he didn't know who she was talking about.

Sophie sighed. In truth, she took the lunch that her sister made for her father every day and threw it in the trash, because her father never took it, and she didn't want Lucía to feel bad.

Sophie knew that if she made him a good lunch, Steffan would eat it, but she hadn't made him a decent meal since her mother had died. Naturally, she had her reasons, the oil and smoke clogged her pores.
Sophie smiled at her father.

-As you say, it's nonsense.

Sophie rose majestically from the bed and locked herself in the bathroom.

Every morning, while Sophie spent three hours in the bathroom applying all kinds of treatments to be beautiful, Lucía washed her face, got dressed, prepared breakfast for everyone and cleaned the house. Sophie strove to be beautiful, and she was, yet she was far outclassed by her sister, who didn't care about her physical appearance. However, she did not neglect her hygiene either.

That day was no exception.

Sophie examined her face in the mirror. That rude awakening had taken its toll. Her hair, a lighter shade of blonde than her sister's and also waist-length, lacked its usual shine. Her eyes were yellowish-green, less vibrant than usual, and her lips, red and full, were a little dry. Even her silky pink skin, also lighter than Lucia's, was somewhat opaque. ''But I'm still a princess,'' she thought. His father couldn't see that she was special, but her mother had. "You are too beautiful for this world," she had told the two sisters on her deathbed. Their mother had gone to a better place and now they would too.