The King's Eye

Chapter 1

 My fingers brushed against the lavender as I ran through the field after my sister. Our pink silk dresses flowing through the sea of purple as we laughed, our toes covered in the dirt from the field, our skirts dusted. Behind the Chateaux, beams of light from the sunrise crossed my eyes, the brightness warming me and blinding me from seeing the different hues of magenta and navy of the sky all at once blurring them together.

Anne looked like a shadow against the glowing beams, her golden hair shining even brighter against the light. "Hurry, Sophie!" she shouted through her laughter. Reaching for her hand, she dragged me forward into a clearing.

In the shadow of the Chateaux, sat our mother and father at a small metal table drinking tea. The small porcelain cups with gold edges and pink flowers, clinked together in a cheer. As soon as their cups met the light seemed to vanish, the air thickening and making it hard to breathe. Even though we were outside it felt like we were locked in a room with no windows during the peak of summer, our dresses weighing us down with sweat. It felt as if we were being swallowed whole.

Anne took a few steps forward and sat in the empty seat at the already crowded table, her posture poor and her legs crossed.

"Mère?" I looked around. In a blink she had vanished, her cup and saucer shifting over to my sister as if they were always there.

Anne picked up the cup and began to drink.

"Anne—"

After taking another sip of tea she slammed her cup down, shattering the saucer beneath it. The sudden aggression caused me to freeze, as her flushed face turned to me slowly. "How could you do this?" I felt myself begin to back away as she stood up, shoving the chair away and charging towards me. The plain tone she had questioned me in made me suddenly feel panicked.

I turned to run, only to meet my mother's eyes. Her face changed from radiant to lifeless, sunken, and covered in pox. "Mere," I gasped.

"How could you do this?" Her voice echoed as a scream.

My eyes shot open, my body completely frozen in place. Beside me my sister slept, her breathing labored. In the past few days it had only gotten worse because of the damp cell we were held in. No light came through the small barred window that towered above our heads in the brick wall, but I could tell it was day. Even with the rain there was light peaking through.

Slowly I stood up, trying not to wake Anne as I pulled away from under the blanket we shared. She had always been a light sleeper, and during our childhood I had often gotten in trouble for waking and then sneaking about because of her. Across the room was a bucket of drinking water with a ladle hanging from its side to sip from. I tiptoed to it, dunking it into the water and bringing it up to my lips. The water tasted unclean, but it was the only option we had. We couldn't reach for the rain water, the window was too high for us to try. Despite the taste, it was refreshing after another night of nightmares.

I closed my eyes, and imagined life before. I imagined love, being loved, and feeling warm. Behind my eyelids I could still see messy walnut colored hair, curls falling onto a forehead that was creased despite being young. War would do that, I thought. I could almost feel him embrace me. Lips brush my own gently, making me sink in.

Anne stirred behind me, causing my eyes to shoot open. Reality crept back in too soon.

"You had the dream again?" My sister yawned, her small frame shifting onto her forearm. "What did she say this time?"

"How could you do this?" I never told Anne she was in the dream, just that it was our mother and father. I didn't want her to feel guilt she didn't need to bear. Lifting the ladle up to my mouth I took another sip of water, before placing it back down and walking over to her.