Echoes of The Crown

Chapter 04

Marzia stared at herself on the adorned mirror and sighed. She proceeds to leave the bath area and changed into her silk nightgown as she laid on the soft matress of her bed. She immersed herself in thoughts as she munched on some red grapes, as red as her plump lips. She couldn’t stop thinking about Zelda’s words just now. She is opposite to what Zelda had just said to her; she seeks for freedom and peace. Her thoughts were then diverted to another. Was this how her mother lived, trapped in a cell, hidden behind the large castle walls, unable to seek peace and tranquility? She, for sure did not want that fate for herself, though this life may seem like a fairytale for another, for her it’s a prison. She got up from her bed and walked towards the huge, golden frame that hung on a wall, a portrait of her late mother, Queen Nursafa. She stared at it in awe and with adoration. She tried to strike the same pose as her mother’s but failed to do so, just like how she thinks she will never be as good of a person as her mother. She gently touches the frame, that has now gathered a thin layer of dust. She craves for her mother’s presence, she reminisces the moments with her mother and her dying father. Her dying father she remembered. She looks back at the precious moments that she once took for granted.

Flashback

At the palace’s garden

“Marzia! Slow down my little one,” Queen Nursafa exclaims as she catches her 6 year old daughter in her arms . Marzia giggles as she tries to break free from her mother’s grasp. “ Mama!! I need to catch the butterfly, you are only slowing me down!!” Nursafa looked at her daughter as her eyes twinkled with love. “ My love, you are right, I’m slowing you down, but remember, do not ever give up for what you want to achieve, chase for it no matter what obstacles hinder your path,like Mama just now. Continue to fly my love, never stop.” Marzia looked at her mother in confusion and spoke, “Fly? But Mama I thought we can’t fly?” Nursafa laughed at her Marzia’s silly, innocent comment and replied,“ Ok Zia, now go catch your butterfly.” With that Marzia runs off as her mother watches her from a distance, with a smile spread across her face. Out of nowhere, a huge figure engulfed Nursafa into a hug from the back and kissed her cheek, startling her, but she instantly knew who it was. “Bilal! You startled me!”. The king looked at his wife lovingly and apologized, as both stared at their daughter playing at the grassy fields from afar.

Back to present

Marzia snaps from her thoughts. She rubbed her eyes that was now welled up with tears and walked towards the window. She looked outside at the garden that was once lush and flourishing, but now it is merely dying and decaying after the passing of her mother, and dying along with her father. She laid down on her bed, and hugged a soft pillow gifted by her mother, imagining it to be her mother herself. As she was about to fall into a deep slumber, a sudden shatter of glass was heard from outside of her chambers. She shot up from her bed, and called out to her guards to ask about it. No response. She decided to take matter in her own hands and opened the doors of her chambers. Strange, she thought, no guard was present there. She was left completely unprotected. She stared at the wall adjacent to her door, only to find a broken porcelain vase. She squinted her eyes at the dimly lit corridors to find who or what was responsible for this mess. No one, not even a breeze or anything. She  decided to return back to her chambers  when she notices a mysterious coiled paper near the vase. She walked slowly to it, avoiding any shards that were scattered on the floor. She goes on to pick up the paper when the tip of her finger got pricked by a shard. She cursed under her breath but nonchalantly picked up the paper despite her bloody finger. She uncoiled it and read the contents. Her eyes widened and her blood ran cold, as she quickly entered her chambers and locked the door behind her. Her breath quickened as she opened the paper once again, hoping that she read it wrongly due to the minimal light in the hallway. However, that was not the case, the princess’s mind was as clear as glass and her eyes were not wrong. Her hands trembled as she reads it out aloud only for her to hear..”You missed your death once, but you wont miss it twice.”