Althea

Chapter 7

  I rolled around on my bed, groaning in frustration.

I can't sleep. Tomorrow, The news of my father's death will be getting out. The trial is also taking place tomorrow. How can I go to sleep? Perhaps I should read some more pages of Althea's diary...

Reaching out to my nightstand, I opened the drawer, taking out the diary.

I was on... page eleven, right? There has been nothing interesting yet, she hasn't even written about Aias.

Flipping to page twelve, I started to read.

Dear Diary, August 7th Imperial year 615

I turned eight years old today! This morning, something magical happened, you know, like... like in the fairytales nanny reads me! You see, I was out, looking for a gift, after my dad granted me permission to leave! I wish daddy would show a little more emotion... other than that funny face he makes, he's always so serious. Now that I'm thinking about it, he doesn't seem to find anything funny! Even when I make my - very successful, if you ask me - jokes, He just looks at me with a funny face I can't exactly name. His brows are furrowed, and his jaw is really tense! The funniest part is when his nostrils make that funny move. Nanny calls it flaring. Anyway, just earlier today, we passed by a very sad sight - a knight had injured a poor woman, because she got in the crown prince's way, and begged for... something. I think it's called money! Later on, nanny explained that these people are... different from us. She mentioned the word 'money' and combined it with the word 'little'. She said they don't have maids like we do, and don't live in big homes like ours! But, how can that be? How come those people do not have the... - what was the word she used... - luxury! Why don't they have the luxury we do? Why are they so different? Did they do something bad?

Anyway, the crown prince - Aias is his name I think - He's very cruel. He made his knight injure that woman just because she begged him for a better life! I don't like Aias. He doesn't seem to like me either. And you might ask, 'why? Everybody likes you, Althea!' This brings me to the miracle I was talking about. I ran up to the woman, and kneeled next to her. A red liquid oozed out of her arm, and I curiously reached out for it. Nanny tried to stop me, but I was faster! Then, a strange light came out of her covered-by-my-palm arm, and my eyes shined. Or, atleast, that's what nanny described it as. Aias seemed not to like the attention that was on me. Do you think he was jealous? After I retracted my arm, the red liquid had completely disappeared! Everyone seemed shocked. After that, they called it a 'blessing'. Why? I only put my arm on the woman's injury...

Anyway, after that, I was sure my father would also be surprised! I don't remember what happened after I ran into his office without knocking and told him the news. But, he made that funny face again. This time, though, it was... different. More expressive. I've never seen it before. It was a bit... scary. I don't remember the rest of the day until this evening, when I woke up. My arm is bandaged as I'm writing this, and there's some purple blotches all over my legs. I tried to do the same thing I had done to the woman, putting my hand over the purple blotches, because they hurt. It didn't work. Worse, they became bigger, and darker. Why did this happen? That woman's red liquid - I think it's called blood, actually - was gone after I did the same thing! Is this a curse, or a blessing? I-