Veil of Deception

Chapter One

The palace shone brightly with the spring air settling in for the first month, the sun warm on my skin as I lie underneath the cherry blossoms, a cool breeze kissing my skin. The world was silent as I read the new novel father brought me, each page singing to me its story.

"A princess finding love through words and letters." I murmur, the romantic ways the protagonist writes her feelings down into words, her lover doing the same.

"But tragically, she dies at his hands..." So tragic, I wonder. Closing the book, I look up at the leaves and branches, thinking that now I'm of age, I could find love and... gain my powers.

My father, King of the Light Realm and my mother the Queen bore three daughters, Idril and Nephinae and lastly me, Aerin. Idril and Nephinae have already come of age, powerful and fighting to be heir. They still have a long time, I muse. Father is still young in terms of Elven years.

"Aerin!" a voice called, the peace I had fading away. I was hoping to lay low for a little while longer, not ready to face the fact that I now have responsibilities. Sighing, I listen to the footsteps get closer, waiting for Elle, my Lady-in-waiting, the flowery stern woman to come into my sight.

Not long she stood with her arms crossed, face full of worry.

"Hello Elle." I reply, smiling. Elle has been with me since I was ten, being my friend, helping me study and be by my side when my sisters and mother weren't.

"Seriously my lady? This is not how a princess acts." Addressing my laid-back form, the trousers I adorn for comfort, my long dark hair pulled back into a bun. Not fitting for a princess but I didn't think it mattered, I was comfortable, and no one is around.

Shrugging my way out of answering, I stand, brushing the grass off my trousers and walk pass Elle, her flabbergasted sigh making me giggle.

"I don't get you, my lady. One minute you can be such an angel but then you just forget about the rules and be a troublemaker."

"Elle, it becomes tiresome to be perfect all the time." I reply, walking out of the gardens, walking the path towards my quarters. "Especially when I try so hard for my sister's affection and instead of love I get hatred."

I'm not a walking and talking example of perfection, like my sisters, Mother made me well aware of that.

I was born weak, my appearance different from my sisters and mother. They had beautiful blonde and bouncy hair, skin pink and bright, eyes like the sun. Me, however looked like my father just... darker. I got his pearly green eyes, but my skin was like snow, hair dark as the night sky, my powers zero to nothing and my frame, weak and bony. I am beautiful...but not in some people's eyes. But my father thinks I'm perfect, stunning and his little girl.

"I get that my lady, but you are a princess. Your people look up to you to be able to protect them. But all you do is disappear and cause trouble." I wave her off as I ascend the stairwell, my room just steps away.

"Let us just dress for lunch with father and mother."

"What colours, my lady?" Elle asks, walking into the cavern I call a closet. Skirts and dresses, shoes of all kinds. Jewellery passed down and endless accessories.

"Pink, for the cherry blossoms." I call, taking in the spacious room gifted to me. Large ceilings, marbled floors, bookshelves, and a massive canopy bed.

My life was filled with heavy burdens, but I was never pressured to be something I wasn't... until my sisters made sure I was perfect for mother. Giving me 'lessons', beating knowledge into me. I was lucky though, Elle was there to shield me, heal me and comfort me, as my father wouldn't believe me about what was happening. Slowly as time went by, they stopped. I was afraid to cross them, or to make them angry, so I made sure be perfect. Bite my tongue and follow the rules. I was powerless.