A crystal heart

Two times in one day

As soon as we passed the castle walls a guard grabbed Bel to speak with her, and I was escorted to my room. I knew something was up. My heartbeat was pulsating as if it would beat through my chest. I sat in my room for half an hour playing with my pendant. I had been hungry for a while, so I went into the kitchen and asked one of the chefs for a snack. I sat in one of the dining halls and stared down at the cornbread in front of me. I finished it and felt like the guilt would make me puke up my food. Then I went up to my bedroom with nothing to do but try and sleep. I walked into my bathroom and undressed. I slipped into a baby blue nightgown with short sleeves. When I returned to my bedroom I sat on my bed and wondered where my father was. I tucked myself in and drifted off into a deep sleep thinking my father gone to save my mother. He rode on his horse calling her name, traveling the world to find her, finding her chained to a cave wall after vanquishing Red's aunt.

Annabell

It's not often you get so close to someone you can call them your family and truly believe it. But getting the news you're her only family left can kill you inside. She sat staring at Sir Lucan (he was the head of guards). They assisted in filling in the blanks of the king's death. Our long conversation ended with them pointing out that Rydel is the only heir their kingdom would except for the time being. Sir Lucan escorted me to the kitchen and got me some tea. The shock of it all nearly made me fall unconscious. I sat in the informal dining room my elbow sitting on the table holding my head up. When Sir Lucan returned with the tea and I took a long, slow, sip. It smelled and tasted of ginger and it was warm. After I finished, I thanked Sir Lucan. He offered to take me to Red's room and I told him he could walk me to the door. The walk to Red's door was silent. When we reached the door I quietly thanked Sir Lucan. I sat on the edge of Rydel's bed watching her sleep. The world was unfair she had been striped of the parents she'd known. At least I hadn't known my parents.

She's only 15. How could this happen? She could barely be a child as is and now she had to add running the kingdom to her list of duties. No more parents. She's an orphan. She looked like the child she was with a deflated teddy bear in her arms. I'll wait till morning to tell her. But time stopped and each minute felt like an hour. I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER. I shook Rydel till she awoke. She stared at me wide-eyed and I returned the look. My body began to feel hot and heavy as I suppressed tears and tried to speak. "Umm... I'm hungry. Want to go downstairs for a snack?" I asked. Rydel nodded and walked down the stairs the weight in my chest temporarily lifted. We both consumed two muffins before we spoke to each other, though I knew we would need to talk. Still smiling as Rydel finished her second muffin. For this one moment I thought maybe, just maybe, we could be sisters. No, this would create a wall between us, and this wall would never be destroyed.

"Red, I'm very sorry,but your father is-is.......dead." I reluctantly blurted out. I expected Red to break, to cry hysterically using me to hold her up, to scream, to throw a tantrum, or to pass out. But she did none of this, she stared at me as a single tear rolled down her cheek and fell off. She laughed a little, "You know, I knew something was wrong, but I imagined it differently..." She said, but her voice trailed off as she became distant. I paused knowing what I had to say next. I had been practicing it in my head since before the meeting ended.

"Rydel, I know this is difficult for you, but you have to start your studies to take your place as queen." I stated.

She started backing away from me. "What, I-I can't take my mother's place!" I exclaimed.

Rydel

I backed away from the kitchen table as the only person who understood me started to not understand me. I had only shed one tear when the news was broken to me that my father died, but now a constant stream of tears rolled down my cheeks. I wanted nothing but to escape this. I looked to see where the stable was and ran for it. I could hear Bel shouting for the guards to stop me and those guards shouted to other guards. I made three sharp turns to try and lose the guards, and ran through the stable, and jumped onto my horse Lilly, who started at a mad sprint. I used Lilly's mane to steer her towards the forest. We must've been in the heart of the forest when Lilly started rearing and I fell off with no saddle to hold onto. I fell off backwards hitting my head on a rock.

That was the last thing I remembered until I was getting rushed into the infirmary, poked, and prodded by doctors.