The Shadows of Royalty

A Simple Short Story

Hellloooo, dumplings. Sorry, this isn't another chapter for The Shadows of Royalty but a short story you can read while I finish the chapter for the Shadows of Royalty. SORRY for the wait. For the readers that also read my other book, The Mafia on 6th Street, you can skip this short story bc I already shared this piece of writing with you all. Just scroll down to the author's note after the short story and please read it because it is very important....like seriously....please read the a/n at the end. No joke...

For the rest of you all, enjoy this piece of writing I have written. Please have the courtesy to not copy or use it because this was one of my classwork for competition, and besides it is mine.

All Rights Reserved

-Unedited-

I Can Still See You

"Naila?"

A small shaky voice shook her from her delirious haze. Naila's head was lifted as her eyes took an effort to recover from the blurriness rounding within her dilated pupils. Her body was collapsed inside the small wooden hut, more specifically inside a dim-lighted closet, where all the now priceless flour laid underneath. Her mind instantly recognized the soft voice; it was Lilly, her beloved sister, who sat near her, day and night, watching over her fallen state.

"L-lilly?" Her voice was a mere croak that hoarsely emitted from the back of her parched throat. For days, she has been immobilized, unable to move or open her mouth for the sake of water. Her fingers only could move, uneasily gliding over the bloody sheet of paper, as she watched the ink from the quill stain the sheet in deliberate strokes. She was now "tainted" according to her father's words and a "worthless being" to her mother. Just the faint thought about what had happened almost a week ago threw her into utter obsidian, memories sprouting into reality. For all she had tried, she knew she couldn't fight the darkness. She was sick.... broken...Vulnerable. Weak. Pathetic.

Nothing more than the worse.

4 Days Ago

Naila exhaled loudly, her delicate fingers capturing the hem of her amethyst dress. Her dark hair had been swept to the side, pinning her voluminous curls so that her jade pigmented orbs would be on display. Her soft plump lips have been painted with a rose color as her cheeks were dusted with soft pink power. Her thick lashes were outlined with pit-black kohl reminding her how her father's blacksmith use to stack coal in the heated furnace, melting the iron against the flames, just before hammering it.

She was breathtaking, but something bothered her at the person reflected from the glass mirror. It just wasn't her. It was rather how her mother wanted her to be, and by the looks of it, she had succeeded. She couldn't recognize the shy bookworm she was. Her mother appeared before her, joining her, hands immediately capturing her pale shoulders.

"My dear, you are such a beauty. "

Naila smiled at her mother's kind words, even though her heart saddened since her mother only had complimented her the moment she was prepped into a makeover. Her mother's wrinkly eyes narrowed into thought, but she continued to speak. "You will capture his eyes, the second he arrives."

Naila gulped becoming uncomfortable. She never wanted to interact with any of the suitors her father had invited over. She knew the truth behind this. It was not about her self-interest her parents were seeking, but rather theirs. She hid the disgusted look her face wanted to express and swallowed her unspoken words. In truth, it was all for the money. Money equaled to wealth, and wealth was equivalent to power. Power granted something someone at these times didn't have or couldn't simply earn; Safety.