"Sebeen Perez!" The extent of the boy's full name was supposed to make him realize what he had done was unacceptable; not send him into an uncontrollable fit of laughter at Rania's feet.
"It's your own darn fault we have this punishment in the first place!" Seb barely managed to get that one sentence out before he was dealing with a fit of hysterics, again. Rania rolled her eyes as she watched her brother roll around in the dirt. They were in the middle of painting the side of their house a dull white colour when Sebeen took the first steps towards an all out war.
"You shouldn't of done that you could've gotten paint on Ma's cloak." Rania stated seriously as she placed the cloak to the side. She didn't have time to take it off when she got home, considering her fathers outrage of how they treated the Queen of Syria.. They were sent straight to their punishment of painting the house. Just as Rania was about to start her speech about how hard it can be to get paint out of clothes, he attacked her again with the slick pale liquid. All over her finest dress.
"Oh it's so on." She smiled evilly, taking off after her brother. They chased after each other with no rests. Both of them knew there would be no winner to this, they were evenly paced and unless one of them surrendered there little match could go on for hours.
Seb stopped for a second, breathing in a deep breath before standing straight again. He pulled his hand off the side of the house that he was leaning on for support. "Shit." He muttered before taking off again, ignoring the slight burning in his lungs.
Rania chuckled at the mark Seb had left behind. She crouched down for a few seconds, placing her hand over the milky white handprint on the wall. Her brother was going to get in so much trouble for that, if their father saw it that is. Hopefully he would regret throwing paint at her if she told.
The thoughts of telling on her brother escaped Rania's mind as soon as her eyes locked onto the bow leaning next to the handprint. It was a normal bow but with practice arrows. Arrows that she designed herself. They weren't made to pierce flesh, only to cling onto smooth surfaces; leaving a small bruise if that surface happened to be skin.
She slung the arrows over her shoulder, loading the bow and switched into hunter mode. Her footsteps were quiet as all of her senses were activated, in aim to track down her brother. Not a single leaf was rustled, no sound of mud sucking in air as something escaped its grasp. Nothing. Her brother was inside.
Rania crept around to the dining room window, knowing her brother would be taking salvage in the kitchen, under the watchful eye of their father and the Queen. "You've underestimated me again, dear brother." She whispered to herself as she pulled the string back, ready to let her missile fly. She wouldn't hit him, not yet. Instead she aimed for the glass he was pulling towards his lips.
Cries of shock came from Emelia, accompanied by reassuring murmurs from Rania's father. It took a whole seven seconds for Seb to react and flee, running outside once again in hope of escape. Rania again pursued her brother, chuckling when he ran onto the open field, he was making this too easy for her.
She let another arrow fly, missing Sebeen's hand by inches. She quickly decided to blame that miss on her father's yelling, being too much of a distraction. "Rania! How many times do I have to tell you and your brother about fighting! Is that a handprint on my wall?!" To anyone else the man would come across as wild and angry, but his children could never fear him.
"I'll bet you five bucks he doesn't last twenty sec- Shit!" The arrow that slammed into Ashur's shoulder was enough to cut off what ever he was about to say. "What the hell?" He yelled out in pure frustration.
"Ashur watch your mouth." Mr Perez (A/N, thought I'd stop just calling him father..) chimed in.
"You shouldn't be making bets with a six year old!" Rania almost had the perfect motherly figure going, rule out the paint all over her, arrows slung over her back and the bow in her hands.
Emelia watched the scene closely, comparing the family with her own. The little bit of envy that seemed to spark within her was unexpected, sending her into a flit of confusion. She had no reason to envy this small family when hers was the one of true perfection.
Her family consisted of her five sons and her loving husband. Her eldest son- Ibrahim, at the age of twenty one had travelled to America studying politics at a very well known university. The rest still attended school, the youngest being six- Samuel who had just started schooling this year. Levi at fourteen and Ezekiel at fifteen were perfect in school. Achieving high grades in every area. Then there was Kalel. He was eighteen this year and was in the last year of his schooling. He was meant to of graduated the previous year but the rebellion he was going through had caused his grades to drop tremendously.
Looking at the family bantering before her, she still couldn't figure out where that spark of envy had come from. She watched as the eldest son danced around with an arrow stuck to his forehead, it seemed she had missed the final blow of Rania's attack. She was too muddled in her own thoughts.
As the children started a wrestling match on the dirt before her feet she let her mouth gape open in surprise as Mr Perez joined them. She could do nothing but watch as the family covered themselves in filth, to what purpose? Surely they held manors somewhere within themselves.
Emelia was sparked with a new type of jealousy. She envied the closeness of this family, how they could be so happy just in the presence of their own blood.
"Rania?" She cut in to their separate world of happiness. The whole family froze, suddenly remembering exactly who they were in the presence of. The sight was certainly something to take in. Mr Perez had Lilith in his arms in the midst of tickling her. Ashur had also paused from tickling Rania, while Sebeen froze in the grasp of Rania's headlock. Rania quickly discarded her brother to the side and swatted Ashur's hands away before climbing to her feet. "Yes, Emelia?" She smiled politely but her voice held a guarding tone to it that the Queen had yet to understand.
Emelia hadn't put much thought into her decision but it seemed like the most brilliant one at the time. She had the perfect solution to both hers, and the family's problem. She understood now why Rania and Sebeen had spoke so fiercely against her upon their first meeting. She understood why their passion was so strong. They were family, and it seemed they would push to the absolute limits to protect each other..
"What would you say if I asked you to come back with me to my home for a while? I'd pay you of course, enough for your family to afford Lilith's treatment, if you were to work for me that is." Emelia wasn't surprised by the families reactions. Everyone's breathe caught in their throats, unsurprisingly they were rendered speechless. It took a matter of seconds before objections made the way to the families lips but it was Rania's reply that was instant.
She didn't stutter, pause or even look for advice from her family. She was so quick to jump at the opportunity to help her sister that Emelia knew Rania really was the perfect person to help mend her own family.
"I'd say, when do we leave, your majesty?"
________________________________
Unedited
This chapter is unbelievably short *sigh* and for that I do apologise. I have no idea where any of this is going and my plan of 'winging it' isn't going as well as I hoped. Please stick with me! I'm trying my best and really apreciate the support. It will get better -I hope- so just try to be patient.
Cheers,
Rachel
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Royal Temptations
RomanceRania Perez had a life as close to perfection as it gets in Syria. Her father single handily raised his four children on a small farm, surviving off the land. Money had never been a huge problem to them but it was certainly scarce. So when Rania's y...
