Spectrum: In The Red

Chapter I

Elnora

I was 16 years old for 364 days when my life ended.

Well figuratively, of course.

But if figurative death certificates were a legitimate thing, mine would display: Elnora Vernesca Vespiquen. “Date of Death: One day shy of seventeen” would be etched in gold,  directly under my name.

And the figurative coroner would decree that cause of death was forced-upon arranged marriage.

If I can recall from Pre-Edenyth History class (and of the times I wasn’t in a deep state of R-E-M, due to the never-ending lectures by my private professor), arranged marriages were common especially during the 18th century AD. Later on in the 20th and 21st centuries, arranged marriages were more forced upon for royal and aristocratic reasons, as to keep the royal bloodline pure. Sometimes, I think this led to incest, however my professor insists that sex between two first cousins is harmless and the “English kings and queens” used to do it all the time.

In Edenyth, we don’t have kings or queens, but rather a supreme ruler, who’s called by the title of The Supreme. The Supreme, as I also recall from some other class I was once again forced to take (I believe it was Edenyth Government) can be easily compared to a cross between a king or a queen and a president. If you’d ask anyone from the Blue, I can assure you they’d tell you The Supreme resembles more of a Communist dictator.

The current Supreme of Edenyth is Supreme Zephaniah Mikael Vespiquen. Now, if you were paying attention above to my figurative death certificate, you would notice that the Supreme and I share the same last name. Are we merely first cousins having casual legal sex? Alas, no. Supreme Zephaniah is my father, and I am his eldest daughter. I also have a younger sister, Margaret, who’s fourteen. Margaret’s what my mother, Supremess Delphine Vespiquen, would call a pretty little fool. Margaret’s beach-sand colored hair is always pulled back into a braid, and her freckled-spray faced reveals a shy innocence. My mother tells me I’m too smart for my own good. My father says the same about my mother.

I don’t know much about how my mother and father met, or much rather fell in love for that matter. You see unlike my father, my grandparents had six sons and no daughters, so they didn’t have to arrange special marriages to see who their next Supreme would be. In Edenyth, Supremes have all the power, while Supremesses are basically just a title holder and public figure. When I was about nine and before my mother lost interest in her daughters and left us in the care of our midwife and nanny, Bernadette, I actually do have a few memories I can recall. She used to tell Margaret and I of a lake where her and my father would go on dates. The lake used to be located somewhere in The Red Palace’s woods, but as hard as I try, I cannot seek out the location which she speaks of. I don’t think my parents love each other, or at least they’re well trained at not showing their affections. I can’t even call the last time they looked each other in the eye at opposite ends of the dinner room, and their master suite’s bed is large enough, they could get lost in separate area codes and never find each other. Again, figuratively.

I wonder if my marriage will follow suit with my parents’. It’s not like I have any say in the matter anyways.

I’m trying to retrace the day, that ended up being my final figurative day, until I met my figurative finale. The day seems like a big red blur, but that’s also how every day seems in my life. Everything in the Red Region is red, that’s how we distinguish ourselves. So I guess I rolled out of my mahogany bed with maroon sheets and sat in the raspberry velvet chair and stared a hole into my blank reflection in the mirror. Okay, who am I kidding, I basked in the gorgeous beauty that is myself, but I didn’t want to sound too conceited. Morning routine, breakfast, private lessons, polo lessons (did I mention I play polo?), more private lessons, somewhere we squeeze lunch in, and then I had the rest of the day to do what I want. I wish I could’ve paused just a moment longer before I took my foot off the red-carpeted stair and entered my bedroom, which I initially thought of as my only sanctum until it was corrupted and I was murdered by my parents. (Figuratively. goddammit.)