Perfect Illusion

1

Emmitte Benton

On the morning of April 4th, 1561, around 9:00 pm, my once hopeful heart suddenly fragmented to smithereens in my chest.

About ten servants, and I were instructed for a meeting with the king. This was awfully scarce news. Us, as servants of 'Kingdom Of Lawrence' had a strict knowledge of our daily repetition of our deeds and actions. It must have meant something enormous . Something the king would have been making account of for a bit of time.

About at 8:40, I had dressed in my uniform, combed my hair and washed my face. Seconds before leaving I had caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror. I recognized my reflection immediately. With my caterpillar eyebrows placed an inch away from each other, paired with my thick hair that usually was spiky however, I gave my best attempt to style it accordingly.  My uniform was all darker than the night abyss itself. Black tie, blazer, button up shirt, pants, belt and shoes. My shirt was tucked very neatly into my pants and my black belt very precisely. With that, I exhaled through my mouth, my shoulders dropped down, and walked out my door to the kingdom.

Before I knew it, I had found myself in huge room with the other servants. We had all lined up shoulder to shoulder with our heads pointed downwards, wearing our uniforms. I stood with my feet shoulder length apart and my spine straight as a board. I stood still. Very still. My feet were planted into the ground as if roots were extending down from my heel into the core of the earth, keeping me from moving.

The room we were in had tall walls, as longs as the sky paired with  stretching pillars placed ten feet away from each other. Polished crystal clear chandeliers hung like rich tasteful apples from a tree. Nearly everything was white with the occasional sun colored yellow or relaxing rose red; the kingdoms colors.

Perhaps, seventeen feet in front of us, was a stage like platform that had stairs ascending up to it. From the left our king came into the room. The very second he did, we all bowed and stayed where we were until he sat down. However, even then, our heads were all pointing downwards to show our up most respect.

"I have very exciting news must inform you all with." I could feel the king smile. I could sense the corners of both of his cheeks tilt upward giving him a grin from ear to hear. "My daughter, Elizabeth, is finally getting married!"

That hit me like a bullet. No. Not a bullet. A bullet would have been less painful. Panic was seeping into my blood and bolting through my veins like a deadly plague consuming my entire body with horrid sickness. Then slowly, but surely I had felt like I was a thousand feet into the sea and water had filled every breath of air in my lungs.  I was drowning.

"I ask that all of you do not inform anyone about such information until 11:00 AM today. By then, my daughter will know about her wedding taking place in three months from now. Tomorrow morning, she will have brunch with three men from different kingdoms." The king continued babbling on about how eager he is for his daughter. I bet all day his fingers wouldn't stop shaking due to complete awe in future events. I stopped listening.

Standing in pure distraught, I  to run away. My knees felt weak, like they would crumble beneath me. It seemed as if hands were squeezing tighter and tighter like a thousand rubber bands around my throat. I couldn't breathe. I didn't realize a broken heart could be so quiet yet so destructive. I felt as if I was a building just seconds from falling all apart. I felt my heart sink like an anchor would into the depths of the ocean. Then the king said my name.

"Emmitte will be serving Elizabeth and three men from these three different kingdoms. And at the end of it, Elizabeth will select whom she wishes to marry." The king, dressed in his royal robes, smiled brighter than the sun.