Tales of Aridia

Death

"No." I said. Jayden looked astonished. "I will not be a murderer. I will not become you." I said, standing up and running off into the palace garden which had been untouched by the explosion.

I did not look behind. I kept running no looking back. I wanted Jayden to come chasing after me and tell me there had been a mix up, that it was not him that had killed my brother. There was no sound of footsteps pounding on the ground behind me, no one had come to help me. And so I kept running, as fast as my bloody feet took me. The ground sliced into my bare feet, since I had lost my heels in the wreckage. My brown hair fell out of their braids and it swayed behind me in the midnight breeze. Eventually, I collapsed by the side of a tree and chocked on my own tears. I was drenched in blood, I dreaded to think who's it was. However my mind kept flicking back to the thought that it was my own brothers. I began to breath shallowly, it felt like there was someone pressing down on my chest. I gazed down at the blood dipped feathers and stopped breathing. No air could enter my lungs, I just spluttered and coughed. I needed to get away from it.

I frantically started to tear the feathers from the bottom of the dress off, transferring the blood onto my hands. It got worse and worse, the urge to get away from all the blood. In the end I was purely left with my undergarments. I started to Breath again, slowly and heavily. I chucked the clothes away.

I stopped and focused, my mind zoomed in on the clothes and so did my rage. A fiery outburst sent the dress up in flames and I watched thrilled as the blood evaporated into the air. The stench of blood wafted away and I used the heat from the burning dress to keep me warm through the night.

A pair of cold icy hands lifted my up by the shoulders and propped me up on the tree. I was barely awake, my eyes were yet to open. Suddenly I remembered that the night before I had stripped of my clothes to my undergarments and that woke me up immediately. Luckily, I had been covered with a silk sheet and Max sat there watching over me. Once I had come to my senses I stood up abruptly and wrapped the sheet around my body. 

"They're holding the funeral today, for your brother. They found his body this morning." Max said. I sank into silence. He kept talking but I didn't hear what he was saying. Eventually as time went on he walked away, leaving me on my own in the forest.

I rubbed my hands together to keep them warm, forgetting the blood which they were soaked in. The blood had dried into the creases of my hands and it flaked off as I rubbed them together. Using the sheet to protect my modesty I escaped the dark corners of the forest and sought asylum in my home.

The back of the palace was untouched, everything pristine and clean. Every picture hung neatly on the wall and every vase or decoration remained in its place. Almost everything was in its rightful place, except me. I felt lost without Sparrow, like I didn't belong. And now, I had to prepare myself for something yet again I was not ready for, the funeral of my brother.

The day went on and it neared dusk. I dressed myself, wearing a plain black dress adorned with a few quartz gems at the edges of the sleeves.  For reasons too obvious I did not care about how I looked. The energy in my heart had drained away.  I stared at myself in the mirror. My pale white face seemed paler than usual, perhaps my heart really had broke and I was slowly dying. Maybe if I died I would find peace with Sparrow.  He was the only one who understood me, supported me, protected me against my families wrath. Who would I have to advise me now?

A knock came to the door, and it creaked open slowly. I watched the reflection in the mirror, it was my mother. A veil covered her face, but it did not cover the red stains from where she had been crying.  "You'll have to follow the carriage behind your father and I," she said glumly.  I nodded solemnly. My mother crept up behind me and decorated my head with a veil similar to hers. "Don't let them see your tears." She said. I frowned and whisked her hands away from my head.

"Why not?" I asked angrily. My mother stepped back in shock. "An heir to the throne must not show weakness." She said. As she said those words I ripped off the veil and threw the veil on the floor, my anger had escalated quickly. "Then let me show weakness, let me show them I am a person. I will not be Aridia's puppet, I will be it's queen!" I shouted. My mother looked offended, she glared at me up and down disgusted. "I raised you to be a proper queen." She said, turning to leave the room. As she was about to close the door I said some final words to her, " no, you raised me to be you, not a queen."

A cloud fell over Aridia. Everything was smothered in darkness, including the minds of those around me. The guards we lined up neatly in rows while civilians of Aridia were kept tucked behind them. First came the carriage, decorated with orange tulips and white roses. On the roof sat the coffin. I walked over and placed a tender kiss on the coffin door, allowing a single tear to soak into the wood. I held a white cloth up to my eyes, dabbing at the tears that rolled continuously.

In the crowd sat a little girl, her hair in similar braids to my own. She sucked her thumb while sobbing to herself. Her mother hit her on the back of the head once she had noticed I was watching.  Distracted from my mother and father I made my way over to the girl. For some reason I saw myself in her. Those pale brown eyes.

I knelt down. Reaching out I grabbed her hand and pulled it close to my chest. I rubbed her hand with my thumb and comforted her with the other hand. We cried in the company of eachother. "I promise, when I am queen, mistakes like this will never happen." I said stroking her cheek with a hand.

I resumed what I was doing , the carriage was halted and waiting for me. I started to walk behind my mother and father, my black dress trailing behind. Everyone bowed their heads in sorrow, no one daring to look me in the eye. The pitter patter of rain pounded on the coffin door. Each guard saluted as I walked past. I held my head high and proud, presenting my tears to the world. And in that moment I was invincible, nothing could put me down. How I was so so wrong.