Inhumane

Bitter memories

Rhea sat on the floor of a dirty cave, listening to the waterfall roar above. Five months ago she had been exiled from her kingdom where she had it all. Now she has nothing. Orbs of her past floated around her in the cave which overlooks the kingdom of Astria. Rhea stared at each one, memories filling her head making her stony expression waver for a second. The first orb featured a memory of a five year old boy wailing in distress... Rhea could still hear the wail in her dreams, everytime a wolf in the forest howled.

Everyday
Every sound
Every night...
The ghostly wail of her younger brother haunted her to no end.
Before Rhea could compose herself again, she was thrown into the memories.

"Come on Rhea!" A lighthearted voice of a child no older than five rang out in the field. He was running ahead of Rhea, his face split into a grin. Rhea laughed, racing after him. For a mere child of seven, she ran fast. Her black ebony hair streamed behind her as she ran, her tiara on the edge of slipping off. Her pale cherry blossom dress rippled as the wind blew it. Rhea was free that time. Her red unnatural eyes sparkled with mirth, her black hair shone, she wore her tiara with pride, her dresses crisp and elegant. Rhea was a princess.

"I'm coming Jeremiah!" She called after her brother, catching up to him easily. A high pitched giggle escaped from her lips as she saw her brother's messy hair and muddy socks. "Oh.. Mom's going to kill you."

"Race you to that tree!" Jeremiah called, already racing to a tree that stood in the horizon.

Rhea shook her head in amusement before following her brother in hot pursuit. When she got there however, she realized something was amiss. She could no longer see the structure of the castle towers, nor the tall clock tower in her kingdom. Rhea looked forward, wondering if she had wandered too close to the border. When she didn't see it however, she turned around perplexed. Then she saw it. The forest that bordered the Kingdom Magnolia. She was well behind enemy borders.

"Jeremiah!" She called silently. "Let's race back to the old well now okay?" She quietly said, trying not to frighten her brother.

Rhea stared hopefully at Jeremiah who was about to smile when his face turned into a mask of terror.

"Re! Behind you!" Rhea's heart pounded. She slowly turned around, and was face to face with a Magnolia guard.

"I-"She whispered, too scared to speak.

"What's the princess of Astria and the prince doing here?" The guard sneered.

"Please sir. We got lost when playing." Rhea pleaded, hoping he would let her go.

"Rather dumb for a princess, no?" The guard sneered.

"Leave my sis alone!" Jeremiah shoute angrily, held back by the second gaurd.

"Oh ho! Little brother protecting his older sissy?" The second guard said mockingly, eyes flashing with amusement.

Rhea gave a hmph of outrage, before kicking at the first guard. "Let us GO!" She snarled. It would have been scary, if only Rhea wasn't only a seven-year-old.

The first guard laughed, taking a swig from his beer. Rhea smirked, using that to her advantage. She thrashed and hit the bottom of the bottle, causing the liquid to spill out onto the man's face. Rhea wrinkled her nose at the beer dripping onto her hair. When the guard let go for a second, she ran. She forgot about everything for a moment, only her terror to escape ran through her mind. She briefly remembered hearing distant yells from the guards as her feet pounded against the grass, the wind pounding at her ears. Rhea ran like the wind, using the thumping of her heart as a rhythm. Only when she was out of view from the guards did she hear it. A shriek rang out from behind her, sharp and crisp in the morning air.

Jeremiah! Rhea stopped running in horror, wondering how in the world she managed to forget about her little brother. The wind was no longer blowing with her now, it was blowing against her, rippling the grass as it went. She spun around raching back until the guards came to view again. She hid behind a tree, wondering how to free her brother from them without jeopardizing herself. Jeremiah was struggling, held tight in the first guard's grip. She closed her eyes to steady her breathing, her eyes watering with fear and guilt. When she opened her eyes once more however, the guards were gone, Jeremiah kicking and screaming as they walked toward the horizon.