Lies and Lillies

Chapter 1

Clang.

The sound of a metal hitting ground followed by a chilling shriek shook the castle walls. Cyra stopped at the last step of the stairway leading to the princess's chamber and took a deep breath, contemplating her reasons for being there. Maidservants pushed past her to rush up to the room to replace the ones coming out of it in tears. Cyra resumed her steps and was greeted with the painting of the late king and queen, or rather a portrait of the late king and a hole where the queen's face should have been. She stepped over the broken vase thrown down the floor and approached the room where all the noise was coming from. A maid coming out of the room with the remains of yet another vase stopped as she saw Cyra, her eyes widening in alarm. Cyra smiled, after all, she got the same reaction from the guards and all other servants she passed on the way here. She was the last person that was expected to be here in the west castle today. In fact, Cyra was more surprised she wasn't apprehended and thrown to jail, the moment she entered through the gate.

Cyra took the broken vase out of the hands of the woman who seemed to be frozen in fear.

"Would you mind telling your princess, that Cyra is here to greet her?"

The maid's mouth opened and closed a few time as if she was coming up with all the reasons she would mind doing exactly that. She then nodded tightly. Cyra, however, didn't fail to notice the fear that took over the woman's eyes, a moment before she turned around. For a moment after the woman disappeared past the red velvet curtains that shielded the room from the outside Cyra could hear another defenseless object meeting its demise on the stone castle floor at the hands of its mistress. Then in a whisper, Cyra heard it.

"Lady Cyra is here to greet you, your highness."

Silence. Cyra could only hear her own breath for a moment afterward. And then the princess let out a shriek which made her blood curl. Cyra thought she heard the hunting dogs howling on the grounds outside.

"She is not a lady!" cried out the voice from inside. Cyra took it as a cue to enter. She glanced around the room as she advanced towards her target. The pillows on the bed were strewn about the floor. The curtains were torn off the windows. Cyra smirked, the princess's wrath didn't spare her own room. Cyra knew that within an hour the hordes maids and servants would have put everything back to the way it was before. So the poor princess wouldn't be spending the rest of the day sweeping for a better place to sleep tonight. Maybe that would have helped the princess appreciate her own life more. Cyra was not brave enough to voice that suggestion. Not to the princess and certainly not to her father, the king. Maybe she would say it to her sister in private after she is done with her task fort today.

She stopped a good ten feet in front of the princess and bowed. "Greetings Princess Marcia, forgive me for not coming to pay my respect to you sooner. Helping my sister to settle in was more work than I expected."

Cyra kept her head down and waited for her words to sink in. It didn't take long and as she expected the mere mention of her sister was enough to bring her over the edge. Princess Marcia let out another one of her signature screams. And stormed toward Cyra who could swear that the ground began to shake with each step the princess took. Cyra didn't look up as the puffed-up blue skirt came closer and closer and stopped inches before her.

"You." screeched out the princess. Cyra felt a finger stab her chest and finally looked up to see the blue eyes that were often described as mesmerizing and hypnotic darken with hate and the pale skin of the princess's face redden with rage. Even the golden locks fastened into a bun had broken free, giving Princess Marcia, the appearance of a madwoman, and not the angel she was serenaded as. "You did this. You did all of this." the princess added, shoving Cyra back.

Cyra fought a smile that was threatening to come out. Seeing the princess confirmed that she was right about everything.

"I don't quite understand what you mean, your highness." Cyra's word seemed to reignite the rage within Princess Marcia. Her blue eyes narrowed at her in anger with an intensity that could have burned right through her.

"It was you in that carriage not your whore of a sister."

"Now, now Princess. I wouldn't think your father, the king would have approved you calling the queen that." chided Cyra.

"She is no queen, I will not stand aside and let a dancer from a whorehouse replace my mother."

Princess Marcia grabbed a stack of books on the table beside them and threw them at her direction. A few pages tore from their binding and rained down around Cyra. In response, Cyra calmly stepped away from the mess and stared back at the woman in front of her.

The princess turned away and grabbed the end of the table for support, and laid like that for a moment to catch her breath. A moment later she let out a laugh. It wasn't cheerful or happy, but a witches cackle, menacing, and calculating.

"How about if I tell my father that it was you who went to Baron Eaton's manor? He would throw you in the dungeons the second he knows you pretended to be his precious wife." As the words left her mouth, the red-stained lips formed a mocking smile. Cyra stepped forward and looked down on the princess who was a good five inches shorter than her. The height difference made her feel more confident and gods knew she needed all the confidence she could muster at this instance.

"I would wish you all the luck proving that. The baron would deny sending that invitation and the carriage never reached the manor. So who would be your witness? The coachmen you had drugged, or the one you replaced him with? Or maybe the mercenaries you hired to kidnap the queen on the way."

Cyra almost felt breathless as she remembered running for her life out of the forest. She was fortunate that her would-be murderers were confused at seeing her instead of her sister when they grabbed her out of the carriage. Otherwise outwitting or overpowering ten armed men would have been hopeless, even for her.

Princess Marcia's expression changed as she considered those words. She huffed in defeat and sank down into a chair.

Cyra straightened herself and narrowed her eyes at her opponent. "I came here to give you some advice. My sister never wished to replace your mother, but since that's how things are now I suggest you accept it. She may never become a mother to you. You are certainly past the age where you'd need one, anyway. But if you treat her right, you'll have a loyal friend that will be with you through anything." Cyra crouched down in front of the princess and looked her right in the eyes. "if you don't you'll have to deal with me. And I won't let you off lightly if you hurt the only family I have left."

She stood back up and turned to leave the room. "I will not let you both off so easily. You and your sister will be thrown out of the palace like the dogs you are."

Cyra didn't turn back until she left the room. As soon as she stepped out she covered her ears, just in time to protect them from the shriek of a mad princess.