Page 88 of Royal Lies

The man slammed his fist down against the great oak table hovering near the window at the far end of the room, where he now stood. His manic eye searching, never really landing on one place. He was shaking now, violent trembles rocking his body. As if his body was no longer his own. The little girl stared back at the small dent, it now held the exact mold of theFoolish Prince’sfists.

"I. DON'T. GIVE. TWO. DAMN. SHITS. WHAT. THE. FUCK. THAT. LITTLE. BRAT. DOES!She isnothingto me; all that matters is Serafina! That girl is not my daughter, and she never will be. I won't be reminded about what I've lost. I'm not going to stay here and watch over something thatsheleft behind, a thing that nearly killed her. I just won't. Fuck it, I'll find Serafina on my fucking own; coming here was a waste of my time. I should have known you wouldn't give me anything. I don't know why I even came back." With that, the man stormed away. But before his dirt-stained pants could get past the entryway the girl had tofoolishlytry.

At first, it was tentative, like a small toe dipping in to test the waters. “Daddy?”

Then braver, as if trying to ignore that whole conversation would somehow change the man’s mind, “Daddy, your back I knew you'd come back for me-”

Maybe it was a good thing that theFoolish Princehalted for the girl that day. A great thing that he came back tovisitthat day because the look the man threw back at the little girl could incinerate any fae with its hatred.

Since then, the girl has never once waited by the gates. The girl stood frozen, staring in shock not even noticing that tearshad begun to stream down her rosy cheeks. However, the boy did. He’d passed her his small blue handkerchief to help wipe her tears. That was the last day the girl waited for the Mad Prince.

Darkness...

Nothing but empty darkness... then light.

The girl was there again, this time she was alone, no one to comfort her sorrows away. She stood outside that same door, the golden gates mocking her with their shine asherworld kept losing its glow.

"She isnotmy daughter, nor is she yours! It's time we sent her away," the man in a pristine, golden-embroidered tailored chiton squawked, his annoyance clear.

He was talking with the queen, his wife. Although their marriage had been arranged the man loved his queen, just not her actions. Yes, he loved her for her beauty, grace, and power, as all fae seemed to do. Like moths to a flame, fae, especially the Griffins, loved those with power. The more the greater the appeal they seem to draw. The queen was said to have a line of suitors that stretched the whole realm. After all, those who contained so much magic shone like the bright lights of the suns, as the queen used to tell the small girl.

"Keep yourvoicedown," the queen snapped back, a voice the girl had never heard her use before. The queen, though the girl could only see her back, exuded power with those words. The golden ivory that cascaded from her hair resembled feathers from an angel or the edges of daggers.

"Sheismy daughter, and she will remainmineuntil I say so. You needn’t do anything. As I have told you before; I prefer you keep your presence away from her," the queen scolded, as if the king was nothing but a political figurehead, which the girl supposed he was. The queen was the one who had the last word in any conversation, meeting, and document.

The little girl was confused. What did the queen mean, stay away fromher? She liked the star gazing and little adventures the man hadusedto take her on. Until, the man started hating her too, like everyone else in the castle.

Now a little older, the girl had learned how to use her magic; she knew things others did not, but as to the words that the queen spoke, she knew not of. What did she mean? She didn't have to say that. Sure, her adoptive father wasn't always there for her, but well, he was still there, and she was happy.

"I'vebeentrying," the man’s gaze seemed almost venomous as he glared at the back of the queen as if...

No, that thought was preposterous. Better to shake the feeling off now the girl thought, physically shaking her head as if that would help to expel the thoughts streaming through her mind.

"The whole court has been saying you would hand over the crown tothatgirl, who has no ties to the royal-" In a flash, the man's words were cut off with a single glare from the queen, her eyes like the golden moon in the night, demanding attention, demanding power.

The little girl had always loved those glowing eyes. The sharp golden hues were as if lightning charged behind them. She hated her own eyes, she wanted them to look much more like the queen’s. The little girl was still mastering control of her magic, and soon her eyes would glow just as brilliantly golden as the queen’s.

"No royal ties, you say? No ties? Please, if she was but a mere peasant, do you truly think I would have kept her? Make no mistake; shewillbemy daughter, and yes, shewillsucceed me. If your own flesh and blood cannot show the aptitude thatshecan, why shouldIsimply hand the throne down tothatgirl? Hell, if she could show even a fingernail worth of as much power asmytruedaughter then I would give her the crown. But thatdaughter of yours isnothingbut a small mouse compared to the Griffin that ismydaughter. Now, darling, do make yourself useful and go find her, myrealdaughter." With a glow of her eyes and a flick of her brows, the man nodded, turned, and left, passing the girl that was hidden in the shadows. She'd never heard the queen sound so disgusted before as she sneered down at the mention of her elder sister. The little girl knew logically they were cousins, but in hernaiveheart she had considered them sisters. She still considered the bright strawberry blond-haired girl her sister. She was the one who always shared her treats with the girl when she was younger. Protected her from the scrapes and bruises that would mark her skin if she fell. She taught her the cool little spells. Like making flowers bloom, or how to fly in the air. Yes, they were the most basic of spells any fae could do but the little girl liked them. Especially that flower spell, she loved that one.

The vision faded, and in came a boy with eyes much like the first, the only difference was the hair, but the features were so familiar.

He had crystal blue-white hair, almost like snow. Upon a closer look, their eyes were different too. The girl had thought the other boy’s, Eli’s, eyes were like ice but compared to this boy it was more snow-white blue than electric ice-blue.

"Thank you, I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare you just looked so-" he falsely stumbled, his words were clearly false. She'd sensed his presence from a mile away. She'd seen how he'd captivated those other girls in the town square of the Wolf Court. Was he trying to ensnare her too? The girl really didn't have the time for it nor did she want to play his game, not when she had one with Lucarious. She had to deal with this fallout first, or else the queen wouldn't be very pleased with her. She hated disappointing the queen, her mother. If it wasn't for this damned situation that reddeadfae tossed onto her, the girl would havegladly played along. But as it was this would only cause more wreckage in the future, what with her title of saintess on the line. She can't very well be seen courting another man when she just got dumped. Oh, how shewillget Lucarious back for that.

"Please, don't waste your breath. I'm really tired today, between your brother's damn hassling about etiquette and elegance, and my queen's damn hounding about impressions and reputation. I'm about drained from the day. Don't get me wrong, I love them both but for magic's sake, they're both just so annoying. Don't do that, do this, not that, take this, wear that, don't eat that, honestly, if it was up to me I would have run away by now. I don't even give two shits about the crown. All I want is a nice simple life, is that too much to ask?" The girl said needing to get it off her chest. And if she was right this boy wasjustthe younger brother of her friend. Her “best friend”, sure. If she was correct this boy before her harbored some hatred towards her friend. She supposed fighting for the crown would do that to siblings, just look at what happened between her and her sister. Now they can't pass one another without her dear elder sister glaring daggers across the room. Which is why alcohol is perfect for this situation right now.

Unfortunately, it didn’t do much for her as the girl needed quite a lot to get her drunk. Still, it was better than nothing as the girl chugged the bottle of fairy wine. It tasted pretty nice, which was to be expected seeing as that redhead Lucarious always kept the best of wine at his events. Though the girl didn’t call him redhead because his hair was naturally red, no, it was because of the amount of blood he literally always bathed in.

"If it wasn't for the queen's wishes I wouldn't even be here.” The girl began before chugging her wine.

“Hell, this whole thing was Lucarious’ idea. The whole reason I'm in this damn societal mess is because I lost a fucking coin flip. Coward, he fucking knew he couldn't beat me. And youknow-" The girl said remembering that day the hot-tempered redhead, whose rage could rival hers, challenged her to a game of coin flip. Ok, so maybe he was also called redhead because of his temper.

Magics if the girl knew this was going to be the favor she would have refused but a fae must keep their bargains no matter what, even if it was in the form of a favor.

A bargain is a bargain. There were three very important rules in the Fae Realm that all fae had to obey. It was written in their genetics and the air around them. One, no fae can tell a lie, at least not verbally. You can evade, say something that sounds like the truth but not, as long as it was not a lie that spewed from your lips anything was ok. Two, a bargain no matter what form it comes in is a bargain. If you do not complete the bargain the fae will suffer immeasurable loss. Whether it be death or something tragic would depend on the weight of the bargain.

Say if the bargain was for you to eat steak but you didn't then perhaps you can no longer eat your favorite dishes. They would magically turn into something else because of the bargain you just broke. Or perhaps you broke a bargain about not handing over the crown to your friend or sibling. Maybe it was about not fighting in a war with them. Then in turn you would lose your life or be as broke as a mule for the rest of your fae existence. It frankly depends on the bargain and how heavy the weight of it is.

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