The Catalyst

Chapter One - The Last Dulcis Princess

Chapter One - The Last Dulcis Princess

THE blinding sunlight was a cruel contradiction to the cacophony below.

Scarlet tried to tune out the sounds of the Edo occupation; the endless cadence of running horses, crude shouts, pained screams, the ominous cracking of the whip and, of course, the drums that signaled the hangman had claimed yet another pair of boots to add to his growing collection. Edo had invaded just two weeks ago, and already her peaceful kingdom of Rosea was almost unrecognizable.

If she looked out her window, past the chaos and despair that had gripped her innocent people, towards the ocean, she could pretend that this was all nothing more than a nightmare.

The horizon was as beautiful as it had ever been, white sand beaches that stretched for miles, not at all far from what remained of her family's palace. The water was crystal clear where it lapped up along the shoreline and retreated again, palm trees with their jungle green fronds swaying lazily in the warm summery breeze.

Scarlet chose to focus on that at this moment, the last she would have in the bedroom she had been confined to since Abel, Edo's king, invaded. The bedroom she had slept in almost every night since she was born.

She considered throwing open the window to hopefully tempt a sweet sea breeze into the safe haven that had since become a prison, but if these were her last few moments of peace, she did not also want to also invite the stench of death and decay that pervaded every corner of Rosea since Abel had arrived with his men two weeks prior. So the window stayed closed as she took a seat before her vanity to examine her reflection.

Her mother would be fussing with her hair now, even in these miserable circumstances. She recalled the late Queen with a mixture of exasperation and fondness, remembering the way her soft fingers would comb roughly through her thick red locks, bemoaning their unusual color and her unseemly lack of hair maintenance.

"Plenty of time to practice archery with your father and dabble in medicines with your foolish aunt, and run about the kingdom playing doctor, but not a single moment in the day to devote to this distressing red mop," her voice resonated throughout the room.

The thought made Scarlet want to choke. She forced the tears that threatened to fall back, recalling the words of her beloved father. "Above all things, above being a girl, above being my daughter, above being a princess...you are Rosea. And until the very end...Rosea is strong."

King and Queen Dulcis, the fair rulers of their peaceful metropolis, had been the first to fall, when Edo attacked. It was a deadly invasion; Rosea hadn't been prepared, and what little defense they were able to rally had been obliterated under the sheer number of King Abel's forces. The invaders stormed the palace, and the king and queen had been quickly, violently executed before they could use their influence to rally support from their neighboring allies.

Most of the palace workers were driven into hiding, and Scarlet herself was taken prisoner, kept in close confinement until the day of her sentencing.

There were no words to describe the carnage. Hundreds of innocent people, soldiers and civilians, men, women, and children, were mowed down in the bloody takeover. Screams of terror, wails of despair served as the soundtrack to Rosea's doom. Edo soldiers were known for their brutality, and took great pleasure in killing all those who risked defying them. Those who had survived the initial bloodbath suffered the loss of their comrades, friends, husbands, wives, children, and were still being rounded up and executed on a frightening basis. Their numbers dwindling, their spirit broken, Abel's hostile invasion had been a horrific success.

Scarlet was under no illusions about her fate. She knew she would not be executed; that merciful outcome was reserved for her parents alone. Abel would keep her alive to serve as an example to any who dared oppose him, and, frankly, he'd garnered quite the reputation towards being the type to play with his food before he ate it.