Analia Palacio, heiress to a drug empire. Marred by tragedy at a young age, she was whisked away from her birth-right. After a twelve year delay she jets back to her country of birth to claim her title. As Lady Palacio she steps into the court of or...
Crowned in glory Fear no more Winter's misery Or the coming war
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Analia Quinn Palacio
I was five years old when I realized who my father was. It was my first official appearance as his daughter, his heiress. I wore a puffy pink dress with white tights and sparkly flats. My hair was curled into two pigtails, held together by satin ribbons. He held me in his arms as we entered the Hearing Room. The masses parted for him, they whispered, and they looked at me and him. He made his way to his throne. An ornate seat made of steel and velvet, and sat, with me on his lap and we observed. I looked out into the crowd at all of those important people, who weren't as important as him. All those people wore expensive dresses and large jewels, but none compared to the luxury with which my father showered my mother. My father and I had a seat on a throne, while the rest only held the power to watch.
This world is an old-fashioned one, where the men thrive and the women sit meekly. We have progressed over the years, but what I am about to do, what I am about to declare is revolutionary. Valerie married into her position, the first outsider to wed into the Drago Bratva. A Prima ballerina from the New York City Ballet, who captured the eye of Adrian Drago, the sole heir of the most powerful crime family in Russia. Even now, her title as Lady Drago has limits.
The team and I spent yesterday laid out underneath the sun. My once pale complexion turned golden, a mesmerizing contrast to the white gown I am currently tied into. Draped in shimmering gold and emerald jewelry. I can hear the commotion on the other side of the heavy double doors. The Reyes heir walked through them a few minutes ago, he's probably taking his oath and claiming his seat next to my brother. Apollo must have had the new throne rolled in by now, placed perfectly in the middle of the others. An implication of what they will believe to be my eventual return.
I twirl my mother's wedding band, which wraps around my left pointer finger. A chill of anxiety washes over my body, I take a deep breath to subside it. I can hear the team shuffle behind me. Karine, draped in soft pink satin, Laïa in her jaw-dropping red dress, Ben and Demyan in their coordinating ties and suits.
Show time.
I can hear gasps on the other side of the doors, and in the next moment, they croack open in front of me. I scan the room, all the people who have turned to gawk. I take a step, the tips of my shoes emitting a clean click sound as I move into the Hearing Room. I push my shoulders back, lift my chin, and focus on the seat in front of me. A feminine replica of the throne my brother is sitting on, the seat that once belonged to our father, and our grandfather before him.
I advance, moving past the families that make up the hierarchies of all the major crime organizations in the world. I can hear their whispers, their gasps of shock.
The scar... did you see the scar?
The white silk dress isn't glamorous. A satin skirt, thin straps, and a completely open back. I am showcasing the deep gash that runs from my right shoulder blade across to where it curves into my left hipbone. I'm adorned in the Palacio Jewels. A bicep cuff fashioned to resemble a golden snake with emerald eyes, an emerald pendant that lays across my collarbone, and a gold and emerald band that rests lightly on my head. I had to fight Apollo into letting me wear it instead of the more ornate Palacio crown.
I reach the low steps that lead to the thrones, Apollo steps forward, extending his hand to me. I take hold of his palm, using my other hand to hitch up the skirt of the dress. I turn, to stare at the masses like my father had done before me. The team took their places at the front of the crowd, facing Adrian and Valerie's thrones. I sit next to my brother, right in the middle of the row of seats. I see the Colombo family, the Castellano family, the Sato family, the Ayad family... and the Reyes family. Three heads of honey blonde hair, darker than the hair I had as a girl, with three sets of matching bottle-green eyes. Elena Moreno had her hand over her mouth, tears in her eyes. Little Savannah, who's not so little anymore, is clutching her brother's arm, the tears in her eyes flowing down her cheeks. Flynn's mouth is wide open. My family stood next to them, my father's twin sister, my aunt Dionisa. Her husband, my brother's general. Their twin children standing next to them. I always envied the resemblance that Alvaro and Camila share with my brother. I look like Sofia, my mother, which means I look nothing like a Palacio. Alvaro and Camila have their father's electric blue eyes, their mother's tar-black hair and the Palacio bone structure, a strong jaw, straight eyebrows, and a viper-like set to their eyes. They look more like Apollo's siblings than I have ever.
Benjamin takes a step forward and takes and bends his torso in a graceful bow.
"Приветствую леди Паласио", his voice jumps from every corner of the room, and soon the rest of them declare their oath to me in their native tongues. They declare my rightful place on the throne. As the first rightful Lady in our history. My eyes meet Karine and she scrunches her nose at me like a bunny, Laïa shoots me a wink and Demyan nods his head. The people seem to have shaken some of their shock, but they keep staring. At the little girl who loved to wear bows and braids in her hair, always dragging around a doll or stuffed animal, at the little girl whose eyes watered if she spilled anything on her dress, at the girl who spent weeks in the hospital, who endured years on the road to recovery, at the woman who made a name out of herself without uttering a word, at the Lady who survived the unthinkable.
I feel the heavy stare of the man to my right. I can smell the sweet scent of pine and tobacco. I turn my head and return the stare of Sebastian Reyes. His cornflower blue eyes meet my amber ones.
Lord Reyes and Lady Palacio, anointed on the same day. Prophetic, isn't it?
*****
(hehe)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Plotting and planning Analia's introduction has always been a bit difficult for me to write down, but I'm pretty satisfied with this ^
