Thousands of years ago a war broke out on a distant island, splitting its occupants into factions. Alifero, Cornucopia, Querencia and Aranea. The tension between them that has been unyielding for centuries only grows when their precious water starts...
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Usually, I avoid the wrought iron, and slightly desilvering, mirror on my bedroom wall at all cost, but I can't help but fiddle with my earrings. I touch the star-shaped helix ring I had put in. Along with my favourite gold hoops and pearl studs, this was my favourite combination.
It was a shame that I never really got to wear them, if another Elytrain saw them... Well, I don't know what would happen. Multiple piercings were a Merling tradition, whilst I've only managed to get so many piercings on one ear, Niki's got tonnes on both ears. Niki looks so pretty with them, and hoped I would look pretty too. Sure, the earrings themselves were pretty, but they looked so dull nestled by my plain brown hair. Though my hair had a little bit of a wave at the ends, it was straight and volumeless. Niki's earrings sparkle next to her pink hair and shimmering scales; my earrings hardly compare at all.
My eyes drift to my tightly bandaged fists and forearms. I never thought I'd be so happy to see Father and Amélie so busy. It's either she doesn't want to dob on me for slicing her open or she is too busy to say anything. I had supposed that it was probably the latter, Amélie loves nothing more than to get me into trouble.
After our fight, I waited for her to stumble out of the training room before I battled the hand-to-hand combat post for longer than I care to remember. Wilbur and Sneeg had seen the wraps, but thankfully, they hadn't said anything yet.
As children, all Amélie used to do was dob on me. If she wasn't singing, playing the piano, with our governess or training or something she was keeping a keen eye on me, waiting for me to slip up. The minute I put a foot wrong, she'd tell mother. Mother would scoop up Amélie in her arms and scold me for some reason or other.
"You are only worth as much as you can give to this family, you are worth nothing."
I managed to skim through Grandma's journal again a few days ago. I read the words over and over again but they had nothing new to offer me. Father is about to leave for a meeting, I managed to convince Wilbur and Sneeg to help research this time. Father's work papers are much more extensive than Grandma's journal.
A tap alerts me to the small visitor on the dresser next to the mirror. I shut the beautifully carved, wooden jewellery box before Sneeg's beady eyes can start examining my only treasures.
"Is he gone?" I ask
"All clear."
Sneeg hops onto my shoulder with another tap and I walk out of my room to the office. My right wing drags more prominently behind me than my left reminding me that I still needed to do my physical therapy exercises. But that thought disappears the second my eyes land on Father's tidy desk.
