Their Thirst For Pride

6 - Painted Red

Lyra calmed down as she walked through the familiar halls of her home and found Autumn who was fixing an arrangement of books on a shelf.
“Lyra? You’re supposed to be at lunch.”
“I know but I just- I can’t sit there any longer, it’s driving me insane.”
Autumn furrowed her brow, “It’s too late to cancel the games. I tell you this every year. People are in your palace and you’re just abandoning them?”
“It has been long enough, everyone’s almost finished with their food, please tell the staff to begin tidying up. I need to announce the first competition.”
The two stood in silence for a quick moment as Autumn stared at her, unenthused. “There are still eight minutes left.”
“Now.”
Lyra turned and left, her dress trailing behind her. Autumn stood still, confused. Yes, Lyra had acted this way in previous years but never this bad off. Sometimes she felt as if she was raising a stubborn toddler considering the queen’s attitude. With no more resistance, Autumn went off to the staff quarters to give the queen’s orders.
Returning to the dining room, Lyra walked to her seat with a mask of tanquility and prepared to speak. Servants were beginning to go around, taking plates and glasses from the table.
“Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure, as your queen and host, to be announcing the first competition of the games this year to you. To start everything off, we will begin with art,” She spat the word art out as if it were poison, noticing Mr. Winslow finally giving her his full attention. “The real thing begins tommorow but if you wish to get a head start today, you may do so. Mr. Winslow will not be participating in this competition, instead, he will play the role of judging your pieces and choosing a winner. With all of that being said, good luck.”
Shortly after everyone settled down from lunch, canvases and paint were delivered to the competitors rooms.
Claire stood up from the chair she’d been writing in and walked over to examine the art supplies left at her door. She stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at it. Maybe it was petty, being angry that Forrest’s competition was chosen first but she just couldn’t bring herself to think about anything else. She sighed, leaning down to pick her things up, and placed it all on the table at the far left of her room where the doors to her balcony stood. She decided she’d start tomorrow, refusing to go anywhere over the top for these games.
She left her room and made her way to the library, hoping to find some poetry or some kind of entertainment there.
“Exscue me? Claire, is it?”
She nearly tripped over herself, not expecting to find anyone in the empty halls of the palace. Turning around, she was met with the face of a young girl, Miss Flint. She was decked out in jewelry, it wasn’t hard to tell which competition she’d won.
“That’s me. Can I help you?”
“Oh, I apologize for startling you. I just wanted to say, you’re so pretty.”
Claire smiled. The first kind of respect she’d seen since submitting her poem for the games. “Thank you. I can say the same for you too, you.”
“You’re welcome! So, where are you headed to?”
“The library, looking for some inspiration.”
“For the competition?”
“Oh, anything but that. No, I’m looking for inspiration for poetry, I’m a writer.”
“Ah, so that’s the competition you won, got it. Do you mind if I tag along? I don’t have much to do.”
“Of course you can.”
The two girls found the library and found some books to read. Claire told Trinity all about her poetry and Trinity occasionally brought up her jewelry, finding that she could relate some of it to Claire’s writing. That was the beginning of a very short friendship.

The next day arrived and hours and hours passed. Everyone put some amount of effort into their paintings as the day went on. Just before dinner, Claire decided it was time to put on her dress for the art competition. She finished up getting ready and started toward the dining room for the meal. Again, she met all of the girls and they ended up meeting the men once at the staircase.
Claire stayed off to the side as they walked down to the dining room but that didn’t seem to stop the inevitable from happening. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a man with brown hair walk over to her.
Forrest inhaled before speaking, “Good evening, Claire.”
She didn’t respond.
“You look… nice tonight.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Look, I just want to talk to you, okay? There has been so much misunderstanding between us, I just need to explain to you. I’ll tell you the whole truth this time.”
Claire laughed, “What, are you expecting to take me back?”
“No. I can’t. But if you’d just let me talk to you-”
“Save it. Go enjoy your little judging time and don’t bother speaking to me again.”
Forrest gave up and slowed his pace. He trailed behind everyone and finally made it to the dining room. Everyone sat in the same seats they were placed in the day before and dinner commenced. This time, nearly no one talked. Everyone just waited until it came time for their paintings, which they saw were lined up in the throne room, to get judged.
As dinner finished up, Forrest felt a tap on his shoulder. Lyra had gotten up from her seat so quietly and silently motioned for him to follow her. He was taken to the throne room to prepare for judging and examined each painting, amazed by what some of the others could do. Lyra stood far from him, writing in her journal. The two refused to even look at each other, ignoring the situation they were in. Their arranged marriage.
After a few minutes, the rest of the competitors walked in and stood by their paintings. It was officially time to choose the first winner, the person to be in the lead. Everyone painted something that related to the competition they had won and Forrest chose Miss Fletcher as the winner. Lyra marked something down in her journal and smiled at Miss Fletcher. Everyone gave a short clap before the judging ceremony came to a close.
Once everyone was released from their spots, a delighted chatter filled the room. Forrest, however, directed his attention toward Claire once again. He bagan to walk down the steps of the throne but was stopped by two men.
“Good evening, Mr. Winslow,” Said Vardaan, smiling.
“Good evening to you too,” He replied, staring at the man standing next to Vardaan.
“Congratulations on being chosen to judge!” Said a tipsy Lex.
Forrest laughed, “Thank you but, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“I would have loved that opportunity,” Lex said, turning to face the paintings and talking people.
Vardaan shook his head and directed his attention back to Forrest. “Are you doing well? You’ve seemed a little over the edge. I just wanted to check up on you.”
“Fine. Just some… relationship issues is all.”
“Ah, what’s going on? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“My former partner is here and she’s not taking it very well.”
“Who?”
“Miss Amaryllis. It’s really nothing to worry about, I plan to discuss things with her.”
Vardaan glanced at Claire who stood, talking to Miss Flint. He also noticed that the young jeweler wasn’t getting some very nice looks from Miss Cadman. Lex bumped into him, turning his focus back to the conversation. He pushed Lex aside who glared at him in response.
“I’m sorry, really.” Vardaan said to Forrest.
“Thank you. Look, I have business to tend to, I should get going.”
“Of course, sorry to keep you. Goodnight, Mr. Winslow.”
“Goodnight, gentlemen.”
Lex and Vardaan retreated to their rooms as they saw a few other competitors had done.
Lyra looked up from her journal and watched as Forrest nearly ran across the room toward Claire. She thought it was odd but didn’t think too much of it.
“I have to say, your poems are phenomenal,” Trinity said, discussing the ones she’d read that day.
“Excuse me, Claire,” Forrest said, interrupting the girls’ conversation.
Trinity stepped back for a moment.
“What do you want? Haven’t I told you to leave me alone?” Claire responded.
“Please, let me talk to you.”
Claire shook her head and looked to Trinity. She nodded and left for her room.
Forrest and Claire made their way outside of the throne room and began their argument in one of the many halls the palace contained.
“I can explain everything. I figured since I’m getting married soon, I can let the secret out to just you for now.” Forrest began.
“You’re getting married?” Claire asked.
Forrest sighed, “Yes. But I’m telling you, none of this was my choice, I was forced to seperate from you,”
“You think I’d believe that? Who are you even getting married to?”
Forrest hesitated, “I’m getting married to Queen Lyra.”
“What!?”
“It’s an arranged marriage, none of this was my choice. I was chosen to marry her because I fit the standards or whatever-”
“That’s why you left me!? Forrest, I can’t even begin to process this. You left me for someone else? You said it felt wrong!”
“I loved you. I didn’t want to.”
Claire stepped back, tears forming in her eyes, “You loved me? What a joke. You hid me! You hid me from everyone and you said it was for the best and I believed you! Why was I so foolish?”
“If they knew about you, I don’t even know what could have happened to me. You have to understand that I would’ve done anything for you if it were possible.”
The tears fought their way out of Claire’s eyes, “If you loved me you would’ve done it either way but no. You were nothing but selfish and you still are!” She paused for a moment to breathe, “Don’t come near me again. I don’t want to hear it.”
Forrest stood in the hallway all by himself. What was he to do now? He didn’t want to go through with the marriage, all he wanted was to have Claire back. He wanted things to be like they were just a few years ago again. But there was nothing he could do. He had to stand up and face the fact that he’d be king soon, married to a woman he never loved.

Forrest’s head pounded as he laid in bed, staring into the darkness. He had gotten barely any sleep in the few hours he’d been laying in bed. He sat up and grabbed a candle to light. Once the flame had been provoked,he picked up his watch to check the time: one in the morning. Maybe his headache was caused by the ceremony yesterday or his situation with Claire, he couldn’t decide. He got out of bed, candle in hand and quietly stepped toward his door, his heart pounding, he felt almost sick.
He felt relieved as he sipped water from a small glass. He’d somehow managed to get something from the kitchen, hoping no one would be able to hear him. They were all sleeping in separate rooms, of course they couldn’t. He cleaned the cup quickly and placed it back in its cabinet and made his way back to his room, deciding to explore a bit.
Finally, he felt good enough to return to his room to sleep. He found the hallway to his room and began to walk down the hall when he’d noticed a figure on the ground. Almost like a pile of clothes neglected on the floor. He stepped closer, certain he was hallucinating but when he’d gotten close enough to clearly see it, his heart almost stopped. Claire’s body was limp on the ground. He put the candle closer to see her face which was painted red. Her eyes were shut with red Xs across them. Her silk, green nightgown was covered in splotches of red. None of it was paint. The foul smell of her blood was floating around the room. Forrest couldn’t say anything. His legs trembled beneath him as he looked around in the dark, fearing that there may be someone out there with him.

The hall was lit with candles and everyone was standing around the body now, all frantically talking to each other. Blaming each other.
“Who did it!?” Orion said, his body tense. He was sweating, shifting his weight from one foot to another.
Trinity was crying, the only one crying. “What if she did it to herself?”
“She did it to herself? Are you crazy? Look around, Miss Flint. No one does something like that to themselves!” Orion responded.
Trinity stepped back a little, her arms crossed.
“You know what I think? I think it was Winslow. You heard what he said to us about Miss Amaryllis last night, right Lex?” Vardaan chimed in.
Lex looked over at him with tired eyes, struggling to recall the night before, “Uh… yes.”
Vardaan exhaled, then looked to Forrest who was now beginning to cry as well.
“Me!? I would never kill anyone! I loved her.” Forrest finally said after not saying anything since waking someone up.
Lyra heaved a sigh of relief.
“Oh, great. He’s crying. Why are you crying just now? You were fine just a few minutes ago!” Orion said.
“Leave me alone!” Forrest said with an unusual anger. One he’d rarely used in his quiet life.
Instead of saying anything directly, Miss Fletcher and Cadman stood behind everyone, talking to each other.
Lyra finally spoke up. “Listen up, everyone. I will have you all out of here at some time tomorrow. I promise. Please calm yourselves down and try to get some rest. Be prepared to leave in the morning.”