The Throne and The Shadow

Chapter 1

I was covered in blood, staring down at my nemesis, hatred blazing in my eyes; hatred weaved in my heart as she stared up at me, her face paling by the second. Her eyes were wide, wide and scared – like a deer caught in headlights. Her hands were clutching her stomach, blood pouring out in a beautiful yet grotesque display. One more hit, I smirk raising my sword to touch her neck, one more swing and I'm free of this curse. But I couldn't kill her, I just couldn't. I pull the blade away from her neck, staring into her doe eyes before dropping the blade and pulling her into a hug, kissing the nape of her neck as she quietly whined out of shock...

I bolt upright, gasping, my back screaming in protest having fractured my spine less than 2 months ago in a fight with that stupid girl. Olympia was her name, but it brought a bitter taste in my mouth yet a small gentle tug at my heart, which I quickly shook off, disgusted in myself. She's my nemesis, I have to kill her, you can't love your nemesis, it's disgusting and unheard of. Anyways she's selfish and cruel, I would never love a bitch like her, not that I do anyways. That dream means nothing, what I want doesn't matter as she hates me. There is nothing I can do about that. End of.

I quickly dress, doing my makeup and fluffing my split dyed acid green and black hair, slipping on a pair of gloves before exiting my room, running down the hall, as quickly yet as quietly as physically possible, not wanting mother to punish me for being so loud. Hell, she even sewed all the servant's mouths shut so they would be deathly silent. Sometimes the silence was nice but sometimes it was just terrifying, especially when I was a child. You could hear every creek on the floors and every word uttered by anyone, even outside of the castle, it gave me nightmares as a child.

I quietly open the breakfast room door, creeping over to my chair before sitting down and letting out a sigh of relief. Mother isn't here, luckily for me. My siblings stare at me, not saying much, before Jynx, the youngest, slips me a note:

Dear my beautiful children,

Hello my dears, as you know your father passed away a while ago and I have taken it upon myself to join your father on death journey as fate has decided that I shouldn't. By the time you read this I'll be dead and gone. I'm sorry my children, but I must. Silco and Tyler, as you two are the oldest, you will either have to fight for the crown or work in complete harmony. Jynx, since you are the youngest you can have the royal gardens and can look after the crows. And Hex, you can have the library and all my personal belongings, but the rule still applies. Do not open the door to the closet of my room. You know what's in there. Do not let me down.

Your loving mother.

I shrug, placing the note in the centre of the table. "Why are you all acting so dull? Surely you would be celebrating the death of that bitch?"

Everyone stares at me in shock, but it wasn't the bad kind, it was more of a 'how the hell would she dare say that out loud?' kind of look yet I could tell they were all thinking the same but didn't dare to say it out loud. They all start laughing, clearly all agreeing, they all laughed until they had no air left in their lungs, gasping and yipping until they fell silent. The silence seemed to last for hours until Jynx finally asked:

"So... what are we gonna do now?"

Silco and Tyler shrugged, looking down. Normally, we are not allowed to talk because mother preferred silence. They both stood up, gliding out to deal with royal affairs. Jynx and I stared at each other in complete silence for a few minutes.

"You alright Hex?" Jynx looks at me but seems to stare straight through me.

"Yeah...kind of," I reply, playing with a fork that had been left on the table.

"No, you're not, what's wrong?" Jynx asks, she can be quite annoying at times because she not only has the first blessing in the family in four hundred years, she got two. She has black wings like a crow's and can tell when people are lying.

"I might have a crush on my nemesis," I admit, a hot red flush crossing my face. Jynx lets out a squeal of joy.

"No way, what's his name?" Jynx asks, smiling.

"Who said it was a guy?" I state, I had never told anyone that I was a lesbian before, and mother didn't allow us to be gay as it would 'ruin the family name'.

Jynx froze out of shock, her jaw dropping to the ground, "No way! What is your sexuality? God, what is mother- wait! Mother is dead, so she can't tell you off or disown you... but you may have to run it past the other two..."

"Okay, slowdown! I'm lesbian. The boys already know, how do you think I used to sneak my girlfriends into the castle? The boys would say she's one of theirs and then sneak them into my room."

"To which you'd do you-know-what." Jynx laughs.

"Ew, not that far, my god Jynx." I pretend to look disgusted, sticking my tongue out, causing Jynx to laugh even louder.

"Right anyways, we need to come up with a plan" Jynx says, clearing her throat.

"Why?" I ask, picking at my nails, before taking a drink of water.

"To get you dating Olympia of course" Jynx smirks, as I choke on my water, laughing.

"No, not happening" I splutter, wiping my mouth.

"Why though?" Jynx pouts looking me straight in the eyes, but her eyes didn't see me: they looked through me like a zombie when it doesn't recognise one of its loved ones.

"She's my nemesis Jynx, it's disgusting to love your nemesis." I respond, picking at my nails.

"But if you do love her, surely it doesn't matter," Jynx states "for if you are only fuelled by hate, it will eventually consume you till your nothing more than a shell of your former self, empty and bleak"

I stayed silent for a long time after this, pondering, because yes, I do like Olympia, and I'd hate to see her hurt yet she's my nemesis and we are bound by blood for one to die for the other to live. That is just how it works... right?

"Fine, what's your plan?" I sigh, resting my chin on my hands. Jynx started explaining, with me poking in to show the flaws of her plan, which she corrected at once and created a flawless plan. I would write love letters of which I would sign with my real name, not with the name she knows me as (Mandela), to Olympia, which a crow would deliver, but, rather than how other suitors would place them which is in a wooden box, place them on her desk and the crow would sit and wait until she read it before softly pecking her or staying with her until she wrote back then fly back to me to write another letter.