Morning Star

Chapter 1: the Thyilellm festival | Kelvin

The festival was well underway by the time I arrived. Streamers of various colours hung from the rooftops, and quite a large amount of multicoloured confetti littered the ground. Stalls were lined along the street I walked on, the street that was on the outskirts of the village. This way, when one walked, they were able to see every part of the newly built village, as well as having access to the food, drinks and trinkets available to buy.

I had to admit that I was impressed with how quickly the village of Thyilellm had been rebuilt since it was destroyed by the tyrannical Queen Jennifer. The debris had been cleared away by a team led by Hamish, Jendilya's royal advisor, and the once wooden houses and dirt pathways had been replaced with buildings made from marble, and the streets were made with stone. The stone was not yet completely smoothed out, which sometimes made it uncomfortable to walk upon them, but it was a trivial matter to me. I had dealt with way worse in my lifetime.

I was drawn to the magnificent statues of two girls, built with white stone, and placed at the official entrance to Thyilellm, in order to honour the twins who were reportedly known for being the first twins who opposed the Queen of Diamonds when she went around on her crazy spree. I had met those twins, Leeanne and Emily, only twice, and I didn't know them well, but they had been good friends with my sisters. Our villages were nearby, so it had been easy for us - or them - to visit.

I sighed inwardly. I hadn't come here to think about my sisters. In fact, I'd come because I had wanted to forget, for just a day, even though I knew deep down it would be impossible. My eldest sister Diana had been especially close with Leeanne. Now, they were both dead.

Diana, Chae and I had been triplets. Diana was the eldest, then Chae, then me. Diana had always been the one who had looked after us, taking care of us whenever our mother was too busy to. She'd also been the first to die - shot in the chest with a poisoned arrow when the rebels of Eirazelle had arrived to rescue us from the clutches of the palace guards. The guards had captured us, with the intention of bringing us to Queen Jennifer so that she could determine our fates.

Chae had died during the battle that followed, when the rebels launched an attack on the palace, spurred on by the sudden coming of Princess Kameron, the rightful heir to the throne, being Jennifer's older sister. The rebels had won, and Kameron had been crowned the Queen of Hearts, but not without a cost. Everyone had lost someone, and everyone had grieved.

Perhaps I, having lost both my siblings, grieved more than most.

In fact, the auburn haired Queen herself was currently standing on a stage that had been set up a few paces behind the statues of Leeanne and Emily. With her arms spread wide, she addressed the gathering crowd.

"Welcome to Thyilellm, reborn and made anew," she began, but it wasn't in English, which was the common tongue spoken in Jendilya nowadays. No, she was speaking the old Jendilyan dialect that some, but not all, could still understand, including myself, due to the dialect being my parents first language. I was surprised that the Queen, having grown up on Earth, was so fluent in the dialect, but then again, she was a legend amongst us. "As you all know, Thyilellm was reduced to nothing but rubble when Queen Jennifer attacked. However, with the hard work of this entire land, we have given our people back their homes."

We applauded, and Queen Kameron continued, "Please, enjoy the festivities, held by the villagers of Thyilellm, to thank all Jendilyans for their contributed effort to rebuilding this renowned town." She then repeated what she had said in English.

A boy with chocolate brown hair climbed up the steps to the stage, his arm snaking around the Queen's waist and pulling her close to him. "Damn, Kam, you're multilingual!"