Princely

Tidal wave

It was always dark here it seemed. In the mornings, in the afternoon, even in the evening it felt too dark. So silent and mysterious and full of secrets. That was how I'd lived most of my life; alone and in the calm of night, where the world was most likely to look for a victim. And as always there I sat, on a throne forged of blood and sweat, iron shackles still ringing through the empty hall before me. I say always in the sense of as long as I can remember, but a part of me knows that there must have been a time before the misery made itself at home within these walls. Before death became the solution to a problem none of us had even known existed. I thought of my parents and what the world had done to them. How the cruelness of it all had shaped me into a man so different from what I had been, that I barely remembered what a real smile was. How it tasted on my lips. How it smothered the urge to cry like a flame losing oxygen. I sat here and, as always, I thought of death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hamel!" I snapped my fingers. "Come here I need to speak with you." The bodyguard sauntered up to me with his large hands placed gently on a sword at his hip. He didn't speak but I knew he was ready for orders. "Why don't you go fetch me some entertainment. Maybe a lone fool is running amuck." I clicked my fingers at him again and shooed him away. It wasn't that I was a brat that I acted this way, it was that I had hope that the staff would lose all respect and eventually leave me alone to die in peace. Only 23 and I was an avid candidate for death's new program.

I rapped my fingers against my knee, a tune sparking from random taps. What felt like 20 minutes went by and I was still no closer to laughing. "Hamel?" It occurred to me that driving off my staff was not the best course of action, and I hoped that I wasn't actually alone for the first time in 23 years. When no one replied I became both cross and worried, lips puckering ever so slightly and a very sour expression taking control of my face.

"Honestly what could be taking him so long." I hopped from the throne and made my way toward one of the branches of hallway. It just so happened to be the kitchen hall, and to my delight (and despair) someone had stumbled inside. Finally, something useful to be done.

"What are you doing here? Come with me, you don't belong here."

I was met with terrified eyes, teeth biting so hard into an apple I feared her tongue would split and I'd gain nothing from this short interrogation. Then she growled.

I was getting more and more frustrated the longer I stood there with no reply and I couldn't restrain myself as I strode up to to the intruder and grabbed her by the arm tightly, locking eyes and growling in return. "You'll come with me or I'll take you back with me in pieces." I paused and loosened my grip momentarily, eyes widening just a tad more than usual. "Do I know you?" In that moment of weakness anything could have happened, yet nothing did. I studied the wings and tail that came from her body, protruding just as magnificently as the fangs that were still stuck within one of my golden apples. She was so...unique. So beast-like.

She removed the apple by spitting it onto the polished floor. "Why would you know me?" Her voice was rough, as if she wasn't used to speaking.

I regained my confidence and composure and held my grip steady. "I know everyone. But I can't remember you for some reason. Who are you? what are you doing in here?" I leaned forward menacingly on the last question.

Fear entered her eyes again and I could see I was getting nowhere. For a moment I knew her name, then it was gone again like dust in the wind. My grip tightened as my mind whirled through different scenes. One stood out like a thumb pricked and bleeding.

"Darling come here!" My mothers shrill cry. "She'll hurt you again." She cradled my face and brought her finger across my top lip. "It's bleeding."