The Deathly Scream - 𝟙

༒ Two ༒

⇺             ⇻ ♕ ⇺             ⇻

Inside the castle, the staff was gathering around, doing more chores than usual. Maybe today I could get an answer from my father. He got the chance to tell me what was going on. Ethura was the place I grew up, and in sixteen years I've never felt this kind of tension before. Well, except for that one time ...

Maids and knights walk past me in a rush without even bowing properly. Not that I cared about that. My sister on the other hand, would not tolerate this behaviour. Valentina had always been the kind of girl who would smile by seeing a tiara or diamonds, not to mention how much she loved the attention of the man around the castle. I can't lie, she is beautiful. She looks a lot like our mother, Queen Indira Martinez.

On my way to father's office, I walk through the corridors that are decorated in the legacy colours of our Kingdom. Most of our home was filled with red carpet and you could find the golden details everywhere. The big windows that were made out of extra thick glass where being cleaned by several maids who were so busy they didn't even notice my presence.

On the other side of the corridor there hang paintings on the wall of our ancestors who have died, including my mother. I stop in the middle of the corridor to get a look of her painting. Long red hair, light brown eyes, wearing her green coronation dress. This is one of the few clear pictures I had of her. I believe it was painted eight years ago, just before the war with the other kingdom, Syrilia. My mother wanted to fight that night, she had to protect her kingdom. It became her dead.

With my hand I softly touch the golden frame around the painting. I knew why my father didn't want me to search for danger, he had already lost his wife. Still I wanted to be like the woman in front of me. A warrior, brave and ambitious. I was eight when she died, that night I sat in the dungeons, hiding with my siblings and our maids.

I'm still not sure if what I had heard back than was real or something I made up in my mind. I sat on the maids lap, holding my little brothers hand, and then I heard a scream so loud I couldn't understand why no one else reacted. I sank on my knees, my bare skin touching the cold stone underneath me. I knew it was my mother who screamed, I could feel it. She was on the battle field.

'Mom', I had whispered in panic. Valentina had taken my hand, looked me right in the eyes and told me that she would be fine, that she was protecting us. But she was dead, only I had heard her last scream. Sometimes it still haunts me in my dreams, when I would wake up I would feel a strong wind for a few seconds and then everything would be gone. As if nothing had happened.

Tears sting behind my eyes when I hear a door opening and step backwards in a rush. I look surprised at my father who stands in the doorway, looking at me and back at the painting. We never really talked to each other, even though I didn't want to admit it, I wish things would've been different.

I bow a little for him, trying to hold up my dress when I realise that I'm not wearing one. My outdoors outfit wasn't something he would approve of and by the look in his eyes I knew what he was thinking. I look unsure at my black cape coat while I hear him sighing.

'Come in', he whispers hesitant and I do as he says. My father's office wasn't a place I hung out a lot, sometimes I wouldn't be here for months, it was only when he needed to discuss something he would let me in. It's not that I hate my father, we just don't talk that much. Not anymore since my mother has died.

Formerly, he would visit me in my bedroom, tell me goodnight before I went to sleep. We would have great talks during diner and he'd ask me about my day. Now all that was left was silence. I couldn't blame him, he was in pain.

When I close the double doors behind me, my father already sits behind his desk, staring at some papers in front of him. Unsure I walk to the chair in front of him and sit down. His office hadn't changed since the last time I was here. His desk stands in the middle of the place, in front of the big window. Some leather chairs surround it and for as long as I can remember, one wall was fully covered in bookcases. It even smelled the same: old and filled with paper. This was his heaven, his safe space.

He narrows his eyes at one of the papers, as if he can't read it, while wrinkles on his forehead become visible. Sitting here in front of him, I realised how much older he looked than a few years ago. He was always working hard, being a king. Just like me, he wanted the best for Ethura but that work didn't pay off.

His tired eyes rest on the paper while I'm observing him and I quickly look away when he looks up. The heat running up my cheeks. The silence is unbearable, the only sound being the crackling of burning wood in the fireplace.

After a while he hides the paper in one of his many books and coughs a little when he decides to talk to me. 'What were you doing in the Rose garden?' he asks serious. I turn my head in surprise and feel my eyes widen. I thought he couldn't see me there.

'Our land is very gorgeous, I was looking at the other side, to the waterfall', I say calm and he shakes his head a little.

'Rosalia, I would appreciate it if you didn't lie to me'. His hands are clenched together but still his voice sounds soft, maybe because of tiredness. I sigh a little and look down at my legs.

'I was trying to hunt', I admit but don't dare to look him in the eyes. I wasn't the daughter he wanted, I already knew that. Even though he never told me, I could feel it. A long silence came after my confession, the room filled with disapproval.

'You have to realise that you are a princess. There are more useful things to do than hunting'. He stands up and walks to his bookcase. I follow him with my eyes still not sure what to tell him, we've had this conversation about a million times. It's like he only saw the mistakes I made.

'Ethura is important to me, if you would only give me a chance to ...'.

'Enough!' He drops a book and I startle. I look around nervous when he lays his head in his both hands and takes the book of the ground. 'I'm sorry, father', I whisper, but he doesn't respond. Instead he walks back to his chair and lays the book down in front of me. 'You could help your sister by studying more about our world. She is eighteen, it won't take long until she takes her place on the throne.'

'You told us that you would wait for that', I say confused but realise I could better keep my mouth shut.

'Valentina wants to become queen, she wants a husband and a family. You, as her sister, should support her. Read this book about our kingdom and the other kingdom's nearby. You may not become queen but it's always useful to know a lot about your enemies'.

My father slides the book towards me and I take it carefully. It is the book about our history, about our founders. I knew everything what was in it, I've read it at least three times already.

'Rosalia', my father says soft again. I look up from the book, right into his eyes. 'You need to know your place', he reminds me and I nod a little. It was always the same thing. Know your place and be a princess. I didn't want that to be my destiny, but I didn't have a choice. I am Rosalia Indira Martinez, princess of Ethura. Daughter of Arsenio and Indira Martinez. Escaping Ethura would never be an option, neither would I want to. But I could try to protect it.