3

Rosalind

Whoosh!

The long sword moved effortlessly as I lightly swung it above my head then brought it down with brute force. The branch got detached from the tree, its dry leaves scattering on the ground. The sky was dark, and only the moon served as my source of light—the sound of the owls chirping served as my audience as if cheering me on.

Just like most nights, I sneaked out of the palace to practice my swordsmanship skills. I could do so in the day, but my obnoxious stepmother would probably find a way to distract me and give me some chores. I stopped swinging my sword and paused for a while to catch my breath. The silver metal glistened in the night, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. This was given to me by my late mother—her gift to me before she drew her last breath.

I sat down under the tree, leaning on its sturdy trunk. I promised myself that I would stop getting emotional with the thought of her, but her departure still left an ugly scar. My mother was once the queen of the Faerie kingdom, her beauty being uncontested by any of the women in the land. She was the kind of person that you couldn’t hate, for her beauty did not stop on the surface but transcended into her heart. She was the perfect queen that our kingdom could ever ask for.

However, her beauty came with a price, as she became the center of envy and attention. On the night of my 6th birthday, she was brutally murdered by an anonymous killer, and we still don’t know their identity up to this day.

I mourned and became miserable, and I still think of her up to this day. I thought that my father would be the same, but he was the complete opposite. Not even a year had passed since my mother had died, and he had already found a new woman to marry. I was angry, enraged even, but I didn’t have a choice but to agree to their marriage.

The woman, named Desdemona, had a daughter who was my age named Venice. I’ve never been close to them, but I could feel their disdainful stares whenever I arrive in the room. Not long after, my father and Desdemona copulated, and Winifred, my younger sister, was born. From that moment, my life started changing for the worst.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t the Cinderella story where I get maltreated and abused by my family. Rather than physical abuse, they set me aside and treat me as an outsider in our family. While they all had blonde hair and brown eyes, I was the only one with brown locks and blue orbs—something I inherited from my mother. When you look at us from a stranger’s perspective, it totally looks like I wasn’t part of their family, and Desdemona made it a pact to make me feel exactly like that.

Now, at 22 years old, I feel like my stepmother is becoming more and more arrogant. She had influenced my father to think that I was an ungrateful child just because I didn’t blindly listen to her orders. She’s also been spreading lies about my mother in the kingdom, leading some of our constituents to show their contempt for my existence. Feeling angered, I stood up from the tree and mercilessly attacked it with my sword.

My gaze hardened as I thought of all the lies that Desdemona had spread to ruin my mother’s reputation. I heard that they’re already planning to give the throne to Venice, but I can’t let that happen. The empire is becoming more devious, and the people will only suffer in their hands. I have to take back what was once my mother’s—what’s supposed to be mine.

***

The chirps of the birds awakened me in my slumber, their soft tweets serving as a comforting melody in the cold morning. I flipped over on my side and snuggled inside the covers, feeling sleepiness come over me once again.

Just then, the door banged open, and I jolted awake. I groggily sat down and glared at the culprit, ready to give them an earful.

“Rosalind! It’s time to get up! The people are already waiting for you in the dining hall! Did you forget about father’s announcement this noon? Mom’s already having a fit downstairs,” Winifred said, leaning on my door frame. I glanced at her and saw that she was already wearing a formal gown, with a petticoat and all. Her blonde locks were pulled up in a tight bun, and her face was decorated with light makeup.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath and scrambled to get up from my bed. The sleepiness instantaneously left my body as I ran to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I got so mad yesterday that I trained even harder than usual. As a result, I stayed in bed longer.

“How many minutes?” Winifred screamed from my door.

“Five minutes!” I shouted back, quickly rinsing out my mouth.

“Fine. You better be down by five minutes, or father’s going to get mad too!” She said as she walked away, her shoes making a clunking sound on the wooden floors.

I quickly changed into a simple white gown and donned some simple gold jewelry. I stumbled as I put on my sandals, but I swiftly got back up. I brushed my hair back to tame it a little bit before running down to our dining hall.

My room was located at the farthest portion of the east wing of the palace, so I had quite a distance to run. Breathless, I finally arrived at the dining hall, hastily opening the door that leads to it. The door opened with a loud creak, and all of the attendees turned to me. I heard some of them gasp in shock, and I wandered my eyes around to look at their awestruck gazes.

I walked slowly to the stage, where my family was waiting impatiently for me. The attendees' eyes still followed my every move, and I felt insecure under their gaze. Do I have something on my face?

I finally arrived at the stage, Desdemona glaring at me as I made my way up.

“What are you wearing?” She whispered under her breath. I looked down at my dress then glanced at their formal gowns. Well, I certainly stood out because while they all wore dark colors, I was the only one wearing white.

I just shrugged my shoulders and focused my attention on my father, who was preparing to speak.

“A pleasant noon to all of you, Faerie kingdom. It has been a while since I have summoned you all, so it’s nice to see some familiar faces,” he smiled. “I have been serving this kingdom for the last thirty years, and I believe that it is now the time for me to step down. My wife and I have been trying to conceive an heir—a son who would inherit the throne, but to no avail.”

I softly scoffed. My father still has a patriarchal mindset even to this day.

“As we have no choice, I need to pass down the throne to one of my lovely daughters,” he continued.

I suddenly became nervous, and I felt my breath getting caught in the back of my throat. Did he set up this party to announce that Venice would inherit the throne? I looked down on the ground. She was the oldest out of all of us, older than me by a few months, but that isn’t enough of a reason to just hand her the throne. I was his original daughter, for god’s sake!

“Since Rosalind and Venice are of the same age and we wanted to give our daughters equal opportunities of inheriting the throne, we couldn’t decide on the rightful heir.”

I looked back up to my father and felt a surge of hope go through my body. Does this mean that I still have a chance?

“Therefore, the palace advisors and I had a meeting about this matter, and we decided on this condition.”

I bit my lips and waited in anticipation for my father’s announcement.

“As king of the Faerie kingdom, I, therefore, declare that the very first Verlixe daughter who would meet her mate and complete the mate bond, be the one to inherit the throne.”