Faria and I first went to the kitchens. Neither of us had eaten yet, and it felt like Olivia was trying to starve us. Our stepmother had taken it upon herself to make sure that both Faria’s birthday and the coronation went perfectly. Of course this meant that she decided our every action for us. I had been placed under the supervision of her sons. They hardly let me move without one of them watching. Olivia was so sure that the common blood inside me was evil and that I was only around to steal from them.

Nearly every servant, guard and guest greeted their soon-to-be queen as we passed through the halls. I, however, was invisible to them as I followed in her shadow. It hurt to be ignored like this, but a part of me enjoyed it.

The kitchens were a large collection of rooms surrounding the spacious great hall. Each room housed its own collection of tools specific to what was prepared in the room; one for soups, one for meats, one for preparation and so on and so forth. I never made much of an effort to learn what each room was for. I only had to learn where I could get food.

Normally, we were limited to eating during our meals, though I had found a way around that. A few months ago, I had caught a scullery maid in the act of stealing from the kitchen. She begged me not to say anything, and though I hadn’t planned on saying anything to begin with, I made a deal with her. If she would prepare food for me whenever I asked, I would stay quiet. Faria eventually found out and decided that she wanted a part of the action. As the months passed, she became something close to a friend and we found out that she had tried stealing because one of her friends near the outskirts of the capital had gotten sick and she needed money for medicine. After learning this, Faria had sent the girl home with a sack of gold. Nobody else inside the castle knew about this, but it was one of the reasons why the people adored her. She was always doing something to help someone else.

Faria and I entered the kitchen and were greeted by some of the staff. Our maid friend, Hazel, appeared almost immediately. She had bright, cornsilk colored hair that hung just below her shoulders and luminous blue eyes, the color of the morning sky. She was older than me by a few months and had a very bubbly personality. Without a word, Hazel led us to a small table nearby, where to small burlap sacks sat waiting. She picked up both sacks and held them out with a wide grin.

“Enjoy.” She spoke quietly. She probably didn’t want others to find out about our deal, but everyone in the kitchens had probably found out by now. I could often catch one of them glancing over, their eyes full of envy, though they usually just went back to their work.

Faria took the bag and ruffled the girl’s hair with a big smile. Cautiously, my sister pulled out an envelope from one of her pockets and handed it to the girl, holding a finger to her lips. She then tipped her head and started towards the exit, swiftly stashing the bag of food into her pockets.

I quickly grabbed the food from Hazel, thanked her and followed after Faria. She seemed to be in a hurry to do something. I managed to catch up to her pace and followed her all the way to the library.

The grand library was the greatest collection of any kind of literature in the entire country. There was a copy of every known work published since Kiech became a country and even before. The library was mostly empty throughout any given day, with the only visitors being the servants tasked with dusting every surface and other maintenance. Connected to the library, on the first floor, was grandfather’s study. Besides Faria, he was the only one to actually treat me like family. Sadly, he passed away just a year ago.

We were normally forbidden from entering his study, but he had left me a note before his passing stating that I had free roam of the room if I desired. It was full of dusty, old books written in the old language. I couldn’t understand anything that was written on any of it, so I usually stayed in the room to get away.

As we entered the library, a soft trill sounded from nearby. A tiny, brown, tabby kitten came trotting from around the bookshelves. She rushed towards us and started to rub herself on my legs as we walked towards one of the round study tables. She sat patiently as we sat down, then leapt up onto my lap, rubbing her face against mine. She curled up and sat, purring on my lap.

“Here, Bella.” Faria spoke, reaching out toward the cat.

The cat lifted its head and stared at my sister like, “Seriously? Get that thing away from me!” She then dropped her head back down peacefully as I scratched the top of her head.

This cat was one of my few companions in this stone prison. She just showed up one day while I was in my grandfather’s study and started following me around. She didn’t like anyone else and would claw and bite whenever someone tried to get close. I had always been fond of cats and immediately started to take care of the cute little thing. Olivia, however, wanted to continue to suck any joy from my life and was going to have the animal removed, but my father stepped in and allowed me to keep it as long as it didn’t cause trouble.

“Why doesn’t she like me?” Faria pouted. She then reached into the food bag and pulled out a small piece of dried meat, waving it at the cat.

I watched as little Bella stared at the food, almost looking nervous as the meat hung in front of her. Then, quietly, she got up from my lap and leapt from my seat to Faria’s, where she snatched the meat from her hand and curled up with it, chewing on it. Faria reached down to pet the kitten, but was met with a low growl. Despite her objections, Faria kept going and gently scratched the top of Bella’s head. Bella, who looked regretfully content, continued to chew on the meat she was given.

Faria and I started to enjoy our own meal as the kitten quietly ate.

As we were eating, a door nearby creaked open and a familiar voice spoke in her usual condescending tone.

“What are you doing in here. We were not finished.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It was Olivia, our stepmother. She stood just past the doorway, hands on her hips. She was tall, though not as tall as Faria. Her face was unusually pale, though it strangely matched her pitch black hair and enchanting green eyes. She was angry, though the anger on her face distorted once she saw me. Her face twisted as her nose crinkled, like she just smelled something foul. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Wow… she really doesn’t like you.” Faria sighed. “I don’t think it’s ever been this bad. Did something happen?”

“Not that I can think of. It doesn’t matter, though.” I replied, leaning back in my chair. “She’s not my mom.”

“How is your mom?” Faria asked nervously.

“The healers say that she’s doing better, but she still hasn’t woken up.”

Shortly after my mother and I were brought to the castle, she fell ill. It was sudden and violent, but just when it seemed like she was going to die, she fell into a deep sleep. None of the healers that had come before could find out why something like this happened, but she was getting better. I visited her nearly every day and had noticed a significant change in her health.

“Do you think we could go see her tonight?” Faria asked.

“Oh, sure. I’m sure that she’d love to have another visitor.”

Faria smiled brightly at my answer and continued to eat, petting Bella as she did. The cat continued to sit there, remaining perfectly still as my sister ran her fingers through her fur.

Eventually, the cat stood, arching her back before leaping to the floor and strolling out of sight.

“Perfect timing, I guess.” Faria pouted, watching the cat leave. She then turned to me and asked. “Hey Mal, I’ve been looking for a book for a few days, but I can’t find it. I’m pretty sure it’s called Limfor’s Fables. Have you seen it?”

“Yeah. It’s actually in my mom’s room.” I answered. “She read it to me whenever I had nightmares. I thought it could help her if I read it to her.”

Faria tilted her head to the side and ruffled my hair. “Maybe I can read to her tonight.” She spoke, her voice soft.

She pulled her hand back and finished the last bite of a piece of bread and folded up the food bag as she stood from her chair.

“What’s next?” I asked, standing from my chair. I had finished my own food much quicker than she had.

My sister stood there for a moment, thinking, before asking with a grin, “How about we have some fun?”

“What do you mean by fun?” I asked, a little hesitant.

“Just follow me.”

I did as she asked. We headed for the nearest door that led outside. There were at least fifty guards patrolling the grounds at any time, but they usually had a kind of pattern to them that Faria and I had meticulously memorized so that we could get around without getting spotted. Quietly, we crept through the grounds, hiding behind bushes and trees to avoid the guards’ sight, aided by the position of the afternoon sun, and eventually came to the royal training grounds. The training grounds consisted of a small building made to look like a shed that hid the entrance to a massive field a good distance below the ground. This was where those who were training to become royal guards practiced. It had been unused for a short time since the captain of the royal guard was absent. He had been personally training Faria to use her powers as a sorcerer.

We eventually made it to the entrance and quietly slipped into the small building. Immediately passed the door were the stairs leading down. If I had not been here before, I would probably have fallen down the stairs and hurt myself. Embedded into the stone of the stairwell were opaque crystals the size of my fist. Faria reached out to one of the crystals and touched it. The moment her skin touched the crystal, it began to glow, releasing a dim light. After the first stone lit, dozens more along the stairwell started glowing as well, lighting our way down.

At the base of the stairs was another door. I tried to open it, but found that it was locked. Faria stepped over the door and reached around her neck, taking off one of the chains she wore, revealing two keys on the end. She inserted one of these keys into the lock and turned it, opening the door. As the door swung open, hundreds of light crystals stuck in the ceiling activated, lighting the whole room.

The whole room was carved from solid stone and completely smooth on every surface except for a small portion of the room on one side where water flowed in through a hole in the wall and into a small basin on the ground that drained into the ground. Besides this basin was another door. Faria hurried over to this door and unlocked it with the other key, then called me over.

My sister stepped aside to let me step inside the new room. I’d always wondered what was behind this door, but nobody ever went inside.

“Welcome to the royal reliquary.”

“You mean…”

“Yep.” She interrupted, a proud smile on her face. “This is where every artefact that the royal family owns is stored.”

“Why do you have a key for this?”

“Don’t worry about that. Everything in here will be mine in just a couple of days anyway.” Faria replied quickly, brushing off what I said. “Now go ahead and find something.”

I stepped into the room. It was a large room with dozens of objects hanging from hooks, lying on shelves or resting in drawers. I didn’t even know where to start. There were so many artefacts to choose from, and I had no idea which one did what. Some artefacts were especially dangerous and needed to be handled with care, so I had to be very cautious with what I chose. Why would Faria let me do something like this.

Just as I was about to turn back empty handed, I felt something pull at me. It was in a drawer; a blood red gem the size of my thumb. I took the stone and left the room and showed it to my sister who examined it with excited eyes.

“What is it?” I asked, as she brought her face closer to the stone. I was going to give it to her, but she didn’t touch it.

“I think that’s called the Dragonstone.”

“What does it do?”

Faria shrugged then turned and stepped into the small room. After just a few moments, she came back out with her arms full of artefacts.

“Be careful!” I cried out as she nearly tripped. “You don’t know what those do.”

“Sure I do.” She replied, closing the door with her foot. “I made sure to research what I wanted to take.”

The fact that she put time and research into what she wanted, but not what I might take concerned me slightly.

“Watch this.” She said standing in front of me with her arms full.

Then, in a moment, every item she held turned into a translucent purple energy that was sucked into a ring she wore on her right hand.

“What was that?” I exclaimed.

“It’s the first working prototype of something that the nerds at the College have been working on.” She explained. “They call it a storage ring. It takes things and then puts them into this tiny gem on the ring. I’m honestly not sure how it works, but it’s definitely cool.”

She then held out her hand as the same purple energy flowed out of the ring and into her hand, extending outward into the shape of a sword. Then the energy disappeared and was replaced with an actual sword.

“It takes some practice, but I really like it. I’ll ask them to make one for you too.” She said, bumping me on the shoulder. “Now let’s see what that rock can do.”

I turned towards one of the walls and held out the stone. My black aura flowed through my eyes as I focused on the stone, but nothing happened. I rolled the smooth gem around in my hand then felt it get stuck. It had fused to my palm and wouldn’t move. I grabbed at it with my other hand and pulled, but it didn’t budge. Instead, it sank into my skin and disappeared completely. I could feel the stone moving through my body as it reached my chest and collided with my heart.