The rolling of the carriage wheels on the cobblestone road rocked the inside, causing a light frown to show on everyone’s faces – from the dark-skinned attendant looking like a nervous wreck; to the middle-aged maid frantically shifting her eyes around, as if finding her opportunity to jump off this suffocating prison as soon as she could.
However, the carriage was the least of their worries, for the main cause of all the chaos that had just ensued was sitting right next to them, with a mood just as foul, or perhaps worse than any of them on board.
Ugh… Where did I go wrong? Thought Bea, holding her head as if suffering from a chronic disease. Was it because of my getup? But I had no time to change, and without showing up in my formal wear, I couldn’t mobilize the knights…
It was then that the silver-haired girl noticed the strange air around her, disrupting her train of thought. Seeing the awkward expression on her companions’ faces, the girl lightly clicked her tongue in anger, pointing towards the nervous maid.
“Speak up. It’s not like you to lose your chatter.”
While the woman in question paled even further in fear, the dark-skinned boy took the opportunity to interject into a completely different matter, issuing the rider as if to seek solace:
“Um… Sir! If you can, please keep the rocking to a minimum… Her Highness doesn’t…”
“And when did I give you permission to speak, Pedro?” His valiant attempt, however, was answered with an ice-cold gaze. “If you know I’m in a foul mood, then don’t run your mouth like that. Bakere is one thing, but I thought you, of all people, would understand how I feel right now.”
‘Y-Your Highness… permission to speak… please…“ The old lady, finally mustering enough courage for herself, spoke up with still a quivering voice.
“Go on.”
“I–If I may… Why did you… decide to change to your Royal attire?”
“To remind you people who’s in charge here,” Bea threw a scornful look. “I thought that I’ve made myself clear ever since I took a step on these backwater isles – here, my words are law. Law that some of you might have forgotten.”
“But…” the maid, scared for her life as she was, yet barked once more. “Your Highness, surely you must also realize that he’s slowly going beyond our control…”
“He will not,” The girl scoffed, but unlike before, her voice wasn’t entirely filled with anger. Instead, a small, but firm, sense of determination coated her words.
Eight years. That was the time Bea had spent on these isles. Though bearing the status she was, the girl traveled in secret, with the only ones aware of her true identity being the escorts she brought along to play the part of a normal family. Needless to say, she wasn’t welcomed at first, though it never escalated to the point of bullying or harassment. But for a girl at the tender age of six, just the sheer indifference was enough for the air around her to be suffocating. However, she stood tall with pride, willing to take all of it for her mission of monitoring the supposed danger to the land.
And yet, that very same threat, that child the same age as her, became her first friend. When she was supposed to watch for his destructive tendencies, he showed her nothing but kindness, yet fairness at the same time. He wasn’t ignoring here like the other island locals, nor was he too suffocating like the attendants accompanying her. The boy alone treated her like an equal… like a fellow person. Not an object of reverence, nor a foreign fear.
It was his kindness towards her that she decided to go against her teachings. And so, the girl refused to believe that he was a threat. It was why she attempted this test… this bet that she had only recently made in the first place.
Let us rewind time, back to the afternoon when Peter was asleep in the tent that he once called home.
As Bea and Pedro headed inside, they were greeted with a middle-aged man in shining armor – the play-pretend father of the family, and also the veteran knight that acted as Bea’s protection on the isles, Mr. Bakere.
“What are you doing here already?” The girl squinted her eyes in doubt as the man’s hulking figure caught their eyes. “Didn’t you just go back to the capital yesterday?”
“Her Majesty summoned you, Your Highness,” answered Bakere with a light kneel. The man then gestured to another figure beside him – another man with no distinctive features, save for a white robe and a pair of avian wings on his back. “You shall follow a guide back to the Palace immediately.”
“... Very well.” Bea quickly nodded. Though she had plenty of questions regarding the sudden summon, the girl also knew that there was little she could do against a direct order from the Queen in the first place, especially if she was willing to go so far as to send an angel to get her back.
However, Bea was not as naive as to go immediately. Having been with the old knight for a long time, she was no stranger to his fanatic and hot-headed personality.
“Do not touch a single hair on the boy’s head until I’m back, got it?” She issued an order, her eyes sharp as a razor as she turned to the old knight.
“We’ll see about that, Your Highness,” he sounded with a brute voice as salty as the sea breeze that blew on the isles.
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Meanwhile, the angel clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Get moving, Princess.”
“I’m coming.” The girl answered with a light frown, before turning to the dark-skinned boy beside her. ”Pedro, can I leave things here to you?”
“Of course, Milady.” The boy bowed, showing utmost loyalty and assurance. “You have my word; he will never perish on my watch.”
“Tch, typical Princess’s lapdog.” The accompanying knight scorned in his breath, but such insolent behavior failed to escape the girl’s ears. Meeting her glare yet again, he immediately shut up and backed down, his body shivering in fear and rage.
“Princess,” meanwhile, the angel once again scowled. “We’re losing daylight.”
“Sure, sure,” Bea waved her hand, as if chasing away an annoying fly, and followed suit.
The two made their way to the back of the house, where a giant circle with a six-sided star symbol in the middle awaited.
“Do you need me to finish the ritual, Princess?” Asked the angel in a mocking tone.
“Who do you think I am?”
Bea clicked her tongue in annoyance before placing her thumb in her mouth, lightly biting into it. Moving the crimson-stained finger around the six-sided star, the girl drew various strange letters and symbols – runes, the language of old.
Raising her arm forward, the girl chanted:
“O 'sgiathan agus an solas a tha treòrachadh nan speur
Ceangail an t-slighe eadar thu fhèin agus mise!”[1]
As the incantation left her mouth, the circle erupted a blinding white light, engulfing both her and the angel. Soon, their bodies dissolved into the light itself, disappearing from the scene without so much of a trace left.
Once Bea opened her eyes, before her was no longer the lowly shed that only consisted of cracked wooden walls and dirt for a floor. Instead, her feet were graced with only the finest marble that sparkled with each step, while the walls shone a soothing golden light, only made possible by solid gold ornaments and jewelry embedded on the sturdiest stones. A chandelier filled with diamonds of the highest quality glimmered on top of her head, adding more to the already vain surroundings.
And if that wasn’t enough of a show-off, there were far more people inside the room than just the princess and the accompanying angel. Two full lines of maids and butlers, all dressed up in the most pristine servantware possible, bowed their heads before the girl with unconditional fealty.
“Welcome home, your Highness, Princess Beatrice.”
The showy welcoming only left Bea with a slight groan in her head. She knew that there was a reason for this kind of ludicrous flaunting of status and wealth, and it didn’t come from love or arrogance. No, her Mother, the current Queen of Britain, only showed her this scene to remind her of who she was, as well as what kind of responsibilities she had to bear.
But that wasn’t all. Leading the group was no fellow maid or butler.
It was a girl about half a head shorter than Bea. Her shiny, smooth skin suggested a life of easy upbringing, and it was only more apparent if one would take a look at her spotless white dress. Her eyes gleamed a sparkly crimson, but the look she was giving Bea was anything but joy.
“Welcome home, Sister dearest,” lightly tossing her golden hair – a trait from their father that the girl had never been too enthusiastic about, she spoke in the typical haughty tone of a nobleman’s daughter. “Did you enjoy your time on that uncivilized island? Have your manners stayed pure in that environment of imbeciles, or have you grown so accustomed to them that you can’t seem to integrate into our society?”
“Good morning, Eliza,” Faced with blatant hostility, Bea instead answered with poise and grace, lightly running her hand through the child’s hair. “I see you’re as energetic as always. Thank you for your concern, my little sister, but I believe my etiquette needs no correction. How have you been? It has been… a year since we last met, correct?”
Of course, it wasn’t Bea to just smile and let go of everything like a typical saint. She was all too familiar with her younger sister’s behavior, and she always knew how she’d react to a sudden touch.
True to her predictions. Eliza immediately took a step back, almost jumping away like a scared housecat. A fact which Bea couldn’t help but form a light smirk on her face.
“What’s wrong, Sister dearest? It’s quite… unladylike of you to jump like that.”
“Y–You know how I don’t like being touched!” Eliza shouted, her screaming causing the rest of the servant line to slightly cringe in response. “And who touches people’s heads like that?”
“Am I not allowed to show my sisterly affection to my precious family? If that is the case, my sincerest apologies.”
“Faker.”
“Pot, meet kettle.”
“... Anyway,” seeing that there was little chance of winning her petty argument against her elder, Eliza feigned a cough and tried to change the subject. “Mother sent me and the servants here…”
“Don’t you mean ‘the servants’? Because, if my memories serve, you still have a magic training lesson right now, then fencing studies, training on posture, table manners,...”
“Okay, fine! Just go to your room already! Mother is waiting there!”
The girl then gave a final loud huff and ran off. Finally, with the coast clear, one of the butlers stepped up and knelt towards Bea:
“We hope you can forgive our insolence, Your Highness. Her Highness the Second Princess insisted that she was included in your welcoming, and we couldn’t disobey her orders, so…”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” Signaling the butler to stand up, Bea answered. “You’ve all worked diligently.” She was all too used to her little sister’s antics, as well as her hostility towards her – the supposed perfect older sister, compared to the “incompetent” younger one. So much that she was even worried that Eliza’s behavior wouldn’t continue to be tolerated for long, even if… no, because she was the Second Princess.
But right now, she couldn’t afford the time to worry about her sister. And so, Bea continued straight to the point, turning to the butler for confirmation. “If there’s nothing left, then I shall take my leave. Mother is waiting for me in my room, is that correct?”
“Indeed, Your Highness.”
“I shall make my way there this instance, then. Rest well, everyone.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” The group gave their gratitude, then quickly retreated to their abodes. The angel, meanwhile, had long left the building to go to his own whereabouts.
Now that she was alone in the room, a dreadful silence rose, putting a chokehold on Bea’s neck – a nasty feeling that she hadn’t experienced in a long while.
Calm down, Beatrice, the girl thought. It’s just a summon. She’s not going to hurt me. I’m well-equipped enough against her now. My experience on the isles isn’t just for show.
Taking multiple deep breaths, the girl placed her hand on her chest to calm her heartbeat. Yet, it still took her a good minute to actually walk out of the room and cross the hallways, towards a large, golden door sitting quietly at the end.
“You’re here,” a soothing, but ice-cold voice sounded just as Bea came near enough to hear inside the room. “Come in.”
With a gulp, the girl pushed open the door.
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[1] O’ wings and light that leads the sky/Connect the path between you and I