I have never spoken a single word.

I have never spoken a single word since I was five.

That is 13 years of silence.

13 years of silently plotting revenge.

The vengeance for a wronged death.

“Lady Aurelia, it’s time to greet the guests,” the soft yet firm voice of a maid informed her, her auburn hair tied in a long braid down her shoulder.

Aurelia nodded, her hand waving her away in a form of acknowledgment, her eyes closed as someone brushed pastel pink rouge on her porcelain cheeks.

“Is this… okay?” Another maid asked hesitantly, cautiously setting down the brush.

Aurelia tilted her head, examining her work, and nodded coolly as she rose from her white velvet pillowed chair, the milky color of her dress flowing effortlessly down her body, the chinking crystals decorating her delicate waist.

“Let us go, my lady,” her guard Philip said, holding out his hand, Aurelia took it, her head tall in pride as her three maids trailed them, the grey white attire of their work matching their mistress’s own silver locks of hair and pale skin.

They arrived at the gates, where Aurelia’s father, a boisterous man with red hair, and her two twin brothers, Tiberius and Dominic, their platinum blonde hair shining in the daylight happily laughing and greeting a family clothed in luxurious dark and gold garments.

 Aurelia bowed, a motion where she sought forgiveness, forgiveness for being late and took her place right next to her brothers, facing a male around her age.

“Aurelia Fallaciae of the Alabaster kingdom, pleased to meet you,” she said softly, curtsying before the male.

“Oh my, Charles I thought you said she doesn’t talk,” the woman said, her dark feathered fan covering her aghast expression.

“... this is the first I’ve been hearing her as well, my it must’ve been Julian then, children you know? They’ll be immature until the time really comes.” Charles laughed, attempting to wipe away his shocked expressions.

“I am Julian Erebus, of the Ebony Kingdom, I’m quite happy to be able to meet you,” Julian smiles, kissing the back of her hand, “I hope we get along in the upcoming future.” 

“You all must be tired, let’s head inside where I’ll ask for a servant to bring us some tea and snacks,” the twins said plastering a smile on their mouths.

“Would it be alright for you to take me around the kingdom after this? I’ve always wanted to visit here, I’m not ashamed to take hold of this chance,” Julian asked, laughing.

Aurelia smiled shyly, “I would love to, there’s a wonderful cafe that just opened not too long ago, we can go there to rest,” her quiet voice responded.

“La Sylphide? I saw it as the carriage was passing, the place seemed quite full of people coming in and out”

“Ah really? Well, it has the best strawberry lemon shortcakes though their other flavors are nothing to laugh at either.”

“It sounds exquisite, I can’t wait, but I suppose we’re going to have to,” Julian sighs, motioning in front where his and Aurelia’s parents stood chattering as they walked down the blinding marble hallways.

“It’s only formalities, the day is still early, this will not take long unless you’d like to postpone this till tomorrow? I’m sure you must be tired from your journey here”

“I’ve rested enough in the carriage, I want to grab hold of all the chances I have to explore before we need to get down to the political things”

“Ah… politics always brings a sour mood when it's mentioned,” Aurelia remarks.

“Indeed” Julian sighs, “are they your brothers?” he asks motioning towards Dominic and Tiberius.

“They are, the taller one is Dominic and the shorter is Tiberius, they’re twins so it’s hard to tell them apart save for their eyes, Dominic takes after our mother's black eyes” Aurelia points the two out.

“I see, and what about you? Who do you take after? If you feel comfortable telling me”

Aurelia pauses, thinking deeply, “Me? Hm… I would say my grandparents more than my parents,” she laughs, beaming brightly at Julian, “My mother had blonde hair and black eyes like Dominic but it was my grandfather who had silver eyes,”

“And your hair?...” Julian asked, taking a loose lock of hair into his fingers, gazing at her intently for her response

“Mm… well, I’m not sure, perhaps it was the god's decision to give me such colored hair, it must be a blessing? Or perhaps... it is a curse,” Aurelia responds, her soft eyes sharpening into a dangerous expression resembling something like… amusement.

“Julian, Aurelia, getting along?” Charles cut in, the group of royals in front pausing in front of the tea room

“Yes your highness, Aurelia was just telling me about which of her brothers was which, I was having trouble earlier greeting them because of that,” Julian bowed, “I’m sorry if I caused you anger because of that Prince Dominic, Prince Tiberius.”

"O-oh, it's quite alright Prince Julian, you are new, it's a common mistake," Tiberius laughed awkwardly, "we really do not mind, we're twins after all, it'd be surprising if you got our names and faces first try, even with our portrait sent to you."

"As my brother said, we really do not mind, there's no reason to bow," Dominic agreed with a stoic face.

"My brothers are kind people like you Julian, there's no need to worry, I'm sure you guys would get along, Tiberius can have another dueling partner so save your apologies for then," Aurelia laughs, covering her mouth with her white lace gloved hands.

"A-ah, I see... is Prince Tiberius a good swordsman?" Julian asks

"This little brat here is, unfortunately, one of the best in our kingdom...!" Dominic grins, ruffling Tiberius' hair, "The genius one swing knight they call him! They say he has beaten all his opponents in one fell swoop."

"Dominic shut up! I told you not to tell anyone that! Alium's God!" Tiberius yells, a blush creeping up his face.

Aurelia laughs at her brother's shenanigans and turns to Julian, "are you good at swords? Or are you like Dominic? A bookish boy who takes the advisor spot?"

"Aha... I suppose I'm in between but I'll let you decide that"

"Everyone," Charles coughed, "let's let our guests rest a bit before tiring them out, Tiberius, come, the servant will be bringing tea soon."

"Oh, right, sorry, Julian, Tiberius go first, I wanted to talk to Aurelia for a minute," Dominic smiles gently, putting a hand on his sisters' shoulder.

The two boys nodded and headed into the tea room, the servants closing the door behind them.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Aurelia tilted her head as Dominic led her away from the room and into an unlit and empty hallway.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, his black eyes shining in the darkness as he towered over the girl, Aurelia tilted her head again in confusion, a large invisible question mark almost hanging above her head as she wondered what he meant.

"Don't play dumb, suddenly talking after more than 10 years? What are you trying to play at?" Dominic yelled, slamming his palm against the wall next to her, a distressed expression written across his face, "listen, Aurelia, don’t screw this up over some petty reason alright? We don’t need your foolish pranks to fuck this alliance up for us. You’re no longer a child so stop acting like one.”

Dominic leaned closer to her face, his sharp eyes reflecting annoyance, “Is this your idiotic way for getting back at us a decade ago? For not believing you who killed mother?”

Aurelias' face darkened, her lips thinning as she tried to hold back an angry scowl under the weight of Dominics' harsh words

"Mother shouldn’t have been so trusting, it was that that costed her life, nothing else, stop messing around Aurelia, you need to get over it, she was my mother too, I suggest you stop with this act of yours, let Prince Julian see your true self," Dominic finished, his blonde hair reflecting the sunlight coming from the windows as he turned away, "Let's go, it'll be odd if we're gone for too long."

Aurelias' hands shook as she attempted to hold back her fury, her anger, it's not a theory, he did it! she thought, her nails digging through the lace of her gloves and into her skin.

I know what I saw, She cried out inside, biting her lips as she tried to compose herself again, breathing in and out deeply she opened her closed eyes, her soft and calm features returning as she opened the door to the tea room.

"I'm sorry about that, let's have some tea now, shall we? I would love to hear about things in the Ebony Kingdom, Queen Adriana, King Blake," she apologized, sitting down on the soft cushions as a servant poured amber liquid into the porcelain teacup, the uncomfortable harsh glare of her brother piercing her heart. 

***

"Ah! Queen Adriana, I was wondering if Julian is a good swordsman," Tiberius asks excitedly, placing down his teacup

"Julian? Hmm..." Adriana ponders this question for a second then looks at Blake, "I think he's pretty decent no?"

"I agree, he’s great in military planning but his abilities with a sword were nothing to scoff at, although he is not as good as our first prince I can safely say he's second-best in the kingdom," Blake smiles proudly

"Wow...! Do you mind if I borrow him for a duel?" 

"I don't see how that's a problem unless Julian you are too tired?" Adriana looks at her son.

"Not at all," Julian takes a sip of his tea and looked at Aurelia, "I'm sorry Lady Aurelia, I'm afraid we will need to postpone our outing until a later time"

"It's quite alright, I'm sure you will be staying for more than two days no? We have plenty of time on our hands," Aurelia reassures him with a smile.

"You are very kind Lady Aurelia."

Aurelia thanks him with a beaming grin and turns to Adriana, "I've been very curious about the Ebony kingdom, I absolutely love your style of clothes! It's absolutely beautiful how you design dark fabrics into beautiful garments that seem to reflect the sun around you!" Aurelia compliments, "And Queen Adriana, your dress is gorgeous, the designer did a fantastic job with the golden thread details on the sleeves!"

"Oh my, thank you," Adriana responded, taken aback, "You should come back with us then, to visit the kingdom, Julian could give you a tour and perhaps you could commission clothes to take back"

"That sounds lovely!" Aurelia beams, "You must help me then, I'm not sure what styles will look good on me..."

"Of course, I simply love dressing people, my sons don't like me doing it and I have no daughter to discuss woman styles..." Adriana sighs but perks up, "so I will enjoy this very much! Now... you have a beautiful body and face... it's going to be hard to find a style that does not suit you..."

The two women chattered on and on, laughing and smiling about fashion as they drank tea and ate the biscuits.

"Ah..., women, they're always like this... I'm so glad Aurelia is able to open up and talk with other females, it's been hard for her after her mother died, perhaps we could arrange a tea party for the noblewomen and Queen Adriana and Aurelia," Charles suggests to Blake.

Blake chuckles, "Indeed, my wife would love that, she enjoys festivities quite a lot"

"How's Jupiter? Has he been good?" 

"Yes, he's still taking heir classes but he really does have a natural talent for leading, I cannot wait to hand the throne to him and go on a vacation with Adriana," Blake laughs, he beckons Charles closer and whispered into his ear, "Don't tell anyone but Jupiter was quite jealous when he found out his brother was going to be meeting Lady Aurelia haha"

"Oh my”

"Poor boy was smitten with just her painting and rumors, I don't know what would happen if he really saw her," Blake laughed out loud, Charles joining him shortly after.

"Julian, your father mentioned that you were exceptional at military planning, do you perhaps play any chess?" Dominic suddenly asks.

"Chess? I do but I'm not that great at it, my brother is a good player though," Julian responds placing down his teacup and turning away from his conversation with Tiberius.

Dominic claps his hands and a servant places a chessboard in between them, "Shall we test your skills then?" he says, resting his white-gloved hand on the white pawn piece.

"Wait what?! Dominic, he was supposed to duel with me first!" Tiberius says standing up in outrage.

"Too bad I took the first move, should've been faster slowpoke" Dominic shoots back at him.

"Boys, boys, settle down," Charles laughs uneasily, "Tiberius was talking about how he wanted a match, let's go out to the dueling area and then we can come back for a relaxing game of chess between Dominic and Julian"

"YES" Tiberius jumps and then points to Julian, "Be prepared! I won't go easy on you!" he laughs running out the door and down the hall.

Aurelia sighs, trailing behind the group with Adriana, "boys will be boys no?..."

"Yes indeed" Adriana laughs, "but I am quite curious about this match..."

“I can’t say that I myself am not excited or I would be lying,” Aurelia agrees, “Tiberius has always been an energetic person so he puts all of it into his sword abilities, however, I’m sure Julian has his own set of secret cards to play as well, despite what the skill suggests, learning to use a sword isn’t just technique and practice in my opinion”

“You seem to be very knowledgeable about these things Lady Aurelia”

“Me? No no no, it’s just speculation, I do not deserve such praise”

“You seem like the person who always degrades themselves Lady Aurelia, don’t forget that you are this kingdom’s future queen and that is nothing to scoff at,” Adriana says as they walk under the arched entrance to the dueling field, “now let us enjoy the duel.”

Tiberius stood in ready position, his hands already choosing a practice blade in the time the others took to arrive, “Julian! The practice weapons are over there, choose one and hurry over!”

“Aha… alright…” Julian replies, shrugging off his black and gold jacket, “I’m kind of scared…” he says to Aurelia as he passes her to pick a weapon off the rack.

“You’ll be okay,” Aurelia responds with a reassuring smile as he picks a longsword off the rack.

“Wish me luck then”

“Luck,” She says as he moves to stand across from Tiberius.

“How disgustingly cute,” Dominic remarks as he positions himself in the spot where Adriana was before she moved next to Blake, “Did you forget my warning already?”

Aurelia stayed silent, ignoring him in bitterness.

“Heh, going back to the act already? How hurtful, you speak to strangers but not your own family?” Dominic chuckles, “Whatever, that’s fine, you can pretend all you want when you’re around them, but we both know that heart of yours is as pitch black as the night sky.” he says, watching Julian parry a heavy strike from Tiberius.

“You can keep saying that Dominic but it’s simply just politeness I’m showing,” Aurelia whispers, her voice breaking from its usual steadiness.

“Your tone is implying that you’re lying, have you been mute for so long that you’ve forgotten?” 

“...” Aurelia didn’t speak, her eyes sharpening as she calculated her next move, “Ah…  Dominic, has it really been so long since you were just an innocent child? Really, this one year gap feels like ten,” she laughs, “I hope you enjoyed playing around with me Mini, this will be our last one to one conversation together.”

She then turns to the others, “Forgive me, everyone, I’m going to go head in, I haven’t been feeling well since this morning, must be from sleeping late, but I didn’t want to ignore our guests, I hope you have it in your hearts to forgive me,” Aurelia apologizes, curtsying.

“It’s not a problem! If you were under the weather we wouldn’t have minded you staying in to rest, we’ll see you at dinner if you’re feeling better by then,” Adriana reassures her with a smile.

“You are very kind Queen Adriana, I’ll be heading in now,” Aurelia smiles, taking the hand of her guard as he helps her inside. 

***

“That stupid brat,” Aurelia scowls slamming her door shut, “Who does he think he is talking like he has years of wisdom over me? He doesn’t understand how much time and effort I put into this,” she screams, ripping off her gloves, her small pale hands clawing at her hair.

“Hell I’ll show him,” she mumbles, crouching on the cold marble ground, her delicate lips chewing on her nails.

Small glimpses of sunlight reflecting off shiny sparkling symbols on her delicate white skin.