3 Second Silver B

Myscara rode her horse along with Myra, the pair now coated with goosebumps, and entered an area with a gloomy atmosphere as the people trailed away from their windows. The houses were worn down, a chilly wind capsulated the area, the trees lacked leaves, and the district was dead silent. "Temtrup has a district in this horrible state?"

"Princess, please help us. We knew you'd be out to prepare today, which is why we were waiting for you, but brother was tired of waiting and started a fight. But everyone loves you, please help us." A sense of sorrow swam down Myscara's body as she squinted her eyes and bent her brows. They had reached a house beside a giant tree with a hole in its core, no leaves and only withering branches, yet it stood tall. Myscara felt her holes pulsating, an unusual anger rising in her.

"Myra, you're back! Where is Bruno?" A middle-aged woman, fatigued and sweat, ran towards her daughter.

"Brother is with Reinhurt. I met the princess and so I brought her back here," Myra spoke out, as her eyelids grew tired. Myscara grabbed Myra and passed her to the mother's arms.

"My father did this?"

"Well, not exactly, but he's why it's still like this. You see this tree here? It lacks coal. It would normally keep us warm, but since the number of our men declined and the work process slowed down, we have not received any more coal from the Sha." The woman explained as she gestured Myscara to go inside.

"So, this is the secret father hid from me. I wonder how the other districts are faring." Myscara elbowed the table as the mother passed her some soup.

"The capital flourishes, as the keep taking men from other districts to strengthen the Legion. Please, we know you're going out tomorrow, please find us some coal." The mother brushed the sweat of her forehead, as she tied her hair. "Based on my late husband's ventures, we know it's somewhere near the mountains adjacent to Temtrup."

Myscara stared at the frame hung on the wall, portraying the family with smiles. "Can you tell me about the past twenty years?"

Brya chinned the counter as she stared at the elderly woman. "Madam Yemen, is there any book about how to use baeyonets as weapons in the library?" Brya circled her finger across the wood as she was lost in thought. "The Sha is old and Myscara is the next in line. There couldn't be a better time to learn to maximize my potential."

"Brya, less talking and go put the books in their respective places." The woman with red strands curling across her dragging cheek and sunk eyes, as she read her book. Brya burst out a bundle of flashing butterflies, and let them soar the shelves, quickly sorting the books in order. "The Sha never considered having another wife. He's not going to let anyone else reign, Brya. Don't count on it."

"It's done," Brya said with a smirk.

"Now, reshuffle the books and put them back in order as fast as you can, or you're expelled." Yemen smirk, as she flung up her brows. Brya stared in retaliation, her blank expression twisting with agitation. During her task, a book fell of the shelf as she noticed a beautiful woman garnered with butterfly wings, holding a shiny whip. Yemen had her back pressed against the bookshelf, shaking her head as she smirked.

Myscara held the torch in her hand. As her horse trotted, she etched the scene in her head. That was awful. I can change that. Dusk had dried the area of people, as she reached the blacksmith. A jolly man, adorned with a moustache and hairless head, was wiping a sword clean. "What can... Oh, princess. I have exactly what the Sha wanted me to give you." Myscara scrutinized the walls and shelves and her eyes were mesmerize by the metallic boomerang that hung on the wall. She pointed at that, her mouth wide open, like a child begging for candy. "I'm afraid I can only offer you what I have been told, princess. Now, pass me the torch." The man held out his palm.

"Ugh, okay then." The man scooped the torch with a sharp, twisted spear with a diamond tip. It's pretty, yet it screams so much of someone that's not me. Myscara stared at the stairs raining their shine down at her, as she rode home. Always with the annoying guards back then, and now that I'm free, I feel more trapped than ever before. Is this what responsibility feels like? This is not for me, at least not now. But I'll help them, I have to.

Myscara walked past the door Farasha had told her to never open, as she knocked. "Come in!" Myscara sat on the bed. "Yes, my beautiful, have you prepared for tomorrow?"

Farasha was sitting on his table, under a light source which flew above, slipped in with a firefly baeyonet, as he wrote. "Burgunbery. Why did you leave it to die?" She took off her sandals. "If you exploited others for these sandals as well, I have no need for them." The father continued writing. "I think it's better I go look for my mother tomorrow."

His hand stopped abruptly, leaving a mark on the paper. His voice with the weight of a waterfall. "You shall absolutely not!"

Myscara felt fear towards her father for the first time. Shaking, she said, "You don't love me. You've lied to me about this whole kingdom for years. She told me, a mother in Burgunbery told me about the raids you've held outside and executions for acts that even midly go against your wants."

"Sacrifices are necessary, my daughter." His voice was like it sailed a smooth ocean, as if it never wavered. "Burgunbery has stopped offering me my taxes and they have run out of men I can use. It'll be much easier for the future of the kingdom if they wither away. You may have heard of Guyun and Figor too. Their demolition was a worthy sacrifice to reap the benefits you live by today."

She clutched the bedsheet as she stared at the hourglass on his table sprinkle away sand. "So, that's what I am, aren't I? A sacrifice you're going to throw away after your done with me?"

"Of course, not darling, you're my dau—" He was cut off by her.

"Don't call me that! Enough with your lies. I always wondered why you never married. At least then I would have had somewhat of a mother..." She felt her wrists pulsating. "Let me go, father! If you want to prove your love to me, then please just let me go!" Her eyes were watering, heart pounding heavy. A dense determination flooded her body, but with dread that she may lose everything dear to her. "Just what do you plan to do to me!" Her voice struck him with needles.

Farasha rubbed his neck, as she looked into her eyes. "Nothing. Nothing at all, my child. I wouldn't hurt you." Not yet. "You're my reason for living." He walked over to her, and caressed her hair, as his sly eyes stared out of the window towards the men in robes outside, and shook his head. His silver being swallowed by the sphere.