Chapter Two
The royal family was a family of seven, with the king being the ruler of all seven regions including the capital island. The history books mentioned how his majesty's ancestors brought together the people and founded a nation where unity and brotherhood were the basis of it. Because of that rule, the capital had established a rule which states that each royal descendant was to marry from any of the regions to remind the people that this nation was one. That all regions were equal.
That everyone was equal.
"Here," Xavier said, as he handed her a heavy container. Sharlee moved her close to explore its fragrance.
" It smells like that drink our elders have in celebrations, what was it called again?"
"Tone-Zone."
"Right," she said. "All I have to do is pour this to the royal family and William."
"Just the royal family, after tonight he's one of them." Xavier sighed.
"Well, you did not expect him to babysit you for the rest of his life, did you? Man has to find his own path."
"His own path? So being forced into a marriage with a royal princess he has never spoken to is what you think he'd want.?"
"No one forced him into anything Xavier. "
" I have to agree with your friend, here. "
Sharlee and Xavier looked at the man who interrupted their conversation. He was taller than both of them and he looked more sophisticated now that he was within a hearing distance of them. They both recognized him and quickly shifted their gazes to the ground.
"It is alright, you can look at me and talk to me. I'm the least scary of them all" he said.
"Y-your majesty, h-how can we a-assist you?" Xavier managed to say.
"The guards and attendants are busy with the preparations so I figured I may serve myself a drink. Xavier, is it?"
Xavier nodded.
"You are right. Although I would not say forced, however, there's always a price for marrying a royal," he said before grabbing his poured drink and leaving the two of them.
As the celebration started, the villagers gathered in the front yard, performing and playing their instruments until it was time for the king to give the speech. Sharlee joined the crowd, taking her place at the front of the crows as she gazed upon the king while he made his speech. The same words they were taught in school, about unity and harmony.
"You are the future, and we are the past. We paved the path for you, and you are to pave it even more for those who will come after you. We have taken this oath, with you and only with you we can conquer this. "he said, as whispers of admiration filled the audience's ears.
"Today is a very special day, where we unite our lands once again."
He moved forward towards the table where they were sitting as he reached out for William's left hand and his daughter's right hand as he placed them on top of each other. Something he often did every time he had to give away one of his children. A difficult moment he always faced in wedding his children.
Sharlee exhaled, her anxiety building up reminding her why she didn't like interacting with people in the first place. For every person that was there, there was a brain that was processing every bit of her. Her height, the way her hair curled at the end, her pointy eyes, the uneven way she walked, and all the things that she's heard them whisper when she walked around in the village.
Her dress suddenly felt tighter, and every inch in her wished she had run away somewhere far.
"For William." She reminded herself, looking down at the ground. "For William."
He walked back to his seat in the middle, facing the villagers once more. He nodded at one of his pupils to initiate serving the celebration drink. The man tapped Sharlee's shoulder, giving her permission to move towards the table where the royal family and William sat. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor and approached the table, gripping the goblet with both hands scared that it may slip between her sweaty fingers and crash. The silence that filled the air made her more nervous, despite the attempts of the wind's long breeze.
This didn't just mean pouring the royal family a drink. This was probably the last time she'd be close to William.
People always made promises to return to the village once they achieve whatever dreams they thought the capital would pave the way for it. But none of them returned. They always abandoned the village.
The sound of pouring brought her back to reality, and she gave herself permission to gaze up and look at William.
"No honor is greater than that of uniting two souls by a bond far greater than words and holier than. . ."
And that was when it happened. Sharlee saw it happen. The king saw it happen. The royal guards saw it happen. And the villagers saw it happen. An unusual shade of onyx taking over William's skin, like a disease spreading so fast from his neck all the way to his forehead dominating his skin. William turned an alien, and before anyone could say anything, his clothes fell setting him free and sending him to a fate no one knew what it meant. One minute she was looking at a familiar face, and the other minute she was facing the clothes he left behind. He disappeared, just like that.
They have taught her in school about diseases that turned people blue and ripped them off their life, other diseases that forced blood out of the body making one pale and weak, but no one ever mentioned anything about a disease that erased one's existence. It wasn't in any book or any science that people just disappeared.
"Now, let's proceed with the celebrations, shall we?" said the king, as he held out his glass to her. Sharlee turned to him baffled. A man has just disappeared in front of him, along with his daughter, which was something Sharlee noticed later, and yet, the king wanted to celebrate?
"I beg your pardon?" she asked, unsure. The king smiled at her.
"Ah, it is alright. "He replied. Sharlee was about to ask more questions, but her gaze shifted as she looked at the rest of the royal family looking at her with confusion and impatience. Like everything was going smoothly and she just stopped for no reason.
"Am I not sane?" She thought to herself, but she managed to pull herself together and pour the celebration drink to the king before putting it down and slowly backing away. She didn't stop until she found herself within the crowds, next to uncle Aidy who was looking at her with concern.
"I understand the royals make you nervous, but you looked terrified out there. Are you alright, child?"
Sharlee turned to him. "Uncle, did you see Will disappear, or was it just me?"
Uncle Aidy placed his big hand on Sharlee's forehead. "Child, you are heated."
"Did you see William? Where is William, uncle Aidy?" she saw him look confused. Sharlee backed again and started looking through the crowd for anyone whom she may ask. There was something strange going on; a royal princess and William disappeared, and no one was saying anything.
She pushed through the crowd when one time until she came to see her mother. She reached out to her, breathing heavily.
"Mother, did you see what happened?"
"If you mean seeing you embarrass the whole village by hesitating while serving the drink then yes, I saw that."
Sharlee sighed, furiously. "No, I mean the fact that William and his new wife disappeared with no trace!"
Sharlee's mother looked at her daughter. "William? Who is that?"
"William, mother who else. Will!"
Sharlee's mother finally turned to face her daughter. "You do realize that there's no one in the whole village named Will."
"Yes, there is, and this is his wedding, why do you think we're all here?!"
Sharlee's mother raised an annoyed eyebrow, realizing she was missing the speech of the king because her daughter decided not to make sense. She turned her not bothering to hide how displeased she was. "Sharlee, we're here because the king is offering gifts for the winter since we lost crops due to dry weather."
She stared at her mother, words leaving her to stand there with nothing but bewildered emotions and muddled thoughts. A person she loved dearly was wiped, in a fraction of a second, and for some reason, it felt like his existence was erased too, from almost everyone but her.
And the question that remained was, why?