Chapter 2 : Prepare for the Parade

Lady Elsie Adonis Carrabelle

    'Sometimes I believe that humans misuse the word 'beautiful'. Who are they to say that I am beautiful because I have skin the colour of cinnamon and eyes like the sand of the sea, hair like caramel and the voice of an angel? Why can't the girl with the scarred, vanilla skin and eyes blue without sight, hair, thin and the colour of a vanilla moon, and her voice so hoarse from years of screaming for freedom, be called beautiful?'

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    Who are humans to say who is beautiful if everyone is different? Beauty can be seen in the way you speak to people, the way you love everyone no matter what they looked like or where they came from. If humans saw beauty in the way you behaved rather than what you looked like to the naked eye, I would say that many on this earth are both beautiful and ugly.

    No one on this earth is fully beautiful but there are some on this earth that fully ugly and the royal family of Pathitikos are the latter. 

    I knew that in their eyes I was the most beautiful person ever…but they didn't know that I had an ugly side. It was the day of the Promenade and I was reluctantly entering the royal carriage. I looked back at my lovely husband and our beautiful daughter who lied quietly in his arms. I waved them goodbye and put on the most comforting smile I could. 

    I thought about how my daughter's voice sounded whenever she saw the night sky, full of joy and wonder. I thought about the way her tiny hands would reach out in desperation as though she was trying to touch the stars to make constellations. I thought about how my love's lips tasted and how his eyes would light up whenever we were together. I thought about those things as I was on my way to the ball and decided that I was not leaving my only family behind to live a lie.

    I knew that the noble men would've chosen me to marry that disgusting Prince Jeremiah- now King Jeremiah- the moment I stepped into the ballroom. They would've been furious if I ran away…they would've tried to find me and kill me. I was going to run anyway…I wouldn't have been able to be with my family but at least they could've lived knowing that I was not living an unhappy life.

    "Elsie?" I heard the voice of friend Avionne say. 

"Yes," I said coming out of my thoughts. 

"I know what you're thinking, don't worry I have a plan," she replied with a sly smile on her face. 

"Really? "I asked. 

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "but know that I won't be with you…you and I both know that the royal family wants you…well they want your face but the kingdom wants your name."

 For years the people have speaking of me…no one has ever actually seen me, only the royal family, because they have their spies.

"Where are you going with this?" I asked her worried

"Go on your way, when they call your name, I will stand," she replied as though this was the most normal thing in the world. 

"But they will know that it is not really me!" "Yes, they would know but the people won't." 

"But…I can't let you do that," I said with tears running down my face. 

"You are not letting me do anything, I am doing this for myself," she responded while wiping the tears from my cheeks. 

"They will be furious," I said, "they will torture you for lying?" I said. "They will, I know that. They are going to destroy me…but they can't kill my intentions, the peasants will soon find out, but don't worry about me…I am doing this for you…sister." 

With that she smiled and unhooked the necklace that was around her neck. "Why?" I asked her still crying. 

"Soon, you'll find out soon…but for now just know that all this will end…I will ensure that it does," she said pressing the necklace in the palm of my hand. I looked down at it and saw that it was a bronze arrow with the initials, 'LMO' engraved into it. 

"Whose initials are these?" I asked her.

"That of the last queen, Luci Marian Ophelia," she answered matter-of-factly. "Why do you have this?"

"Because she gave it to me…she was my mother." I looked at my friend and searched for any sign that showed that she is joking, but all I saw was honestly and sincerity. 

"But, your mother is dead." I said. 

"Yes…but before she died she was queen and she went willingly into the Promenade knowing that she would be chosen, she planned to put a stop to it, but she contracted a strange sickness and died before any damage could be done."

"I don't want you to face the same fate, I want to stop this for my mother, so when this carriage stops I want you to run," she told me while smiling. 

"But won't that make that unworthy prince Jeremiah your brother?" I asked worried and disturbed at the thought. 

"No, that boy is the son of a mistress, don't worry."

    Just as she said that the carriage came to a stop. "Go Elsie, I love you," Avionne told me. 

I looked her once more in her lovely blue eyes and hugged her tightly. The lone solider opened the door on Avionne's side and I stealthy slipped out the other exit. I ducked and scaled the carriage sides, I looked ahead of me and saw the dark, gloomy forests of Pathitikos and I looked behind me and saw the tall palace full of bright lights and the sound of people having the time of their lives rung out loudly. I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second and opened them back and ran. 

I held my dress up so that I wouldn't fall and I refused to look back. My eyes stung with tears. I had no idea as to where I was going if I continued running but five minutes into my escape I heard the shouts of guards as they discovered my disappearance. I continued running and when I reached the beginning of the forests I stopped. I made my slow trek into some bushes and found my tiny house which was hidden from the public. When I arrived at the front door I realized that my husband was still outside the house…crying.

Whatever feelings I had inside me that I was holding back came forth so fast I couldn't stop it. I began sobbing more than before and wrapped him and my daughter in my arms. I looked into his eyes and wiped his tears away, I told him nothing and spoke only with my kiss. I kissed him, I gave a kiss that meant the world and he returned with a kiss that meant the universe. I pulled away from him because time was precious and I looked at my daughter. She was oblivious as to what was going on…the innocence in her young eyes as clear as day. 

I kissed her on her soft, tiny head and said, "My love for you is more than the stars in this and any other universe." When I was done with my goodbyes I heard the sound of boots becoming louder and louder.  I looked at them once more and darted into the forests.

I had never experienced more sadness in my entire life, but I had also never felt more happiness and freedom. I was free from them…the ones who had me living in fear. I think about my daughter every day and wonder if she's okay. If Avionne fixed everything as she said, so that my daughter won't have to deal with them. But I can't just live with hope, I must live with action. Today is my daughter's seventh birthday and I am making my annual trip back to that dreadful kingdom that tore me away from her.