The reflection of the Queen: Exile

Chapter 2

I was cowering on my cot, twirling the toy between my little hands.

It was not mine. I had taken it from the general's daughter's room, that little girl with the room so big and so full of toys. I didn't have any, so I had decided it wasn't fair and that she wouldn't be able to play with so many toys at once anyway. Besides, she was only three years old.

It was a kind of cloth mouse with black beads for eyes. They reminded me of Rodion's, that adorable boy everyone loved, but mostly of Cadmot's, that other boy who liked to pull my hair and push me down the aisles. That had made me not like him so much anymore. The truth is, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. I never used to play, much less with the general's children, it was strictly forbidden. There was a very kind maid who sometimes spent time with me, but she was the only one.

Hesitantly, I walked the mouse across the mattress, humming to myself. Before long, I got bored, and hid the stuffed animal under the bed. Just as I had done so, my bedroom door opened with a loud bang. I jumped back, clutching the thin sheets.

In the doorway stood General Aursong, but I did not recognize him. He did not talk to me, but when I saw him with his family he seemed like a good, quiet man who liked to sit his children on his lap. Now he was looking at me as he grimaced furiously. There was nothing but anger and madness in his eyes. In addition, he looked very scary. His face was covered with wounds, a long scratch was across his mouth and one arm was bandaged.

"Sir?" I mumbled in fright.

"Come here, you bastard rat."

Before I could pull away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. The force with which he did it overwhelmed me, and I began to panic. I shrieked, hoping one of the servants would hear me as he dragged me down the hallway, but the general twisted my wrist.

"If you don't shut up, I'll make it louder."

That made me scream even more, which intensified the pain, until I forced myself to shut up. Once I was silent, the man stopped twisting my arm and continued to carry me without my feet barely touching the ground until we reached the outside. It was dark and, as usual on the island, it was hot. We were in the stables, and the snorting of a few horses broke the silence.

The first blow landed on the back of my head, sending me straight into a pile of excrement piled in one of the stables. Looking at the general, I should had known it would be the first of many. Because then came another. And another. And another. And another.

I will never know how long I wallowed in that pile of filth, screaming and pleading, fear mixed with pain and confusion. I didn't understand anything. I didn't know why he was doing this to me. People said that man was my adoptive father. I admired him. I couldn't understand...

After what seemed like an eternity, he stopped, and, after dedicating a few cruel words to my bruised body, he left, abandoning me there. I curled up on the dirty floor and began to cry.

"Come on, darling."

I raised my head when I heard a voice nearby. Kneeling before me was a man who had not been there a second before. His clothes were gray, but they changed color from a shade of pearl to one approaching black. The edges of those strange garments were melting in the air as if they were made of smoke. He had brown hair and dark eyes, and a thin goatee surrounded a gentle smile, with a certain touch of slyness. His features were quite attractive, with a defined jaw and sharp cheekbones.

When I saw him, I blinked, and everything seemed to make sense. It had already happened to me. Yes, it had happened to me thirteen years ago, when I was just a child. It was irrevocably engraved in my memory because it was the first time the general had laid a hand on me. However, I had experienced that moment hundreds of times since then.