The Poison Apple Princess

~*~Chapter 1~*~

Chapter 1

~*~ Ember Magmus~*~

The four of us sat amongst each other in an eerie silence that was so thick it effortlessly filled the dramatically wide spaces between each chair. A long, and rather oversized in my opinion, gleaming mahogany table spread across half the room to seat the mere four of us. My Father, King Rey Magmus, sat at the head of the table. Because of how far I was sitting from him I could only make out his large hands clasped tightly together and his all-too-familiar stony expression that no distance could've hid from me. About ten feet away, on his right, was unfortunately, my Mother. Who, by the way, also just so happened to be Queen Elda Magmus. Though 'Queen' isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of her.

Now you’re probably wondering about the fourth person here. That was Miss Flamel – she was no one important and sat about twenty feet away from my father on his left. She was simply my etiquette teacher, nothing more and nothing less. She was obliged to take place in our dinners so she can watch my eating habits and pester me about them later on during our next lesson – like she frequently did.

She always sat as straight as a pin, with her chin up high; as if she were trying to look as though she were just as important as the three of us were and as if she actually belonged here – but it never had much effect. You could tell by the way she hesitated every time before speaking – as if she had to mull the words over in her head to check if they were appropriate for the King and Queen’s ears. I'm sure that extra precaution was more because of the Queen. Elda had that effect on everybody. Sometimes even me – but I'd rather rot in my own flames before I'd let her discover that. Her presence seemed to suck all of the oxygen from the room and it stilled the air to the point where you found it complicated to breath. And this was just her intimidation in act.

I was reeled back into the pathetic reality I call my life when the waiters slipped into the dining room with bewilderingly light footsteps. They never failed to startle us when they abruptly set our food down in front of us or when they suddenly speak from behind you, without you even knowing they were there. When I was younger I used imagine that this was their cover and their real jobs consisted of being assassins or even ninjas. If you were to live in this country, you’d think so too.

I didn’t bother to even look up at the waiters face as she set down my food in front of me. I only knew it was a female because of her feminine looking hands that grasped onto my tightly covered platter of food. It had a silver lid on it and I couldn’t help but salivate at the first whiff of the delicious aroma emanating from the perfectly cooked food. It smelled kind of refreshing and fruity - I wondered if anyone else noticed the delightful smell. Probably not, I for a special reason had much keener senses than most inhabitants of Magmus. But the scent brought me a strange wave of nostalgia – it suddenly seemed so familiar – yet I couldn’t quite pinpoint it even though I felt like I should’ve.

Pushing that thought aside I focused on the peculiar matter in front of me. It was rare I got to eat in the dining hall with everyone else. Worse yet, it was rare I ever even got out of my damned tower. But Elda had suspiciously requested me to attend tonight’s dinner. I had a pretty good idea why, but I’d have to bite my tongue if I wanted to keep it. Besides, when I got to eat with the rest of the family like now, the food was usually ten times better.

When I say that you probably thought: “Aw, she enjoys being with her family!” Well you’re dead wrong, so don’t think of that again. Rey was endurable, but Elda, she was a different story entirely. I just like the food they serve, nothing more and nothing less. Now you probably think I’m fat, well then you should really think over how you judge what I say a little better because you’re wrong, again. If you saw the portions I eat in my tower you’d be more than ecstatic to eat what they serve here.