The Exiled Gem

The Great Arrival

'Can't you, Mother, just tell Aunt Sabel that I died? And then I can be in the interiors, pretending that I don't exist.' Alexandra suggested, smiling brilliantly. Queen Ava looked at her helplessly for a second, shook her head and covered her face with her hands, exasperatedly. 'Not a good idea... Okay.' Alexandra accepted, going back to keeping her mouth tightly shut.

'I have a feeling she'll do something majorly wrong this week.' Olivia predicted, ominously. 'I think she will blacken all our faces.' She added. 'But I'll take care of her.'

'You sound as bad as the Oracle, Sister.' Rose noticed, turning to Austin to share a grin. They both were mysteriously close. While Alexandra didn't know how, or why, Rose seemed to be Austin's confidant. And Olivia did sound worse than the Oracle: she sounded like herself.

'And still,' Rose continued, 'sister is right. You must be extra careful, Alexandra. We like you the way you are - or maybe, we try our best, at least - but Aunt Sabel is extremely critical and old-fashioned. She is also short-tempered, and so are you. I have a funny feeling that either the two of you will get along gigantically well, or will fall apart like two poles of a magnet. More possibly, the second one.'

Why, Alexandra felt so herself. Still, she was not enjoying this dinner talk. Yes, she wanted recognition and fame and respect. She wanted to work and earn, and hold her head high because of her own merit, and not her birth. In spite of all these, she was not half as rude as Olivia. She was not a quarter as indecisive as Rose. And she was certainly not even an eighth as frivolous as they.

'Please discard your fanged necklace, Alexandra.' Queen Ava informed.

'Don't pester me while I'm at training. I won't be able to accommodate you now.' Austin remembered, in a low voice. It was one of Alexandra's habits to demand a chance at dueling while Austin was at it. She could easily spot his mistakes. But she usually kept that knowledge to herself and encouraged him, instead. Despite all of it, Austin never gave her a chance. The usual drone of "you'll get hurt" or "you're too young" or "it isn't as easy as it looks". Alexandra was quite fed up of them. Still, she kept up her practice. Maybe if she didn't go for a week... and didn't pester him, he would finally let her have a try. If that was the case, then Alexandra was more than happy to not go.

'And don't be outspoken, Alessandria.' King Adelard nodded.

'I'm AleXan-DRA, Father!' She exclaimed, pushing her chair back. Outraged that her own father didn't remember her name - and what the excuse for this one? In fact, that was the way it had always been - excuses and exclusion. Alexandra didn't fit into their aspirations. She didn't meet their standards of "daughter". Alexandra accepted that she was flawed, she accepted that she was clumsy, outspoken. Impulsive. 

'Ah, that name always gave me trouble!' The King shook his head, not remorseful.

But did that mean she was useless? Did that mean she could discarded, spared, hammered into the shape they saw fit?

'And one day,' she added, as if her father hadn't spoken. She did not completely realize where the words were coming from, but they did, and she spoke. 'One day, I will find someone who will know my true worth.' 

For a second, there was silence. Then Rose snorted, falling onto the table, giggling. Soon enough, Olivia had joined in. So had Austin, Queen Ava and King Adelard - perhaps half-heartedly, but the chuckle they gave made it obvious. And even after her parents had stopped, the siblings continued - especially her sisters, who were supposed to support her. Their laughing faces merged into one another and Alexandra felt her face grow hot. Helplessly, she pushed the chair aside and bolted across the length of the dining hall.