When Your Feathers Flutter Down to Me

Chapter One: The Princess And Exile

All of these things alone were enough to paint a terrible picture for one that was supposed to be a princess. However, that wasn't the worst of it. In particular, Princess Elisia was known for something. There was her condescending attitude and her over-reactions to the slightest of wrongs, but one thing stood above the rest: her discrimination against demi-humans and monster people.

The Kingdom of Endrelta was one of five countries that made up the main continent, and out of those five, it had been the last (by a wide margin) to allow demi-humans and monster people to integrate into their society. At first, it hadn't been so bad. Demi-humans could mostly pass for humans if they hid their ears, tails and other oddities. It almost seemed like the kingdom was on the path for species equality.

But, it didn't take long for relations to sour. For as much as people began to accept the demi-humans, there were just as many opposed. That opposition only grew louder when it came to monster people, individuals who looked much more like monsters than humans. The human citizens of Endrelta rioted in the streets, attacked nonhumans and even threatened the palace. So, in order to restore order (and the proper hierarchy in his mind), the current monarch, King Felbrun, went to work.

While on paper it said demi-humans and monster people would be welcomed into Endrelta's borders and treated fairly, the truth was that they were to be treated less than human. That was thanks to the king, who had used his network of spies and confidants to spread this unspoken understanding. Ever since then, the human citizens of Endrelta acted like people who weren't human simply weren't people at all.

The worst of them was Princess Elisia. She had taken all of her father's commentary on this issue to heart and had decided that these monster people and demi-humans were a scourge. She wanted to purge them, but she knew there was no way the surrounding countries would allow such a blatant disregard for another species. So instead, Elisia spent her years learning how to get what she wanted, believing that one day she'd be able to twist every lawmaker around her to her side and get all of those creatures exiled from the kingdom or executed.

Although, in her current position, she could do no such thing. She could get laws enacted with a bit of forcefulness, but she still needed entire sheets of parchment justifying why the law should exist in the first place. But, as she bided her time for the day she believed would come, she found another way to satisfy herself, if only a little.

Every now and then, Elisia would demand that the carriage take her through the slums, where the majority of the nonhumans lived. There, she would point and laugh at them, calling them all sorts of names and being sure that they understood they were less than human in the eyes of the kingdom. If she rode through the main streets and saw a demi-human selling fruits or the like, she'd stop and find something to cite them on, destroying their business and most likely their only source of income. To many of the demi-humans and monster people of this nation, calling Princess Elisia heartless was being too kind.

"Take me back to the palace now. I'm tired of this, and I don't want their rotting stench to fill my nose any longer," Elisia said sharply. Her attendant nodded, then turned around and slipped through the front curtain to give the driver his orders. "Honestly," Elisia sighed to herself. "Why do they even get to live?"

When the carriage arrived back at the palace, Elisia was helped out by her attendant. When she set her feet on the ground, Elisia glared at her. "I almost fell," she spat. "Huh?" the attendant let out. "Didn't you see?" Elisia said in a huff. "My feet hit the ground unevenly. I very well could've fallen flat on my face. Is that what you want to see me do?"

"O-Of course not, miss. But, I'm sure you're just exagg-"

Before the attendant could finish her sentence, Elisia slapped her. The sound her hand made as it hit the attendant's cheek echoed in the front courtyard. "Would you like to continue with what you were saying?" she said.