When Your Feathers Flutter Down to Me

Chapter Four: The Princess And Insults

With a small huff, the woman walked away, leaving Elisia shell-shocked. Never before had anyone talked back to her like that, let alone a monster person. "What... just happened?" she uttered aloud.

"Pfft... ahaha! Oh wow, you just got shut down hard! What's the matter, princess? Surprised that there are some people not afraid to speak their mind against you?"

Elisia glared at Hanen, but he ignored it, continuing to speak. "Just so you know, that's how most of us here feel, both about Dehl Village and you. There's nothing you could possibly offer that would make us wanna serve some arrogant bitch like you."

"How dare you," Elisia said darkly. "All of you are so ridiculous here, acting like your lives actually matter or that there's something of importance here. Allow me to correct your absurd world-view. You are nothing. These people are worthless. And this village? It's a pathetic attempt to create some sort of 'community' where you can all belong, but you belong nowhere except under the feet of others. All you are is garbage cast aside by the rest of us, forced to live on the desolate outskirts so you can suffer and die out of sight and out of mind."

For a moment, Hanen looked furious and ready to snap at the former princess. He gnashed his teeth and snarled, but after a few seconds, that feeling seemed to fade. "Y'know what?" he finally said. "I think I'm finally starting to see what the elder does about you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Elisia asked. Hanen shrugged.

"I don't have any reason to tell you, but I will say this: you stand there, calling all of us pathetic, but at least we're happy here. Can you honestly say you were happy in that palace, princess?"

Whether or not that was an earnest question, it was hard to say, but it was one that bothered Elisia to no end. She wanted to snap back at Hanen, insisting that she was much happier in the palace than she was now or ever would be in the village, but... something stopped her. As soon as she went to say those words, she found her tongue to be stuck and unmoving. Was it because she actually believed what he said? Just how happy had she been before?

"No, of course I was happy. I had everything I could ever want. This feral creature's words mean nothing," Elisia told herself. And yet, that question persisted. Even her words were a little off. She wanted to say she was happier in the palace than in the village, but that was just a comparison. Of course she'd be happier back where she came from, but could she say she was happy?

Truly baffled by the question, Elisia fell into silence. Seeing that, Hanen did the same. It wasn't that he didn't want to make another snarky response. Rather, it was that he realized the former princess seemed to be seriously contemplating his words. "Well, if she learns something from that, then I guess that's good," he thought awkwardly.

After that brief moment of consideration, Elisia looked around. Everywhere she looked, each person she spotted did seem content. "...how ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. How could they possibly be satisfied with this way of life? "They live in shacks and hardly have anything. What could possibly be so good about this?" Elisia thought bitterly.

She wanted to give all of this a little more thought, but she was prevented from doing so as she was verbally assaulted once more. "Heyyy, princess! Havin' fun here?" a man asked mockingly. "Hope ya enjoy the hospitality, princess."

"Shut... your mouth... mongrel," Elisia said through gritted teeth.

"Ah?!" the man exclaimed. "Mongrel, huh? Big talk from a girl who got kicked out of her own home. So, what does that make you then? A failure of a royal?"

"Better than a worthless animal," Elisia shot back.

"We're not animals!" the man shouted. "Someone outta teach you manners!"