The Ring of Mashalari

Chapter 8: Maye and the Prince

June 29

Life in the grey house is harder than I had thought it was going to be. I'm noticing that the men in grey like to look for mistakes in the children or any excuses to punish them. One kid ,from my own group, was beaten today at meal time for refusing to eat the Ick. I didn't blame her, the Ick, somehow, had gotten worse tasting. She was punished for that but she returned to the room today with an evil grin on her face. I want to talk to her now. She seems like an interesting person....maybe I'll make a new friend... Anyways I will stop here today, it is nearly lights out and I don't want to get caught with a journal.
Sincerely Nicky

After writing, Nicole tucked her father's journal safely under her stiff pillow. She scanned the room observing the faces of the younger children preparing for lights out. Her gaze fell on the girl that was punished earlier.

She had a fresh dark bruise on her cheek and a small red cut on her left eyebrow but she wasn't crying like most other kids who get hit. Nicole decided to talk to her quickly before bed and walked quickly to the girl's bed where she was sitting.

"What d'ya want?",the girl said rather rudely.

"Just saying hi",Nicole replied, "You okay?".

She thought maybe the girl was in a bad mood because of what happened but the girl just smiled at her. It was a small crooked smile that offered a bit of attitude.

" I'm great",she said," Things like this doesn't bug me". She gently touched the bruise. She was a younger girl but she acted a lot older. She was a short little thing with the most beautiful golden hair Nicole had ever seen. It fell in long curly locks around her small shoulders and blanketed down her back.

" What's your name?",Nicole asked, hoping to spark a conversation.

"Maye Kershi",She answered holding her small hand out, "You?"

" I-I'm Nicole",Said Nicole, taking Maye's hand and shaking. Damn it. She was getting nervous again. "Focus",She thought," Talk normally as if you we're talking to Eric".

"Who's Eric?",Maye asked, a devilish grin spread on her small bruised face." Is that your boyfriend?",she teased.

Nicole felt heat ride in her face, she had been thinking out loud, "Nooo! He's a friend!", she said. She wondered if she always thought out loud and blushed again just imagining what she might have said.

" Interesting...", she said,"..........Veerrryyy....interesting", Maye mumbled, her hand rested on her chin, It looked as if she was sarcastically thinking to herself. "You know what?",

"What?"

"I like you. You're interesting". Maye offered that crooked grin again.

"You think so?"

Suddenly everything went dark. It was lights out. All the children scrambled into bed. Nicole turned to leave, unsure of whether to say 'good night' or not.

"See ya later", whispered Maye.
"Night", She whispered in return and crept back to her bed. As she was falling asleep another dream took over her mind.

See saw the castle again. The kingdom and the lights. A beautiful scene unfolded as the sky brightened with the yellows and the greens swirling in the sky. Surrounding the castle was an incredible crowd of people, all cheering and celebrating. It was clear that something good had happened. And the tall golden doors of the castle opened, knights in white armour marched out and created a path on the multitude of marble stairs leading to the bustling crowd. Out stepped a man dressed lavishly in high quality clothing. He wore a tall golden crown stating his royalty and on his finger, the jewel and heart of his planet, the sacred stone of the royal family, The Ring of Mashalari. A gem passed down from generation to generation in the royal family as the symbol of the Monarchy. Behind the King, a woman also dressed in the finest quality garments, stepped forward with a baby boy dressed in white quietly sleeping in her arms. The kingdom rejoices and the sound of joy and happiness fill the air on the day the prince was born.

Soon everything changes. The sky darkens with red and black. There are no people. Nicole sees herself at the foot of the staircase. The king and queen are gone. All that waits for her at the top in an infant child. She picks him up and he starts to cry. "What beautiful eyes you have", she hears herself say yet she wasn't looking at his eyes.

She was looking down at the water rising to her knees. Everywhere water flooded the scenery. It rose higher and higher and her feet were like heavy stones planted to the ground. Nicole tried to lift the baby and keep him out of the water as it rose over her head. Her vision blurred, she needed to breath. She felt her consciousness start to slip away as she opened her mouth to take a final breath, and she didn't know whether the baby prince was above water or drowning as she was. Then everything went dark.

Nicole gasped as she suddenly awoke. She let precious air in but her head throbbed with pain everytime she inhaled. A sharp migraine-like pain stabbed her temples and she lay there on her bed for a while as it passed. She sat up.

Before she forgot all of the dream, she quickly took out her father's journal from under her pillow and scribbled down the details she could remember.

Castle, kingdom with lights, king and queen, a ring, baby boy,beautiful eyes? darkness, a flood.

After she wrote these things she layed back down on her bed. It was early in the morning and the other children were still sleeping. She probably had two more hours until the day begun. She eyes felt sore as if she had been crying. And after five minutes of staring at the ceiling replaying the events of the dream, which were fading away, she reluctantly fell asleep.