Broken

Ch. 1: Illusion

New year, new story! 

Hope you people who somehow end up reading this like it!

***

Breathe

Breathe

Shoot

Thunk! The arrow hit the wood in a perfect bullseye. I sighed with satisfaction. My six years of training wasn't for nothing. Perhaps a princess should not know how to fight, but the world I live in says otherwise.

The world in question is-- or was-- the United States of America. Now it is called the United Monarchy. Formerly, in the Glory Days, the U.S.A was a prosperous nation. A place of freedom where everybody got an equal chance at a good life. The U.S.A was considered a big country, a superpower if you will. That is, until the country became monopolized by tycoons and essentially gutted from the inside out.

What remained was a much smaller population with much smaller ideas.

Agh! I accidentally cut my finger with the tip of an arrow. This is what I get for being distracted while training. 

"Princess! It's supper time," a voice called from the palace doors. It was Alma, my personal maid. I had known her for as long as I could remember. She was the type of lady that smiled when nobody else felt like it. She often replaced my mother in her maternal duties, so I much prefer her to my actual mother. She had short brown hair that was always pulled up into a severe bun. Her face was etched with worry lines, probably from taking care of me all these years.

"Hey, Alma! How many times have I told you not to call me by my title? You are like family to me!" I called out to her.

"Sorry Kaia, dear." She replied exhaustively. "Are you coming or what? Remember, there's something your mother wants to tell you today.

"Oh yes... I'll be in in a minute."

My mom, Queen Bella of the Nighthawk Tribe, was fake. For real. She bought expensive, designer brands of makeup. She ordered only the finest perfumes and wore so much of both that she looked like a clown and smelled like chemicals. Numerous fake highlights could be found in her hair, amongst the dying strands of her real hair. She was a prime example of the condition of our country: a bleached, dying illusion.

***

The atmosphere around the table was tense; everyone except me felt nervous. I was too hungry to notice. I ate ravenously while my family watched. I was too hungry to care that I looked like a pig. Suddenly my mother cleared her throat.

"Kaia?" She started nervously.

"Yeah?" I was only half listening, still stuffing my face with the delicious food. It was chicken parmesan, my favorite.

"I have something to tell you."

"Well, get on with it then," I always was a bit of a sarcastic kid.

"The proposal has been accepted."

I stopped chewing, the reality of the situation dawned on me and crashed in a whirlpool of emotions.

"I'VE BEEN WHAT?" I stood up quickly, roughly bumping the table. The beautiful china plate I was eating on fell to the floor and shattered on the hard stone. I should have known something was up as soon as I saw those plates and my favorite food. She was distracting me with things I liked so I would hopefully have less of a reaction. Well, it didn't work.

It wasn't that I was completely unprepared. I knew she was secretly sending business proposals to all the superpower countries of the world. I suppose that I hoped it was all a trick of my mind. An illusion, if you would.

"Honey, be reasonable." She pleaded with me.

"YOU DIDN'T THINK TO ASK ME IF IT WAS OK?" I was livid. Mother always was one to do whatever she wanted without a care for anyone else's feelings. To her, selling me off to another country's prince was nothing but a business deal. As a sole ruler, I can't believe she had survived so long.

"Kaia, please! It's to solidify our alliance with France!"

As if that was a good enough reason. I was done with her. Her stupid reasoning and decisions. The very fact that she was the leader of the United Monarchy.

I turned and ran from the table. Ran faster than my thoughts could comprehend what had happened. My legs carried me past the archery range where I was practicing, my bow and arrows still lying there. Why not? I grabbed the weapons without a break in my pace. My hair had come undone from its ponytail and stung my eyes, but I didn't care. My only thought was to get away from my fate, away from it all. I vaulted over the fence that separated the castle from the rough-hewn, unclaimable territory. Images of my brothers' faces flashed in front of my eyes. Their eyes were full of pity for their wild, untamable little sister who suddenly had to conform to rules.

I had almost reached the beginning of the forest when I stopped to take a break and plan my next move. I had run away, but I would have to go back eventually. It was dead winter, and the trees were bent over from the merciless force of the wind. Half-formed thoughts of going back or moving on swam through my head as I tried to make sense of the news I had been given. As I sat on a fallen log, trying to catch my breath, I heard a barely audible shout coming from the direction of the castle.

"Kaia! Kaaaaaaaiiiiiiiaaaaaa!! KAIA!" It was my brothers, Axel and Aron, coming after me. Axel and Aron were twins, and they for sure lived up to that title. They had gone through nearly every event in life together: birthdays, weddings, parties, dad's funeral, mom's inauguration... They were practically one person, except for their personalities.

Axel was the bookish twin. He had short dirty blonde hair and startling blue eyes. He was thin and wiry, but don't be fooled! The kid could fight like a beast. He was often compared to the greatest knights in the land and sea. Although he was excellent with a sword, he preferred the non-violent approach and had the makings of a great ambassador for the country, assuming it lasted that long. Aron was the jock. That was the simple way of putting it. He would have looked exactly like Axel, except he insisted on not cutting his hair so he looked "rugged." He worked out, but not with a sword. He wouldn't go anywhere near those "crude, barbaric weapons of manslaughter."

I stumbled to my feet, still having not quite caught my breath. The only thing I saw among the hibernating trees was a picture of me in a wedding dress. The dress itself was gorgeous; Layers of silk and lace were sewn together to form an exquisite work of art that quite resembled a rose. I was dressed up very much unlike my style: glossed up, manicured... and restrained. The strangest thing was, I was smiling. This version was so unlike me that I nearly tripped and fell into the deep snow. The only reason I didn't was that someone had caught my arm.

It wasn't one of my brothers.

***

So... Yee.

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-M.A.ZING