Dark Queen: The Cybelline Prophecies

Chapter 29

His Happiest Memory - Part 1

High in the broken tower, the little boy curled into a ball as the cold wind whistled through the broken shutters, cutting through the thin material on the bed. Outside, in the distance, was the joyous sound of drums and fireworks, all the world celebrated except in the most isolated corner of the palace.  

Tonight was his first night alone. His mother was now truly dead. Killian willed himself not to think about her and ordered himself to fall asleep. He must grow up quickly to survive. Slowly, he began to drift off. 

In the noisy night, a small,  strange green ball fluttered through the window. It glowed softly, hidden in the night by the flashier fireworks. 

In a blink of an eye, the little ball became larger until a little girl ran through it and hopped down to the floor. 

She was a pretty little thing, with a bowl haircut and a pink jacket that kept her comfortably warm. A shock of bright red hair peaked through her little cap as she turned around. She was just seven years old with an insatiable curiosity that made even the most patient man want to throw himself off a cliff just to avoid the litany of "whys".

She stared at her surroundings, scratching her head, "Strange." She muttered and bounded to the window, "Woahhhhh" She said, "So high."  After a moment, her attention turned back to the little room

The little girl spied the masks on the table and ran to them, "Pretty!" she exclaimed. One was a monkey and the other was dotted with roses.  Looking carefully between the two, she threw the one with roses out the window and held onto the one with the monkey. 

It was not long before she spied the huddled figure on the bed. Curiously the little girl walked up to the sleeping child. Long hair flowed to the child's shoulders, half of his pale face was covered by a dark blue cloth. 

She leaned in and looked over curiously. "What a pretty little girl. Maybe we can be friends." 

The person on the bed frowned in their sleep and the little girl quickly used her hand to smooth out the frown, her mother did this for her all the time.

What a strange and unfamiliar feeling. Killian thought sleepily as the first hint of warmth flowed from his forehead. The furrowed brow relaxed as bit by bit, the warmth enveloped his body. 

This wasn't right, thought, he was suddenly alert. A little shadow loomed over his face, humming. His hand closing around a knife hidden in the covers, he never slept without it. 

Her little pudgy hand patted his forehead, she looked puzzled, "Why are your eyes covered?" She reached with her little hand for the blue cloth that covered the sleeping child's face.

A hand grabbed her wrist. 

"What are you doing?" Killian's voice cut through the night air.

"Looking are your face." The girl child chirped, "What are you doing?" 

The boy's frown deepened, "How did you get here?"

The little girl blinked, "I jumped." She wriggled her hand and pointed at his eye covering, "You're awake now, do you want to take that off? I saw you frowning, is it hurting you?" 

Killian's voice was full of scorn and disbelief, "You're a liar, you came to kill me. Who sent you?" 

"Am not!" The girl said hotly, "Grandmother said I'm so sweet that I won't even hurt a fly. But dad says that it's because flies are too scared of me."

She glared at him, "And, liars' pants are always on fire. Are my pants on fire?" She demanded as her face came closer to his, "Are they?" 

He didn't know how to answer this, and frowned, "Why did you come here then?"