The Tribrid Queen - Book One

Chapter 3: A Strange Connection

LYDIA

I woke up to a bountiful breakfast and warm smiles, strange. They are being treated a little too good considering the fact my father will soon kill them. It is as if we have relatives staying with us, which makes me wonder why I have never seen much of mine come to visit. I am more acquainted with these fakes than even my own kin, why?

My birthday is within two days and I would be lying if I said I am not terrified. The Encronos foretold that on this birthday everything will change. This has no bright side to it, I believe.

My present life is being controlled but after my coming of age, even the small bits of freedom I have will vanish for I will become queen. Unlike the fictional princesses I have read about, I will not marry a handsome prince and dance away in eternal happiness. Even though I lack interest in being overshadowed by a husband, it is simply unfair that I will not even get the chance to experience love. Seems I shall die with my purity and die as the last of my family name.

The prince, princess, and I are sitting under a beautiful flower house on the castle roof. I walk around showing the princess each one while smelling them as I go along. The prince sits patiently without bothering us. He is quiet, most surprising. He just stares at me intentively but each time we lock gazes he turns away.

"Princess Caylil, what kind of flowers do you grow in your kingdom?" I ask expecting to hear a convincing reply.

The prince shakes slightly. A little but enough for me to see that my question startled him. Even his sister became hesitant.

"Well-" She pauses then begins to gaze at the plants around us.

"She is allergic so she does not spend too much time around flowers. Even if she was not, she would not try to do such a thing as learning about them, or the names for that matter." Reno comes to her aid.

She smiles slightly then bites her lips and closes her eyes for a quick two seconds.

"Yes, I did not want to mention it because- ACHUUU!!!" She begins to explain then sneezes.

It is then followed by another. "ACHUUU!!!!"

Both sneezes were obviously fake. We have been here all morning and she did not sneeze once. The atmosphere is filled with the aroma of these flowers and it is awfully windy today, of course, someone with such allergies could not bear a minute on this balcony. Of all lies I have heard in my short life span, this is by far the worst constructed. Just as their origin and title. I already knew some sort of lie would be told but they disappointed me with such a foolish one.

I give her a suspicious look and she notices. As I am about to lay out some more questions on her, Reno says, "The wildlife here is beautiful."

"The way you cultivate plants and flowers as decorations is impressive." He says while eyeing the castle walls.

I walk over to him at the balcony edge. In another case, I would have reconsidered because pushing me over the edge of the tallest tower of this castle would be a sufficient way to kill me. However, they will not do that. They cannot descend those stairs, which are filled with soldiers, without me in front. Thus there is no escape route unless they have a plan to climb down from the tallest tower possible. Well, the other reason that they might not try to push me over, is that they think I can fly just like my father.

"Yes, you have a keen eye. It was my idea actually." I add.

"On my eleventh birthday, I asked for a pot of chirdic casine which you humans call wildflower," I inform him. "I asked the gardeners to chisel holes into the bricks and plant them there."