The Kingdom of Nayilam was under siege by its own citizens.
Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets, carrying torches and pitchforks and any other object they could use as a weapon. Pools of crimson blood flowed through the cracks of the ground, all from the late protests who had been killed from the violent riot before. Wailing echoed throughout the streets, and swears and promises of vengeance.
"Kill the monarchy!" they all screamed, waving their artillery around.
Two men suddenly appeared in front of the screaming citizens, on the boards. They donned beige bags as masks and wore all black. They were carrying a big, brown sack.
"Behold, your princess!"
They unveiled a girl, the whites of her brown eyes red, and the skin around it purple. She had cuts and bruises all over her tanned face. The pink silk nightgown she was wearing was torn and reduced to rags. Her signature long, black hair was an unruly mess, and she was shaking, whimpering, and crying, trying to untangle herself from the ropes that bound her. Her most distinct feature, however, was her pair of sparkly, rainbow-colored wings. One was bent and the other was torn slightly. It pained her.
The crowd booed and hissed at the princess. More tears streamed down her face. The crowd chanted, "Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!"
The two masked men took her by the shoulders.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she started to yell, trying to fly away, but the weights on her ankles were holding her down. They ignored her, and kept taking her to a wooden contraption, with a metal blade, triggered by a rope. On the other side was a young man, smiling menacingly as she was led to her doom.
They bent her over, her neck fitting in the circular slot of the device. The metal blade shone brightly against the flames of the Nayilamian castle. One of the men held a rope, the only thing separating the princess from the knife.
The young man went over to her, took her by the chin, and brought her face close to him. He had the brightest, bluest eyes the princess had ever seen. "You have a chance to get yourself out of this, he growled to her. "Say you'll rule by my side and I won't kill you."
The princess could have said yes. She could have said yes and lived. She could have said yes and ruled her kingdom with an iron fist. She could have said yes and turned everything around, including her loyal subjects' perspectives on her.
But instead, she said no. She said no to living in fear, wondering what her betrothed would do to her. She said no to ruling in tyranny. She said no to tormenting her kingdom for the rest of her life.
He knocked her chin into the splintery wood as he pushed her away. "Suit yourself," he said, standing back. He nodded to the man, who released the rope, and the blade dropped right onto the princess's bare neck.
And that's how the Princess of Nayilam lost her head.
***
Her Royal Highness Faye Blair Amor of Nayilam shot up in her bed. Cold sweat dripped down from her head to her mattress, with a scream caught in her throat. She had gone for what seemed like years without any vivid dreams, especially nightmares like this one.
She fell back in bed and tried to forget about it and fall asleep. However, every time she closed her eyes, the sound of her subjects screaming her name out of anger and spite instead of adoration and idolatry kept echoing and echoing and echoing, but not loudly enough that she couldn't hear her bedroom open.
Oh God, she thought, they're coming for me.
"Your Highness..."
They're going to kill me. Wait! They can't kill me if I'm already dead.
Faye lay still, fighting every urge to move, her wings bending ever so slightly.
"Faye..."
The murderer climbed up on top of her on her bed.
Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod they're going to kill me right now. They're going to notice my body is warm. They know I'm not dead. Oh no. I'm going to die without kissing a boy.
"Princess!"
Wait, Faye recognized that voice, and it definitely wasn't a vengeful citizen.
She slowly blinked open her eyes to see Corazon, her governess, on her bed, tapping Faye's cheek repeatedly.
Corazon was a plump woman, but surprisingly agile and stealthy. She was already dressed in a black mini dress and a silver leather jacket that matched her silver wings. Her short black bob curled was under her chin, and she wore a light pink lipgloss.
"Corazon!" Faye shot up and wrapped her arms around her governess's chubby frame. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you."
Corazon blinked and shifted in her arms, not reciprocating her embrace. "If this is a way of getting to your birthday present early, I'm not buying it."
"No, it's just that I had the most horrid nightmare," Faye sighed, pulling back. "Everyone was rioting and threatening to kill me and--" She suddenly paused, a word snapping into place in her head. "Birthday!" she finally exclaimed. "It's my sixteenth birthday!" A smile grew on her face.
Corazon sighed and shook her head. "Princessa, how are you going to rule this kingdom if you can't even remember the day you were born?" she chided, climbing off of Faye's bed. "Now, get dressed."
With that, Faye groaned and fell back in her bed. "Come on, Corazon," she whined. "It's my birthday! Let me have a few extra minutes of sleep, please?" she begged. She turned her head to face her window. "I can't even see the sun yet!"
The governess rolled her eyes and strolled over to the princess's bedroom windows. She pulled apart the pink silk curtains to reveal bright sunlight streaming in. The light hit Faye's eyes, and she hissed, covering her face with her arms.
Corazon sighed again. "Really, Faye?" She took the princess's arm, pulling her up and out of bed. "You're not five anymore, that's getting annoying," she scolded.
Still groggy, the heiress to the Nayilamian throne let out a big, morning breath-filled yawn right in her governess's face.
Corazon coughed and waved her arms around, as if to waft away the stench. "Disgusting," she muttered under her breath. "We can't have you meeting with people at your ball tonight like that."
"Ha, but it's tonight," Faye corrected as-a-matter-of-factly, turning around to head back to her bed. "I have ages to prepare for that."
"Not when you have thousands of adoring subjects outside your window," Corazon retorted, gesturing outside.
Careful not to reveal herself, Faye peered out her patio doors. Corazon was right; thousands, maybe even the whole kingdom, were cheering, awaiting for the princess's arrival.
"Oh my..." Faye covered her mouth with her hands, happily crying.
Meanwhile, Corazon rolled her eyes. "Why are you so maarte?" she asked, hitting the Princess on the head. "This happens every year, calm down."
Faye slowly stopped. Corazon was right again; the birthday celebrations happened every single year, from the day Faye was born. But it was nice all the same.
Corazon pushed her. "Now out, out! Go get dressed!"
Faye's pixie servants, all flew into Faye's closet on demand, and plucked out a strapless blue gown with a flourish. Immediately stripping Faye of her embarrassing bunny pajamas, they laced the dress upon her, and then brushed her long, black, hair to get rid of all the tangles. The pixies strapped up a pair of silver stilettos on Faye's feet, and placed a matching tiara on her head.
The pixies spun her around to Faye's full length mirror so she could inspect herself. She smiled, stretching out her wings with a small flutter. But something was missing.
Faye turned to her extensive jewelry selection, which was so big it was basically a closet all in itself, and picked out a shimmery statement necklace. Not feeling like physically putting it on, she whispered a spell under her breath to levitate it and clasped it around her neck, quietly (Corazon didn't like it when Faye used magic for everyday things, especially cleaning her room and putting on clothes).
Faye stepped out of the closet, the pixies all flitting away to help prepare for the ball that night, and Corazon, who was waiting for her, didn't even acknowledge her graceful-looking presence -- after all, this miracle transformation happened every year.
"Go meet with your subjects!" Corazon ordered, pushing her out to her balcony.
Faye opened up her doors to see her subjects, way down on the ground.
The kingdom of Nayilam was mostly fairies, which is why Faye's balcony was so high up -- to keep people from flying up and watching her or something. But what told apart the common folk and the Nayilamian royals were the wings. The royals of Nayilam had multi-colored wings, that shimmered in the sunlight. The common folk had opaque wings, with barely any sparkle or shine to them. But wing covers with different designs were popular around town, spanning from different colors to "authentic royal ones", which ended up being either too cheap in quality or too small for you, when you wanted to spice up an outfit. (Faye owned one of those wing covers -- an opaque pair that matched the common folk, to hide her sparkly wings when she wanted to go out without being suspicious.)
When Faye emerged from her room, the crowd immediately roared, screaming and waving signs around, or taking off their jackets to show off "I Love Faye" shirts. Faye spelled a basket full of shiny gold coins and decadent chocolate over to her (Nayilamian chocolate was the best chocolate, no doubt about it). Faye grabbed a few handfuls and threw them out into the crowd. They cheered even more.
"Happy birthday to you..." they started to sing in unison. Faye put a hand to her heart, smiling and crying tears as they sang the birthday song they had sung to her every single year following her birth.
"Thank you!" Faye happily cried when they finished. With a flourish, she threw more candies and coins into her crowd of adoring subjects.