AUTHOR'S NOTE: The above image is how I envisioned Roxana looking :)
The faces of her victims blurred together as they cut across her breast, arms, and stomach. Alethia jerked against the leather straps binding her to the same metal chair where her previous victims perished. Tears fell down her face as she apologized over and over again.
"Alethia, wake up," A small voice drifted into Alethia's head as the faces of her victims began the long process of tormenting her.
An endless dream, one that began in her sleep and continued after she woke.
She felt her body shaking, and she tumbled onto the cold ground of her chambers. A groan escaped her mouth as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Strands of hair clung to her sweaty brow as she looked for the reason why she was pushed out of bed.
Roxana puffed out her full rosy cheeks while placing a hand on her hip. "I want to show you something."
Gripping the side of the bed with white-knuckled fingers, Alethia rose slowly to her feet and waited for her heart to slow down to a normal rate before responding. "What is it, Roxy?"
Her little sister pushed a figure into her face, and Alethia drew back to study it. A hardened mud doll with two small dots for eyes stared back at her. "Oh, it's nice."
"That's all you have to say?" Roxana sniffed and yanked the doll back close to her chest. "Mother says my magic control is getting better every day."
Alethia's lips pressed tightly together at the mention of her sister's magic and her mother's approval. An approval that her heart still yearned for despite the punishments her mother inflicted. It was a feeling she endured every day. It was impossible to please her mother, even when you did everything that she asked. It was never enough.
"That's good, Roxy." Alethia offered the barest of a smile and stepped around her sister to go into the bathing chambers.
After a quick wash and carefully dressing over her wounds into the standard black leather trousers and tight-fitting shirt, she went back into her room to find her sister sitting on top of her tangled white sheets.
"So, you had another bad dream, didn't you?" Roxana brushed a black curl out of her round face. Alethia looked away and began wrapping the belt that held her sword and assortment of daggers around her waist. "I get them too. It helps to talk about it. If you want."
"I don't," Alethia replied, her tone flat. "You should mind who you speak to of such things."
Roxana lifted her stubborn chin in defiance. Even at thirteen years old, her sister was a force to be reckoned with. Alethia sighed. She opened her mouth to respond when a knock from the door interrupted.
"Enter," Alethia said loudly, grasping a piece of warm bread from the tray on her table. As she took a bite, Rebecca entered and bowed at the waist.
"Your mother summons you, Your Highness." Rebecca gripped her hands in front of her so tightly her knuckles whitened. Her wide brown eyes flickered to Roxana. "And you as well."
Alethia's heart stopped in her chest, then picked up rapid speed. For years now, her mother had trained them separately. She forced Roxana to go through extensive magic lessons, poison tolerance, and weaponry, but she never made her kill. Unless today was the day. Alethia forced a slow and long breath in through her nose and exhaled it out.
When she spoke, her voice was harsh, "Where?"
"The throne room, Your Highness," Rebecca moved towards the door and opened it. "If you would follow me, I must take you there immediately."
Alethia moved towards the door, her jaw clenched tightly. She felt her sister grasp her cold hands, her own little ones trembling in fear. Alethia glanced down, making eye contact with Roxana, who was biting her lip. She bent low to whisper in her sister's ear.
"Do as you're told."
Roxana nodded, and Alethia let go of her hand, following Rebecca down the long hallway. Their shadows bounced off the walls, and the open windows showed the garden area of the castle grounds. Alethia watched as servants used their earth magic to pull out weeds and allow them to drift in the air until they fell into dirt-filled cloth bags. Her lips turned down at the display of magic. A gift that everyone was blessed with, except her.
Eventually, the garden area moved out of sight, and the group left her quarters and walked across the castle grounds. The sun beamed down on their heads as they moved into the main hall of the castle. The red doors of the throne room appeared all too quickly for Alethia. Rebecca nodded at the two guards stationed, who pushed open the doors to allow them entry.
"Your Majesty." Rebecca stepped into the large room whose oblique ceiling was filled with countless diamonds that flickered light across the porcelain floor.
A maroon rug ran from the doors to the throne, splitting to encircle the entire hall while six obsidian columns lit up the hall, covering it in dancing shadows. Amidst two large serpent statues sat a majestic throne of onyx covered in baroque emblems, its rear legs adorned with the glittering coils of a diamond snake. Over the walls hung curtains with intricate embroidery and embellished borders. A magnificent room to display the wealth and power of the Kan Kingdom in its entirety.
"I have brought Princess Alethia and Roxana."
"You are dismissed." Her mother flicked her hand, and Rebecca departed, the doors shutting with a resounding thud.
Queen Liliana sat bone straight in the onyx throne, the red skirts of her embellished dress pooling onto the ground like blood. Alethia and Roxana walked the length of the rug, stopping a healthy distance from their mother before curtsying low to the ground.
"As the days shorten, there is much to get done and little time to do it." Queen Liliana patted her black curls, strands of grey peeking through them. The serpent crown sat high on her head. "As a result, I must know that your loyalty is steadfast and that your strength will prevail in the days to come. I have many plans for us, but I cannot stand weakness. You must be strong, my darlings, to face what is coming."
Alethia frowned, futilely searching her mother's expressionless face for clues. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't worry yourself, my dear," Her mother slowly rose from the chair, tilting her head up to look down her nose at her two daughters. "All you have to do is obey."
Queen Liliana raised a hand to the amulet around her neck, the onyx gemstone lodged within it glowing a bright blue as she pulled on her magic reserve. The curtains behind the throne shifted as two figures approached, walking towards the princesses. Alethia gasped as she recognized them.
The prisoner she had killed just yesterday with his head sewn back on with jagged threads and staples circling his dusty grey neck. The brown eyes that had shed tears from the pain were now a marbled white color. His clothing was in shreds, pant legs trailing on the ground as he jerked his legs forward.
The other man was the first man she had ever killed. A guard who had shown her kindness after her first experience with poison. His skin was a dusty grey and pieces of it were missing, instead, soil took its place. The soil dropped in pieces as he moved forward, showing the gaping holes in his cheeks and across his exposed chest. Both men were armed with two silver daggers apiece.
Roxana made a low whimpering sound, causing one of the men to jerk in her direction. Alethia yanked her sword out of its sheath, followed by a dagger, which she forced into her sister's shaky hand. Roxana shook her head, backing away as tears dropped from her eyes.
Alethia knew her sister could use the dagger, but fear was overwhelming her. A flare of annoyance shot through Alethia. Emotions were a weakness they could not spare. Not when their mother would make them fight until the brink of death if she had to.
"Kill them," Queen Liliana commanded, sitting back down to observe the fight. She gripped her gemstone, which glowed in return, and addressed the men. "Now, my little puppets."
The men lunged forward with unexpected quickness. Alethia tightened her hold on her sword as the prisoner from yesterday slashed at her abdomen. She jumped backward. Instantly, her sword whipped towards his head.
She had to end this fast if she wanted to help Roxana.
The prisoner blocked her sword with his dagger. The force of the clash vibrated up her arm. Alethia stepped forward, inching the man back as she reached blindly for the second dagger at her belt.
His left arm moved towards her, a dagger flashing in the air, and catching her off guard. With barely enough time to spare, she spun out of the way and felt the blade slice across her midriff. Blood rushed to her ears as it spilled from the cut on her stomach.
The prisoner gave her no reprieve, lunging with blades dancing in the air. Alethia gritted her teeth as she was forced on the defense, blocking his two daggers, which moved at speeds she struggled to keep up with.
Roxana screamed, and Alethia's heart jumped into her throat as she risked a glance to the side. Roxana was on the ground; her dagger was discarded a couple of feet away from her.
A sharp pain in her arm jolted Alethia back to her own fight. Before she could counter, her sword was hit out of her hand, nearly bending her wrist backward from the impact. Alethia swallowed the grunt of pain that almost erupted as she hastily jumped backward, yanking the last dagger on her belt out of its sheath.
The prisoner ran forward, his arm swinging to impale his weapon into her chest. She ducked low, swiping her feet against his legs. He slammed to the ground, soil jumping out of his open mouth. She gripped his hair, yanking his head up as hard as she could, and ripped it from his neck with a snarl. She threw his head across the room as the body fell to the ground, staying limp.
Alethia approached the man who was gripping her sister by the neck, choking the life out of her. Tears flowed out of her eyes as her face turned blue. Roxana's eyes glowed briefly as she struggled, hands outstretched.
Suddenly the soil from the man's body burst out, hitting Alethia square in the face. She stumbled back in shock. Roxana landed on the body of the man, soil spilling out of it, as she sucked in loud breaths of air. Alethia wiped the dirty soil from her face, pushing the dagger back into her sheath.
A slow clapping drew her attention back to the throne, where her mother watched. "And now, there is one more task ahead of you."
Alethia frowned in confusion. Roxana wrapped her small arms around herself. The green dress she wore was covered in the filth of the dead man—mud and soil. The doors to the throne room opened up, and a person walked in, head covered with a brown cloth bag. They were wearing a servant's uniform: a grey and black dress with black flat shoes. They stopped halfway from the throne, and the doors closed.
Trapped. Alethia was trapped in her mother's schemes. She wanted it to be over. "What do you want us to do?"
"Not us, not this time." Queen Liliana stood from the throne and walked toward Alethia, her heels clicking loudly. "Just you, my dear. I want you to cut her to pieces."
"Her?" Alethia asked, voice trembling slightly. Her mother frowned at the sound of it.
"Have you learned nothing?" The queen's face twisted in anger, and her hand whipped across her daughter's face. The ring on her hand bit into Alethia's cheek, cutting it open. "Don't ask questions. Kill her, or for every moment of hesitation, Roxana will take your punishment as you watch."
Alethia glanced at her sister, who was rocking in place, head bowed into the remnants of the dead body. Alethia walked over to her discarded sword. While putting pressure on the wound across her stomach, she reached down and grasped it. Queen Liliana stood by the hooded person, gripping the cloth bag on their head.
"You want to know who it is?" The queen asked mockingly, "Let me show you."
The queen ripped the bag off to reveal Rebecca. Her freckled face was pale as a ghost, and her eyes were wide enough to see the whites all around.
"Please, Your Majesty," Rebecca began to sob. "I have done nothing. I have served your family for years now. Please, have mercy. Please, princess, have mercy."
"Mercy." The queen started back towards her throne as she tilted her head and let out an empty laugh. "Funny word, isn't it, Alethia?"
"Yes," Alethia said through clenched teeth but made no move to approach Rebecca. Her mother stopped at Roxana's bent form, snatching her up by her slight arm. Roxana flinched and yelped in surprise. The urge to throw a dagger at her mother struck her, and Alethia reached for it.
The queen kept her back turned away from Alethia as she moved forward, dragging Roxana along with her. "Throw it if you dare, Alethia. But we all know, you don't have it in you. Because if you did, you would have done it a long time ago. So, I suggest you start cutting that girl to shreds before your sister pays the price."
Alethia forced out an angry breath at her mother's words. She was right. As she always was, her mother was right. Alethia pressed her hand tighter to her stomach, the pain clearing away the unwanted emotions churning through her.
Mercy is for the weak. Emotions are a distraction. The penalty for weakness is death. I must not be weak.
I must be brutal.
Chanting the words in her head, Alethia approached Rebecca, who began stumbling backward before breaking into a run towards the door. Alethia didn't slow her walking pace or lift up the dangling sword in her hand, it scraped against the ground as she dragged it forward.
If her mother wanted Rebecca dead, then it would happen even if it weren't by Alethia's hands. The mercy was letting it be. Rebecca banged on the door, calling out for help and glanced back at Alethia between each call.
Once she was within arm's reach, Rebecca slid to the ground, shaking her head. Snot dripped out of her nose, sliding over her mouth and mixing in with the tears falling from her eyes. Rebecca pleaded for her life, screaming that she had done nothing wrong. Slowly, the words stopped reaching Alethia as she blocked them out.
A cold blanket of ruthlessness fell over her as it always did in the moments before she killed. Her heart pounded in her ears, but the emotions were gone, and soon, everything would be over.
With a calmness she had never experienced before, Alethia gripped Rebecca's hair, forcing the girl's head to tilt back. Rebecca was the only servant who was willing to talk and listen to her. The only servant who was willing to see to her wounds. The only one who wasn't deathly afraid of her, who could look her in the eyes without flinching. The only person who had been a constant and comforting presence in her life outside of her sister.
Rebecca had been a welcoming sight. Always.
The least Alethia could do was give her a swift death. She looked into Rebecca's teary eyes while drawing her sword across her throat. Rebecca's body thudded to the ground, snapping Alethia out of her trance. She stared down at the servant. The pain radiating from her stomach was no comparison to the pain coming from her chest.
"You little disposable, magicless, wretch," Queen Liliana shouted, drawing Alethia's attention. "I gave you one task. I told you to rip her to shreds. Are you incompetent? Or do you want your sister to suffer? Do you want someone to feel the same pain that you've felt for years? Is that it, girl?"
Alethia flinched at the words, each one stabbing into her chest more times than she could count. "Punish me. But please, leave Roxana alone. I beg of you, mother."
"You beg me?" Her mother's face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You beg to no one. I warned you of the repercussions for defying me. Obedience is loyalty. And loyalty is everything."
The room seemed to shrink in on itself at her mother's words. Roxana struggled to move out of her mother's grasp as she stood from the throne.
"Your sister will receive twenty lashes, and you shall watch as I administer them." The queen yanked the curled-up whip from the belt over her waist and pushed Roxana to the ground. Alethia's chest tightened, and she ran as fast as she could for her sister.
She could take any punishment her mother wanted to give, but she knew Roxana couldn't handle it. Her mother yelled at her, bringing the whip down toward Roxana, who was facing forward, hand outstretched towards the ground.
The porcelain floor began to crack as solid mud slowly rose out of the ground. The whip slammed in the mud, lodging into it as Alethia reached her sister, wrapping her arms around her.
"You foolish girls," her mother scowled, gripping her amulet, leeching magic from it. The ground shook again, throwing Alethia off balance.
Both her and Roxana sprawled out on the shaking floor as mud floated upwards and began to form the shape of daggers. One by one, they shot towards them. Alethia pushed Roxana behind her, and her heart pounded with the knowledge that she was going to die. She was going to die by her own mother's hands.
The anger that she had kept bottled up on the inside for so many years spilled out. She didn't want to die. Not like this, not right now, and not by her hands.
Arms coming up instinctively to shield herself, Alethia felt a powerful rush go through her. It was as if the blood in her veins was never flowing and had just started. A blissful warmth rushed from the pit of her stomach and spread throughout her body. She shut her eyes as the unfamiliar feeling grew unbearably stronger.
The warmth reached burning levels of heat. Alethia's eyes flung open, glowing a bright blue as they latched onto her mother's surprised face. She gasped from the pain of her wounds and the internal burning sensation.
As Alethia fell to the ground, darkness entrapped her.
‡
A/N: HERE'S ROXANA'S AESTHETIC BOARD :)