STRUVLAND
Chapter 6
The Half-Breed
Alessandra
I groan in pain as we sit down for lunch later that day. Prince Oliver looks at me with concern as he takes a bite of steak. I whimper as the pain increases for a moment before decreasing. I cradle my stomach with my arms.
"Are you alright? Do you feel sick? How bad is it?" Prince Oliver asks, worry coating his every word. I ignore him and lock eyes with the elf servant from before.
What was her name? Penny? Penelope? Penelope, that's right.
"Penelope, I'm afraid I do not feel well, it's my Ara cycle. Do you think you could help me to my room? I'll have my meal in there for now." I ask. Penelope nods and grabs my elbow to help me out of my chair. She gestures for two other servants to grab my food while she helps me out of the dining room and down the hall to my room, ignoring Prince Oliver's worried questions about my well-being. She helps me sit up on my bed while the other two servants put my food on a tray and put it on my lap before leaving quietly. I groan in pain once again.
"Do you have a rag? Do you need any pain medicine? I can get someone to bring a healer if needed." Penelope says, hovering over the bed next to me, her hands clasped together in front of her.
"I have some medicine, it's on my vanity over there," I inform, gesturing towards the vanity across the room. Penelope grabs the medicine and hands it to me. I open the vial and drink a few drops of the liquid before closing it and handing it back to Penelope. She places it back on the vanity table and comes back to my side.
Her kindness almost makes up for the fact that she is an elf.
After a few minutes, my pain subsides and I have finished my meal. I asked Penelope if she can get someone to help me get dressed to go outside and she accepted, as she should. She leaves the room as I get up from my bed that is covered in soft plum-colored silk sheets while a white wolf fur blanket sits on top of them. I put on my light blue silk slippers and wait for the other servants to enter. A few seconds later, and they finally enter with a tiny little half-elf child trailing behind them. I furrow my eyebrows at the little girl.
"Why is this child here? I have never seen her before." I question, gesturing to the child. She looks at me with her big chestnut brown eyes and matching shoulder-length wavy hair. A servant gestures for me to sit down in the chair in front of my vanity. I do as told and await a response.
"Her name is Mei, she was abandoned by her human father a few weeks ago, he said that he and her elf mother didn't want such an 'abomination' living with them and eating their food. Queen Adelina is allowing her to work for the royal family as a maid until she is grown and has enough money to do something else with her life or is adopted. She can't be more than six, I can't believe someone could do this to their own flesh and blood." The servant says, brushing my hair. The servant next to her hums in agreement while she picks out a cloak and boots for me. I look at Mei through the mirror's reflection. She meets my eyes through the reflection and smiles brightly, her two front teeth missing. I let a soft smile spread across my lips as she pets Ysabel.
Once my hair is brushed, the servant lets Mei help braid my hair. She works quietly and carefully on my hair, her chubby fingers doing the movements easily like she has done it before. When she finishes, the servant congratulates her on her work, Mei giggles in joy at this. I turn in my seat to face her.
"Would you like to come outside with me, darling?" I ask, my voice gentle. Mei tucks a piece of hair behind her slightly pointed ear.
"Yes, Your Highness, but only if you want me to." She responds, clasping her hands together. I turn to the servant from before.
"Grab her some nice clothes for her to go outdoors with me, please. If there aren't any around, go to the city and buy some." I say. The servant nods.
"Queen Adelina has some clothes left here from when the triplets were younger that she can wear, I'll go grab them." The servant responds with a polite smile. She left the room while the other servant helped me put on my black boots, plum-colored velvet cloak, and matching gloves. Then, the servant comes back with a beautiful crimson dress with a matching cloak and gloves. Mei gasps at the beautiful clothes. I stand next to her as I wait for the servant to dress her. Mei squeals in delight and twirls around in the dress, the servants giggle with Alessandra at the sight. They put on her cloak and gloves then we make our way outside, passing Prince Oliver on our way out. He lightly grabs my forearm, I furrow my eyebrows at him.
"Are you well?" He asks.
"Yes, I took some medicine and now I feel fine. This is Mei, we are going outside if you'd like to join." I offer, he lets go of my arm and runs a hand through his hair.
"Of course, let me just get ready, you can go ahead." He responds before walking away. I grab Mei's tiny hand and we open the door to the outside. A gust of freezing cold wind blows in both of our faces. I close the door and Mei lets go of my hand to run in the snow a few feet away. I follow her and she throws snow at me. I gasp in shock while she laughs in pure joy. I scoop some snow off the ground and gently throw it at her in retaliation.
We continue this for a few minutes when Prince Oliver arrives outside in his all-black ensemble, excluding his white long-sleeved button-up. He jogs over, his black cloak gliding across the snow. He locks eyes with me, his honey-colored eyes shine beautifully, along with his golden skin, in the sunlight. Mei runs up to him and tugs on his cloak, breaking our eye contact. He smiles at her and bends down to her level.
"Your Highness, will you make a snowman with me?" She asks, excitement evident in her voice. Prince Oliver breaks out into a huge grin.
"Of course, dear." He responds, helping her scoop up snow and form it into a ball. I kneel on the ground next to them and help, a warm smile spread across my lips.
I haven't felt this carefree in a while, I wonder how long this will last before I have to murder him. How long before The Red Eyes find us and allow me time to kill him without consequence? There is no way I could do it here, with all of these guards and servants.
I shoot a glance at the two male guards standing by the door to the house, their presence almost invisible to me earlier. Hopefully, everything falls into place at the end.
I wince at the sour taste of vomit, a few drops of pain medicine wasn't enough for the pain for longer than three hours it seems. I get off my hands and knees while Penelope lets go of my hair. She picks up the bucket to throw it out as I wipe vomit off my chin and mouth. Penelope comes back and hands me a cup of water, I sip from it and sit down on the edge of my bed. Penelope clasps her hands together.
"I heard you were outside with the half-breed, I thought you despised elves," Penelope says, her nose wrinkling at the thought of Mei.
"She's a child and a half-elf, not a full one. Why do you elves hate half-elves so much? They're not too different from you."
"So, if it's a child you accept it but if it's an adult you despise it? Not all elves hate half-breeds but some, including me, believe they never should've existed. Mixing a human and an elf together is disgusting and in most cases, the parents will either abandon the half-breed or sell them to wealthy nobles looking for something to show off like they're a pet."
"But, they're just children, how could you be so cruel?"
"Elves were all children once, yet your father still executes them frequently and you still treat them like garbage. I don't even want to wonder what your father does to elf babies." Penelope responds, crossing her arms. I hold the cup in my lap.
"I guess I never thought of it like that before, my father always told me that elves disrupt the balance in our lives and that by executing them, he is creating balance," I whisper, my heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach.
"Your father is wrong."