Family Reunion

   Elizabeth awoke to find herself in her old bedroom. She hated this room, she’d prayed she would never have to see it again.

  But like all her prayers it seemed the gods weren’t listening to them or they just didn’t care.

  The last thing she’d remember was the smell of smoke before everything went black.

  Her mind was fuzzy, she remembered a knock on the door and then…

  “Oh, no, no, no. Rei!” 

  There was a fire. Elaine had started a fire, just as they were leaving. She’d said that the cottage was an eye sore, and it would be best to just burn it down.

  When she’d protested, Elaine struck her in the back of the head.

  She felt as though she couldn’t breathe, as if the air in her lungs had expanded and she was being drowned in her own air.

  A knock on her bedroom door sent her hiding under her covers, she couldn’t bring herself to move, only to watch as the door nob turned.

  The door opened to reveal a small girl in a maid outfit. “Sorry if I’ve disturbed you your highness his majesty has requested your presence in the rose garden. He’s instructed me to help you get dressed and to make sure you find your way there, without delay.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  The girls retrieved a small dagger. “His majesty has instructed me to cut one of my fingers off, if you refuse again I am to cut another, and if you refuse a third time…”

  “I understand, can you please let me get changed alone?”

  “I can, however if you leave this room without my supervision, I am to take my own life.”

  Elizabeth had known her brother was cruel but she’d never expect he’d go this far to ensure she wouldn’t try to escape.

  “I’ll be ready in just a moment.”

  The palace was even more horrible than she’d imagined. Everywhere she looked was a disgusting display of her brother’s mad obsession with what he considered to be beautiful.

  When they were children, their father had gifted them a beautiful griffin as a pet. Midas convinced our father that the griffin was so beautiful, he’d be better off being turned to gold so that its beauty would be eternal.

  She arrived at the rose garden to find Midas sitting in their favorite spot when they were kids.

  When he saw her, he looked neither delighted nor appalled.

  He just looked how he always had. It was the same look she’d see in her mirror everyday when she left.

  “It’s been too long, sister.”

  “Why?”

  Midas didn’t need to ask what she’d mean. The two had always been able to communicate without words.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  “Don’t lie to me!”

  Elizabeth was on the break of collapsing. All her life she’d tried to escape her family.

  And now the one placed she’d found freedom and the one person she’d found love with where now nothing but ashes.

  Just as Maximus had, said. Midas had taken everything from her, all for his own amusement.

  “I’m not lying, ever since you left me, I’ve felt empty. Like I was missing something.”

  Elizabeth wasn’t listening her mind was stuck repeating the events of how she’d lost Rei.

  “I search for you, I knew you were somewhere in the forest. You could have gone anywhere in Arion and yet you chose the forest, right outside Dulciena.”

  Midas stood up and began moving closer to her.

  “You don’t know how happy I was to hear your name, when Maximus’s first arrived. The joy I felt, knowing that soon we’d be united again!”

  “I hate you! Mother may not be able to say it but your a monster! I prayed for you to die every day since I left. I prayed that If I were to ever see you again it would be to piss on your grave! I prayed…”

  Midas silenced Elizabeth with a slap to the face.

  He’d never hit her before, if he wished for her to be hurt when they were children, he’d have Elaine do it.

  “It seems, I’ll need to teach you some manners, living in the wild has turned you into a fucking animal.”

  “I told you she’s changed, when she was younger she’d shut the fuck up and do as she was told.”

  “It’s your father’s doing, he was always to easy on her. Now look at what’s become of her.”

  Elizabeth turned to see Elaine and her mother entering the rose garden.

  “Don’t be so hard on her, Aunt Harriet. After all she just lost a little stray.”

  “What little stray?! She’s not doing that again, is she?!?

  “I’m afraid so Aunt Harriet, I took care of it myself.”

  “You bitch! I’ll…”

  Before she could finish, Elaine punched her in the stomach so hard she threw up.

  “Whoops, looks like I hit her too hard.”

  “If you ask me, I don’t think you hit her hard enough.”

  “Oh, Aunt Harriet.”

  “That’s enough.”

  Pamela had entered the Rose garden wearing the same clothes she’d worn for the last few days.

  “Aw, leave it to my no fun big sis to ruin all the fun.”

  “Greetings Pamela, how nice of you to join us for our little family reunion.”

  “I don’t care for your glorified torture sessions, but if you don’t want her dying I suggest you stop hitting her.”

  Pamela eyed Midas, despite her size and stature, she was one of the oldest member of the Dulciena‘s royal family besides her father and aunt.

  Not only that, but she was the palace’s royal healer, and held much power over the kingdom.

  “Very well Pamela, take Elizabeth to your chambers and make sure she’s not too damaged.”

  Elizabeth looked at Pamela, because of their age gap and Pamela’s duties as royal healer, the two almost never interacted.

  She still hated her for siding with Midas after their father had died, though she’d never really felt  any particular way about her personally.

  Pamela led Elizabeth to her healer’s chambers, because of Midas and Elaine she’d spent a lot of time there as a child though not once did she remember Pamela ever speaking to her.

  Now was certainly no different. Pamela poured a fluid on her chest and spoke a short incantation that made the pain in her stomach cease.

  She wished Pamela could heal the pain she felt in heart just as easily. However that was a pain that no healer could fix.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to Rei.”

  Elizabeth was shocked to hear Pamela speak to her.

  “You knew her?”

  “For a short while, she was cute.”

  In that moment Elizabeth had felt a genuine connection with another family member who wasn’t her father.

  “Can you tell me about?”

  Pamela looked a but confused. “Like I said, I only knew for a short while, she called me Pam and I called her cutie.”

  Elizabeth face turn red, she didn’t even know her face could still do that.

  Hearing someone else call Rei cute, let alone her older cousin made her feel uncomfortable.

  “You two weren’t…”

  “What?”

  “Never mind, just forget it.”

  Pamela was silent for a moment before she realized what Elizabeth had been trying to ask her, then she burst out laughing, it was the first time Elizabeth had ever seen or heard her laugh.

  “Stop laughing! It was a just a question!”