Dear Diary: Chapter 1

Dear Diary,

Today was the best and worst day of my life. I woke up to quite a lot of people flitting about my room, bringing trays piled high with delicate pastries and fruits, some carried fine silks in every colour, and boxes upon boxes of shoes! So many trinkets laid on every table and damask fabric was draped over the chairs, such glorious chaos! And all for me! Can you imagine?

My pretty little head swam with the movements of the servants and I hadn’t even touched my feet to the floor when two stout women approached me, one on each side. One was plump and kind looking with a shimmer in her eye, the other seemed severe with her hair pulled back sharply which only made her sharp features more drastic. It was the plump one who gently placed my soft slippers on my feet as she looked up at me with a gentle smile when without warning I was yanked to my feet with surprising force by the mean looking lady.

“Will you take some breakfast Darling? We have been told these are your favourites,” Ms. Plump asked.

“Tillie! Stop fussing over the girl of course she’s going to eat. This day will be long enough as it is without her fainting from hunger,” Ms. Mean explained as she pulled me by the hand and sat me down at a small table that had been set up in the middle of the room.

Looking around my room I noticed we were alone. When had the servants left? I hadn’t even noticed but then again I hadn’t noticed them come in either. Ms. Plump...umm I mean Tillie had gone to fix my plate though I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the only thing I wanted was a cup of tea and my warm bed. What was all this fuss about anyway, I hadn’t been informed of any parties or visiting nobility and I was sure it wasn’t my parents coming to see me. I hadn’t seen them since two Yuletides ago afterall, what was the point? I had been born a disappointment to them and ruined their hopes and dreams of an heir, girls are second rate citizens in this land. I shivered from head to toe suddenly freezing. Damn drafty castle.Tillie had come back to the table with a plate piled as high as my head and noticed my chill.

“Delphine, this child has caught a chill. She’s shivering so severely that her tooth chattering will wake everyone from here to Highmere if we don’t soon get her warmed up,” Tillie said as she moved to fetch me a blanket.

“We haven’t time for that, there’s too much to do as it is. Princess Aurienne, eat quickly we must go.”

I had no idea how I was supposed to eat this much food so quickly, not that I was very hungry anyway, so I chose one small pastry that looked enticing and a handful of berries and began to eat as quickly as I could. Before I could pop the last of the berries I had taken into my mouth I was being dragged from my place once again, out of my room and down the long hallway in nothing but my thin nightgown and slippers and only my thick black hair to defend me against the drafts. We stopped in front of the doors to the ballroom and Delphine turned around to take in my appearance and grumbled that I’d have to do. She took in a sharp breath and pushed the double doors open. As I stepped past her with Tillie close on my heels I saw only one person standing in the middle of the room with his back to me. He seemed taller than me with hair as dark as my own and his head turned towards me a little as he heard me approach, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a devilish grin. I stopped several paces away from him still not knowing what to expect or who this stranger was and he stayed there completely still for what felt like eternity. I turned to look for Tillie or even Delphine for an explanation or so I would feel less alone and vulnerable but they were no longer there.

“Did you like the gifts I sent you,” the dark stranger asked.

“Which gifts,” I asked, rubbing my arms against the cold.

“I have sent you many. Did you not notice the swaths of fabric for dresses and the trinkets by the hundreds? If not those material items you surely must have noticed your new servants, I’ve never known Delphine to be discreet,” he chuckled softly, finally turning to meet my gaze.

“You were the one responsible?” I asked rubbing my now sore shoulder. “She almost yanked my arm right out of the socket.”

He growled low in his throat, his dark eyes flashed in anger. “I’ll have her punished for harming you!”

“Why be so concerned about someone you’ve never met? I’m fine.”

“Even so, she should not be so careless. And you’re shivering! Those two couldn’t have spared a moment to wrap you in a cloak,” he asked as he unfastened the one he was wearing to wrap it around me. “Better?”

“Much, thank you. For the record, Tillie was going to but Delph-” I said stopping mid sentence.

“I’ll deal with them later. You must be very confused, I have been very rude and haven’t introduced myself, I’m King Cole of Stormgate. I’ve come to make you my bride and Queen of Stormgate, there’s only one thing you need to do. Die.”

As predicted, Dear Diary, I promptly fainted.

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When I regained consciousness I was back in my room. It must have been a dream! That will teach me to stop reading fanciful stories before bed. I took my time sitting up and pulled the bed curtains back when I saw Tillie sitting in the chair beside me.

“Oh! You’ve given us quite the fright dear one. How are you feeling now?” she asked.

I screamed and jolted out of bed in a frantic attempt to reach the door but crashed into Delphine before I was successful. She grasped me by my arms to hold me in place and I felt Tillie’s gentle presence behind me as she stroked my long hair.

“Come now my Darling, I promise that what Cole offers you isn’t so scary. Delphine and I practically raised him as a boy after his parents died, he’s really very sweet. He didn’t mean to frighten you.”

As if they had summoned him, he materialized in the doorway and I strained against Delphine still with no luck of escaping her.

“I’m only 17 years old! I don’t want to die, you can’t just go around breaking into people’s castles and kill them,” I sobbed. “I have parents! They’ll know something is wrong and come after me.”

Cole stepped into my field of vision and replaced Delphine. He placed one hand on my arm but no where near as roughly as I was being held before, the other hand moved to my face to gently wipe away my tears then tilted my chin up to look at him.

“Aurienne,” -he whispered softly- “please forgive me for scaring you. You deserve so much more than parents who have cast you aside only to visit you when they must. I have seen you crying when they abandon you and how lonely and mistreated you are here with only a handful of servants to care for you. I would cherish you and see you exalted above all. I wish to love you and see you be happy for all eternity.”

“You said I had to die,” I spat. “That’s not love, that’s no better than the way my parents treat me now, I could die for all they care.”

“My Sweet, you didn’t allow me to finish explaining before you lost consciousness which is of course my fault for not thinking of the way you would have interpreted what I said. Yes, you must die but it is not real death. The effects are temporary and the benefits far outweigh the cost. Believe me, I have every intention of putting those delinquent humans you call parents to death for their treatment of you so that you need never be concerned with them again. It will be up to you how much mercy I grant them though I would give them none. I would be happy to see them thrown into a nest of fire ants covered in honey so they would be consumed alive.”

The thought of my parents being gnawed at like that piqued my interest for a moment but I quickly pushed it aside. I looked into Cole’s eyes and saw no malice, only two lovely onyx orbs and genuine concern on his face. He could transform this lonely life I lived or at least that’s what he claimed, would that really be so bad? To let this version of Aurienne die to be reborn as the Queen of a foreign land with a strong and caring King by my side? I could certainly do worse.

“Alright. How is it done?”

“Aurienne are you sure? I know this is a lot to consider,” Cole said.

“Yes I’m sure. I know we’ve only just met but I have felt more cared for by you, Tillie, and Delphine in one morning than I ever have my entire life. We have forever to get to know each other don’t we?”

“Yes of course we do!” Tillie exclaimed.

Cole lifted me off the ground to spin me in circles that made me giggle and my hair and nightgown flew out behind me. When he set me down he bent down to kiss my still laughing mouth.

“Since we’re going to spend eternity together I thought we should get that out of the way, don’t you? Maybe the ladies can help you get dressed before we do this, I’ve taken the liberty of adding some dresses to your wardrobe for you to choose from. There’s a potion you must drink that I need to add a drop of both of our blood to. I’m afraid to say there may be some discomfort during the transition but after that it will be like falling asleep and when you wake you will have more power than you could have ever hoped for.”

Power. Something I had never had before and never knew I could but now that it was within my grasp it was all I could think of. Away with tiny, powerless Princess Aurienne and in with a glorious, powerful...what? I suppose I was going to find out. I chose a black gown, it was my funeral afterall, and Tillie gently brushed out my hair and settled me into bed. My heart was racing for the last time and for half a minute I mourned my life. Then there was a knock at the door. Cole opened it after he was assured by Delphine that I was decent and took several long strides to my bedside. He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips.

“A little dramatic don’t you think?”

“Hey let a girl die how she likes,” I joked.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded my assent so my bitchy little voice wouldn’t betray me last minute and Cole brandished a small dagger and a vial with green liquid in it. He quickly pricked his finger first and collected a drop of his blood in the vial then turned my hand up and leaned forward to kiss me again. When he pulled back I noticed a small red gem on my finger that he squeezed into the container with his. He swirled it quickly and handed it to me.

“Alright, drink it all quickly please. I’ll be right here, we won’t leave you,” Cole said

Tillie came to sit on the bed with me and Delphine took her post beside the bed. I paused only a moment before I uncorked the potion and placed the bottle against my lips as I caught the sight of my reflection in the mirror. A girl, unwanted no more, brave in the face of actual death. With that I tipped it up and consumed it’s contents. I did it! I simultaneously ended my life and began a new one in the same action.

“How do you feel darling? Why don’t you lay back it won’t be long now,” Tillie said

“I’m fine, I don’t feel anything. How will I know when it’s work-”

“Aurienne!”

All of my veins seemed to be on fire at once and my body went completely stiff before I fainted for the second time that day.

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If there was anything in the darkness before I regained consciousness I wasn’t aware of it though before I could open my eyes I heard Cole pacing in the hallway and the sound of Delphine tapping a pen rapidly against my desk. I knew Tillie was still on the bed with me, her warm hand was solid against mine. The lights were too bright even with my eyes closed so I thought about turning them off and suddenly it was dark. Way better. Cole’s footsteps hurried towards me and I jerked awake. He grabbed my face looking probingly into my eyes and I swatted him away.

“I’m ok, it’s fine. The lights were so bright.”

“How did you know what I was going to ask you,” Cole demanded.

“Because I could hear you, you’re really loud you know.”

“I hadn’t said anything. And you turned the lights out.”

“How could I have turned the lights out? I haven’t moved. They were bugging me, I thought one of you turned them off,” I said.

“It must be your powers,” Tillie said

“Powers? I thought when you said power you meant I’d have muscles or command over Stormgate or something.”

“You will have command over Stormgate, as for muscles, let’s test it. Tackle me.”

“Cole, she’s newly changed. Surely we should wait at least until we get back home,” Delphine said.

He stopped her with a gesture and lowered his eyes and grinned, then motioned me forward. I got to my feet and without thinking launched myself across the room with ease, I even got a look at myself in the mirror on the way through. I was lovely before but I am stunning now. My eyes are the same colour green as the potion that gave me these newfound powers. Before I could blink I collided hard with Cole knocking us both to the ground and I heard Tillie cackling in the background. Standing quickly I brushed myself off while Cole stared up at me from my bedroom floor. He got to his feet slowly, his whole face was lit up and he was beaming.

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re fit to travel, don’t you agree my Queen? I have had the ladies pack your things and if you’re ready I was hoping to make it to Stormgate by nightfall. I’m sure the rest of your powers will manifest soon.”

“Yes. I’m ready to leave this behind,”

I looked around at the only home I’ve ever known but it didn’t look like mine anymore.  I didn’t leave my parents a note, to them I was born dead, I had just corrected the mistake. I embraced the few servants who had been my constant companions as I crossed the threshold into the open air. Now I’m Queen, Dear Diary. And free.