It was a field of dark, the stars the only thing above her as she stood in an empty plane of existence devoid of the trappings that earth and home would comfort her with as she stood bare to the existence on whatever ethereal plane she now resided in. Against the stars of space she felt she could hide nothing, not the most dark thoughts of her mind or the petty secrets she kept from those she loved. Only her chestnut eyes shown bright against the darkness she stood, a reflection of the stars above as she gazed around at the oblivion that was before her. Soon she would realize the coldness of her flesh as she grasped on to her own arms as if to comfort herself in her lonely existence. Searching, her eyes prayed for a salvation from the dark, but all she could find was the terror of this place, the fear such a local should be so devoid of all that was good in the world.
As she stood there she shivered, surely this was Beo’s punishment to a girl whom only knew wealth and comfort while others suffered, an eternity exiled to the emptiness of space where she would go mad under the pressure of solitude. But as she came to her senses she began to feel as if only this all was but a passing thought, a premonition into the recesses of space that had been brought to her. As she regained the fortitude that was her birthright, she lowered her arms, revealing herself to this dark void in boldness. It was only then that the world around her revealed itself, though still dark in the shadows and greyscale of such a devoid place, she could see the black grass blades as she walked on, they felt much like they did at home.
Though empty the silence of this place gave but the faintest cries for help. People crying for salvation from this sorrow and darkness. The thought of their suffering was heavy on her heart as she walked around, the voices around her like they were a mob, yet she still saw nothing but the grass under her feet.
For what seemed countless moments she wandered, her footsteps seemed unnatural as existence moved around her at commend but her body stayed tied to a single point in space. Never the less she searched the void for why she was there, and only when she held onto the last strings of the hope she previously had gained did she find the centerpiece of it all.
A tree stood before her, a large oak sprawling around the field without barrier, the lord of the void as it towered over darkness with only the stars to answer to. Its leaves shown a deep and glowing violet, they radiated the energy of its lifeforces as she approached it. The closer she neared the more her skin and golden hair radiated as well. The presence of this lord felt warming and comforting to her, a comfort that felt a lifetime away since she came to this place. As soon as she could she reached out to the trunk of this great oak, her radiant white hand pressing against its warm and ethereal bark as she let out a gasp of air. But as soon as she touched it, the tree withered.
Her cries could be heard across the void as the shreddings of the tree began to float towards space, like smoke from a fire it drifted out of reach and existence. Soon she stood alone once more, cold and afraid as if she were a little girl without home and no salvation to call to. But as she sank to her knees in sorrow, she felt a presence behind her, a hand reaching out from the void that graced her bare shoulder. Startled she turned, her lungs gasping for air as she fought the fear that overtook her. But as her eyes focused, she saw no danger. It was only another girl, no older than she standing above her, just as bare to existence as she was. Her eyes were glowing a magnificent green and hair was like fire as it floated around her.
Looking up at this girl she tried to ask questions, though the words seemed empty and without air. The girl only shook her head and smiled at her brightly. And just as if her smile woke the stars, the light around the two girls turned into a fire, and as she turned to look where the tree once stood she witnessed a magnificent cyan sun blazing amongst the heavens. She was in aw by this star that suddenly appeared, it was a celestial body that gave her hope of home. Yet as the fiery girl kept her hand on her shoulder she felt a squeeze, and then the cyan began to give way to another body.
It was an eclipse like none other she had seen, the cyan sun was crested by something more magnificent and beautiful, a powerful violet shining orb crossed over the cyan gradually. It was producing a magnificent show of lights that was as violent as it was beautiful. Soon the cyan was no more as the violet sun stood before it, unyielding it stopped its transition in front of the cyan sun and did not allow it to return.
While she was sad the beautiful cyan was no more, a tear of sorrow rolling down her cheek in its memory, the violet star was so beautiful she was entrapped by it. But before she was lost in the star’s beauty the girl behind her pulled her should and leaned in to her ear, the warmth of her face against her’s was sensual as her skin prickled with a wave of goosebumps. Her heart raced as she wondered what the girl wanted with her, what this all meant. The girl did not keep her waiting, instead the warmth of her breath was like a breeze over her cheek as the girl gave her the first words she had heard since arriving in this void.
“Break…. Not bend.” She said with a warm whisper.
It was then in her hand appeared a knife, a blade of violet alloys curved like the waves of the sea. The girl plunged it into the other’s heart, and the void disappeared as fast as her death.
---
January-
Trinity shot up in her bed, her body covered in glistening sweat as she gasped for the air that had left her in so sudden a moment. She grasped her chest, heaving and struggling for air so violently the sound of her breath echoed around the room.
A knock came at the door.
“Milady is everything alright?” It cracked open enough for her handmaiden to address her concern for the Duchesses’ gasping.
Trinity covered her breasts with her duvet as she continued to hyperventilate, her mouth was like cotton and skin damp but she tried to gain composure while she sat up trembling in her own chamber.
“Y..y…yes. I’m fine.” She managed to finally get the words out, her tone and heavy breathing doing everything to the contrary of what she said.
The sense of doubt from her handmaid on the other side of the cracked door needed no verbal confirmation, but there was no danger so Trinity knew she would move along soon enough.
“Oh… of course Milady.” The handmaiden seemed deeply confused, and rightfully so at the Duchesses’ behavior. “Milady, your father, the Prince wonders when you will be down for breakfast.”
Still trying to catch her breath Trinity shook her head, her blonde hair felt sticky to her back as the heat radiated off of her.
“Oh uh… what time is it?”
“Half past seven o’clock milady.”
“Oh… good.” She hadn’t overslept as much as she had thought, the deep dream filled sleep tampered with her senses. “I will be down shortly, that will be all.”
“Indeed Milady.” The door moved to close, but just as the lock nearly clicked it came back open. “I also posted the SignPost of your trip to Levosta yesterday. SignPost seems to be really liking it, you have over a thousand likes!”
Trinity took a long deep breath to try and regulate her breathing. As it all came back to her she recalled her trip to the children’s home the day before. Though she had put on a brave face of the Duchess of Avondale she had wept on the way home. She could see the empty expressions and soulless eyes of the children of Ackesia’s poverty. A sorrowful sight and a product of modern woes, Trinity only wishes she could do more than give them a gift of coin. But instead she was regulated to being a poster child for her father’s Principality, the sweet smiling and beautiful Duchess of Avondale, third in line for the throne of a fledgling and irreverent principality that wishes it were still the great kingdom it once was. Her handmaiden’s mention of SignPost also bringing back the renewed frustration that her social media and connection to the outside world was never under her control, the servants under special instructions by her father to control every aspect of her online persona.
It was all just a ruse, she was just a pretty face and distraction from the hell this country had become. Someone in the crowd told her once when she was a young girl that she was just the heir to a bloodthirsty tyrant, that the royals should fade from this nation entirely and leave even Avondale- the cultural epicenter of the Ackesian people- free from their presence. But as Trinity grew older, she learned that even the detractors of the former monarchy who ran this country had little regard for how they drove it into the ground. President Ackerman who had been elected and reelected, his influence spreading to all aspects of government, was no better than a tyrannical King.
But the words of that stranger in the crowd still haunted her, no matter how much her father tried to tell her that her grandfather, the last King of Ackesia, was misunderstood. It didn’t matter to those children who was ruling over them, the fact was that their rulers had failed them in every way.
“Milady?...” The handmaiden’s tone one of confusion from the long silence.
“That will be all Yuliya.” Her tongue gave a more terse snap than she had intended.
The door closed quietly without a word. Trinity buried her head in her pillow fully intending to drown the day away with more sleep. But her thoughts returned to the strange dream, and of the pain in her heart as she felt around the skin of her chest.
“Just a dream…” She reassured herself before rising to prepare for the day.
---
“The death toll of the Beldon protests rises to 23 this morning as officials at the St. Klara Memorial Hospital in Beldon confirm that two more protesters succumb to their wounds last night. This makes the clash in the streets of Beldon between recession protesters and Capital Police the most bloody protest since the formation of the Greater Ackesian Republic over 30 years ago. Still no official respon…”
The television returned to darkness as the Prince of Avondale, Deon the XI clicked a button on the remote.
“Good morning Trilly.” The Prince used his pet name for his only daughter, a name he had used with her since she was but an infant in his arms.
“Good morning father.” Trinity stood in the doorway to the private breakfast room staring at the black TV screen.
Her father sighed and scrapped his knife across the flesh of his steak as it clanked against the porcelain of his plate.
“Did you sleep poorly dear?” He lifted a bit of meat to his lips before consuming it, staring at his befuddled daughter as she stared on with empty expression at the TV.
Trinity was lost in thought, not responding to her father’s small talk.
“You look lovely my dear.” He remarked at his daughter’s red plaid dress and neatly manicured exterior. “You looked very nice yesterday at the Children’s home as well.”
“Did I?” Her tone was less a question and more an expression of doubt as she finally took a seat next to her father at the table, quietly letting the servant scoot her chair forward as she looked uninterest at her father’s food.
Her father looked her up and down, thinking about how they warned him 17 years ago he was not ready for a daughter. Sons were easy, two-dimensional even with their eagerness to please him. But not Trinity, always as complex as the world around her, a puzzle even to the man who knew her the longest.
“You did well in what you did. Those children will have a better life with the grant money.” He tried to reassure the troubled conscious of his daughter.
“Better… its relative.” She looked at him in the eyes for the first time that morning.
“You are of the House of Avondale my dear. Charity is our way of looking after our people… it is the only way we can look after our people. We are not the rulers of this land as we once were, we are just the Princes of Avondale, a small section of this land we call home. That is what the people desired 30 years ago.”
He took another bite of his steak as he prayed silently that would put an end to his daughter’s melancholy.
Trinity thought over the events that happened well before she was even a thought in her parent’s mind. The people wanted answers, and her bloodline failed them, and now the people’s government fails them again. Who is really the evil then if neither salvation could truly save Ackesia? She looked at her father, who could only stare at her in that moment. Prince Henry was second in line to rule over Ackesia before the war. But his brother’s actions saw him banished from their country and the monarchy ruined. Trinity often thought if her father had been first in line or the only son of her grandfather that things may be different for their country. But right now, in this moment she felt how much he wanted to see her smile, and not be troubled by past events well before her birth, the troubled legacy of their family.
Trinity gave him what he wanted, a warm and loving smile from a loving daughter.
“I’m sorry father… you’re right I didn’t sleep very well.” She turned in her seat and thanked the servant for her plate of food.
“Well I’m glad you are snapping out of it Trilly.” Her father scarfed down the rest of his food. “Eat up, your brothers and mother are gone today to the east, and you and I have some time to spend together after I have a meeting this morning.
Trinity smiled at the idea of spending the day with her father, something she did not get to do much as times became more troubled in Ackesia. Her father may be one for talk about how they are no longer monarchs of this great nation, but she knew that he still met with advisors and politicians frequently to try and affect some sort of change from behind the scenes… for the people who would wish they not be his subjects he still cared very deeply.
“Is it a meeting about Beldon.” She asked pointedly.
Her father who was nearly out the door sighed and lowered his shoulders in defeat to his daughter’s wit.
“Don’t trouble yourself with the evil of this world Trilly… just be the light it needs.” He walked over and planted a kiss on her forehead before disappearing to his impending meeting.
Light and darkness… what was any of it but shades of grey.
