Orphan

IV- Deep Blue Eyes

At the Castle, King Medwin and Queen Cassandra were livid. The next morning when it was time for breakfast, their daughter wasn't there. Sensing something was wrong, the King and Queen hurried to the Princess's bedchamber, servants following them. Medwin opened the door after ordering the servants to remain outside.

Their daughter's dress and circlet were on her unmade bed. A beam of sunlight streamed through the bedchamber window, illuminating strands of red hair which were all over the stone floor.

The Queen bristled as she surveyed the mess. “What shall we do?” she whispered to her husband.

Medwin didn't respond for a few moments. He examined their daughter's bedchamber carefully, but his dark brown eyes were too clouded with the past. He saw a female infant with dark red fuzz upon her head. An infant whose eyes were as silver as the full moon. Cursed eyes.

Their child was a sign of bad fortune. No one in the whole Royal line had ever had silver eyes. It was not widely known, but the King and Queen had ancient written accounts that spoke of this. According to legend, a Royal child born with silver eyes was a sign that something catastrophic would occur as it grew older. They could not simply dispose of the child, because her birth was a highly publicized event in Felinia. Also, Royal tradition dictated that only the first born of the King and Queen would rule Felinia when the heir grew older.

Thus, out of fear for the land they ruled over, Medwin and Cassandra did their best to break their daughter's spirit at all costs. They believed she had a demon within her, and that it could be beaten out of her. But she proved to be a resilient youth, no matter how they treated her. And now she was gone, off to bring misfortune to all of Felinia. The ancient accounts must be true.

“Medwin? What are we going to do?” the Queen repeated.

Finally, Medwin said, “Of course we're going to find her.” He swept from the Princess's bedchamber to summon the guards. After they assembled in front of their King, Medwin said, “I want all of you to put together your best men to send to all parts of Felinia. Old Felinia, New Felinia, everywhere! She is not going far!”

--x--

In New Felinia, a pair of deep blue eyes was drinking in the lush illustrations of a Felinian history book. The images of the heroes and heroines of the Great Wars were beautiful to the beholder.

Hakkana Ember snapped to attention when her history teacher Lady Jacobsen entered the room. Class was about to start. Hakkana was really going to try to concentrate this time— Seraph was worried about her performance in school.

Unfortunately, as soon as her teacher opened her mouth to speak, Hakkana sunk into a stupor. Instead of listening, she looked around the classroom. The stone basement room was simply furnished, with a giant flag emblazoned with the Royal Emblem tucked in the corner. The tiny wooden desks were hardly big enough for the sixteen-year-olds that occupied them. The names and dates scribbled on the blackboard were supposed to be copied down. Hakkana looked down at the doodles she had made on her parchment. She sighed and scratched at her itchy dress.

Finally, the bell clanged, signaling the end of school. Hakkana exited her classroom and trudged through the halls in the basement of the small Whoburn castle, which had been converted into a secondary school. The students loitered in the halls, a sea of light purple. The Royal colors looked handsome on the teenagers, though Hakkana disliked the fact that they were required to dress the same.

After school, the tall teen walked from the castle to the cottage she shared with her legal guardian Seraph Avalon, her thin shoes stepping on the unpaved roads. Her long, jet-black braid waved in the breeze as she walked. It took her about a half-hour.

When she arrived, she noticed that Seraph wasn't back yet from her teaching job, so she headed to her also simply furnished room and tried to start her homework. She found that staring at the illustrations was more entertaining than studying for a test.

A few hours later, the sound of a horse-drawn carriage wafted through the windows to her yellow and red ears.

“I'm home!” called out Seraph's warm voice. “Can you help me with these groceries, Kana?”

Hakkana greeted her guardian and helped her with the heavy sacks of food. As she helped, Seraph collapsed into a carved wooden chair at the kitchen table, and mumbled, “I'm so tired...”

“How was your day?”

“It was good,” said Seraph, “It's just that the children can be so rowdy sometimes.”

Hakkana nodded, and let Seraph rest for a while before helping prepare their meager supper. Hakkana was a terrible cook, but she found that she was good at making pies and cakes, so that was what she made for dessert.

As they ate at the small scrubbed table, Hakkana told Seraph about how her friends at school were doing, and how she was enjoying her Reading and Writing class. Mathematics, not so much though.

“What about History?”

“Err...” Hakkana shrugged, blushing a little with shame.

Seraph's bronze eyes softened. “Just keep trying, okay?” she said gently.

Hakkana sighed and said, “I'm sorry, Sissy.”

“Don't worry about it. I just want you to get the most you can out of school. I really want you to have opportunities you wouldn't have access to if you didn't go.”

“Yes... I know.” Hakkana couldn't forget about her past, and Seraph herself was a constant reminder of the better life she now led.

Seraph placed a hand on Hakkana's shoulder. “The Great One will watch over and help you.”

Hakkana smiled in response, agreeing with her guardian.

Just then, there was a light knock on the cottage door, and a slight thump. “Ah, the newspaper,” Seraph said. She went to fetch it. When she returned, she had a worried crease on her forehead as she stared at the front page.

“What is it?” Hakkana asked.

Seraph silently handed Hakkana The Whoburn Chronicle. A large black and white illustration of a young woman with long hair occupied most of the front page. Hakkana scanned the article, the beginning of which read:

Felinia's Princess, Kuja of Felinia, is missing. King Medwin and Queen Cassandra have released a team of envoys to go to all parts of Felinia, and there is a generous sum of reward money for her safe return. Princess Kuja is sixteen-years-old.

“I wonder if she'd ever be around here,” Hakkana pondered aloud. She peered at the image of the Princess. She was smiling, but something about her eyes gave her an aura of sadness. Hakkana felt bad for her. “I don't know how I'd feel if I had to live in a castle.”

“I'm sure it's a grand life,” Seraph said.

“Yes, but I guess I'd feel confined.”

Seraph didn't seem to understand. “Well, I pray that the Princess will be returned safely.”

“But, I notice that it doesn't say why she's missing,” Hakkana said skeptically as she continued to peruse the article. “Huh.”

Seraph placed a hand on her chin and sipped her tea, lost in thought. “The way you said it makes it sound quite mysterious.”

Hakkana folded up the newspaper and put it aside. “Well, to me it is.” She looked out the window at the star-strewn sky. “And I hope she'll be all right.”

Much later that night, she laid out her school dress for the next morning and gathered her books. She crawled into bed after saying her prayers and continued to think about the mournful Princess as she drifted off to sleep.