Elizabeth“Oh, really? I can use this cocktail dress, Nikita?”Nikita giggled and gave me a casual thumbs up. “Of course! Come on! Wear it!” she urged me.Because she was encouraging me to wear the dress she makes me borrow, I ran enthusiastically to the privy beside her room.“I’ll wait here!” she said from her room when I went inside the privy.Currently, after doing the house chores, I went to her house just like we talked about when I was picking up water from the well. She is making me raid her wardrobe to get dresses I could borrow for the fiesta and bonfire show tonight.Whatever is going inside my head, it is the fire dance a masked female dancer will be doing. It is the most awaited event in our village since it is the day the village was baptized as where the first queen was born in this world. And it was believed that the queen had the power of fire.When the cocktail fit, I went outside of the privy while pulling the upper part of the cocktail that had beautiful intricate
Elizabeth“A-Ahh,” I mumbled and smiled fakely. “Okay.”I just averted my gaze from him and continued walking even though he is just beside me. The horse’s hooves only engulfed the whole shortcut we are taking at the moment. I kept clearing my throat, while he is just being silent.It's not that I want to talk to him, okay? It’s just that I don’t understand why he is following me. It’s his responsibility? Where is the logic on that?“Ummm, the sun is already setting. Why don’t you go home?” I said and looked up at him.He looked down at me. “Then don’t you think you should ride with me so we can get home faster?” he asked me.“Uh, no, thanks. I prefer walking alone,” I said.Doesn’t he think that he should be the one offering me?“Ride with me, Elizabeth,” he said, his voice raspy.The sound he made while saying my name went to my stomach, flattering me. I don’t even know why. It just sounds different. It is unusual. Oh, no. Not that it is not usual, but it is surreal.He sighed and d
ElizabethOh, my goodness!“W-Wait!”I exclaimed and even stupidly reached out my hand so I could chase him. He was so fast at his strides that running towards him felt so slow. I could see his white shirt and ripped shorts with worn-out boots on his back.“Diego, you can’t-““Elizabeth?”“Mom!” It was too late when the door of our house opened and I met my mother on the threshold. She was in her brown cardigan and wool dress. I gulped and fixed my scarf on my neck when her eyes fixated on it.She has been warning me not to let anyone see it. It would be too dangerous since mortals despised the werewolves. The war between them is cold yet still ongoing. The gap should be visible and people should be aware about the beasts. Being marked by one of them would be mean to be executed. And I don’t want that to happen.“Why did you only come home? The dinner will be served any minute,” my mother said.“I’m sorry, mother. I just got home from dressing up for bonfire night,” I reasoned out a
Elizabeth“Come here!”After I saw my mother turning her back to regard the dishes at the back of our house, I immediately turned to Diego and pulled him to the living area where we could talk. He also did not restrain himself. He let me pull him until we arrived in front of a wooden sofa.“What was that?” I said, my chest heaving up, and pointed in the direction where the kitchen is. “Why did you introduce yourself as my suitor?”Diego only raised his eyebrow simply. Now that he is near, I could distinguish that he is a truly handsome man. But it does not matter anymore. I am pissed because of what he was saying to my mother.“Why? Can’t I court you?” he asked, almost his tone as innocent and as if he did not do something wrong.“You can’t!” I said dramatically. “We just met today, okay? So it would be impossible for you to like me immediately.”His face became disgruntled and his eyebrows furrowed more. I tried to demonstrate my arms upward and downward so I can pinpoint it to make
Elizabeth“Elizabeth!”My eyes went to who called me. It was Prince Ronald. He was wearing casual clothes and he did not have horsemen behind him. Different from the usual, he was also not mounted on a horse.Grinning ear to ear, he waved his hand while going toward me. I smiled at the prince and bowed a little bit for him. I even almost forgot Diego’s presence beside me.“Your Highness, good evening,” I greeted him and gave him a polite smile after I bowed down. “May I ask what are you doing here in the village?”“Oh, I went here to watch the bonfire event,” he said, and using his head, he pointed to the village’s huge circle.I parted my lips. “You watch the bonfire event?”“Of course. I watch it every year,” he said. “Do you also watch it, my lady?”“Well, yes, since I was a kid. I love the story told of the fire queen, so I would never miss an indispensable event like this,” I said.“Hmmm, you could be a fire queen yourself,” he said and surveyed his eyes from my head to foot. “Yo
ElizabethPrince Ronald apologized to me about his sisters. Unlike him and the princes, they were mean and spoiled brats. Even the other princesses from the other kingdoms despised the sisters because of their attitude and overprotective nature towards their brothers.I just did not mind it because they are royalty. I’m just a commoner who is friends with the royal princes. I have not in a high place to give opinion or justify my position in them in the first place.And of course I came outside and wore my dress even if it was insulted by the princesses to enjoy the event tonight; not to impress any of them.It was not very long that the show of the bonfire night started. It was spectacular when the dancer representing as the fire queen was dancing and circling around the bonfire with her delicate and lithe moves. I was parting my lips the whole time while the back up dancers acted like the shadows or the evil beasts a long time ago. They danced with her creatively, making the audienc
When I saw Prince Ronald from the public market, I immediately hid from a hay that was near a horse’s stable and peeked out to see him from afar. He was not with the princes, but he was with the horsemen. Talking with the head chief while smiling, I cringed and got so silently pissed off by him.How could he still easily smile after killing a man and almost killing me like we were just an ant? It would only mean that it was not his first time to kill people. And because of what, power?His words lingered in my mind the whole night. I could not sleep a wink because my skin would crawl just by remembering how he sharply twisted the dagger inside me. If I had not woken up and healed myself using my powers, the gods might have been taking care of my soul. “Thank you for always visiting our stable, Prince Ronald. Your father would always be proud of you,” I heard the head chief say and placed his arm on Prince Ronald’s shoulder. “Your kindness is appreciated in the village.”The prince c
ElizabethHe did not react after I revealed that. I cleared my throat and caressed the body of the cup I was holding. He remained watching me, and even though I am not direct in looking at him, I could still see him from my peripheral vision.“It was a long night. Prince Ronald walked away from the crowd, so out of curiosity, I followed him, afraid that a bunch of thieves would get to him,” I said and furrowed my eyebrows. “It’s not like I have the power to fight thieves, but as long as the prince, everything would be fine.”I lifted my gaze to him, and his attention was not now on the mug he was observing a while ago. This time, he was very serious while his jaw was clenching.“I saw him talking to a man in black. I could not see its face, but I heard their conversation,” I continued. “It seems like Prince Ronald is plotting against King Alexander. He will poison the king, to kill him!”I held back the irritation seeping inside me, so I breathed in and out. “And he saw me listening.