When vengeance strikes in the form of a bullet out for the princess's blood, Princess Aleia VonAuclair must flee the heart of her country in order to protect the people she loves and take back the pieces of her soul she'd lost to the girl she once l...
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Roses are red, Violets are blue. History will be written, shall I write yours too?
The warm glow of Salmah's diner illuminated the dark ink on the paper, taunting me with the unspoken words of an unfulfilled promise. The sun had set hours ago, the clock ticking towards the ten o'clock mark which meant Salmah's would be closing soon.
This time, I'd found the envelope tucked inside the windshield of my car after class, the innocent material lashing in the wintery wind as it waited for me to find it. When I'd first read these letters, all I felt was fear – of what it meant and all the hidden meanings that were left unsaid-, but now, all I felt was resentment.
Somebody was playing an unfair game. One with no rules and no boundaries. I was running on their field, playing by their rules, and surrendering to their whims. I just wasn't sure how to play the game.
"Hey, sweetie."
I startled back to reality and a warm, inviting smile filled my line of vision. "I'm about to close up soon, but would you like anything before I do? Another milkshake? Maybe some desert?"
"Oh. No, that's okay Sal. I'm all wrung out for the night but thank you."
I went to pack up the letters from off the table, but Sal stopped me with a hand to my arm. My fingers paused on the thin paper, arms tracted mid-air.
"You don't have to leave, sweetie. I'm going home but you can stay until whenever. Just lock up once you're done."
My eyebrows shot to sky and the elegant tunes of her laughter filtered through the desolate diner.
"You've been coming around here a lot to do your work, and I like my girls ambitious. Gives me a happy kick to see you striving. Reminds me of my daughter." She then tucked her hand into her pocket and retrieved something from within. "Here. I asked my husband to make you a copy of the diner's key. I've already locked up everything. You just need to lock the front door."
Sal turned my palm up to the ceiling and gingerly placed the key onto it, the cold metal snipping into my skin.
"Sal..." I breathed, my mind reeling at the sight of the glorious key. "Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn't want to burden you with something like this. I can just leave and go somewhere else."
She waved a dismissive hand through the air.
"Nonsense. It wouldn't be a burden, darling. In fact, it would be a great help to me. I always forget to lock up the front door after myself and my husband always throws a big, hissy fit over it - robbers and no good thieves and all that. Drives me up the wall."
She rolled her eyes but then, plastered on a dazzling smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners and her endearing wrinkles deepening.
"So, now I have a little helper. Anytime you need to use the space for some alone time, feel free. Bring your friends over, too. Just don't use the coffee machine - my husband maintains those and if he finds out someone else toyed with it, he'll castrate me."
