𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃│✔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐

We all stand in front of the portal, and as if she just now sees me, Mother gives a satisfied nod at the dress she's personally has forced me to wear today. The royal blue material tightly enhances my body, leaving nothing of my form naked to the eye. I can't decide on what's more bothersome: the awfully tight corset pressing all oxygen out of my lungs, or the painful heels scraping the skin off my feet.

"You look gorgeous." She says proudly, smiling at me, but only admiring her work of art, not her daughter.

"Thank you, Mother." I reply curtly, finding no other way to respond to what's supposedly is a compliment, but feels more like an insult than anything else.

This dress wasn't chosen to fit me. There simply was nothing else that could cover the whip lashes on my back. No other dress could cover my arms and hands, hiding the burns heavy shackles have left on my wrists as proof of my imprisonment. This dress doesn't show off my allure, it merely hides the true hideousness of me under layers of silk and makeup.

Finally, my parents are the first ones to walk into the dark hole of space, my brother and I following on their heels. I've never traveled through a portal before. So, when walking into the emptiness of space, Jonathan has to grab me by the arm to keep me from falling over. It's as if we're walking through gravity's game, where the obscurity around us pushes me left and right until an irking dizziness warns me for the solid ground I finally feel under my feet after what feels like a short eternity.

Being welcomed into the Feather Clan's palace feels similar to walking through the doors of a secluded fort. Dirtied grey stones build the large hall oozing chatter and life. The lack of windows forces me to inhale the fervent scent of different species mingled together in a large mass of narcissism.

I'm going to throw up.

Before too long, the crowd surrounding us falls into an overwhelming silence, and feet shuffle until a path is cleared out for us. Against my better judgment, I dare to look up from my submissive position and manage to steal a glance from the old man standing proudly at the other end of the hallway. Unlike the buoyant clothes we wear, he's practically covered in a thick feathered coat that falls to his brown leather boots. I've never seen Father with even as much as a chisel on his chin, but this man on the other hand, has grown a long beard separated in two equally grey braids. A thick moustache covers the entirety of his lips, causing me to almost miss the amused smirk he throws my way. When my curious eyes meet his yellow ones, I look down instantaneously, only to notice too late that my brother has seen the interaction happen between me and the Lord of Feather.

"Stefan," the man finally says in a gruff voice, "It's been too long!"

"Christopher, my friend, it's been too long indeed!"

My jaw almost drops to the stone-cold floor when I see the broad and radiantly charming smile my otherwise frigid Father shows, before he walks over to so-called 'Christopher' and giving him a brotherly hug. A thorn of longing makes my chest itch, and I decide to ignore it. Quenching these useless emotions to demolish my momentary weakness. The disgust my father has expressed towards my very existence is something I've accepted long ago. My head knows that I don't crave the affection of this man who has forever ruined my body in ways that make my maids call it a monstrosity. I'm merely a chess piece he'll easily sacrifice to win the game of power these Lords have been playing for millennia. I suppose my heart is still a fool to the occasional pride he shows me every time I give pieces of me, or when I build mountains out of our enemy's bodies.

It's alright, I try to convince myself, all is going to be alright.

I obediently keep my stare to the ground, listening to the conversation attentively. Mother already walking off to mingle with other nobles. My brother doing the same, leaving me to stay behind.