Delicate Flower

Chapter Two ♡

Chapter Two

    Little Juliette closed her eyes as she rested the small bouquet of flowers on her mother's resting place. She allowed her tears to stream freely across her cheeks as she solemnly whispered, "goodbye, mama", and then she turned and stared at her sweet aunt Mabel whom she loved dearly well.

Aunt Mabel was the only relative she ever had, and she used to visit their small cottage once a month and surprise her with little confectioneries and presents from the royal castle. Her mama, back when she was in good health, never allowed her to visit the castle of Volkeii–not that she wants to now that king of Volkeii is dead and his cruel son claimed the throne- for fear of her getting lost (she used to say) or taken away from her. She was her mother's only jewel, her little sweetheart and so she was kept within her cottage's boundary to take care of the land and sheep.

Aunt Mabel forced a reassuring smile at her beautiful niece whose eyes were red and puffy from crying for days and days. Poor little girl has only lived with her mother and had no one but her to care for in the world. She was beautiful- undoubtedly- with hair shimmery as gold and white porcelain skin accentuated by a rosy flush tainting her cheeks. She had her mother's eyes, of course: emerald green eyes with a hint of turquoise; matching the gemstone necklace that always hung from her neck. It was the last gift the girl father's gave her before he died in war.

Juliette's small posture and soft features perhaps made her look even younger and innocent than she is but then again, Mabel thought, isn't she naive and sweet as the youngest and frailest? She wouldn't survive on her own. She's delicate Juliette and the wolves would claim her and eat her alive as soon as found. She was her sister's precious stone and she's going to take good care of her in the castle and she'll blossom into a beautiful rose.

Juliette ran into her aunt's arms and wept silently. Her mama is no longer with her and even though she knew that she'll watch over her in heaven, she will miss her dearly, everyday and each passing minute. "She's in a better place now, sweetheart." She nodded at her aunts kind voice. "At least, she's no longer in pain."

Juliette forced a little smile as she turned back and stared at the flowers above her mother's grave: lavender and pink roses; her mama's favorite. Aunt Mabel is right, her mama went through so much pain and even though she's no longer going to be with her, her suffering had ended.

"Auntie Mabel," Her voice cracked a little but she continued anyway, "Would you lead me now to my new home?"

"Yes, my dear, the horses are ready. Hop inside the carriage and then we'll go into the back of the castle. It's lovely there, you'll see." She tried so much to sound cheerful and so she added,

"There's beautiful gardens with fountains and endless shrubs and red roses." Juliette's eyes brightened a little at the mention of red roses. She never got the chance to have a beautiful handful of them but only once in her lifetime. There were beautiful and so big and they were a dark crimson, and she kept them inside her room for weeks.

"Oh, how lovely it would be to have my hand on red roses again." She muttered dreamily. "Mama would have loved them." She added sadly.

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Aunt Mabel was right, Juliette thought. The castle is enormous and mighty and all- especially up close. The gigantic walls of the castle loomed over them as the carriage entered the scene, and it was such big a place, Juliette thought it's at least the size of a town. "That's because there's many quarters and pavilions." Her aunt told her as she commented on how vast the place is. She'd never seen such enormity and splendidness in her life. She contemplated in awe the royal castle the elites resided in and the very place in which the king reigned. It was oh, too good to be true. Juliette felt like the entire place was out of the fairytales her mama used to read her when she was a child, and she wondered how lovely it would be to live in such a marvelous place. The greens surrounding the castle, the people, the ornamentations on the giant walls; Juliette spun inside the carriage looking left and right in astonishment, observing the never ending beauty of Volkeii. Oh, how could her mama prevent her from seeing such a beautiful place? But no, her mama loved her well and she was only protecting her from harm.

"Now, my dear girl, we are going to descend and walk towards the back of the third building where the mai–where the guest headquarters are."  She still haven't announced the news to her niece and she has found that post-poning such declaration would be more suitable and appropriate to her situation.

"Yes, auntie Mabel." Juliette's voice was aloof as she observed everything around her in amazement as they descended the carriage. She held her hand for her aunt to help her get down. "Aunt Mabel, why is there so many people there?" She pointed out to the large mass people in the very far back of the castle. They were so many, maybe hundreds, even thousands.

"Today was the burial of the king, dear one." Juliette thought of prince Maximus and couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the cruel prince. He must feel horrendous, she thought. He lost the closest thing to his flesh and blood and on top of that, he's accused of his murder. She then recoiled and doubted a bit her opinion of him. Surely, he gained his awful reputation by his own doing and someone as malicious as him would surely not mind murdering the man who raised him.

Juliette kept playing this inner battle in her mind for a while as she walked with her aunt towards her new home. Her aunt introduced a lady to her as "Meredith" and she seemed almost the age as her aunt– if not a bit older. She had almost complete grey hair and really bright blue eyes that almost matched the sky's on a sunny summer day. Meredith seemed her aunt's very close friend and so she left her aunt to chat with her as they all walked together. And then there was the sound of a horn and she unwillingly turned towards the source of the noise: the main royal palace building.

A good number of horses were coming in the direction of the front door of the royal building- a large black horse standing out from among the other white horses. It was very obvious to spot the new king- even from afar. He was very tall and broad, she noticed as he descended from his black stallion. He was wearing black-besides his royal badge- but that was all her vision could decipher of him as she watched his silhouette head towards a man standing near the front door. He seemed to be quite in fury because she could see his hand ball around the sword as if almost threatening the man. And then, he entered the palace and disappeared from view.

She focused on her way again and then resumed her former thoughts. What if the citizens of Volkeii are brainwashed and Prince-now King Maximus is not as bad as he seemed to be? Maybe he's just like her, devastated from the loss of a really dear one and he's in quite a mad state because no one seems to believe him. He's blamed for his father's death and all the kingdom despises him. But what has he really done to deserve all this loath?

Juliette then decided to put the subject aside and avoid such topic. Prince Maximus is a dangerous man and should be avoided at all costs. She then settled on remaining inside the guest chambers and decided to stay from troubling occurrences.

Juliette will not wander to the royal building.

Oh, but little did she know how fate has other plans for her.
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