The morning cold was something Zarah hated ,she shivered as she walked down the street her hands rubbing against each other to keep herself warm. She had her earphones on as she listened to a podcast on her way to school. Her brown hair tied into a high ponytail, a blue muffler wrapped around her neck the same color as her eyes.
She had been reading a new webcomic which she was eager to finish as only the last 4 chapters were left. She sighed missing her warm bed but then hurried on and went to school,afterall it was her last year of high-school and she had already missed enough days.
In the afternoon when she got home it was empty,her parents were at work. Zarah took a deep breath,took her phone and sat on her bed curled up in blankets to keep herself warm.
"Sometimes I wonder if they forget I exist"
Zarah thought to herself. Her parents were never home and when home they didn't spend time with her not like she expected anything like that from anymore she was used to it by now,her parents indifference.
The moment they did care if she existed? Her grades. Oh boy if they were less they would skim her alive. She was tired of her house, of the people or the lack of people in it, but what could an eighteen year old do? She relied on them for food, clothing , education. Her parents were strict and didn't let her get a part time job. So strict she didn't even tell them she was lesbian cause she knew they would ground her for eternity.
They controlled her,suffocated her everytime they acknowledged her existence so maybe....being invisible to them was something she could live with. Afterall she planned fo study hard get good grades and get into a good university and prove herself that she could do it and free herself from their control.
They were so controlling they didn't let her read webcomics either! And she loved reading them so she read when they weren't looking. Afterall sometimes you have to be a little disobedient to be a little happy in life dont you?
She chuckled to herself before she picked up to read from the chapter she last read the night before
The webcomic she was reading,"Beneath The Crown", was a tragedy as the main love interest Ines, the Empress of Caelthra, was killed by the female lead herself because Ines didn't return the female lead's feelings.
The Empire of Caelthra was powerful and blessed by the Heavenly lords themselves. The Emperors and Empresses of Caelthra ruled with power, obedience and respect was earned through deeds towards their Empire.
The righthand to the Throne was the Zepher family,they had been loyal to the Imperial family for generations. The current head of the Zepher family, Sebastian Zepher, got a blessing from the Empire's main deity Aelthrya the goddess of stars,births, rebirths and destiny that his first child would be able to foresee the future of the rightful heir to the throne of Caelthra and protect her from danger.
The Zepher family were happy with the blessing since serving the Imperial family was their family's lineage and duty for generations after all. Lord Sebastian Zepher's wife ,Lady Beatrice Zepher was happy thinking her child would be the bringer of good omen for the entire Empire of Caelthra.
Little did Sebastian and Beatrice know that blessing would lead to the destruction of the noble house of Zepher.....
The Emperor Augustus del Caelthorne had a younger brother, Grand Duke Alexander del Caelthorne who wanted the throne for himself. He had in secret planned many attacks to assassinate his brother and take the throne for himself. When Sebastian got blessed the Goddess's words made it clear Ines was the rightful heir and by hook or crook Alexander was desperate to change that...so he tried bribing the Zepher's but that ended in him getting exposed.
So out of desperation he struck his final card he attacked the Zepher estate and by rotten luck that was the day Beatrice had gone into labour.
As the rebels from the rebellion merched forward to attack the Zepher estate residents and family members,Lady Beatrice Zepher gave birth to her and Sebastian's child , Zarah Zepher the one with the power to see the Crown princess Ines's future and protect her.At that moment though surviving seemed impossible.
That's when Maria, Lady Zepher's personal maid who had herself given birth a week ago stepped forward and said to give young lady Zepher to her and she would take the child and run,and thats what was done. Sebastian put a locket with the Zepher family emblem on it around Zarah's neck.
Maria took her own child Melody in her other arm along with Zarah and ran down the forest path. She was post-patrum only one week she was weak and her legs could barely carry her but she was driven by adrenaline and duty...towards the Noble house she served and towards the Empire she lived and grew up in.
Maria ran till she could no longer feel her legs but she knew the rebels had seen her and she couldn't afford her Lady Zarah going in the arms of those traitorous human jerks. So she did something reckless ,she gently took the locket with the Zepher family emblem out of Zarah's neck and put it on her own daughter Melody....she loved her child she did but too much depended on Zarah....the future of the entire kingdom depended on her.
Maria knew that wasn't enough so as she limbed across the path she took a detour and went a little inside a village where she saw something....a brothel...that was the Cerulean brothel...the brothel which sent flower maidens and courtesans to the Imperial family members themselves. She placed Zarah in front of their door and knocked and ran back into the woods where the rebels finally caught her. They snatched Melody from her as she cried her daughter's name but didn't tell them Melody was her child, they killed Maria and thought they had the Zepher's child in their palms now so they could take the throne.
Alexander had hired people who raised Melody to seduce and kill Ines.
Zarah on the other hand died from the abuse in the brothel before she was even seven years of age.
When Melody turned 15 she was sent to the Cerulean brothel to be trained as a flower maiden so she could be sent to the palace to serve Ines,who was already an Empress then.
At 18 when Melody was of age she was sent to the palace where she cast a love spell on Ines. The plan was simple to make Ines be blindly in love and write her Empire over to Alexander under Melody's words who would then kill Ines.....but something unexpected happened Melody fell for Ines...she couldn't stop herself from falling for those eyes as blue as the ocean and hair as black as midnight sky,Ines was a sight for sore eyes elegant and beautiful.
Unfortunately for Melody her bliss was short lived as the love spell's enchantment was lifted after only a month and Ines returned to normal and paid no attention to Melody anymore, infact she bedded other flower maidens and courtesans which left Melody seething in anger.
"Fine you want to play that way Ines? I will show you what Melody is made of!"
Was what Melody thought before returning to her original plan of killing Ines.
Melody sabotaged the imperial treasury and planted a trap in which Ines was lured into. Melody had men from all directions shoot arrows through Ines's body wounding her to the point of half death as blood dripped. After that she cut Ines's head off herself.
"A truly tragic end for Ines...Man I wish i could save her, pookie Empress deserved better"
Zarah sighed thinking as she sat up stretching her arms.
"If I was there I would save her no matter what"
She looked at the clock, 4pm she noted the time before clicking her tongue and standing.
"Maybe I should get some fresh air....and a bar of chocolate"
Zarah hummed as she went to the door putting her shoes on and closing the door behind her as she left for the grocery store.
She walked along the sidewalk looking at her phone for anything related to the webcomic she just read when a loud honk took her by suprise.
She looked to the side and saw a car headed her way ,it looked like the brake had failed!
Zarah froze half from fear half from helplessness but as she began to move away the car took a sharp turn and ran directly into her. She fell backwards her head hitting the hard road as blood trickled out and her vision blurred.
The blare of sirens...and sound of ambulances was all she could hear.
"This can't be the end....this cant be it...give me...another day...I am not ready to leave...not like this God...please..."
Were Zarah's last thoughts as her consciousness faded and she was engulfed in darkness.