Nodith
Maisy
"What?"Sara exclaimed, wondering what had made me jump.
Tatia placed a finger to her charred lips and made the sound hush. It made me cringe.
"Are you Ok?" Sara asked, staring at the mirror.
She didn't shout. Which meant I could see ghosts or this was all in my mind.
Tatia continued to torture me. She stretched something unto the mirror. I couldn't read it clearly since it was topsy-turvy but when I concentrated enough. It said something about ticking.
I stared back at her and she gave me her terrifying toothed grin then she vanished.
"Are you ok?" Sara kept asking, seeing how distant I was.
The look on her face made me suspect she was beginning to think I was mentally ill.
"I am Sara," I replied, finally getting a grip of myself.
"So How did Tatia die?" I inquired.
"She's..." Before she could reply, the sound of trumpets drowned her voice.
She stopped. It was the fanfare. The castle must be buzzing with pimps and exotic women who wanted to have a gaze at me, The would-be queen.
"You have to go Maisy. We'll talk about this next time." Sara assured.
I turned to take my leave but she stopped me. She adjusted the heavy necklace on my neck and said,
"You'll sure this Maisy. You just have to believe."
"Thank you." I acknowledged.
I didn't trust her but I was going to play a game with even the devil himself to get to the bottom of this whirlwind of a life.
"I have to go now."
She nodded and I left her. Shutting the door and walking down the stairs in the company of maids assigned to leech on me, I thought about Tatia. I needed to know why she kept appearing to me and telling me you run.
"And this is the angelic Miss Maisy Quinn, Heir to the Quinn inheritance and our future Queen."
I turned beet red, shocked at the fact that I had reached the garden where the party was being held but was too far from reality to even notice.
The crowd gasped. Most probably from what I looked like. It was like seeing a ghost. Tatia was dead and out of the blues, A twin she never even had appeared. It was just enough to keep everyone jaw down but then the most surprising thing happened.
Someone from around the crowd clapped and others followed suit. It did a great booster to my confidence even as my legs shook, threatening to lose their mobility if I didn't stop moving.
I could hear their small talk, Their opinions about my dress, my curves and how I even looked better than Tatia... It made me nauseated but I managed to thrive towards where Eric sat.
"You look pale. Do you need a drink?" He asked.
I ignored him but he didn't give up. Everyone's eyes were still on me and I feared I might attract the wrong attention.
My greatest relief to was when some duchess was called upon and everyone turned to her direction.
Now I had my opportunity to tell Eric off.
"Just because I'm doing this Eric doesn't mean we can pretend to be in a little fairy tale."
"You lived in that fairytale up until this morning." He mocked.
He smirked seeing he had gotten to me.
"Can we just get this over with. You do your thing, I do mine."
"Ok." He replied," Your grandfather is waiting for you."
Eric pointed to a man seated in a carriage used for the crippled. The man was thin but his dressing spoke a lot about his class. His valet pushed his chair to where we were seated.
"It is nice to finally meet you Maisy. Can I?"
He was literally asking me to give him the opportunity to plant a kiss on my hand. I didn't like him one bit. He was my grandfather but everyone in this kingdom seemed to be nothing but manipulative people.
I gave him my hands. He kissed them. It was too long for my liking and I was afraid his teeth would fall out.
I couldn't push him off just yet. I needed to know why I never knew I had a twin sister, why I never grew up with her and how she died.
"How is your father?" He asked.
"Good." I gushed.
His valet coughed. An exaggerated one that had a hidden agenda. I didn't know what she was trying to do but she had been giving me a grimace since we met, a span of minutes ago.
"I forgot...Maisy, this is your distant cousin, Lucy."
Now I had a cousin. Why was this even hidden from me?
"Nice to meet you." I nicely responded, trying to ignore Lucy's hateful stare.
I didn't understand what she had against me.
"Lucy, It would be nice if you leave us now," Grandfather asked.
Lucy sent me another glare before politely telling my grandfather how ok she was with the fact he didn't want her around while we talked.
I led him around the more open part of the garden as he discussed mundane topics I hardly cared about. I think he noticed.
"Maisy, You're not talking. Are you alright?"
I didn't know how to reply. How would one react when a non-existent grandpa just showed up at the worst moment of your life and kept on babbling about your mother's childhood.
"I'm alright." I lied.
I figured he was already going through so much already. From my mother's flight to Tatia death.
"I don't think so." He stated, "You must hate me."
I didn't comment. I just stood there, bombarding my head with questions I would have no answers to unless I spoke up.
"How did you end up with Tatia?" I asked.
He sighed heavily before answering.
"Months before you and Tatia were born, I reached out to your mother. We began talking again and I tried to get her to come back. She was afraid that Richard would get his revenge for her rejection so she refused. Seeing how lonely I was, She gave Tatia to me. Your father was told one of the twins died."
It was upsetting that mother lied all these years to father. We had a family in enemy territory and we knew nothing about it, Not until she died.
"How did Tatia die?"
"Maisy...I don't think...."
"I need to know," I interjected.
He looked up at me and I stared into his deep brown eyes, a pit of chocolate nothingness that brought me to tears. I could feel pain and I was about to feel more than that.
"She killed herself a day to her wedding." He solemnly said, wiping away the waterworks.
I was meant to feel something, anything but there was nothing. Just a pitch-black fuzzy feeling I couldn't understand.
"I...need to go." I excused myself and went back to the party.
Grandfather called me back but I refused to turn back. I just needed to be left alone.
***
I sat alone, enjoying the solitude in the midst of the busy crowd. Eric was busy making new acquaintances and enemies so he wouldn't be a pain in my neck for a while. Just when I was beginning to enjoy my inner peace, Someone came over.
"Maisy, I've heard a lot about you." A masculine voice said.
I mean, Who does that?
I tilted my head to him, examining his features. Black hair that looked bronze in the lighting and darker eyes, so black I wondered if he could see. He wasn't that handsome but he had the face of a fighter and who wouldn't like that?
"What do you want?" I demanded.
"Come on, they didn't tell you about me?" His intonation on the words he spoke was like a siren song to my ears, inviting.
I shrugged, "No. Who are you?"
He pulled closer, stretching his hand for a handshake.
"I'm Conrad, Your brother in law."
My jaw dropped.
Not another Clarke!