The Queen of Nothingness

Impostor

Little did I know that the night came by quicker than expected and the morning was unanticipated.

Last night was a crazy night. My brother suddenly appeared and said he was captured by people he didn't know. Dad awoke when the knights, I suspected Caster, heard of the creaking gate bound to be engulfed in rust and break down. Crows which I knew not of almost allowed me to lose control of my power. Then, Caster, again, who I held a grudge on. Shame on you for taking away delightful yogurts from royalty!

If I were a villain, I would have had abandoned him somewhere far away where he cannot find my yogurt and share a portion of it with him. Since I was born to be a goody-two-shoes princess, my mother and Grandma Jules had belief in my profound abilities which composed of no abandonment and of no wickedness.

Henceforth, I cannot and shall not. That was why this morning, even if the punishment still landed on me and Caster took every last cup I had, I smiled dearly, brightly, and irritably in front of my old personal magic knight.

"Good morning," I greeted as my eyes flickered with the urge to strangle him.

He stared at me, flecks of a burning fire shone back. The dancing flame only corresponded to one thing. It's as though he was saying, "My bad, princess." With a little bit of Caster sarcasm that I dare not hear out loud.

Possibly. Just possibly, I might shoot him with my uncontrollable powers. Unintentionally. I restate again, just possibly unintentionally.

Friction evolved between my sneakers and the glossy floor as I head down the corridor towards the dining hall. A large rectangular table stood in the middle of the room with my family around it, eating breakfast.

"Good morning," I told them in forms of courtesy when I pulled my chair.

They responded back the same, swallowing first prior to speaking. Before I could sit beside my brother, the chair screeched through the tiles, alerting me that someone had removed my chair from it's standing. Golden locks curl down her shoulders while eyes made of forest green ignited in rage.

"Traitor!" Tina boomed, crinkling her nose and narrowing her vision at me. "You were going to escape without me."

Mom and Grandma suddenly fixed their sight on me whereas Dad calmly sipped his coffee and Ro continually slices through the rib-eye steak, knowing about my attempt since last night.

Celestine perhaps had considered being a Queen but that part won't even stop her ridiculous boyish acts from showing. Tina had always been the more playful and hardheaded child between us three. In fact, before she was bestowed to be the heir of Ashcroft, she had the dream to be a knight.

When she was seven of age, watching our brother handle his sword and dueling me in practice, Tina exposed her true skills and strengths. She was proved to be much more talented in swordsmanship better than I was but not too much that she could not overcome and surpass Ro.

I became their referee, which was in no need of dabbling between their fight. But my precious siblings both had insisted to record their wins and losses, precisely since Ro was forgetful in such academic things while Tina never exerted any effort for numbers and math. Without any choice as they had threatened me with telling our parents about the yogurt, I gave in.

Thinking about it, I should have had lessened my time with that smooth milky delight. I mustn't have any weaknesses or else my opponents could lace the yogurt with poison, I had no strength to subdue. Better add it to my to-do list, then.

"Just so you know, it didn't work. Specifically, because our brother is already b-back," I managed to choke out after the memories caught up to me. In my perspective, he should really tell Dad about it.

Dear brother, this isn't old news. Our father is the freaking most powerful man in the empire. Why would Ro not mention a word about the k********g and Allison? Unless they were more powerful than the royal family of Violets; it was the only reason I can think of.

Without the realization, moisture attacked my eyes, gleaming under the chandelier lights. My face kneaded in worry that the culprits won't be satisfied with his escape. Come to think of it, he never said that he escaped. Only that he was kidn*pped. Could it be—

"—that you are still on the leash?" Goodness gracious, mind and body, cooperate properly. In the instant moment I unintentionally stated it out loud, everyone on the table dropped their forks and spoons, their gazes landing on me in surprise of my sudden remark.

Dad snapped while a rigid expression plastered onto his face, "What is the meaning of this?"

Blood rushed to my ears as I downturned my head in shame of not being honest and blunt for once. I flinched, my chin trembled in the desire to involve Dad with the crisis my brother was in or rather... still in.

My jaded orbs found Ro, suffocating in the tension neither one of us wanted. Beads of sweat ran down his cheeks while he blinked more than I could count. Then, I finally captured the reason why he didn't want to tell Dad about everything except for the suspicious crows.

He knew about Allison. He knew about my thievery skills and yogurt fanatics. He knew about the hidden gate from the maze. But he didn't want to share the issue occurring or how the Marquess's daughter betrayed him or how the fact he got seized without notice and fled from his abductors as easy as pie.

Nails dug deeper down my palm when I clenched my fist. I should've seen it sooner from the sly curling of lips last night. I wasn't hallucinating and it was real.

"Hey," I said, tapping on his shoulder. "I want to see the fox again."

Mom gasped, finally figuring out what I had in mind. To erase the intuition on what we had discovered, she exclaimed. "Dear, you finally did it."

Grandma Jules kept a quiet ambiance, a smile filled with secrecy embedded on her lips directed at Ro. He squirmed in his seat, feeling the pressure drawn to him.

Dad puckered his forehead. He probably had been doubtful given the fact that he'd like me to leave the room at the mention of crows. Speaking of which, it was yet another thing I must take knowledge of. Crows. A code?

While everyone else in the dining hall got the hint, my dimwit of a fourteen year old sister screwed up her face. "Wait, but–"

Grandma dropped her tea on the silk cloth of Tina's ruffled mini skirt just in time before she speaks of anything unnecessary.

Tina's jaw dropped while she breathed for air, the boiling point of the liquid splattered on her outfit, soaking down to her legs. "Grandma!"

"Oh my! Pardon me for my clumsiness." Grandma placed her hand on her lips as though she was extremely surprised of the cup that slipped from her fingers. She dabbed a piece of tissue on the stained part until Grandma lifted a hand to order a maid, "Kindly help my granddaughter change, will you deary?"

The maid, Arlene, bowed her head. "Yes madam."

Tina didn't retaliate more. She followed Arlene back to her room to change clothing while Grandma Jules retained her innocent beaming at Ro... or not Ro at all.

"Does it have to be today?" Anxiety could interfere with your thoughts, mushing up your brain and act recklessly as you could possibly be.

Crown Violets had never been a worrier, saying that worry will get him nowhere. Alas this impostor gained the intensity of the burning heat, evading our gazes.

My brother was bestowed the magic to summon the mythical creatures by the angels though he had never been able to summon a fox. And by fox, I meant the nine-tailed fox who might able to help me with my light magic.

The angels granted different kinds of magic to different individuals according to the achievements they made and how they were able to be crowned as worthy.

The lowest form of magic was spacial, manipulating the space. From what I heard in the rumors whispered by the maids and butlers, the villagers saw a man who could utilize a sword with a snap of his hands. Though he had the gift, it still was told as the sunken step.

Next was elemental composed of fire, water, air, earth and others made of natural resources. Some found light and darkness in the same category when it never had been because it was divine.

The last and most highest form was divinial; favored by the angels for their majestic deeds capable to be gifted by a grandiose thing. They said that the angels plucked a feather from their wings and presented it to be the most astonishing award one could ever ask for. Can I vouch for that? No. It was only in legends though it never really happened. Not to me, any way.

My brother was also a divinial, summoning the fantastical creatures one would normally would never find alive and breathing in this vast world. With the kitsune he practiced to evoke but had not yet done seriously, I wouldn't have to hate my ability anymore since the nine-tailed foxes had the power of control and trickery.

Control. That's the only thing I need for I not to despise the power a merciful angel duressed me to absorb as my own. I had never wanted this since the spotlight will only brighten up more because of it. A lower recognition would be enough but a divinial was something most would kill for.

All my enemies' eyes were now on me. On me. On me. On me. The words rang, buzzing subconsciously within my mind. My heart rate expanded just by looking at his face, porcelain white skin reflected by the sun seeping through the windows.

This man stole my brother's identity. And he was here for me. But that didn't explain why this man wanted me to go back to the castle that night and tell something I didn't quite understand at first hand. Crows.

That damn disappearance of my brother made life challenging and torturous enough to begin the eruption of my brain from all the thinking and putting the puzzle pieces together.

"Yes. I'm angry at Dad for placing this punishment on me."

Negative thoughts and emotions were a sure trigger for the light to strike. I'm sure the impostor knew that too, especially when he threatened me yogurt—something only the loyalest of the loyal had taken note of. If he really was an imposter, then I should know better that he also had the ability to steal memories. Probably a person's whole identity even.

To be honest, my detention was not as grave as the situation we were dealing with. Dad grounded me, never to leave my room except for breakfast and dinner. Of course, if Dad had suspicions already, he wouldn't tell Ro that.

At the split second, the person who disguised himself as my brother whirled his fingers. Green sparkles immersed on his skin like glitter that was difficult to remove. Ro flicked his wrist, expecting that he cannot do it. However, a fox manifested out of thin air. It wasn't a kitsune but still, a fox we never accomplished to believe he could do it.

This man, I concluded, was dangerous. Not only can he steal faces and memories but also the powers gifted by the angels. Who was he? And I for one had never even heard of transformation and perfected disguises by means of magic.

"I guess you already figured out?" he said loud and clearly after he stood from his seat. "You're not as dull and witless as the gossips say."

"Guards–" My father called out in the instance.

The sound of thumps deep in my chest maximized its volume. They really wanted me all this time and my brother was only the first step.

"Seize him!" The king finished but the impostor disappeared before the knights who were also blessed by the angels could arrest him.

I must leave. My family would never be safe as long as I was living here. My second escape should be a success because I cannot live with the fact that I placed them in danger.

And everything was all because of the cursed magic I failed to reject.