Fire Rises

Be Our Guest

Okay, self. You blew it the first time, the second time’s the charm! Figure out why I’m here. Eat dinner. Don’t be weird. Easy. I was attempting to coach myself as I walked with Clara to what I assumed was the dining room. I hadn’t thought to ask who would be joining us for dinner, so now I was more than a little stressed about that.

The dinner company first came to mind when Clara picked out a luxurious dress from my expansive closet. There were so many options in that ‘closet,’ if you could even call it that. It was really an entire room filled with more than any one person should ever need. 

Before, when I lived in a palace and was given the title of ‘princess’ by my mother, I thought I had a lot of clothes. I was wrong. 

In the Dark Place, once quarterly we received what everyone so fondly referred to as ‘the offering box.’ This box was filled with expired nonperishables, used clothing, and a random assortment of other rejected items from the mortal realm. As the ‘queen’s’ daughter, we had first pick of what items we kept for ourselves. That had translated to me having the third least regular bouts with food poisoning and the second least worn-out women’s clothing in the realm of darkness.

Being in this space made it more clear than ever that I had just been a popper posing as royalty. As no more than a guest here I was doted upon more than I was as a pseudo princess of the Dark Place.

When I first saw the room stuffed to the brim with clothes so nice that I was sure they’d disintegrate at the touch of my filthy fingers, I laughed. I assumed that this was a dressing room that housed clothing for all of the ladies within the castle. Clara corrected me, and then I laughed harder. We had a fun time sifting through the clothes together. I snickered at the ballgowns and then cackled at the idea of me attending a ball. At least everything in here wasn’t purely pastel. It was just all mostly pastel. 

I tried on a few things and insisted Clara try a few on, too. She was visibly uncomfortable and I contemplated whether forcing her into trying these things on was evil or not. I decided that if I was expected- no! allowed- to own such fabulous things, she could at least try them on. It was clear that whoever stocked my closet wasn’t sure of my size anyway. A large portion of the items would never fit me, but would be perfectly suited for Clara’s six foot frame.

I had wanted to question Clara further about the prince but found myself more nervous than I anticipated. She swayed to a silent tune in her mind as he admired herself in a particularly sparkly blue ballgown when I finally asked, “Soooo… the prince… is single?” She twirled to face me so fast I knew she knew what I was thinking. 

She gave me a sly smirk and said, “I’m not sure. I’ve never seen him have a woman around the castle. He’s danced with a few ladies at the balls the royal family hosts, but never the same person twice. I mean, not that I’ve paid attention.” She tried to cover up her flushed cheeks by adding, “Why? Do you know someone… interested?” She wiggled her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. I honestly felt like a dog chasing her tail; I could run after him forever, but I would have no clue what to do with him if I ever caught up. I knew some not nice things I wanted to do with him, but that would only get me so far.

“Well, he introduced me to someone today and I thought maybe-”

“Was it Sophia? That girl has been pining after the prince since we were all kids. She even has this god awful nickname for him,” she scoffed before continuing, “but he never really seemed to see her as more than a friend. I mean, you’ve seen the man, so as you can imagine most women in this kingdom would love a chance to shoot their shot. He’s a shameless flirt, but no one has ever been… good enough? I guess?”

Well s**t, if the prince was after good then that put me out of the running. 

“Hmmm, does that mean that you’d like a chance?” Clara’s face told me that I had just asked the obvious. 

She snorted as she shook her head.  “I am just a house maid. I don’t stand a chance.”

“And I am not very good so I guess I don’t stand a chance either. Looks like we’re doomed to the same fate as Sophia.”

She shrugged, but didn’t disagree. With raised eyebrows and a loud sigh she added, “I mean, he’s obviously insanely hot, but he’s too… I don’t know… maybe character-y for me anyway. I’m content not being his type.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. I knew exactly what she meant, though his head-bobbling ass could definitely still get it from both of us should we get the chance.

I thought about our unfortunate standing with this realm’s hottest being for a second before something Clara had said registered in my mind. “Wait, Clara. How did you know it was Sophia that he introduced me to?”

She rolled her hazel eyes, “He may not be interested in that way, but he does still keep her close. She’s the only girl he’d introduce you to so soon.”

I accepted that answer and decided to let it go for the time being.

We continued to try on clothes until Clara finally said it was decision time. She was standing in what she called a yellow ‘babydoll’ dress and I was in a knee-length black lace dress. Clara had said it was intended for funerals, but it was the only thing that made me feel remotely comfortable.

After a valiant effort on Clara’s behalf to convince me to change, she finally conceded; allowing me to go to dinner dressed as if I was in mourning.

As we left my room, the anxiety started setting in over the dinner company again. I considered asking if Clara had any insight into who would be at dinner, but decided against it as I wasn’t sure how far we were from the dining room and who would be listening in. My paranoia from the Dark Place was proving hard to shake.

We arrived outside of the large wooden double doors. They opened from the inside without a knock. Clara stepped out of view from those inside and whispered, “I’ll be waiting right out here to take you back when you’re ready.” The way she said it made me know that she meant whenever I was ready, not when I was expected to leave. Then she winked. I liked Clara. She was good people.

The room before me was overwhelming. The room dwarfed my bedchamber, my ‘closet,’ and the ‘kitchen’ combined. Light grey stones made up the framework, though only glimpses of the material was visible beneath and between the incredible details. The walls were adorned with giant tapestries and paintings decorating every single inch. I considered for a moment if those art pieces were possibly even created by giants. Most of those glutinous beasts now dwelled within the Dark Place, but I knew plenty of stories about their affinity for art and how so much of it was stolen during the ‘round-up.’ 

From what I’d heard, the ‘round-up’ had been a very dark time, even by my mother’s standards. The Gods had agreed to create the realm of darkness and personally capture Hades, but they’d left the rest of the work up to those who lived in the mortal realm. Without the powers of the Gods, the ‘round up’ had gotten messy. I brought myself back to the present before I allowed myself to think too deeply on those horrors. 

Glancing around, this room was nothing short of magnificent. I counted the fireplaces. I had to count them because there were too many to register how many were housed in the room at a glance. Twenty-eight. Twenty-eight massive f*****g fireplaces.

Hmmm, subtle. I internally rolled my eyes at the extravagance. My mother would have loved this overt display of wealth and power.

As I looked around I almost forgot where I was and what I was there for. Then my stomach made a sound and my inner demon started to flare. 

Dinner. Right. How could I forget? My eyes settled on the collection of sixteen wooden tables that expanded the length of the room. Each could very easily fit at least a hundred people. At the very far end of the room was a seventeenth table arranged perpendicular to the others. Though this table was physically inferior to the rest, it’s presence seemed to hold the others in its shadow. Towards the center of the table four people sat comfortably before a feast. 

More people. Be smooth. Be nice. My inner monologue gave me enough of a boost to casually glide across the room to where the small company gathered. The prince and the other man stood as I approached.

How charming, I thought as I internally rolled my eyes again. I needed to eat. Excessive eye-rolling was one of the first tells that I was well on my way to catching a hunger-induced attitude. The prince, once again, stole my breath, forcing me to look away. Unfortunately, my eyes landed on the other man, who was the salt-and-pepper, first edition, collectors item, version of the former. This man smiled… 

Can a smile be warm? How is his smile warm? Should I hug him? Why does his face make me want to hug him? Should I ask for advice? He looks like a man with good advice. I was floored by the resemblance. Though the likeness was uncanny, the older beautiful man didn’t destroy my morale. He made me feel like I wanted to share all my worries so he could tell me what I should do. 

“Eve, this is my father, King Charming.”

You don’t say…

“And this is my mother, Queen Cedra, but everyone calls her Cici. And this is my sister, Autumn.” It was a family dinner. I didn’t know how to do this. Our family dinners (as uncommon as they were) were where I perfected my craft of stare downs. Something told me this would be different and I didn’t know the first thing about how to be… well, not at the brink of spearing a fork through someone’s eye at dinner.

Be nice, I reminded myself for the umpteenth time.

“Hello,” great start, Eve, great start, “You have so many fireplaces,” okay strong start, weak finish. Recover. “And so much food!” My eyes couldn’t help but take in the impressive spread across this end of the table. This was enough food for at least twenty people to eat until they were uncomfortable. 

“Ah, yes, well we weren’t sure what you liked. Our Prince mentioned you would be happy with anything, but Cici wanted you to have everything,” The king smiled at his queen adoringly, but I was still reeling from his voice and didn’t notice.

Okay Father Charming, you’re going to need to put that voice to rest unless it’s telling me valuable life advice or poor attempts at puns. I gave my head a quick shake to refocus my mind. I was having to do that more and more ever since Charming had made an appearance in my life. 

“Well, you really didn’t need to do all of this. It’s nice to meet you all.” I had done it. The perfect hello. It took me a second, but I got there. I was even fairly sure I used the word nice right! I was rewarded with more smiles from my hosts.

“Please have a seat, Eve. Let’s begin.” The princess was equally charming and remarkably beautiful. I looked at her as she spoke and noticed that, though her beauty was likely unmatched, she looked very different from the rest of her family. Instead of sandy blond hair and light blue eyes the rest of them shared, this girl had hair as dark as mine and hazel eyes. 

Peculiar… I was used to not-matching siblings. Lucian and I didn’t match. Sure we both had jet black hair and our eyes glowed, but he was two feet taller than me, my teeth weren’t sharp and animalistic, and his skin was tan while mine was almost translucent. Our mother had many lovers though, so our differences were easily explained. I eyed Queen Cedra, silently trying to decide if she was the type to…

“Ah-hem.” The prince cleared his throat to regain my attention.

I scanned the table to find everyone staring at me. I was sitting in silence for only a few moments, but I had clearly missed something. 

The queen spoke, answering my unasked question, “You are our guest dear, please feel free to gather your food first.”

Oops, if I hadn’t so wrapped up in my own thoughts I might have realized they were all waiting on me to eat. I thanked the queen and began piling food onto my plate. The queen was so… so… something. I didn’t have a word for it. I didn’t think there was a word for it. Possibly ‘good,’ but that didn’t seem strong enough. Was this woman the embodiment of the very word that I had heard I was the exact opposite of? 

Yikes, I dared a glance at the prince to see if he was thinking the same thing. Instead he was bobbing his head from side to side trying to see his reflection in one of the silver saucers. When he caught me looking at him he flashed his smile. 

What is this boy’s deal? I mean, I loved that he didn’t hate me and that his gorgeous eyes were trained on me again, but seriously. He was an odd one.

“Sooooooo, you’ve all invited me into your home… out of the Dark Place… why?”

The princess looked confused, the king looked at the prince like he was… mad… but not mad- he wasn’t angry-, and the queen had the look in her eyes that the prince had been giving me all day. I definitely hated that look.

Oh my f*****g god, why are these people so hard to figure out? Charming replaced the saucer he was using as a mirror on the table and saved me from my thoughts before I could become lost again.

“Well, I have recently taken the throne and so now it is my turn to make the laws around here,” he flashed me a dashing smile, and I was positive my heart was going to stop. “I completely understand why my father deemed it necessary to… contain certain members of society in the Dark Place. I didn’t think it was fair to punish their children, though. As I was learning about everything that ruling this kingdom would entail, I realized that while I respect all that my father has done, I have different wishes and plans for my rule. If I can differ so much from my father, then maybe the children of those that caused our people so much pain, will differ as well. Either way, it’s only fair to give them a chance to prove themselves one way or another instead of making assumptions.”

I was floored. Sure, his little speech sounded a bit rehearsed, but it didn’t matter. It was like this man had listened in on my private thoughts about the Dark Place. He saw right through me. No. Not through me, he saw me. I mean, I had no idea what respecting a parent was like, but the rest I was totally on the same page about.

Does this mean I’m right? Well f**k me and my first nineteen years of imprisoned life, then. I immediately recoiled at my inner monologue. That wasn’t nice, and I was fairly sure those words were outwardly displayed across my face.

Judging by everyone’s reactions, yes, those words were in fact being conveyed by my facial expression.

Shit. NO. Shoot. I mentally patted myself on the back for making the correction. 

“That is very true, your highness. I recently have been thinking about that very notion. Don’t get me wrong, I have done some truly evil things within the realm of darkness. This may sound like an excuse, but it was just a way of survival. I think that it was assumed that evil was within our nature, but the environment we are raised in is what actually condemns us.” I inwardly cringed at the admission and accusation I had simultaneously made. Not only had I used the ‘e’ word in relation to my own behavior, but I also implicated the king in creating the next generation of villains by proxy.

This is going well, I couldn’t even escape my own sarcasm. I took another bite of some gray stuff to tame the beast within. It was delicious.

“I know it isn’t enough, but I do apologize for the life you have endured. We found that it was dangerous to go in and out of the realm of the Dark Place early on and had to stop our visits. I didn’t even consider…” The king’s apology broke off into an aggravated huff. I could tell his aggravation was directed at himself. I wanted to revel in his pain, just a little, but I was too distracted by the fact that I could recognize the emotion in his eyes to do so.

The queen spoke up then, “My son wants to make it all right now. It will be a process, but it will be worth it in the end. His sister here was actually a big motivation for him.”

That got my attention. I glanced at the princess who was looking down at her plate. “How so?”

“Well, Autumn is actually my adopted sister. Her mother had a… colorful past as well. She was imprisoned in the Dark Place quite a few years after your mother, but not before she gave birth to this little angel.” He looked at his sister with loving eyes. I was floored. She was the descendant of a villain, too?

The king began speaking next, “Her birth mother had tried to kill a queen from another kingdom. She was vain to an irredeemable fault which led her to make a horrifying decision, but thank goodness it didn’t pan out the way she planned. She was able to disguise herself and stow away for nearly a decade before she was caught. In that time she had created our little Autumn here. When she was finally caught, no one could bear to send the child to the Dark Place…” The king trailed off, realizing the irony of telling me about this situation.   

I decided to deflect. “I think this is a good decision. You are all good people. You can still save enough of the children.” Everyone gave me the same look, but I wasn’t sure what they were trying to say with their eyes. It looked like they felt good about me because what I said made them feel better about themselves.

I need some kind of emotion chart if I’m going to stay here with these people and all their foreign feelings. I decided I’d create my own once I got back to my room. I was sure Clara could get me a pen and paper and maybe she could even provide names for some of these weird looks and emotions I kept finding myself on the receiving end of.

I wanted to ask more questions about how they had been the ones to ultimately adopt Autumn. I could assume who her mother was. I was young when a newcomer had appeared in the Dark Place, but there was no forgetting the chaos that ensued. Among many other more sinister characteristics, she was also a confident and bold woman. Upon her arrival she had immediately challenged my mother for the right to the theoretical throne in the Dark Place. They kept sending hits out on each other for years, but ultimately decided to keep a distance. She had actually dated Hades for a brief stint before he met my mother. Since the disgusting duo made it official she had stopped coming around altogether. I hadn’t seen her in years and I can't say I missed her. 

The rest of dinner was peppered with silence, talks of how the integration would go, and then the ever awkward ‘getting to know you questions’ that consistently resulted in everyone giving me that horrible look filled with sadness for me.

Piss off, I thought before quickly trying to correct myself. No, don’t piss off. Just don’t look at me like that. 

Among these questions was one of the many that I had been fearing ever since I arrived. This hardly seemed like polite dinner conversation, but these people couldn’t have known how horrifying the answer would be.

“So Eve, my son noticed during his short stint in the Dark Place that your mother seems to have assumed charge. I always intended equal punishment for everyone; I didn’t consider that a hierarchy would develop.” I gulped, nervous about what would come next. The saliva I swallowed wasn’t satisfying my nerves, so I grabbed for my wine and took a much bigger gulp of that, too. The king continued, “Do you feel that the punishment of being the in Dark Place was equally distributed? Save, for the children, of course.” This question wasn’t so bad, but I knew the worst would quickly follow.

“Um… no.” I thought if I kept it brief I could glaze over the obvious followup question. 

“How so?” 

Glaze, glaze over this topic like your life depends on it! “Well, a hierarchy did develop and that means some are left more… vulnerable than others.” Noone's face looked satisfied with my answer and I really wanted to push off the impending question that would likely have me sent back the to Dark Place before dessert. I quickly added, “Not to mention, certain people in the Dark Place are just stronger and more violent than others.” I cringed. I was painfully aware that I was digging my own grave. I quickly tacked on, “So what is the hierarchy here?”

“I’m king, this is my queen, princess, prince… we have a chart of everyone below us we can show you later.” Despite my effort, the king wasn’t having my distractions and continued his questioning, “So, in the Dark Place, if there is a hierarchy and certain members are above others, then undoubtedly there was punishment set in place for those who act more violently against the more vulnerable, yes?”

“Kind of.” I was going for casual, but the words came out through slightly barred teeth. 

GLAZE BETTER.

“Who is in charge of maintaining order?” I scoffed and immediately wanted to smack myself.

“Ummm… it depends. Ma- my mother and Hades would love to take credit for that… if you could call what they do ‘maintaining order.’” I was seriously shooting myself in the foot here. 

Back to the ‘in’ for me, goodbye ‘out,’ it was fun while it lasted.

“But you don’t believe they deserve the credit? So then who does?” The princess didn’t know what she was asking. She seemed genuinely curious. She couldn’t possibly understand how badly I wanted to leap across the table and wring her lovely little neck.

“Maintaining order isn’t the right way to put it. It’s more instilling fear to maintain compliance.” Everyone glanced around the table at each other. Their facial expressions varied, but I had clearly upset them all. 

Goodbye Clara, goodbye pastel hell, goodbye delicious dinner feasts.

“What does that mean?” The prince was holding a platter up in front of his face again and brushing his hair back as he spoke. The queen gave him a look that made him replace the platter on the table.

“Ignore him, please. Anyway, you don’t feel Maeve & Hades deserve credit for ascertaining their goals?”

“No… they have… others to do their... work for them.” I didn’t dare look up. I could see the glow of my eyes shining back against my plate. I grabbed for my wine, closed my eyes to hide them, and took another long pull. 

“What did their ‘work’ entail?” I dared to look up at the king for one second, silently pleading with him to drop the issue. He didn’t even flinch at my still glowing eyes. This must have been how all of my victims felt. I found myself inexplicably preferring Hades hands around my throat to this conversation. The king didn’t let me off the hook, instead he nodded forward with his head, encouraging me to answer. 

“The Judgements.” Silence followed. I didn’t look up.

“And those are?” This whole family really had a death wish. 

So long a ridiculous closet filled with ridiculous clothes.

“They are when the punishments are decided and executed.”

“What type of punishments were given?” Without his make-shift mirror in hand the prince was now fully engrossed in the conversation. He sounded exasperated, but I didn’t feel bad about how long I was drawing this out. He had been evading clear answers all day, and now it was my turn. Especially considering the ultimate answer would lead to my return to the Dark Place.

“Depends.”

The princess was the one to press me this time. “On?”

Oh princess, please stay out of this. My nerves were through the roof and I suddenly felt incredibly trapped. My eyes were glowing so brightly I could see the reflection off of any and everything I looked at. None of them seemed to care, all too absorbed in the story I was clearly trying not to tell.

“How the punishers feel at the time.” 

Goodbye you handsome, self absorbed , bobble-headed prince.

“And who are the punishers?” And there it was. The question I never, ever wanted to be asked. Not here, not in the Dark Place, not anywhere. Maybe it was because I had just thought about it or maybe it was because I was suddenly feeling ill again, but I could swear hands were tightening on my neck again. I let out one big huff and dark black smoke poured from my nostrils. 

Well that’s new. I didn’t want to answer the question, but I definitely didn’t want them to notice that I had apparently become a chimney, either. I made a decision. A rash decision; maybe. But a decision nonetheless. 

I lifted my head and took my time looking each one of them in the eyes, finally ending with the prince. I didn’t say anything, but instead let my glowing eyes stare into his, a smirk played across my face as I embraced my fate. If I was going down, I was going to make it cool. I held eye contact and then winked. 

The result of my action was far better than I could have expected. They laughed. They seemed to pick up on the implication, but they thought I was joking. I hadn’t lied, not that I ever intended to, but the truth was too disgusting for them to believe. The prince shook his head and chuckled. The conversation seemed to be dropped for the time being. I breathed a sigh of relief, quickly followed by a second sigh when I realized I was no longer breathing out smoke. 

When the laughter sputtered out, the princess asked another question I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer. “So, Eve, why do your eyes glow?”

No peace for the wicked, I suppose. I sighed, but decided we all were ready for a straight answer. “My mother says I’m a dragon.”

Autumn’s eyes grew wide before a smile spread overtook her face. “No freaking way! That is so badass!”

“Indeed it is. I was wondering if you’d share in that trait of hers.” The king smiled and lifted his glass to the center of the table. “To being a badass!” Everyone else lifted their glasses to meet his. Again, these people had shocked me with how casual, or possibly naive, they could be.

I picked up my glass of wine and lifted it to meet the others. “Cheers.”

****

I left dinner and was ready to be alone to process the day for a while. I met Clara by the door and she showed me back to my room. I asked her for a pen and paper. She asked why, and I told her. She giggled a little, and gave me a look that wasn’t filled with the same sadness everyone else had. This look I could tolerate. She looked at me like she wanted to be a part of my journey to figure everything out. I think she looked at me like she was my friend. I couldn’t be sure though. The only other person that tried to be my friend was the daughter of a sea witch and all of her looks were clouded with fear and uncertainty. This new look, the one Clara had just given me, was a look I wanted to get used to. 

So, instead of carrying on with my solitary plans for the evening, I asked Clara if she wanted to hang out and help me sort through the confusing world of emotions that lived beyond the Dark Place.

As I waited for Clara to return with the paper and pen I couldn’t help but dwell on the weird feeling that had been growing within my body since I left the Dark Place. It started in my chest and was dull, but during the intense dinner conversation I could feel it starting to radiate throughout my arms. I was either severely sleep deprived, having a heart attack, or dinner was poisoned. 

Clara returned with a pen, paper, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. Oh, yes. Clara was my favorite person. We worked for a few hours to name the feelings I had witnessed today and she even gave me a few new ones to be on the lookout for. By the time she left my cheeks hurt from laughing, but my soul hurt a little from some of the feelings I had learned about. I cringed as I remembered what I had done or said to earn each of those looks. Luckily there was a little wine left in the bottle to try and numb that pain away.

I was still trying to figure the cause of my body tingles out as I climbed into the world’s most comfortable bed and drifted off into a very mild nightmare.

Eve & Clara’s List of Feelings-

Pity- when someone feels sadness for me (hate it)

Concern- when someone feels worried for me (its fine)

Sympathy- when someone understands what I am feeling (its fine)

Empathy- when someone feels what I feel because they’ve experienced something similar (haven’t seen it, probably won’t see it)

Disappointment- sad at someone... kind of like mad, but not angry mad, just like someone was supposed to do something and they didn’t (what the king felt at the prince during dinner)

Happiness- when someone smiles and it goes to their eyes (*does it count if bad things make you happy??)

Curiosity- when someone wants to know something about you (can be when someone wants something or can be just because)

Nice- when someone does things or says not mean things without any ulterior motive (Clara not sure how to describe exactly- will take more notes)

Thankful/grateful- someone is happy with what I have done because it helps them in some way

Respect- someone likes what I have done and they like who I am more for it (the prince said he ‘respects’ what his father has done)