Love Before Blood

Darkness. Darkness everywhere. What lies in the darkness? “If only I could see...Light. I need light,” I think to myself as I scramble for something-anything-to light the darkness that surrounds me. There is no light that shines in this crappy room that I’ve been put in since I was born. There is no hope that will show me a way out of this darkness that I’ve grown accustomed to. I’ve known this, yet why am I still wondering? What is this wet feeling on my hand? What is it? I can’t see, so I do what I could, I bring it to my nose and smell it. Metallic. I lick it, like the smell, it tastes metallic. There’s only one thing in this world that could taste metallic. Blood. In disgust, I desperately spit out what I licked, but it’s no use, the taste will not leave my mouth. But whose blood is it? I try to search for the source with my hands, but like the darkness, it’s everywhere. I can’t escape it. In panic, I can only think of that one question. Not wanting to know the answer, I stand up, but the level immediately rises to knees. I’m going to drown, and there’s no one to save me. Someone one save me. It’s time to wake up! Avalon! I feel someone violently shaking my shoulders, and I force myself to open my eyes. Sweat was dripping down my forehead, and my pillow and bed was wet. Dull light was pouring through the cracks in the stone wall. Still half asleep, I slowly turned toward the person who was violently shaking and saw a worried expression on my mother’s face. I shift my eyes to her hands and I see a pitcher in her hand, still dripping with water. Well, at least I know the source now. “You were having the same nightmare weren’t you?” she asked. I sighed and turned away from her,” Yeah. It’s just a stupid nightmare.” I closed my eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep, but my mother stopped me. “Oh no, you can’t, she’ll be here soon and you need to get ready.” I groan and force myself to sit up. I didn’t even bother to wash my face or comb my hair. I slipped on the uniforms that made me itch. When the head-maid knocked on our door, I stood next to my mother. “All you have today is mop the floors in the Great Hall from top to bottom. Lucky you,” she turns to leave and in a barely audible voice,” King Ken Locke and Queen Rosario would like to speak with you after you are done, so head over there right after.” She slams the door so hard, the echoes of bounces off the stone wall for a couple of minutes. My mother and I are the lowest-ranked servants at the Royal Palace in the Land of Humans. However, she didn’t always have this status. Heather Nette was a lady-in-waiting for Queen Rosario Locke, but King Ken Locke hooked up with my mother and, of course, she got pregnant with me. She told me that she tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. When the queen found out, she punished my mother severely and nearly killed her in the process. King Locke stopped her and demoted her to the lowest rank of all the servants in the palace. He also denied that I was his child when I was born and promised to never look in my direction. My mother and I have been ridiculed and stepped on by so many of the servants. Some days, she would come into our room with more bruises than the day before. Seeing her in that condition motivated me to learn how to fend for myself. When the time came, I made sure they had it coming. I wanted to show my mom that I can protect us both and that I don’t blame her for the situation we are in. I, personally, blame him for all of it. I don’t know how fast word spreads in this palace, but soon enough my mother and I were assigned a bodyguard, Bryce Serpen, to protect us from the physical harm and of course the head maid to supervise our chores and make sure we did not overwork ourselves. The lower the rank, the harder the chores. He hated us at first and did little to nothing to stop them from actually hurting us, and just like Grey, the head maid didn’t bother to supervise us. Most of the time, she just takes our meals away until we complete certain tasks in the way she wants them to. Because of her treatment towards us, I didn’t bother learning her name. And I didn’t care to. When Grey saw me stand up to the maids, he started showing me easy self-defense techniques. After that day, we grew closer. He would secretly bring us hot meals and blankets during the winter, with some gossip on the side as well. Eventually, he taught me to read and write. “Well,” my mother said,” the floors aren’t going to clean themselves.” I sigh and say,” This is going to be a long day.” I wasn’t referring to cleaning the Great Hall. After mopping five flights of stairs and the hallways on each floor, the Great Hall was finally sparkly clean. Well, cleaner than it was ten years ago before the war with the Drakes began, which we are losing--badly. It’s a petty fight, something about border disputes. Quite honestly, I don’t understand why, but it’s like watching two children fighting over what side of the bed they get to sleep on. I was so tired and hungry, all I wanted to do was go back to my room and go to sleep until tomorrow. But like always, my mother stopped me and said,” Oh no, we have to go see the King and Queen.” I internally rolled my eyes. They don’t deserve to be royals that’s for sure. “Right, we are going to go see the King and Queen.” “C’mon, sweetie,” she cooed,” it can’t be all that bad. Who knows, they might be giving us our freedom.” I scoffed at her response and said,” Mom, what’s the point of gaining our freedom if we have nowhere to go.” “I’m sure we can find a peaceful life for us somewhere.” she said with a hopeful smile. I held my tongue to stop me from saying something terrible to break her hopes, and smiled instead. My weakness has always been her smile. When she smiled at me for the very first time, I did everything I could to make her smile every day. But that brief moment ended when a lady-in-waiting came over and ordered us to follow her to the Throne Room. The Throne Room was made of white marble with diamond chandeliers that brightened up the room. Honestly, it was so bright, I could barely keep my eyes open. I saw the smirk on Queen Rosario’s face when she saw I was squinting my eyes to adjust to the light, her fangs showing a little bit. I have this feeling she wants me to keep our heads down. What a b***h! Queen Rosario, a vampire and werewolf hybrid, was named after a divine rose that was valued so many years ago. It is one of the most beautiful roses a human could ever lay eyes on, and it is said that it has the power to grant immortality to mortals. It’s petals make it look like a rose made of fire and they were soft like velvet, but when you try to pick it, it’s thorns are as sharp as daggers and can leave a very deep cut. Not only that, there is a poison excreted from its thorns when it pricks your skin. Just like the rose, her hair was like a fire and her eyes were blue that stared daggers into your soul. She also dresses like a flower, but we all know that she is not fragile like one. It’s almost like a lure that ensnares her victims with her bright colors and then poisons them with her hidden thorns. The name suits her, like the toxic b***h she is. A lot of rumors spread amongst the maids and the guards that King Locke married Rosario in order to gain an alliance with the vampires and the werewolves. In fact most of the army fighting in the war consists mostly of turned humans. When we got close to their thrones, both of us curtsied until King Locke gestured for us to rise. Both of us kept our heads down. “You both can relax, we just want to talk to you, especially Avalon.” I instantly raised my head and he said,” It has come to my attention that we are losing this war very badly. And with the amount of casualties we have faced for the past ten years, we will surely become extinct if we do not stop. Because of this, we have agreed to a marriage alliance with the royal family of the Land of Drakes.” “Congratulations.” I said. My mother stayed absolutely still. “However, the marriage alliance cannot occur unless we have an heir for them to marry.” The queen stiffened up. I knew where this was going and said smugly,” I guess you better get busy, then.” I link my arm with my mother’s. “Don’t worry, my mother and I won’t get in the way of this alliance.” “Avalon,” he said, and I stopped. Like actually stopped. ''Queen Rosario cannot produce an heir. We have tried many times. You will have to participate in this marriage alliance.” I turned to look him directly in his eyes and said,” No.”