The Archer

01

Chapter 1: MERIDA VAUDEVILLE

White silk sheets of curtains billow in the room with the morningtide hues. The honey glow danced upon my face, kissing every inch of it to make me welcome the morning.

I stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to find any clue of the last night in the huge beads of the chandelier. My hands traveled all over the blanket to put it in front of my nose only to realize it was just a dream. The way he chuckled against my neck, burning my soul with his flamed haze eyes, his tanned bones upon my body. All of it replayed in my mind as I stared blankly at nowhere.

It all feels real. Am I bad if I told you that the man in my dream wasn’t Drew? If I told you that his face was just a smudged of withered lipstick on my lips? I never met him, I never heard those kinds of burning words.

I hold my breath to let Petrina pull the corset tighter. My eyes met each other in the mirror, I was like talking to myself through eye contact. I have a mole on the upper right side of my lips and the lower left side of my eye. They were just the ones but I actually have a lot of moles in my whole body. My figure isn’t that small and isn’t that big either. They said it is just a perfect size for a girl at my age. I do think so too.

“Madeleine! The party is almost starting!” Chanel heels impaled the grey granite floor of my bedroom with its opulent tip. In the mirror, I saw my mom’s wine lips turning into a curve as she walked towards me. A little louder and It would already catch the neighbor’s attention. Merida Vaudeville, my mother in her forties.

I saw how she irritatedly pushed Petrina away from me. I didn’t move where I was standing not until her cherry red-painted nails dug into my skin beneath the rose gold fabric of my ball gown. “I told you to get ready before ten in the evening, didn’t I?” She pulled me to make my eyes look into her internally screaming state.

I nodded. “Yes, mother, ” I said, almost whispering at the raw wind circulating between us.

She let out a deep breath before looking at Petrina. “Petrina,” she called.

The woman, who is three years older than me, quickly fixed her posture as soon as catching my mother’s eyes. “Y-Yes, madame?”

“Fix her, please. I don’t want her to face my guest…” she trailed off. I could see the hint of disgust in her eyes when she scanned my whole look. “Ugh, whatever.” Merida Vaudeville rolled her eyes theatrically. “Just fix her.” She looked at me one last time before heading out of my room.

Petrina quickly went back to my place after my mother’s figure vanished from our sight. She grabbed the golden hairbrush then started raking it up and down my hair. I just stared at my reflection as if I could see the answer to why my mother is too strict and whatever.

Merida Vaudeville is always like that even with my dad. She always wants everything to be like her even though it couldn’t! She is always forcing me to do the things my body, mind, and dignity couldn’t even swallow. I am fine with who I am right now, I don’t want her to change me, that’s why I could sense that she wants to disown me as her only daughter. If only she didn't want to stain her name, she would surely do it.

The tension aroused as I lightly jumped into one another hall. Behind one of them, I saw Dakota, the daughter of my godparents. She is talking to my mother with a bright smile on her face. From a little bit far, I saw how her face could pass the perfect ratio. My insecurities slowly prelude to its end.

I gripped both sides of my ball gown. Breast out, chin up, shoulder back, and walk like you are the ruler. That you have all of them in your hands.

I repeated my mother’s rule before walking towards them. “Good evening, madame!” I greeted with a wide smile.

Mother seemed shocked at my sudden appearance when her heels made a loud clicking sound on the floor. She looked around nervously but still looked calm after confirming that she didn’t humiliate herself. She went back to her place after that.

My godmother gently laughs at seeing me. “Oh, Madeleine! You’ve grown up as a beautiful woman!” She asked for a hug. I gave it and even received a kiss on the cheeks. “I like you since you were a kid! Everyone would like you as you grew older!”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her appreciation to my face only for my joy to run away when my mother butts in.

“Stop the humor, Criselda! We all know that Dakota is way more pretty than my daughter! Maybe you are just saying that because of her looks! But what is beauty when you can't even excel at least one in your school subjects?” She laughed sarcastically.

I quickly moved away from her. My eyes automatically went down my feet that were covered by the beautiful ball gown. I felt Dakota glancing at me but I never had the courage to look back at her. I was too confident, but when it comes to my mother, all my guts would run away from me. I couldn’t deny that Dakota is prettier than me though.

“What? I was telling the truth, Merida! Madeleine is such a fine woman!”

“Fine, my face.”

I didn’t wait for myself to hear her next words again. I left them all alone with the curiosity of why I did that. I don’t care if my mother would scold me for having no manners in front of her friend. Who would have the bravery to just stand there and listen to your own mother’s sugar-coated insults?!

I am her daughter but why does it feel like I am just a girl and I owe her my life? That I still need to pay anything she does for me? Yeah, I know that I am not smart but I could maintain a good and passing grade! I am not as beautiful as Dakota but I am pretty! Why do I need to keep on stepping higher when I am already average? Is my position isn’t enough to make her proud?

This is why I hate her for some reason. I hate her for being competitive, I hate her for being a perfectionist, I hate her for everything she is making me do when I don’t want to! That’s Merida Vaudeville, don’t expect her to be a kind and supportive mother.