Jump to content
Stray Fawn Community

I’m Also Writing A Story

Broken

By Broken
in Off Topic

 Share

Recommended Posts

Broken

Broken

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Mistletoe

 

Chapter 1


 

Mistletoe had always remembered living in the palace. Well, living in a large closet within the palace. And only being able to leave if she wasn't near her mother, Queen Snow, or twin sister. Although twin wasn't exactly the right word for it, according to her mother. Flake would be queen after Mother died because Flake was a better princess. Mistletoe couldn't see it. Flake was bossy and demanding, the complete opposite of Mistletoe. But, so was Mother. 

She's just biased. Flake was always Mother's favorite. In Mother’s eyes, I’m a failure. 

But to her brother, Coal, she was just as special as Flake. He never chose favorites. But Mistletoe had always suspected that he liked her more.

She began thinking about her brother when a knock at the door snapped her back to reality.

"Come in," she called.

She looked up as her best friend, Shard, walked in. Shard wasn't only her best friend, she was her personal guard. Her mother was never going to give her a guard originally, probably hoping she would get kidnapped or murdered come to think of it, but her brother and nanny had insisted. 

Shard came and sat down on her small bed, staring at the wall. Shard had helped her paint it her favorite color (which was yellow at the time) for Mistletoe's birthday last year. Her birthday would come soon and it would be time to paint it again. It was kind of a tradition that she and Shard did. Mainly because Mistletoe's favorite color kept changing (now it was white), but Shard never complained. 

"So," Shard began, "Your mother is looking for you."

Mistletoe looked up at her, a confused expression painted on her face. But Shard just gave her an I-don't-know face. Mistletoe sighed and got up, Shard following close behind her. She opened the door which led into her brother's room. He wasn't there, but she could tell that he had recently woken up. The bedsheets were messed up and clothes were all over the floor. Either that or he was too lazy to clean it up himself and left it for the servants. They walked out of her brother's room and into a large hallway with beautiful wood floors and bright lights. She looked down both sides, each one leading to a different stairwell. On the right was the way to the throne room, where her mother most likely was. And the other led past the kitchen and into the dining hall. And across the way was Flake's room, whose door was slightly open, letting Mistletoe see just some of the many dresses that her sister owned. She just sighed and turned away letting Shard lead the way towards the dining hall, where her mother was waiting. Along the walls were tapestries with the flag stitched neatly with many shades of blue. There were also portraits of previous queens, each one drawn by different people at different times. The most recent one was of her mother. And as she passed by it, it was almost like her eyes were staring at Mistletoe in disgust. She turned away from it. It had always scared her as a child, it had always felt like her eyes were always on her. She knew now that it wasn't true, but the feeling never  really went away. 

She hadn't realized that she had stopped walking and had to run to catch up to Shard. 

"Sorry. I got a little distracted," she said, doing her best to smile.

Shard just rolled her eyes playfully and kept walking. Her boots made a loud click sound every time she took a step. She never wore her armor, unless she was going on patrol, but always had her sword with her. Shard was different from Flake's guard. Flake's guard was Chad, he only seemed like he got the job so he could marry one of the princesses. He always flirted with them but it was obvious Mistletoe hated him (and thought Shard hated him as well). Mistletoe stopped at the smell of raspberries coming from the kitchen. 

Mother’s birthday is tomorrow. I completely forgot. Chocolate raspberry was her mother’s favorite cake, and she had it made every year. Mistletoe always hated her mother’s birthday. It was the one time she was allowed to be in the same room as her mother. She wasn’t allowed to leave because she had to ‘stay with her mother and look pretty’ and she wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone unless they spoke to her, and even then the most she could do was smile and nod. 

Mistletoe pulled away from the sweet scent and continued walking down the corridors. As she neared the throne room, she could already hear Flake complaining to their mother. Mistletoe sighed and walked down the stairs, ready for her mother to scold her like always. When she slowly walked into the throne room, her mother had a false smile painted on her face. 

“Hello Mistletoe,” Her mother said, hissing out her name. 

“Hello mother,” she replied hesitantly. What did her mother want? She never wanted to speak to her, unless she was in trouble. But Flake was here so it couldn’t be that. 

“I need you and Flake to help set up the courtyard for my birthday festival. Coal and your guards will help as well.” 

“Yes mother,” They said in unison and Flake glared at her. . She was pushed aside as Flake rushed to the door. Flake always seemed like she had something to prove, even though she had always been mother’s favorite of the two. Mistletoe sighed and followed Flake, looking at the tapestries which lined the walls. They were different from the ones upstairs, these represented the four kingdoms, with the Tree of Unity in the middle. The Tree of Unity had been around for as long anyone could remember. It was a meeting place for the queens, and although she had never been there herself, she had heard many stories from her older brother about it. 

She looked behind her, hoping to speak to Shard, but saw that she was still in the throne room talking to the queen. Mistletoe turned back around and followed Flake out into the courtyard, where Coal, his guard, and Chad were already waiting. Mistletoe bent down to look at the flowers that her mother had specially ordered from the Spring Kingdom. They had already frosted over due to the cold climate of the kingdom, but that just made them even more beautiful, in her opinion.

“Snake!” Flake screeched. Mistletoe shot up at the sound of her sister’s cry and looked around.

“That’s a weed,” Shard muttered, but Flake didn’t hear her. She started backing up slowly, but tripped on a rock and fell. Chad snickered and helped her to her feet. Flake caught her breath and stared at Chad. 

“WHY DID YOU LAUGH AT ME!” She screamed. “I’m going to report you to Mother!” 

“Please don’t,” he said, desperation in his blue eyes, “I was laughing at a joke that Shard made. I swear.”

Flake didn’t seem like she believed him but didn’t say anything.

“I tried telling you it was a weed, not a snake,” Shard added. Flake glared at her, “Well, you should’ve said it louder.” She puffed and walked past them with her head high. 

“Are you okay?” Mistletoe asked, but Flake just ignored her, responding only with a single grunt. Mistletoe just stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say next.

“Hey, how about we start getting ready?” Coal asked, wanting to break the silence.

“Sure,” Mistletoe said, and they got to work.

 

By the time they were finished, which took a while with all Flake’s distractions.  There were beautiful lanterns hanging in the frosty trees that surrounded the courtyard, which lit up in shades of purple and blue. There were tables set up with white and silver tablecloths and vases in the center that held the frosted flowers. In the middle was an ice sculpture of a swan that reflected the iridescent light of the lanterns. The entire courtyard smelled of fresh cranberries, due to the new cranberry shipment that arrived from the Autumn Kingdom. Mother said that she was planning to make them into juice for the party guests. They had just finished when she came out.

“Hello everybody. I see that it’s going well.”

“Yes, we just finished, mother,” Flake replied, a confident look on her face. 

“Very good. Mistletoe, Flake, come with me back inside.” 

Mistletoe nodded and followed her mother back inside, with Flake close behind her. 

 

She led them inside the castle, passing the same tapestries as before. The halls had grown darker due to the sun setting, but everything was still visible thanks to the torches lining the walls.  She then guided them down a much dimmer corridor which had no windows and much fainter torches. Eventually they stopped at a small, brown door. Mistletoe didn’t recognize it, so it was probably one of Mother’s secret rooms that she didn’t let her see. The queen turned the knob and opened the door to reveal three dresses. One was a poofy white dress with a pale blue snowflake design on the skirt that was presumably for Flake. The one right beside it was a knee length light blue dress with small snowflake patterns on the bodice  that was most likely Mistletoe’s. And the final one was a large, dark blue dress with sleeves that had a similar snowflake pattern. 

“What. Is. That?” Flake asked, pointing at the large white one on the far side of the room.

“That is the dress you will wear tomorrow,” Mother said, admiring the dress. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“No! Why does Mistletoe get a prettier dress than me?” She spat.

“Well, you are going to wear it whether you want to or not,” Her mother said, as if she was speaking to a whining child. “Now go to your rooms, I want you to be well rested for tomorrow’s events.” 

She walked out the door and went back into the throne room. Flake stayed where she was with her arms crossed.

“If I don’t want to wear it why doesn’t she get me another one? She used to always do that.” Flake muttered to herself. 

Mistletoe looked back at her dress and sighed. It’s nothing compared to Flake’s. What is she getting so worked up about? 

Mistletoe turned around and walked to her room, not trying to worry about what was to come tomorrow.

  • Love 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...