Queen of Mean

(image by Dylan Leagh on Unsplash)

“Will you marry me, Devin?”

“Devin wouldn’t even think of it, right?”

Maria wandered in a daze into the Astian Forest, sticks breaking underneath her house shoes and low hanging branches catching hook of her blue dressing gown. But she didn’t pay the new slight tears in the threading any mind.

She didn’t mind anything around her. All she could do was replay the scene in her head over and over. A broken camera stuck on a loop, projecting it onto every surface she looked at. No escape.

Even the brisk breeze that froze her to the bare bone wasn’t enough of a distraction. Nor was the dwindling sunlight that was just enough to guide her through the vague tree shapes. Stretching and thinning in the coming daybreak, creating a kaleidoscope of oranges and yellows.

The voices that drew her into the forest faded slightly, but only enough for the reason she was there in the first place to come flooding back to the foreground of her thoughts. Maria shook her head violently, knocking the side of it as if that would erase the memories. At least for a little bit.

“Mariaaa~…”

Hushed tones geared her slightly right. Around one tree and past another. The sun stayed where it was at, time never gaining on her and creating a safe bubble inside the forest. She felt like she could stay there for years and the town would be none the wiser.

As if she needed Father Time’s help with that.

In the near distance, a stone obelisk came into view. Tall but scaleable. A balcony spanning the entire circumference near the pointed top. A large door was built into the front, one that stood out being surrounded by the bright green vegetation.

A tower. They wanted her to enter a tower. Without much forethought and nowhere else to turn or go, she pushed on the solid dark oak door and stepped inside.

It was a circular room with just enough space for a spiral stone staircase going up and leading down into the floorboards. Leaning against the innerstone, she could see that it led up to the balcony she’d seen from the outside. Down below, she couldn’t see a thing.

Maria could feel the pull in every bone in her body. An invisible rope tied intertwined with her ribcage that tugged her towards the mausoleum-like emptiness. Trying to go back to the doorway just created rope burn around her heart.

She couldn’t go down there. No way.

“...Right?”

The interior of the lower tower was well kept, but still a bit drafty and overgrown in a few places; vines escaping the crooks in the stone walls, moss growing from the cracks in the floor. It was soft and crunchy under her shoes as she stepped off the stairs and into the hallway.

It was one singular corridor with only five or so doors leading off into other rooms. At one end was an open door and stairs going further down at the other. An open door seemed the most logical next pathway. Especially if the alternative is an ominous staircase.

Now that she was down here, she could ignore the burn a little longer to explore.

The room was a simple office. Two walls lined with bookshelves adorned with willowing books, a desk against the opposite, and a painting of a young girl and boy next to the doorway. They were both smiling; earth brown eyes glistening and similarly colored hair done with careful brush strokes. Painstakingly painted to give it life even under the fine layer of dust collected atop the portrait. The boy had a wide toothy grin as he had his arm swung around the girl’s shoulders in a tight hug.

The frame had originally been merely a simple brown wood. But upon further inspection, she could see that the thin blue swirls had been painted on as well. Along with the white dots that bespeckled the swirls.

Though Maria couldn’t help but wonder. Even if the place had been abandoned, why did they leave such a beautiful piece behind? She gently and oh so very lightly touched the pads of her fingers to the frame, dragging them across the ancient feeling canvas.

It was just a painting. And yet, she could feel the life flowing underneath her skin. Life that was seeping into her the longer she connected with it.

“Mariaaa~…”

She swallowed hard and backed out of the office, keeping her eyes trained on the two kids. The boy’s seemed to follow her as she exited out into the corridor. She had to be imagining it, but the girl almost appeared sadder as she disappeared.

The rope yanked at her spine and she jolted towards the stairs delving deeper into the earth. Deep, much deeper. As she passed stone after stone, the light coming from the sunrise gradually leaving her, it became more and more apparent whatever she was being drawn to was not meant to be found.

Finally, the stairs led her to a pigeonhole. It was bare save for a wooden table with a singular object laying in the middle. Nothing keeping it safe or preventing the elements from claiming it. Yet nothing touched the table, it was intact as if it were built just that day.

A crack in the ceiling let a mysterious light in, shining down on the object that gave off its own dim glow. It had four white short points jutting out symmetrically from a round yellow pearl. Soft voices creeped out from the shadows; calling to her to come closer. Closer to the object and the powerful aura it emitted.

A star. It was a living star.

The rope lifted her arm and reached out for it, breaking the light stream coming from the crevice. Every instinct in her body said to pull away, go back up the stairs, and out of the tower. She didn’t know what awaited her in the forest, but whatever it was had to be better than going back to town.

Town. Where nothing but reminders would be present everywhere. Of the betrayal and blatant favoritism that held her in no high regard. Or any, really. She was cast aside by those she loved most, as if she were nothing. Not abandoned, they claim. They’ll always be there for her.

But where were her friends now?

The light danced over her fingers, dancing colors bouncing off the star to create mini rainbows gliding across her skin.

Devin wants a princess, huh? What about the queen he left behind?

Maria took the star and pressed her mouth to it. A tremor of electricity shot through to her throat; a power surge that tasted of earl gray. The star passed her parted lips, but stayed upon her tongue. She almost couldn’t bring herself to. What was she doing?

“I’m sorry, Maria. But I’ve chosen to accept Princess Emily’s proposal.”

She swallowed the star, forcing it down her throat. It tasted sweet with an almost melted icecream type consistency once it hit her stomach.

Then, pain. So much excruciating and riveting pain that tore her internal organs apart piece by piece as the star dissolved into her. Maria doubled over and clutched her abdomen, chest, throat, everywhere. Nails clawing at her person in a desperate attempt to get it out of her. Every bone, joint, and muscle seared with a sharp burning that threatened to dissolve her entire body.

The mysterious light grew brighter until it completely encapsulated the small den. Power surged up, burning her from the inside. Screams echoed throughout the tower and she wasn’t sure if it was coming from her, the voices, or the people of town.

The commotion died down and all that was left was a broken girl, now dressed in long flowing robes that flowed in the nonexistent air. A purple essence came off her hands in waves as she curled them into fists. Staring down the dark tunnel, she ascended the stairs, now hellbent on a destination of destruction.