Cecilia

Rage like the sun, that's what her anger had always been described as. She felt it as she watched her tiny, trembling sister say "And, I will no longer accept any punishment from you. Since you have stopped being my parents and family, you have lost the right to take your anger out on me. Should anyone try to lay a hand on me, I will no longer hold allow it. Believe me, I am completely capable of stopping it." Strength on her face but fear throughout her body, her new parents and brothers had completely failed her young sister.

For three weeks she had enjoyed the luxuries of her new life, and for three weeks she had wondered where her sister was. She had been reassured that the princess was being taken care of in a separate palace that she had requested to live in. Audrey was only ten, why would they allow this? Cecilia had wondered, but she chalked it up to how the rich lived. When she saw her sister, barely dressed correctly, clearly tired from her journey, enter her father's study, she was overjoyed to see her until she took in what she was seeing.

The person in her new family she was most curious about was her sister, the rumours around her told a story of brilliance and neglect, and she saw how true both rumours were. Her three weeks had been filled with maids, dresses, jewellery and tutors. Everyone fawned over her blonde hair, and her beautiful face, all things people had fawned over her entire life. The food in the palace was decadent and delicious, she was extremely pleased with her new life, so much so she had almost forgotten herself. Her mother visited her every day, she had tea with her father every day, and her brothers taught her sword fighting every evening. They all had dinner together every night, she found herself adapting to and accepting their love. 

Until the fateful evening, they all had tea, and she felt herself accepting the everloving family even more, her walls lowering, she found herself opening her heart. In a pale pink dress, she felt prettier than ever, she was surrounded by a bubble of love. A small creature with a messy head of hair popped her bubble and brought her back to the reality she had left behind. As her sister left, her rage began seeping from her skin. Tiny hot tendrils of light leaked from her pores as her sense of justice bubbled under her skin.

"How could you treat your own daughter that way?" Her voice was deeper and hollow, unlike anything the Royals had heard from her. They had never seen her so angered, they all knew the dangers of infuriating a light user and immediately focused on calming her. "Make sure a carriage sends her home and you will not abandon your daughter, if you ever treat a child that way I will never forgive you." Her eyes began to glow with gold as her anger began to explode.

"Darling calm down, this wasn't something that happened on purpose. It seems your arrival caused some servants to assume they shouldn't be attending to that girl, we'll make sure her entire staff attends to her soon." The king reassured her, and her eyes began turning blue again. "Everything will return to how it was." 

"It should be better than it was, she should be here. Why isn't she living here? And clearly, she doesn't want to be left and ignored and... and beaten." Her voice was shaking, she knew what violence did to children, she had only been beaten once or twice, but the children, no slaves, she grew up with had never been so lucky. She knew how much strength it took to stand up for yourself and demand something from the people who oppress you. "You are failures, all of you." She quietly criticised them, stood and ran from the room. Hot flares of light still leaking from her pores, she immediately had to jump into a cold bath which soon became like a sauna. The maids continuously added ice to the bath, helping it cool down as the water sizzled away. The unending anger of the sun blazed through the Diamond Palace as the rage of the ocean built in the Daisy Palace. 

Three days passed before her anger cooled down and she woke from a 36-hour slumber, exhausted, and immediately was greeted by her mother who had lain by her side. Her brothers were on the couches of her room, asleep, her father at the foot of her bed on a chair whilst his body was draped over the bed. She felt warmth in her heart, their love for her was real but she needed to bring her sister into this palace. She began writing a letter and the butler sent it over to the Daisy Palace, hoping she could convince her sister to come to the Diamond Palace after they met. She had always wanted a sister and she wasn't used to not getting what she wanted, even though she had grown up in poverty, life had always gone her way in one way or another. 

A day later, she received a letter back from Audrey, inviting her to the Daisy Palace for tea the next day and she immediately accepted. She sat in the giant gardens of the Diamond Palace that afternoon, watching the birds and trees, reminiscing on the life she had left behind when two hands blocked her view.

She heard her brother Rodrick's voice from behind her and she laughed as his hands moved from her face. She had a book in her hands, she hadn't turned a single page of it in more than an hour. He took it from her hands and grinned as he sat opposite her. "I hated reading this book - actually, I hate reading most books." he sheepishly admitted, scratching his head. "This one, though, was, uh, particularly bad and I never got through it. I had someone write me a summary of each chapter and that got me through it." She giggled at his antics and felt better about the fact that she, too, hated the book. 

"Well, I'm glad I have summaries that I can steal from you then." She replied as he put the book on the table. "It's too beautiful a day to be wasted on reading. I'd much rather talk to you, Rod." He had insisted he call her that, and Derrick was 'Rich' for some reason. 

"Well, would you like to join me and Rich for some horse riding tomorrow? I've heard the weather is even better than it is today." He asked, hope in his eyes. He knew how upset she had been for the last week over their rather insignificant youngest sister. He couldn't understand why she was so enraged, he knew it wasn't fair, but it was how it had always been. When he was young and he lost his Cece, he couldn't fathom that his mother was pregnant again. However, he hoped that the child would be just like Cece, his wonderful and adorable sister, and he was deeply disappointed when a black-haired baby was born. He was glad everyone around him seemed to have the same reaction, he felt validated, but when he saw the same cute smile on the baby he began to hesitate in his reaction. 

By then it was too late to stop everyone from handing off the baby to the Daisy Palace, and he wouldn't see her again until she was 5 years old and invited to dinners on Fridays. He saw a well-behaved and adorable child, someone yearning love, but her dark features always prevented his heart from fully opening to her. Instead, he felt like she was trying to replace their Cece and all he felt was disgust, even though it wasn't her fault and they all knew that. Unfortunately, his parents' way of thinking had long infected the Royal Palaces. Now, he was just glad that his Cece was back, as was Derrick. They could finally make up for ten years of love they hadn't been able to express.

"Oh, I'm having tea with Audrey tomorrow, so we'll have to do that another day." She replied nonchalantly. He stopped and suddenly stared at her.

"She's coming here? She only comes on Fridays, why would she be here on a Wednesday?" He asked, unable to stop the disgust rising in his voice. 

"Wow. Well, considering she's our sister, she should be here living with us rather than in some far-off palace. I'm going to her, but now I think she should be coming here. Although, the last time she was here was deeply unpleasant for her so I'll spare her that drama. How could any of you treat her like this?" Her voice faltered, pain and heartache echoing into his ears.

Hearing the pain in her voice, he quickly went to her and knelt at her feet. "She's already causing you so much pain, why do you insist on her existence being around us? Isn't everything perfect as it is? Why ruin this life we have?" He begged. He had associated everything bad with his youngest sister. It was after Cecilia disappeared that Audrey appeared and he'd never separated their existences. No one had.

"She hasn't caused me any pain, you have. All of you. Our parents created her, they brought her into the world, how could you all just abandon her? I don't understand any of this." She sighed and got up. "I won't see you all for dinner tonight, I need time alone." She stated as she left her brother unable to fathom what she had said.

The next day, she quickly hopped into a carriage and set off to the Daisy Palace.