a sparkling Sun on the dark Sea

Cecilia looked wonderful in pink, Audrey always felt out of place in that colour. Everyone told her she looked frumpy in pink, and she finally understood what they meant when she saw how much her sister suited the colour. Frills and curls, they all suited her, there was likely not a single colour that she couldn't make look beautiful. The only colours that suited Audrey were dark cool colours, purples, greens, blues and black. As she saw her blinding sister step off the carriage, she knew that those colours would look beautiful on her too. The slightest amount of envy leaked into her heart but she squashed it because she liked looking at her beautiful sister. 

She curtsied deeply as she greeted her sister, "I humbly welcome Your Highness into my humble palace." She didn't dare lift her head until she received some words in return, that's what was customary with the rest of her family. 

"Um, thank you. I humbly accept your welcome, Audrey." Cecilia replied, feeling a bit awkward because of the extremely formal reception. She was used to the unflinching warmth of her new family. They all called her Cece, they hugged her, they were never formal with her and didn't expect formality from her either. "You can just call me Cece, everyone else does and I think calling me 'Your Highness' is a bit wordy, isn't it?" She winked as Audrey lifted herself from her deep curtsy and stared at her curiously. She was like a tiny black puppy approaching a new toy. Cautious but optimistic. 

"Do you want to be called Cece? Or is it just what everyone calls you?" Audrey asked, not realising how bold her question was. 

Cecilia was taken aback for a second. No one had asked her, they just called her Cece, but she had always been called Cece. Even in the slums, they had never called her anything else, that's what she told everyone to call her. Perhaps it was her memory of her family that kept her from any other name. "I do want to be called Cece, it matches who I am." She finally replied.

"Okay, Cece," Audrey replied, resolutely. "Please come into the Daisy Palace, where I have lived since I was one year and nine months old. My home." Cece stopped behind her, processing for a second the lies she had been told. How could a baby have requested to live here? 

Audrey took her to the living room, her bedroom, her garden, and finally a greenhouse with a tea set up for them to chat. For the first time, Cece found that Audrey felt like a child, yapping about her life, telling her about the most irrelevant details. She listened intently and asked questions, hoping to unpack the lonely life of a child left to her whims.

It was a needlessly upsetting life. Most of her fun anecdotes related to spots where she would hide from everyone, her most exciting story was about going to the edge of her garden where she could see the ocean, or how she could see it from the top of the tallest turret in her palace. She was trapped in the walls of her home, it was downright depressing. 

"Audrey, why don't you move into the Diamond Palace?" Cece asked, suddenly. Audrey nearly spat out her tea. 

"Th-they don't really want me there," Audrey mumbled, avoiding eye contact with her sister.

"What makes you say that?" Cece asked, to which she received the most pointed look from Audrey. "Okay, fair, but just move in. You're their daughter, you have the right to live there just as much as I d-"

"No, I don't." Audrey asserted. "I tried to move with them once, believe me. I do not have any right to do any of this. But, Cece, don't worry about it. I'm happy where I am. Now that you are here, my life will also get better and one day, me and my fiance, Edmond, we'll escape everything and live our lives by the sea." Her childish dream sounded wonderful.

"That sounds like a wonderful life, but you shouldn't have to escape. You're a Princess, you should have everything you want. Everyone in the kingdom speaks so highly of you, the brilliant Princess Audrey, she has perfected every aspect of high society at only ten. Why can't you or our parents see the value you bring?" Audrey blushed at the acknowledgement and compliments she was receiving. She wasn't used to such kindness being sent her way. 

"Than-" Just as Audrey was thanking her sister, the doors of the greenhouse flung open. The Queen flew in like a typhoon and immediately stood next to Cece defensively. Instinctively, Audrey stood and bowed into a curtsy and greeting. "I greet Your Majesty and thank you for coming into my palace." She robotically stated. Her head remained bowed, waiting for the Queen to acknowledge her.

Instead, the Queen turned to Cece, worry in her eyes. "Cece, why would you come here without telling me or your father? We were so worried. Why are you here at all?" The queen demanded.

"I'm having tea with Audrey, your other daughter, mother, and trying to convince her to come into the Diamond Palace and live with us, as a family." Cece replied, confusion written over her features.

"Don't bother with something so pointless, Cece. That child is happy where she is, this is where she belongs. Now, come, you shouldn't be visiting others until you debut into society." Cece ripped her hand from her mother's grip.

"No! Look at her, she's still in her bow, waiting for you to just acknowledge her existence. Look at her. Why can't you act like a parent?" Audrey remained with her head bowed, fear running through her veins, afraid of how the Queen would react. She knew that while the men in her family simply turned a blind eye to her, the Queen actively hated her.

"And she will remain with her head at the ground You're right, she is my daughter so I can treat her however I see fit. She should never have invited you here and she will be rightfully punished for that. Now we are leaving, I will drag you home if I have to Cece, this is not a Palace you should ever have set foot on." Anger glowed in the Queen's eyes, an anger Audrey was all too familiar with. 

"And when did you last set foot in here, mother? How long has it been since you acted like a mother to the daughter who has been right next to you for ten years?" Audrey felt her legs shaking but she held strong. She hated the feeling in her chest, pain from her mother's words and joy that someone had stood up for her for the first time in her life. She didn't want to stay in the curtsy position, she knew that she didn't need to behave this way, but her muscles wouldn't move. She was stuck.

"Oh, well, I'll step into here tonight for her punishment. We are leaving." And with that, the Queen pulled Cece behind her and Cece called out her goodbyes as she was dragged out of the Daisy Palace. 

"I'll come back, Audrey! I promise." And Cece did keep that promise, but it would be years before she would come back to the Daisy Palace. 

Audrey remained in that curtsy for nearly an hour, her legs shaking with fear even though they had long been gone. She prayed the Queen wouldn't personally punish her, for her light magic caused more damage to her than she could bear. It had been two years since she had last received a personal punishment from the Queen, it had been in the dungeons of the Diamond Palace after she had requested to live there. The Queen had created a whip made of light and Audrey had been handcuffed, the scars of that day remained on her arms and legs, forcing her to wear long sleeves and stockings even in the heat of summer. The servants in her Palace knew about the whipping and no one had helped her bleeding wounds but Achlys who taught her how to heal. Unfortunately, the light magic had affected her powers of darkness and she couldn't prevent the scarring, it took three months for her dark magic to restore. She prayed the Queen would forget. 

Unfortunately, her prayers never came true.