TWO CENTURIES LATER

IN THE KINGDOM OF DRAKONWELL

Naomi Stone couldn't feign even the slightest smile as she inwardly struggled not to violently yank the brush out of her princess' hair.

"-but then he said he wanted to kiss me!" Princess Laya Banian of Drakonwell shivered in disgust, her baffled look reflecting in the dressing mirror before them. "A kiss! Naomi, do you understand what that means? Do you really?"

Naomi held a patch of hair and forced a brush through. Lord, her hair was hard.

"Unfortunately, I do." She grunted, surprised the princess didn't flinch even as Naomi was struggling. "It means a disgusting, slobbery and pathetic excuse to share saliva."

"Exactly!" the princess agreed wholeheartedly. "So, naturally I didn't let him do that to me. Urgh, you should have seen his mark, Naomi. It was horrifying. That thing was getting nowhere near my face. However, I have to admit that I did let him play around with me for a bit, if you get what I mean. Do you get it, Naomi? Do you get what I am trying to say?"

Naomi really wanted to sigh in annoyance. It was always an ugly mark. Granted, even though all of Drakonwell had the same coloured mark, most differed in size, shade, and even how profound they were. Some truly were scary and tended to surround the whole eye. Really scary.

But for the princess to judge someone's when her own made her eye look like it was struggling to reach for air, it made Naomi grateful that she didn't bear any of that monstrosity.

The thing was, every creature and magic bearer in Gregon's Land had a mark-or more like a scar-either on or surrounding their right eye. Those in Drakonwell had a blue mark, those in Oroden had green, and the evil beings in Daemon Cove had black.

The Ravencorffs-or the Shades-well, they had nothing.

Naomi didn't mind, however, as she was proud to be a Shade. What she hated was that most Shades were completely isolated in the north and deemed useless. Useless and dumb. She couldn't deny that that was partly true-just the useless part-but it didn't mean she had to live with that prejudice over her head for the rest of her life.

Naomi had a plan, a devious one, and one she couldn't execute alone. All she needed was a loyal Shade and a magic bearer on her side. Two pawns who wouldn't think twice about going along with every word she said.

And they said all Shades were without hope.

Naomi quickly banished her thoughts when she suddenly realised the princess was still waiting for an answer.

"I do understand what you mean, Princess. And if you ask me, I think you were right to reject his kiss," Naomi agreed. "You don't know what kind of rabid disease that bastard has on his tongue."

"Exactly! All those bastards!"

"And besides," she added, shifting the conversation a little more to her favour. "You're betrothed to the Crown Prince of Oroden. You shouldn't be playing around with those poor bastards knowing that they might probably kill themselves for your hand."

Princess Laya grinned and shifted her gaze to stare at herself in the mirror. Her face was so pale and plain, making her ugly mark more pathetic to look at. But Naomi smiled broadly and pretended as if she was the most beautiful creature in the kingdom, making sure she exaggerated just enough for the princess to confide more in her.

"I mean, look at how beautiful you are, Princess! They would surely die for you. Mar their faces even!"

Laya relished in the compliments Naomi showered on her. "Well, I suppose they would. It would certainly be an improvement on their already disturbing looks. There are hardly any handsome dragonlords in this kingdom."

"Hardly." Naomi set down the brush, giving up with combing, and began to braid the princess' hair. "No wonder the queen arranged a marriage for you."

"Actually, it was my father," Laya corrected, then giggled. "He wants to make sure that he doesn't have a hideous son-in-law nor unlovable grandchildren. He and I think so alike."

Of course they did. Naomi wasn't surprised in the least. She had only seen the king a handful of times since she had arrived at Drakonwell a few years ago, and from what she'd seen, he was a pompous and easy target to manipulate.

Just like his daughter.

"I didn't know King Rhys wanted an Oroden for a son-in-law," Naomi murmured to herself. To anyone, it would appear as if she had no real interest, while in truth, she was silently registering every word out of the princess' mouth.

And goodness, what a mouth it was! An incredibly large mouth with accompanying big lips. Naomi knew she herself had quite the bulbous nose, but at least it didn't threaten to overtake half of her face.

The fact was, Naomi knew she wasn't overly beautiful. But even with her nose and flabby earlobes, one had to recognize that she was quite attractive. Her brown skin was almost flawless in addition to her thick, curly black hair that touched the base of her spine. Just as she liked it.

Not too beautiful to stand out yet not too hideous to scare even the most horrifying creatures.

In Princess Laya's case however, her only saving attribute was her hair. Even Naomi had to admit that the princess' thick, fiery and curly red hair was indeed enchanting, and she almost felt sorry for the way she was maltreating it.

Almost.

Focus! A little voice nudged her to the present. Naomi blinked and realised she had zoned out again. Urgh, buck teeth!

At least the princess didn't notice. She was too preoccupied with checking her reflection and chattering on about whatever to bother about the horrible braids her maid had done at the back of her head.

Naomi had to redirect their conversation to her benefit. What were we even talking about again?

Kissing... Dragonlords... King Rhys... Marriage!

She cleared her throat and repeated her words out loud this time. "I didn't know the king wanted an Oroden for a first son-in-law."

Princess Laya wasn't in the least bit fazed by the change of subject. "Well, he does. My father relishes in the thought of his only girl marrying a rich wizard," the princess said as she rose from her chair and turned to face Naomi, a pitiful look on her face. "You probably won't ever experience it. I suppose you are not getting married?"

Naomi held in an exasperated sigh and forced a smile. "I haven't really thought about-"

"You shouldn't."

The Shade silently prayed to the Supreme for strength and endurance. Princess Laya, getting bored staring at Naomi's face, walked towards her bed, her nightgown swaying behind her.

"What I'm trying to say is that it will just be abomination after abomination after you marry and decide to have children." The princess stopped by her bedpost and "smiled" back at her maid. "No offence."

What a charm, Naomi thought dryly, not moving from where she stood.

Princess Laya, about to enter the covers, noticed her maid still stationed and made a face. "What are you still doing there? Shoo!"

This annoyed Naomi further. She wasn't a bloody dog.

"I just wanted to ask you one last question, Princess," Naomi gritted out with as much restraint as she could, but it apparently wasn't strong enough.

The princess narrowed her eyes, definitely not missing the slight impatience in her maid's tone. "Are you being moody with me, Naomi? Am I getting on your nerves?"

The maid in question wouldn't have said anything to dispute that. And with the way the princess' eyes began to gleam with a blue light of authority, she was damn glad she didn't. It wasn't just the eyes, but what it did to her.

Dragonlords and ladies had the ability to dominate not only dragons, but other magic bearers and Shades as well. They imposed a power of supremacy that gradually seized every bone and muscle in their victims, similar to what was happening to Naomi.

She felt sensation in her feet leave, but although she hated feeling not in control of her will, she wasn't scared in the least. She knew that the princess only wanted to prove that she was on a higher level than Naomi was, so she humbled herself and simply feigned remorse.

If I had magic. Oh, if I had some butt-clenching magic!

Princess Laya, seeing how submissive her personal maid had become, smirked. "Now are you going to apologise for that, Shade?"

Make that soul-sucking magic.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Princess." Naomi bowed softly, wishing at that point that she had the ability to challenge the spoiled dragon princess. But alas, she had zero abilities. Thanks a lot, Gregon. "I just need to ask you an important question before you dismiss me, if I may."

Princess Laya stared down at Naomi, as if trying to reduce her worth even further, but she shrugged and her eyes dimmed to their normal colour. For being two years younger than her maid, the princess truly succeeded in being bossy when she wanted to. Bossy, and really really obnoxious.

"Fine. But don't stand there like a jute and blow out all the candles while you're at it."

Some liver-ripping magic...

Naomi walked across the large bedchamber to put out the candles. If it weren't for the fact that she wanted something from the princess, she wouldn't even bother to indulge her in conversation. Princess Laya was so insufferable, egoistic, and such an ugly pig that it would've given the Shade pleasure to see her crawl in the dirt, eating her own mucus and dirt and worms.

The image that thought brought lifted Naomi's spirits as she blew on her first candle, ready to ask her question, "Princess, is it true that your betrothed is not the firstborn son?"

It took less than a second for the response to be formed.

"You're now asking me this? Oh Naomi, please. Of course it's true. King Drokah's first son is a bastard. A part-Shade, can you imagine the disgrace?" Princess Laya replied in disgust, but Naomi was suddenly too shocked to even care about what the princess did with her stupid expressions.

Part-Shade? But how? Not how but...well, how?!

"You're probably thinking how this is possible, but the answer is I truly don't care."

Naomi hardly paid Princess Laya any heed. Thoughts were swirling in her mind. Not just any thoughts, but ideas, plans, everything! They were forming so quickly that she hastily knocked the air out of all the candles-the damned ones she could reach anyway-and quickly ran towards the chamber doors, ready to leap out and-

"Naomi! I said all the candles!"

*~~~*

Thoughts? ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°