Emris

I try to find Hayden after dinner but he and his father exit quickly. I see a lady walking alone from her seat and I go to say hello.

"Hello, Mrs."

"Hello, You're Princess Emris I assume?" She asks dully like she doesn't really care. She's dressed in a silky periwinkle dress with matching gloves. At the center of her waist, she holds a small handbag.

"Yes, you're majesty."

"I am queen Valenski of the Vatton Republic."

"Pleased to meet you," I curtsy

"Yes, Well my family is still seated. Please excuse me for a moment." I stay still as she goes to get her family. She returns with a girl around my age and a boy that looks a little younger. The girl's dark hair is twisted into a tight updo. A French twist wraps around her head like a snake, making a resting place for her tiara.

"This is Camille and Antonio." Camille just scowls at me but Antonio steps forward and takes my hand

"Hello princess," he lays a big kiss on it

I smile uncomfortably and pull my hand back slowly "Hello Your Highness," I wipe my hand on the side of my dress

"You look beautiful today," He grins

"Thank you," I spot Azia over his shoulder. "There's my sister, Would you all like to meet her?"

Mr. Valenski crinkles her nose "If we must." I walk over to my sister because I must Get help if we want to continue this conversation politely.

I stand right next to her and cheerfully address her

"Oh! Hello Azia!" I grin

"Hello, Emris. Who's this lovely family?"

"This is Mrs. Valenski and her children."

"Hello, you're majesty." She curtsies to Mrs. Valenski

"Hello, Princess Azia. This is my daughter Camille and my son Antonio."

Antonio takes Azia's hand and kisses it "Hello princess."

I notice her grimace a little but she holds her smile

"A pleasure, Antonio." I feel her slip her hand onto my back and wipe it there. I shoot her a glare

"And this is Camille," I gesture to the girl

Azia nods her head "You're Highness."

Camille just looks her up and down

Azia smiles at her wider "Well, I think we should be off, don't you Emris?"

"Yes, I think it's about time."

"It's been lovely meeting with you all," Azia says

"Have a wonderful evening!" I smile as we walk away but Azia's immediately drops.

"You're so good at faking smiles."

"We've both had lots of practice."

"Yeah, but you make it look real."

She shakes her head "You can't fake something real."

I frown a little as she glances over

"Because then it's fake," she explains further.

I nod in understanding as we make our way to Mother. It looks as though she's just finishing up talking to a guest.

She meets us and we follow her

"Thank you for your cooperation tonight girls. You are free to leave."

"Thank you," I smile

"Have a good night," Azia says and walks to the door. I follow her through the hallway that besides the guards lining the walls every ten feet or so is empty. We turned into the next hallway before she addressed me.

"Do you need something?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"I can't just take a stroll in my own house?" I ask in fake innocence

"Not following me."

"Why?"

"It's creepy," She states

"Only to you."

She sighs and leans up against the marble walls crossing her arms.

"Emris I have things to do."

"I can help."

"You already have enough."

"You have more."

"I can handle it."

I narrow my eyes and shift closer. We're in a hallway leading up to a smaller staircase. This hallway is a bit small hence the lack of guards. My back is to a railing that looks over a slightly larger hallway beneath us. "And I can't"

"I didn't say that." She doesn't look bothered at all

"It was implied."

"It wasn't meant to be. You shouldn't assume things."

"And you should be more clear."

"Thanks I'll make sure to work on it." She pushes off the wall and goes to the stairs. The stairs lead to the balcony in the library.

"You can't just leave every time we don't agree," I walk after her keeping my voice down because of the people that might be under us and the guards that surely are.

"I can leave when you start arguments for no reason."

"There was a reason! Otherwise, there wouldn't be an argument," I climb the stairs after her

She pushes the door open and immediately goes to the far side. The second floor is only about five feet wider and wraps around the walls of the library. She pulls out a book and starts reading.

"Azia, Can't you just talk to me?"

She doesn't look up "I just did. Didn't work out, huh?"

I look down at the red with swirling golden designs carpet covering the oak floors. Azia sighs and closes the book.

"Emris," She looks at me sadly "Seriously, what do you need?"

"Well for starters, opinions."

She scoffs "I'm pretty sure you have enough of those for everyone in this castle."

I roll my eyes "I need your opinions on our party."

"I already told you, you can do whatever you want with it."

"But that means I have to plan all of it by myself."

"I've tried to help with the other ones, but you kind of just did it by yourself anyways because you didn't like want I wanted."

"Yeah, but you still help with some things. Like you ordered stuff and made sure it was put where I wanted."

"I can still do that. Why don't you figure out everything you want? We can meet later and you can give me a list or something."

"Okay. I'll probably need until tomorrow."

"Yeah. And that way I can still make sure everything is organized."

"Thank you," I say genuinely grateful

She let a small smile slip onto her face. But it left as fast as it came. "Of course." She sits down at a small table and continues her book. I leave her to it, pleased with this visit. We haven't been getting along very well lately. There has been so much stress with Mother wanting to hand down the crown. She had said that it would be good for the country to be ruled by a new queen. That it would be a nice fresh start and give everyone a little more hope. It may be best for everyone else, but me and Azia have just drifted apart. When we were young and dad was alive, we were the closest. I had mom and Azia had dad, no one was ever ignored or looked over. We would spend days together at a time, sleepovers in each other's rooms, or under the couch forts dad would help us make in the living room. We'd be up all night talking. But that was years ago. Sometimes it hurts a little. I'll notice little things she does and just know it's her. Like the sound of her footsteps or how she sighs when she rolls her eyes.

Out of all of us, I think Azia has been affected the most by Dad's death. Of course, Mother was devastated but she was busy. And I was never very close with him. We were only seven but he and Azia had much more in common. He always made sure that I never felt left out but I did anyways. They both had the ability to manipulate shadows. A very rare ability. So rare in fact there were the only two before it was just Azia.

I take after Mother in that department. I don't know the full extent of my power yet, she refuses to tell me but I can persuade people. Almost like a siren song you hear about in those silly fairytales but different. I can change my voice to be soothing or terrifying, whatever I need. I would use it much more in arguments but it's not allowed to use your powers in public which makes it much more difficult.

Especially because of all our normal guards and because of Azia. She's kind of in charge of all the ability things. She took control when she was thirteen and her ability fully matured. I don't completely understand it because she hasn't really taken the time to explain it but somehow she knows when people use their powers around humans or if there is a witness. Then she washes their mind of that memory. She does that using a special type of shadow that she calls to settle in the mind and hide the memory.

I've gotten used to the fact that she could do anything she wants and get away with it but others haven't. And she's been very cold with everyone ever since dad died so honestly I don't blame people for not being super excited to hang out with her. Not that she wants to have friends anyways. She doesn't seem to get lonely but everyone has too, right?

She confuses me. I feel like I know everything about her and nothing at all.