TEN YEARS AGO...
The door was slightly Ajar, and Raziah peeked in from outside watching her parents speak in hush tones as usual. Ever since Raziah was a child, she’s always wondered what was wrong with her parents... especially her mother.
She has never been close to her mother, and that realization began to bother her as she grew older.
"I’m scared, dear..." Mirabai whispered to her husband, sitting there with her dress and a dreadful look in her beautiful eyes, "What if something goes wrong? What if we fail?!"
William Zephyrus, King of Kaneria took his queen’s hand in his and squeezed, a little smile touching his face, "Remember before I married you? You told me your kind are infertile and could never grow a child, and yet we bore a miracle. Do you remember those times, love?" He cupped her face with so much love, and a tear rolled down Mirabai’s eyes, "You and Harlow have come a very long way. You’ll make it. Trust yourself, and believe in your hard work. It will never fail you,"
Mirabai smiled again, and her gaze moved to something sitting in a corner of the room, about a meter tall and covered by an item of black clothing. There was a strange aura coming from it, which had Raziah curious about the object lying underneath.
"Now...," Mirabai said to no one in particular, and the softness in her eyes disappeared, leaving one of the most apathetic looks Raziah had ever seen on anyone’s face, "Tell me, child, where are you coming from?"
And Mirabai’s eyes snapped to the door, making Raziah jump back in fear and shock.
"Did you seriously think I had no idea you’ve been eavesdropping on us, Raziah?!" Mirabai blasted out, glaring at her daughter, "Well then, come on in,"
William touched his wife’s shoulder to calm her down, "You’re being too hard on her, dear. She’s just a child," William then smiled at Raziah who was still shaking by the door, "Come, my daughter," He extended his hand toward Raziah and she scurried in and hid behind her father.
For as long as Raziah has known her mother, Mirabai has always been hard on her. Sometimes, Mirabai would pretend Raziah did not exist and Raziah has always been hurt by her mother’s actions. Mirabai would smile at everyone else in the world, but when it came to her own daughter, she was the harshest mother there was.
As if that wasn’t enough, Only a small amount of people knew that Raziah was William and Mirabai’s child, that is, the princess of Kaneria. And those people resided inside the palace. Mirabai has always introduced Raziah as a distant cousin who lost her parents and was taken in by her. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"I know you’re trying to protect her, but... aren’t you being a little too hard?" William asked, feeling Raziah trembling behind him. She was only twelve years old.
"Hard is what she needs, William. I can’t afford to be..." Mirabai was saying when her voice broke down and she had to quickly look away. She had to turn her head away seeing that her daughter was now peeking from behind her father to look at her, and Mirabai did not want Raziah to see her breaking down, even in the slightest.
"Where are you coming from, Raziah?" Mirabai asked again after a few seconds.
The Queen looked at Raziah’s dirty fingers, clutching her father’s royal gown.
"You went out to play with the villagers again, didn’t you?!" Mirabai was getting more and more angry, "How many times have I told you to always stay inside? Stay inside!! It is safer inside! These walls will protect you! You go out there and gamble at your age! You engage in ridiculous conversation with men who are old enough to be your father! You become the center of attention and I have warned you several times, Raziah!!"
And Raziah clutched her father’s gown even harder. She should have washed her hands first thing as soon as she returned, but she had come across her parents’ room slightly open and it’s not every time she gets to hear her parent’s silent conversations.
"Go easy on her!" William tried to move forward to his wife, but Raziah wouldn’t let him. Raziah was so scared of her mother.
"I cannot afford to go easy on her, and you know why!" Mirabai burst out, looking and feeling frustrated, "She is my daughter, Liam, and you know exactly what that means. Actually...," Mirabai looked lost again, "That is the problem. I have no idea what it means and what it would lead to. She is not helping matters by being so disobedient and opening herself to the cruel world out there where anything could turn out to be the enemy. Liam, I already have so much on my hands. We’ve lost along the way, and I cannot afford to lose another," Mirabai then looked straight into Raziah’s eyes, and there was just something so compelling about those Golden eyes of her mother that Raziah couldn’t look away, "It seems I’ll have to start teaching you on my own. Then, I will be chanced to keep a better eye on you, you slippery child of mine,"
Start teaching Raziah? Oh no, Raziah felt doomed. That means she would have to see her mother every single day for many hours for the lessons. That means Raziah would have to endure hell every day from the one person she’s always tried to avoid.
Once Mirabai left, Raziah fell to the ground and started to cry, "Father, I hate her. And she hates me too. Why does she hate me?"
William took his daughter’s face in his hand and let her know with hard eyes, "None of you hate any other! Your mother loves you so much, but you’re too young to understand. She loves you, I swear. Every single thing she does is to protect you."
But Raziah would never believe her dad. She thought to herself if that was how a mother should treat her child. Raziah has been to the outskirts of town several times during her so-called adventures and has seen children with their mothers. Mothers are the softest and purest of them all with their kids.
But, Mirabai was the coldest and most heartless when it came to her own child.
And Raziah was not happy with it. What did she ever do to make her mother loathe her this much?
"You’re lying to me, father!"
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