Imagine by Tradia

Within the remote realm of Amaranthine a princess lived. Her name was Rivaldia. Rivaldia as she was named had two parents who loved her very much and a beautiful cousin who was dearly loved too. When the parents of princess Rivaldia died in a tragic and sad accident the princess fell into depression and could not control the matters of her people anymore. The poor girl cried and her mind fleeted away. Her beloved cousin Sassari took over the throne seeing as her cousin was unable to. Princess Rivaldia still sits in her castle mourning and feeble of the mind and our beloved Queen Sassari rules us with a fair hand.

The girl closed the book with a slam. Lies! All of it was just lies. Her jaw tightened and she stood up from her seat. Princess Rivaldia was far from being feebleminded and Sassari was not a just queen. Her eyes went to the bars that locked her from the world. Her hands touched the barriers and with an angry sob screamed:
“Let me out! Sassari let me out!”
Only her echo answered and she slid to the floor. How long had she been here? She had no memory anymore .They days and nights had gone by and she had sat in this same prison for the past twelve years. The sun streamed in every morning letting her know of the things she was missing outside and the things she would always see. Her fingers moved in circles but her magic had been exhausted. She had none anymore and with a tired ragged sob Regalia continued in her prison.

“I’m princess Rivaldia”
The child screamed cheerfully moving her feet to the sound of the music. Her hands fleeted from one side to the other and she twirled about to the rhythm of the music.
“Well then I shall be the prince who will rescue her”
The boy whispered and then laughed. Following the girl they continued to dance until the presence of another made them stop.
“Adora you are just in time!”
The newly arrived guest smiled strangely and then with a finger to her lips she murmured
“Saran wants us home Hibiscus come it is time to go”
The child pouted and then followed Adora. The boy who was left behind did not see Adora take Hibiscus hand and suddenly disappear in the alleyway. They appeared in a swampy lake where a house stood in the middle of the lake. As if an island had been built only for the house and twenty large pots that line the large cottage, the house floated in the lake. Hibiscus took the hanging bridge but Adora simply flew over the lake towards the other side.
“Saran we are here…”
Adora said slowly no really caring if the woman heard. She was a strange shady character; Adora was. Her hair was a long arrangement of red curls that had entangled themselves. If she lifted the hair from her eyes, green pupils that changed to blue, pink, yellow and sometimes even red-depending on her humor-were visible. Her hands were spidery covered by white gloves with paint on them. Her dress was simple and predictable. A long pink concoction with ribbons at the hips and a blue pinafore over it was her usual attire. She wore many types of jewelry but mainly a pendant of a moon. Her gloved hands were filled with rings and her ears to the surprise of many had no earrings. She had once said that no one would be able to see them so why wear them. The mane of tangled curls she called hair went all the way to her hips and she had some small parts braided with ribbons holding them tight. She wore sandals with long black tube socks and sun glasses.
“Yes I saw you come in trough the portal”
Saran answered from her seat by the window. When she stood up Adora sat on the door and watched hibiscus skipping along the bridge to the house.
“She is growing. Do you not think she should get a familiar soon?”
The older woman stared at Adora.
“Nay she…is not ready yet”
“If you say so”
Saran nodded her head and when hibiscus came in Saran went inside. The tiny woman - Adora thought- will never wear anything more than robes. Red robes at that. If only she was made to wear pink. That’s more her color. Adora always thought that pink was everyone’s color. Then with a hop Adora too went inside.
The cottage was two stories high; the stairs were wooden with vines curled around the rails. Inside the cottage was round as it was outside looking more like an over enlarged teapot than a house. The rooms inside consisted mainly of the kitchen where they kept plants growing in large pots lined against the round windows. One tiny bed on the other side was decorated with flowers and hidden away by a small wooden wall where shrubbery carved on it glowed brilliantly. The rooms upstairs were filled with chests where clothes lay folded neatly. The chests ranged in colors and decorations and two beds rested in another room. One them was filled with pillows and lace and the other was simple, practical and neatly tucked. The whole house in fact had many chairs and of different colors where sometimes if the person was careful could see that there was no chair of the same color or design. Cushions were thrown around the place and sometimes Hibiscus misplaced her cat among them. Outside the paint was vividly green and purple. The bottom part of the round house was green with huge yellow flowers painted at the sides and the top part was purple and ladybugs had been stamped on it. There was a spiral around the top part where Saran had hanged jars and flowers grew giddily in them. The bridge had been the only to escape unscathed from Adora’s sense of style.
“Saran. We need to change Hibiscus bed. I saw a precious red and vivid purple coverlet in town..Perhaps if we sew some flowers on it will look neater”
The older woman had reclined on one of the many chairs they possessed and with a sigh she answered
‘Yes Adora buy it”

Rivaldia woke up and continued laying on the truckle bed. There was nothing to do that day apart from looking at the ceiling -there was never anything to do any day-. The book laid at her side. The red leather cover was old and the golden letters scratched on top of it were fading away. It had been written about twelve years ago and Rivaldia knew it by heart. The lies that were printed so consciously within were also imprinted in her mind. Word by word she could recite them and yet she still picked it up and read it. It was the only thing that stopped her from going crazy. She shook quietly and finally getting braver than before she threw it across the room. Her cousin had given it to her on the eve of her crowning. She had been six years old and Sassari twenty. Hand in hand the woman had brought her up the tower and with a sad little smile-as if she was regretting her actions- Sassari led her into the room that was to be her prison for the rest of her life. The door was closed behind her and Rivaldia had been shocked. The book a few months later had appeared on her bed. Since then on the book and her had been companions, friends and enemies. Rivaldia barefoot and aware of the state of her destiny went to the barred window. From there she could hear the crowing of the pigeons and the warm sun streaming trough the silence letting a ray of hope touch her cheek before fleeting away. Her hand went trough the bars and felt the warm air as if fate had turned. The wheels of fate were turning softly, the world around them oblivious and Rivaldia wordlessly returned to her bed.

“are you alone?”
Rivaldia stood up and looked around. Who had spoken?
“Are you alone?”
The words came again echoing in Rivaldia’s ears. Gliding smoothly into her brain, pulling and tugging at her heart and finally Rivaldia answered softly
“Yes”
The laughter came unbidden from somewhere in the room.
‘You are not alone”
A green light-within a tiny thing resided, her wings fleeting making the light blurry- appeared in front of Rivaldia.
“You are not alone. You have never been alone”
The light disappeared leaving a miniscule pixie-like girl flying before her. Her eyes were wide, with huge green pupils taking more than half the face. A button nose wiggled and tiny purple lips smiled. Her entire body was blue and her hair a strange orange. She was dressed in nothing and her body -contradicting her almost human face- was plain and sparkly.
“I have always been with you…you are a sorceress. One of the last ones after your cousin made away with them. There are still some left tough. And I’m your Acellia ...or to put it sweetly...your familiar” Her huge green eyes riveted around the room and finally with a sigh, they returned to Rivaldia.
“ A sorceress?
Rivaldia repeated. She could not do magic (if she could she would not be imprisoned in the tower for all of this years) Her brow raised a bit and she crossed her arms. She would not fall into anyone’s tricks. Not again.
“Yes a sorceress. Are you dimwitted? Did you not hear me?
The Acellia went forth and stared at the princess. She did not seem dimwitted. After all those years of looking after her she actually seemed pretty smart. She could not have been mistaken.
“I’m not deaf…or daft. I heard what you said…However...do you have any proof of what you say?”