Chapter 23: The Funeral
They opened their eyes to life at sunrise, ready for battle as the sun set.
“How beautiful they are…” the princess with the purple heart said, her eyes sparkling with joy. They didn't know where these paints had come from. Just five minutes ago, when they had walked down this corridor, none of this was here. The palace’s golden walls, red decorations, the scent of authority, and its cold aura were unchanged. The sight of four different colors in four silver bowls had stopped them in their tracks. Hesna, unable to resist, dipped her index finger into the purple paint.
The cold touch of the paint made her giggle. When she lifted her hand, the paint dripped down her fingers to her wrist. Bilun cautioned her sister, “Don’t spill it on the floor…” while Felin eagerly asked, “Put some on my face!”
Little Hesna, raising her eyebrows in astonishment, said, “On your face?”
Her sister shrugged as if she had asked for something very natural. They had rules to follow, and one of them was to always appear clean and elegant. One of their tutors had lectured them on the importance of first impressions being visual; thus, they needed to shine at all times. Would these paints and a little fun hinder their shine?
When Felin tucked her pure white hair behind her ear and presented her face, Hesna, giggling, drew a line on her sister's cheek. Knowing she could hide behind her mother if they got into trouble, she wasn't afraid. “You look so pretty…” she whispered, admiring her little sister’s face.
“Of course, I'll look pretty, I am blessed with beauty.” Felin boasted with her chest puffed out, earning a knowing roll of the eyes from Bilun. “You’re going to get into trouble.”
“You won’t…” The defiant tone, too big for her small stature, didn’t seem out of place on Felin. Her carelessness, confidence, and ego were far too much for a nine-year-old.
“And why is that?” the redhead girl, who had stopped standing timidly next to her quiet sister Eva, had joined the trio talking a few steps away.
“Because she’ll be the ruler someday, father never scolds her. Plus, if she makes a mistake, her nanny pays the price. You all must know this.” Bilun pointed at the paints with her chin. “Now, put some on my other cheek.”
Bilun, indicating she wouldn’t do it by shaking her head, watched Hesna who kept playing and mixing the paints. Unaware of her redhead sister's jealous gaze, the little girl, not yet knowing she would be the future heir, envied Bilun’s exemption from father’s anger, the existence of a loving nanny, and the stupidity of the rulership going to her silly sister. No mistake of hers had ever been forgiven; no one had ever told her they loved her; she always had to achieve something to receive praise, and constantly strive. But Bilun… She was the focus of attention just by being born. She wasn't just the apple of the nanny’s eye but the whole of Elysian’s. The other four girls… were just children, after all.
The redhead girl bit her lower lip until it bled. She was oblivious to her clenched fist, her accelerated breaths, and the darkening of her gaze. Her anger was bigger than her age.
Everything was going as the ruler had planned.
Unable to contain her anger any longer, the girl grabbed the bowl with the red paint and flung it at Bilun with a speed even she couldn't catch up with. Bilun screamed out of reflex, stepping back a few steps and losing her balance, she fell onto her backside. The redhead, smirking as she saw the red paint drip from her sister’s golden hair down to her blue dress, turned around and bumped into Eva, who had been watching the whole scene tensely rubbing her hands.
Despite hitting her shoulder hard against the wall, Eva only whimpered softly. It took her a few seconds to get up. She took a hesitant step towards her fallen sister, wanting to help her up but afraid. Up to this age, every breath she had taken had been punished. She had no mother to hold her hand, no nanny to hide behind, no father to stroke her head. The palace guards ignored her, the chefs forgot to serve her, and some tutors chose not to teach Eva simply because they didn’t feel like it. If this happened to her siblings, a ruckus would be raised about “How can you treat the ruler’s children this way?” but no one cared for Eva.
The little girl added five more timid steps to her hesitant one before stopping right in front of Bilun, extending her hand to help her up. But a large hand pushed her from the shoulders, causing her to fall. The woman who pulled Eva out of the way swiftly picked up Bilun and scanned the surroundings. No one should see Bilun like this. Bilun was the future, and this woman was tasked with educating that future. Running off with the little girl in her arms, she knew she was going to hurt one
of the children she left behind, but she didn’t care.
Hesna, realizing that Bilun being whisked away was not a good sign, stopped playing with the paints and ran to her mother's room. She knew she would be safe there.
Neither Felin nor Eva had elders to shelter and love them. But unlike Eva, Felin was quite comfortable. Even when Eva was locked in the dungeon, they scolded her, not Felin. All she had to do was point the arrows at her yellow-eyed sister.
When she saw her father and the redhead running after him at the corridor's end, Eva approached and poured the purple paint into her hand. Eva didn’t even have time to escape, let alone comprehend what was happening.
The redhead’s act of showing the spilled paints on the ground to the ruler and her stumbling to get up without a chance to defend herself was watched by Eva in silence. Without asking anything, her father slapped Eva, his yellow eyes heavy with fear.
The little girl couldn’t withstand the blow and fell again. The tears that began to stream down her face meant nothing to anyone.
The ruler had assigned five different roles to his daughters with four bowls of paint. One of these roles was hatred, as one of his daughters had to become the future evil woman. The best way to create evil was to raise it from childhood. After all, no one could admonish a child begging for love to grow up to be loving.
Eva narrates:
The sky’s defiance against the rain branched out with a bright light. The light that sneaked inside fragmented in the broken mirror. I was in a room so old even the dust would be bored. The last time I entered here, I was a foolish little girl. Pleated yellow dress, long black hair, and love-starved, naive eyes. When I went out to the garden, I expected to see Bilun with her nanny, Hesna with her mother, the new ruler with his father; being ignored when I approached didn’t disappoint me. It was foolish to try to make them like me by talking sweetly in pretty dresses, every single time. I laughed. At least I wasn't foolish enough to still crave love after everything.
That was the role they had carved out for me, after all, to let go of the fairy inside someone and become filled with hatred instead. In our play set in Elysian, we were five sisters nourished by malice, each playing our role.
The leading role our father had designated had finally made an appearance.
"You stopped them from casting spells." I turned to the white woman standing in the door frame.
"Yes." I said, not shying away from what I had done.
"Someone's blood was meant to be spilled, and you prevented the victims from escaping." She frowned, muttering to herself as if talking to herself. "You did it for yourself, I know."
"One doesn't need to be smart to know that." I said mockingly. She stepped inside, leaning against the table and looking over her right shoulder at me with only two steps between us.
"You knew, didn't you?" she asked. "That I hadn't disappeared, that our father had hidden me?"
"Anyone with a brain could figure that out." I laughed, shaking my head. Truthfully, I used to think Felin was smart when we were younger. Somehow, she always managed to wriggle her way out of trouble and maintained a confident posture. The person I thought was Felin turned out to be our father as I grew up. A puppet speaking our father’s words, copying his thoughts into her own mind, and acting on his behalf.
"I have to admit... using Vera was clever." She raised her eyebrows, waiting for me to continue since she knew me well enough to know I wouldn't praise her. "Probably this was my father's idea." I said, and she shook her head, laughing coquettishly.
As she continued to laugh, she said, "You're afraid of me." causing her spit to scatter in the air. My serpents hissed mockingly at her unsupported ego.
"You and our brand-new ruler are so alike..." I closed the two-step gap between us. The snakes at the ends of my hair hissed towards her white neck, and she grinned. "Both of you need your father's favors to be rulers..." I continued. "The only difference; the ruler my father wants is you, our poor sister is just realizing she's been used."
When she turned her body towards me, my snakes began to lick her chin. I liked that she wasn’t bothered by it. "You're the one who resembles our new ruler." she said, not dropping her smirk. "Dad loved Bilun’s nanny, mom loved Hesna, and I didn’t care about anyone's love. You two were never loved." She licked her lips. "Our new ruler chose our father, flattered him constantly to win his favor. He became an obsessive maniac afraid of making mistakes while pandering to the people, used by everyone. You felt incomplete because you were not loved. The more you were left alone, the more you blamed yourself. Over time, you hated yourself, then those around you. You became ambitious and ended up like this. But remember, I was always the most perfect one. Do you know why? Because I taught myself first. Then, I rewrote myself."
"This literature bores me!" I exclaimed, waving my hand at my neck. I raised my eyebrows and continued, "Everyone was used, fool. You stole people's bodies to create an army, came to Elysian. That could have been considered an achievement, had it not been because my father wanted it. Thanks to your squabbles, emotional planting peaked during my father's era. I guess I resemble my father, turning the situation to my advantage in a snap. Everyone acts as he plans. Tell me, what's the name of the man who shaped you according to his desires?"
She blinked, looking at me, and I laughed, spitting. "You don't know, do you?" When the serpent from my crown jumped at her, she flinched. Trying to back away but hindered by the table, she stumbled to her knees. Standing before her, my serpent moved to bite under her chin, lifting her head in fear. Our eyes met, and I said, "Look, you calcium deposit... don't dare stand before me and show off when you don’t even know the name of the fate you're puppeteering. The only thing you can do in my presence is kneel like this."
When I reached out, the serpent came to me. The moment I placed it on my head, it turned into a golden crown. After smirking at her bewildered face one last time, I turned and left the room.
***
"I'm tired of it," Renan grumbled. "It’s been the same story since Çağın died," he said. "They call us every morning to say the same things!"
Arel stepped onto the podium as Renan continued to grumble. "There you go... When will you dethrone this ruler? I'm out of patience!"
"It's only been two weeks, Renan."
"Are you waiting for two years?!"
I raised my eyebrows at him. "Are you meddling in my business?" He sat down. Arel
began speaking, sparing Renan from responding.
"Everyone in this room witnessed the death of Çağın, a former noble of Elysian. Our ruler..."
Arya on my right side muttered, "Our ruler whom we haven't seen for two weeks," making me silently laugh. Their quick changes of sides amused me.
"...asks a few things of you." Arel continued. "He believes Çağın, who was a victim of a tragic accident, should be known as a hero by the people. Therefore, he asks you to conceal the truth about his death, stating that Çağın sacrificed himself by jumping in front of the ruler..."
Renan, evidently tired of hearing the same thing every day for two weeks, finished Arel's speech along with him. "Anyone who says otherwise will be tried for betraying the ruler, the people's hero Çağın, and Elysian."
Arel allowed us to disperse by saying, "Now you all may go to the funeral," and we left the throne room one by one. When I saw Bilun at the door, I approached her with a smirk. Seeing her glare straight at Felin amused me even more.
"Your daughter is waiting in the dungeon to be tried for treason, and the calcium deposit who caused it all is roaming free. What justice!" I made sure she noticed me. Her pale skin turned even paler when she saw me. "No," I said, not giving her a chance to speak. "They weren't even successful. I wouldn't have minded if they had killed the ruler, but..."
"Eva." she said, sternly.
"Bilun." I replied, with a loose smirk.
"Mind your own business."
"What did I say now?" I asked with feigned hurt. I frowned. "I just wanted to support my sister in her time of need. Losing a child must be hard..." I paused before continuing. "Well, the death sentence hasn't been issued yet..." I muttered to myself. "So, I'll come by when she's about to be executed."
After laughing one last time while looking into her eyes, I teleported myself to the funeral. We were in a dense part of Avar, surrounded by trees. The crowd had spread out in the forest. Among the tears of those who loved him were crocodile tears as well.
Until the people I wanted to talk to arrived, I observed the crowd. I noted who had switched to the ruler’s side, who was discontent with the current situation, and who had the courage to rebel. They were all subjects of a set system, unaware they were being observed. The foolish entertained me, and the smart whetted my appetite. Unfortunately, I had become skin and bones...
My gaze, wandering around with a smirk, stopped on Arel. It took me a few seconds to weave through the crowd and reach him. "I can't see our ruler." I said.
"He’s still in mourning and won't be able to attend."
I laughed mockingly. "So, he's still alive then?"
"Our ruler is very upset."
"Why doesn't the ruler punish Felin?" I asked, getting to my real question when he looked at me intently.
"Felin stole the bodies hidden in the World, Eva. The ankh gave those bodies souls in Elysian. Your youngest sister is stronger than you can imagine."
He was kneeling before me just the other day.
"The ruler is stronger; he can stop her."
"I know your goal, Eva." he said sternly. "You want the ruler to start a war and eliminate Felin. Then, you will take down the weakened ruler. But our ruler is too dispirited and tired to deal with Felin. Besides... We have nothing to charge Felin with. She claims she was lost and has finally found her way home."
Our ruler didn’t hesitate to punish enemies with hefty excuses when he wanted to. As I suspected, scholars had been making decisions regarding governance for the past two weeks. My little sister must be in much worse condition than I thought.
"The ruler can't hide any longer; you wouldn't want it known that scholars are making decisions."
"In times of crisis, scholars have the authority to make decisions guided by science."
"If this authority lasts for weeks, the crisis is elsewhere."
"Don't worry..." he said, trying to reassure and jab at the same time. "I won't allow this situation to last much longer. Now, if you'll excuse me, Eva, I will start the funeral."
Arel rose among the trees. The crowd looked up to the scholar floating in the air. Arel did as our ruler had commanded and announced a sacrificed individual as a hero.
"I think..." suddenly appearing beside me, Felin said, "you're glad you're not Çağın’s sister right now."
"Yes." I admitted. If he were my brother, he would undoubtedly be my greatest competitor. Çağın was aware of his weaknesses, knew how to control them, even how to play with them. He was the most intelligent, most blessed being of my eternal life, and... His end was no different from that of good people.
