I ran out the palace doors and through the upper section, the courts, past the woods and the mansions to the wall. ducking under the fence that Chase promised to get rid of. I passed the village I once took him too. He was so horrified to see how people were treated and bought so much stuff from the marketplace, he couldn't carry it all, and gave it back, but the little kids loved him, and I had stood back, watching him pick them up and spin them around. I sprinted too my house. The cloth had been torn from the guards but I left it. I sat on my bed and tried not to scream. I wouldn't cry, I hated crying. Throughout the next few weeks it was the same routine. I lay in my bed, I just lay, staring at the ceiling. Not eating, occasionally sipping water. My heart was empty. I still loved the Prince, now King Chastos, but he was gone. I hadn't seen him or the upper section for month. The people were starving, but the hole had been sealed when I was arrested. So we were unable to retrieve food. Suddenly, Topaz burst through the door.
"Alexis! Come on! You have too see this."
The urgency in her voice forced me out of bed and outside. Following her, I looked around at the busy markets. I could count everyone's ribs, and we were all dirty. I looked down a myself. My cream shift dress was covered in dirt and hung on my frame like a sack.
My wrists were skinny, and my legs were like sticks. I looked into a cracked window too see my hair tangled and much longer, and my eyes bloodshot. I followed topaz and saw dust billowing out of the gigantic concrete wall. The dust continued, and pretty soon, the whole lower section was staring at the concrete until a huge cracking sound split through the air and we all ran backwards, crying out. The wall shuddered and collapsed, crushing several houses that has been vacated only seconds before. The dust settled and the lowers gasped. There was also a crowd of uppers on the other side, and the entire population of Venelumbia, staring at the world that was hidden from them. The lowers gaped at the huge luxurious mansions, the green trees, the perfect carpets of grass and the bright, colourful lights. Shops and restaurants and rivers and bushes. The uppers stared at the red dirt ground, crumbling, half built, one room structures, the colourful, dusty fabrics, the once super busy, section-wide market that still had people yelling out sales, chicken and hungry children on the side of the road. I had been on both sides of the wall, but the others hadn't, and this area was knew to them. A figure walked across the area the wall used to be and said something. The lowers didn't move, then slowly began to line up. The figure gave everyone a small bag, and soon, they all separated, and gasps spread across lower Venelumbia and and old woman with two kids wandered away happily. Two of her kids ran up to me and said
"look! We got shiny things!"
Alexis knelt down too see their tiny hands full of gold coins.
"do you know what to do with them?" I asked and they shook there heads.
"can you show us please?"
They smile, with missing teeth and dirty faces
I looked up to their mother who smiles at me.
"you know the world out there better than any one"
She said and the Two kids clasped my hands. As we walked towards the gate i got to know there names. Robbie and Violet. They were five and hadn't gotten much food throughout their life.
"are you ready?" I asked and they pulled me over the ruins, as other lowers cautiously did the same. They went into the upper section. I took them first to the beauty salon.
Counting their coins, I found they had 1000 each, and booked them and me into a bath, haircut, and cleaning scrub. The workers were kind too us as they took us into the big white stone room. After a long relaxing soak in the bath I went to take my wild hair. Robbie and Violet were next to me so I chatted to them and the workers did my hair. There was a sink behind my head, and they wet my hair, then put in a thick clear liquid and scrubbed, making foam. They them washed out the foam with more water and a machine used hot air to dry our hair.
Violet loved it and I smiled as she giggled. They brushed all the tangles out of my hair, and it lay against my still highly visible ribs. Violet had brown curls and Robbie had blonde hair. My own brown hair hung in shiny waves over my shoulders and my skin shone, clear of dirt. They took us too a full length mirror and a stared at the reflection in wonder. I didn't see a scruffy, dirty, wild girl. I saw a beautiful, elegant princess with wavy hair and tan skin. But the princess was still skinny and her dress was still dirty. Violet was staring wordlessly at her reflection, and Robbie tried to have a conversation with it. I smiled and held out my hands. They took them beaming.
"how was that?" I asked and Violet nodded enthusiastically.
"that was like magic! It made me look so pretty, and I loved the yummy smelling stuff in the water."
Robbie grinned adorably and nodded
"where are we going now?"
He asked and I replied.
"to get some more clothes."
There eyes went wide
"really? Wow, could I get another shirt?"
I smiled at Robbie and nodded.
"you could get five shirts. And pants!"
There eyes shine in delight and I felt happiness stir in my chest for the first time since me and Chase had broke up.
I ended up going a bit overboard with the clothes. Violet got a pair of silver sandals, and a white ballerina dress with pale pink trim, and matching ribbons in her dark hair. Robbie had a white polo shirt and dark blue denim jeans with white sneaker. I got an old fashioned aqua knee length dress that looked like it was from the old sixties. They both gave me a hug and I stiffened, then relaxed.
"wanna go get some food?"
They both stopped walking and gasped
"real food? Like what you get us?"
"yeah but this time it'll be better
"yeah!" they both cried out and I took them to the ice cream parlor, and a pizzeria.
On the way back, I saw Chase, and Robbie ran up to him, forcing me to follow he spoke to Robbie then looked up and saw me.
"Alexis. How are you." He nodded at me and I stared at him. I still felt something for him and I was sure it was love, but it shouldn't be.
"king Chastos." I said blankly, and curtsied. He looked disappointed, and I tried lo leave. and for a second, he looked heartbroken. But only a second. He grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Alexis, I need to talk to you, please. Just listen to what I have to say."
I sighed. It had been three months, but I hadn't gotten over him. And apparently he hadn't gotten over me.
"I'm sorry your majesty, I don't have time." I curtsied again, then I took Robbie's hand and turned around.
"why won't you talk too him?" Robbie gazed up at me with big eyes.
"because he's the King of our country. He aren't have time and I don't want to hear what he has to say. Where's Violet?"
I turned around and saw Chase whispering in her ear.
"Violet! Come on, we have to go."
She ran up to me
"Alexis, King Chastos says that he still loves you."
She said and my heart clenched. Why did he not get it? I tried not to stagger, and once again attempted to walk away.
Chase walked up too me and grasped my hands. I pulled mine out again and he took them again, gripping tight, despite how I tried to escape.
"Alexis, I don't care if the entire universe is trying to keep us apart, because I promise that I can keep us together. I'm not letting go of you even if you let go of me. You can't get rid of me, no matter how hard you try. We lasted six years, we can last sixty. I stayed with you because I love you, peasant or princess. If you don't want this, then say so. Because I do want this. And I'm hoping you do too. We're not over yet Alexis, please, let's start again. I practiced that speech, so you have too say yes." I would've smiled if the circumstances were different, but i didn't. I had made my choice in the cell and I wasnt changing it.
I looked around and saw a crowd surrounding me, uppers and lowers mixing, because Chase promised he would get rid of the wall, even though we weren't together, he still did it.
I couldn't stand this. I stepped back, shaking my head slowly. I took a deep breath and said
"I'm sorry your majesty, I'm really not interested." I turned around and ran through the crowd, into the woods. And ran. Again.