"Burn her!"
"My Lord, it has not come to this"
"Oh yes, it has! She has no contribution whatsoever!"
"She will marry him. Trust me. I'll change her mind!" The king's court maiden pleaded. "My queen! Say something"
"The king's mind is made"
"Father please!!" She cried on the pyre.
"Don't call my name! You're no daughter of mine!" The king blurted. "Torch the pyre!"
The servants that stood waiting for orders moved reluctantly to light the woods. They hoped the king would revoke his commands.
"No, no" she shook her head terribly, watching the woods come alive with fire. She watched her death.
"My king!!"
"Felicia! I'll not have this. If thousands are going to die because of her selfishness, then she should join the lot!"
"Arrrgh!!!!" She screamed as the fire peeled her soft, porcelain white skin! "No father burns his own!"
"You're not my blood!" He repeated. "You will burn like lilies on a blazing summer sun. The fires will rid me of you, your foolishness and uselessness, only to be inserted in memory as a failed princess"
"No it is you who will be remembered as a king that ruthlessly murdered his daughter" she uttered with dying breathe. "You are simply at war with yourself! But I promise you, as little as this war is, you will never navigate! Lustre will perish under your reign and you will be remembered as a failed king" she finally gave in, agreeing mutually with the fire, allowing it take away the pain as she shut her eyes in death!
Felicia collapsed immediately. How could such cruelty exist in a parents' heart?
*************************
There are many ways to live. One of these thousand ways is with good entertainment. And as people have often given the flowers to music, nicknaming it a good therapist of the soul, it wasn't so for this young girl. Movies were her escape route from anything that's not happiness. They were her own therapist. She was duely sat, watching with keen interest, the popular Mr Bones movies. She has literally laughed her eyeballs out. Whoever scripted this comedy was highly skilled!
She was on an afternoon shift, probably resuming work by six in the evening. She wasn't going to waste this period of rest. She loved her job but not without breaks! It could be tiring and she's human not a robot. Standing for hours controlling reckless vehicles wasn't easy. And now you know her job. A road safety corp and that day wasn't the best of days. A drunk driver threw up on her when he was about to argue his ignorant rights with her. It spoiled her mood, especially not with her neat freak demeanor. She quickly returned that afternoon, hoping to get some rest and cheering up through Mr Bones and of course she did but it was short-lived!
She was still pitching her laughter when Floria stepped into the sitting room with her phone.
"Oh girl, your phone is blowing up"
"Who's that?"
"It wrote Lorenzo, I think..."
"Oh, my colleague. But it's not yet time!" She bemoaned.
"It's fine if you don't want to pick up"
"Oh no. It's alright. Hand me the phone"
She collected the phone. The news she got wasn't welcoming. A ghastly car accident just happened! By ghastly, we mean, an alarming possibility of death!
She slid into her uniforms immediately and dashed out of the house leaving her Mr Bones still playing. Floria, not being a fan of movies quickly turned off the television.
"Thank God. The house can now be quiet" Floria uttered.
Gorge Road has never been this busy. The Sun was scorching, burning her white skin like lilies on a blazing summer sun but it wasn't summer, it was spring. Reporters have already reached there, capturing and doing their whatever. A thought flashed through her mind. There can only be reporters if the victim is an important public figure. A politician, musician and the rest. She is already here anyway, hoping to give comfort as much as she can. That's where her passion really is. Offering comfort and hope to drivers and travelers and in this case, it's mostly hope. However, the thoughts eluded her as she got further. That sleek Gk 11, it's her family's, her father's car. They went out for an old school get together, how come?
She quickly pushed through the crowd to the ambulance, already carrying the victims to the hospital to see if there's anyway to bring back their already journeying soul. Then, she saw her worst fears. It was indeed them. Her parents, covered with blood. The other stretcher was another man, probably dead from her presumptions. That would probably be the co victim. She couldn't move further until she finally saw her mother. Her hands hung helplessly on the air, blood streaming down and dripping out of her fingers. Her legs mirrored how brutal the accident was. With deep cut bruises, open wounds that showed her fractured bones. She went further, rubbing her eyes, hoping everything happening would turn to a nightmare. One that she would soon wake up and kneel to say some prayers. Prayers that would help avert the tragedy she just saw just like those priests, preached. But no, it wasn't a dream. She saw the reporters run around to capture the scenes. It was obvious that they did so for job sake not even for empathy. This kind of things were the kind of things that she saw in movies. Who could actually tell that it will happen to her real life. And she would hold her mouth to avoid screaming just the way she would do when she saw those scenes in movies. She quickly stepped further and stopped her mom's stretcher from entering the ambulance. She now got the full picture, the full image of her mom's bruised face.
"Mother, how come" tears failed her. It rushed out of her eyes like a flowing river.
"Oh poor dear" the woman said moribund. Her voice cracking. "Maintain this dry eyes"
"What are you saying. It's not time for your book quotes!" She screamed. Her mother was a lover of books. She would read to them bedtime stories until they sleep. She often quoted those books to them, emphasizing on the importance of a retentive memory but they knew it was not just about the lessons she claimed to teach but just her love in doing so.
"Remember that Lustre lies in your hands now" she continued saying. "Reconsider marrying him, Nicholas might be a good person" she coughed blood.
"Miss, she's dying. We have to move her" One of the men informed.
"Wait" the woman said.
"Mom please! Your life is what we're talking about now..."
"Embrace reality" she cut her off. "It might be over for me now." She kept coughing in between lines. "You're a woman now. Remember first things first. You are our flower, that's why we named you..."
The officials quickly dragged her away, pulling the stretcher inside the van and sped off before she could finish her sentence. They knew she wouldn't stop talking. The woman has already lost hope to life but they still got to try. To see if they could rekindle that hope although it was very slim. The woman has lost so much blood. But the girl knows the ending of what her mother wanted to say before she was dragged away. Countless times has she reminded her about it, about being their flower meant to keep blossoming and not wither.
About her name, Lily.