"Would you come with me to my kingdom? You can do anything you wish without fear.
Should you choose to be carless, I'll clean up after your mess.
Should you choose to cause mischief, I'll laugh at the unfortunate victim with you.
Should you choose a carefree life, I'll roam the world with you.
And should you seek power, I'll hold up the ceiling of world for you as you trample on them vermins."
The girl lightly chuckled, "why should I rely on a man to get what I want?" Her eyes were blazing brilliantly with hints of mischief in them.
"You have no authority to guarantee my unhinged freedom in another kingdom, unless you're a prince or something."
"I am a prince." The boy flashed a charming smile, giving a bow to highlight his status as though it werr to serve as a form of evidence."
"If you're a prince, then I'm the princess of this Kingdom!" She scoffed. "And a princess doesn't abandon her people for love, unless the man is charming. And you dearest 'prince' are not charming in the slightest."
***
"Listen to me carefully Velexa, no matter what, you must never forget who you are. You are the Daughter of the Lord Royale Femendric Claixux Kln and Lady Royale Velina Reman Kln, the King and Queen of Beuntemix Kingdom, the only heir to the throne."
Her father was in a half kneel in his study, hands fisted on the ground and struggling to remain awake. His queen, her mother was already asleep, but not before saying a few words to her which were seared into her memory.
She had a feeling she would remember her mother's words, more than her father's words. Not because she considered her mother more important, but because her mother spoke to her before the memory loss spell was activated in the 10 year old Velexa.
Her father was visibly struggling to speak, clearly battling with sleep like he was fighting for his life. He knew that if he didn't finish his words, his kingdom and his family will be ruined in the hands of Wamana, the delusional witch who coveted his throne and his bed.
He spoke admist the onslaught of the eternal sleep spell he was under,
"Today, before the witness of the heavens and the earth, I bestow my royal seal upon you. You shall be a wise and gracious leader, strong like no other and dearly loved by your people. The land shall overflow with bountiful harvest all year round."
The shield crest on her father's head shone brightly and gradually began to fade. In the same moment, a faint butterfly crest appeared on Velexa's arm.
The crest was supposed to be on her forehead but her father could hardly see clearly. His vision was blurry. The crest landing on her arm and not some nearby bookshelf, was already a miracle.
"May Beuntemix Kingdom prosper under your reign, in wealth, in military strength, in scholarship, in art, in technology and in more ways than I can concieve."
With each word he spoke, the crest on his forehead got fainter and the crest on Velexa's arm got brighter.
Velexa was kneeling on the floor, facing her father with tears streaming down her face as he said those words. She did not interrupt him one bit, something in her told her what he was doing was as important as the life and death of the people of the Beuntemix Kingdom.
She also had the inkling that she may never hear her father speak to her ever again, so she was silent, soaking in all his words, amidst the memory loss spell she was under.
"I care for the kingdom but I care for my daughter more." Her father continued with a weak smile.
"I... wish I could be there... to see you grow into a strong, wise and beautiful woman.... T..to.. chase away the rascals who will fly around you due to... your beauty." He was struggling to speak, his senses were numb and he was all but claimed by the darkness tugging at the hem of his eyelids.
"I trust you my pearl. Choose wisely. And most importantly, follow your heart, follow the one you love."
"A king should not be heard saying this but if you ever have to choose between the Kingdom and your love, choose love. The Kingdom will be fine. Daddy and Mummy loves you my pearl and we are always watching over and protecting you."
With his last statement, he hugged Velexa as the crest completely disappeared from his forehead, then he fell into eternal slumber.
The crest on Velexa's arm was glowing beautifully, marking her completed coronation as the new ruler and Queen of the Beuntemix Kingdom.
The shine from Velexa's arm filled the entire library, bursting forth, filling the entire castle in a blinding light and shooting up to the night sky from the tip of the majestic castle, signalling to the entire kingdom that it had a new ruler. But who? They were yet to find out.
When the light was at its peak, the witch, Wamana burst into the study. She cursed furiously and pointed her staff at Velexa, trying to fling her away from her father, in an attempt to prevent her from being crowned as the new ruler but she was a second too late.
A furious wind erupted from Velexa and slammed the witch unto the walls of the study. The power of the Beuntemix kingdom was that of wind, and therefore, the power the royal crest conferred on Velexa was that of absolute control over the wind element.
Velexa placed her father gently on the floor and stood up, taking measured steps towards the witch. With each step, the wind echoed her anger.
Her black hair was flying around her from the wind that was swirling around her and suddenly, she stopped.
She held her head with her both hands, kneling down in agony and pain. The full force of the memory loss spell the witch cast on her finally slamming down hard on her.
She was struggling to keep her memory intact for she didn't want to forget the events of that night. As she struggled, her pain intensified.
She was struggling to remember that the witch who had pretended to be nice to her family, was the one responsible for their downfall.
She fought to remember her father's words; to remember that she had to make the witch pay for her sins... She held on the the last whisps of her memory with every fiber of her being.
The witch laughed hysterically, stretching her painful limbs from the heavy slam on the wall. She heard a few creaks and furrowed her brows in anger.
"Finally, the spell is taking full effect. I wonder how strong this brat's mental resistance is." She eyed her angrily. "It doesn't matter, as long as she eventually sucumbs to the spell."
"Guards!" She bellowed for her specially trained elite team of guards and they filled the room at her call.
"Take the King and Queen and lock them up in their chambers. No one shall enter or exit the room henceforth without my express permission. Am I clear?"
"Yes your highness!" The guards echoed and moved to carry the King and Queen. She had made them address her with such a title when she didn't have a single royal bone in her.
"Nooo..." Velexa raised one hand in protest whilst still holding her head with the other hand, in worse pain than before.
"Don't... take... them... away... Please..." Velexa pleaded, all her anger stripping away. Her parents were everything to her, they were more important to her than her own life.
"Please Dark Mage Wamana, don't take my parents away..." She begged the Witch. Her small body shaking from the intense pain assaulting her senses.
Wamana approached Velexa who was in visible pain and stepped on her head, hitting her face smack on the ground. She applied pressure and pressed her face on the ground as though she was squashing a bug.
Velexa didn't react. She endured the onslaught of pain that washed over her, one from the memory loss spell and the other from Wamana pressing her face to the ground.
She hoped that in her endurance, at least her parents would be spared.
It didn't matter what pain she had to endure, as long as she could see her father smile down at her and feel her mother's warm embrace, it was all worth it.
But Wamana's dark magic wasn't the only dark thing about her.