Change of Heart

I was awoken by a large clattering noise, my vision blurry and my body feeling too heavy.  I laid on the cold, wet floor of my jail cell, my silver hair released from its usual tight bun, my locks draping over my shoulders and floor.  A shadow was cast over me, and a figure came into my view.

“Princess Tianshi of Haiyang-Shui, Prince Saqr demands your presence.”  The man said to me, and I let out a heavy breath.  He opened my cell and walked in, grabbing me roughly by the arm and hauling me to my feet, then pushing me out the door.  We walked down the hall, up the stairs, out of the dungeon, more winding hallways, then outside into the blinding light.  We walked across the hot sand, my bare feet burning as I stumbled along.  For being a neighboring country of Haiyang-Shui, although my country is an island, Arvin is dry desert.  How an empire was able to flourish here was beyond me. 

My guard pushed me along, until we finally came to the palace, where I was sure to meet my enemy.  More walking and we finally entered.  The cool, marble floor was haven to my feet, and it gave me goose bumps.  We walked into the throne room, sitting in his lavish throne, was the prince.  I tried to give him a hateful glare, but I doubted he saw it.  We approached the prince, and my guard forced me to my knees.  I stumbled to the floor, my dirtied robes pooling around me on the marbled floor.  I looked up, before me was the Prince of Arvin, the country that had just conquered my own. 

The prince stood up, the guards bowing and backing away, to give him room.  He approached me, a playfully sly smile on his lips, his golden eyes observing me carefully.  “So, you’re the princess of Haiyang-Shui?  When my warriors told me about you before we attacked, they described a fragile little girl who was rather skilled at healing, however…”  He said to me as he circled me slowly.  “On the battlefield, my soldiers described something of a demon to me.  A girl with silver hair, absolutely slaughtering my men.  You cannot possibly be the same girl.  You are… Much too feeble.”  He said with a chuckle, and he knelt down in front of me.  “But this hair color is not common for your people, isn’t it.”  He grabbed my hair roughly and I let out a whimper involuntarily. 

“How sad it must be for you.  To be a descendent of the angels, to be worshipped all your life, only to have your own people turn their backs on you.”  I glared at him, and then I saw it.  His hair, from afar, seemed black, but up close it was a dark purple color, like plums.  He was a descendent of the angels as I was!  “My people didn’t betray me!”  I shouted at him.  He laughed, a warm, lovely laugh, and let go of my hair.

He stood up walking back to his throne, inspecting the swords hung up beside the seat.  “Yes they did.  After I received word of a single force about to obliterate my army, I rushed in.  I found you easily, standing in the middle of a war zone, covered in blood, laughing hysterically, not in your right mind… But that wasn’t you, was it?”  He questioned me.  “I have no idea what you are talking about!  I set up defenses to protect my people, but after doing that for several days, I…” I hesitated; I did not want to admit that I had passed out after several days of no sleep, barely eating, to protect my people.  I was so ashamed of myself.

The prince waved it off.  “Yes, yes, of course.  But I believe you are something not human, and something not angelic.  That person I saw, it was your body, but not you.  And never before had I had such an epic battle!  You even forced me into flight, forced me to use my angelic powers!  No human has ever forced me into such a position.  And for that, I suppose I’ll have to kill you on my own.”  He said casually, stretching out his arms.  I reeled, my blue eyes growing wide, mouth gone dry.  Kill me?  No, no… I refuse.  “If you intend to kill me, then release me from these ropes!”  I shouted, my mind rushing, thinking of an escape plan.  “Ah, yes, but see, what I have learned in my hundred and seventy years of life, is to not toy with your enemy.  It may not be honorable, but it gets that job done quicker.”  He said as he drew his curved sword.

Panic grew inside me, my heart pounding, and cold sweat running down my back.  He walked towards me, and I attempted to stand, but only ended up pushing myself down back to the floor, scooting back on my behind.  Gaining on me, gaining on me, he stalked towards me.  Running out of ideas, I rolled over, to try to push myself up to my knees, but I realized that my wings were completely unbound!  I untucked them, and began to flap them as fast as I could, kicking up wind and dust within the room.  The prince began to laugh.  “Try to fly away, little bird, you will not get far!”  He shouted at me.  With my arms bound, I wouldn’t be able to fly away from him for very long.  What would I do, I’m going to die here, but I can’t… I can’t, I was going to take care of my country, for centuries upon centuries, until my death.  I can’t let it end here!

A gargled scream erupted from my throat as a great pain struck through my skull, like my head was being ripped open.  I fell to the floor, the coldness soothing me in some way, and my vision went black.

                A laugh, cold and cruel, escaped Tianshi’s lips.  It grew louder and louder, the prince gripped his sword tightly, readying himself for the demon’s battle.  Shifting and struggling, the girl stood to her feet, flames erupting around her, burning the ropes that bound her.  Her arms fell to her side, and looked around herself lazily.

                “Ah, I see I’m in the palace of,” Her gaze fell on Prince Shaqr.  “Prince Shaqr, how nice to see you again after you rammed that sword into my lower intestines.  You must have been very merciful to take me into your care and allow my other-self to heal our body, but trust me, I won’t be.”  She stalked around the prince, never breaking eye contact.  The prince stood ready for an attack, ready to defend at any moment.  “My weaker other-self would probably fight you if she could, but she’s too soft.”  She grabbed a sword off the wall.  “You’ll find that we are very different, she and I.  I’ll make sure to completely crush you, and hold your head to your subjects and reclaim my country from you.”  She took her stance, lunged, and red blood was splattered across the marble floor.
Based off a dream I had a while back.