The Diary of A Queen's Pet

Chapter 1:

My name is Emma. I know how strange it is that I don't have a family name but I don't. My name has always been just Emma. Plain Emma; I don't know whether I should be content with that title or not but somehow it's comforting to not feel the weight of your family's name on your shoulders. I've never known a single member of my family and though I sometimes think it must be nice to know them I've never truly missed them. They're out there somewhere, but I've never actually sought them out myself. I suppose if I did, now, the Queen wouldn't mind. Though she's not one for sharing, my Queen; she's a bit possessive of things she considers hers and I'm nothing if not hers.

Some people I suppose would chafe under the title of belonging to another but there is something comforting about knowing just who owns you. And I'm owned by none other than the evil queen of legends. People are absolutely terrified of her for various different reasons but I have yet to find any that truly stand out. She's a powerful sorceress and strong ruler in her own right. She's as I wrote possessive and she has a large jealous streak that rears its head when she thinks something that's hers is about to be taken from her. I'll get to that part of my tale later.

I have decided as it were to write down my life's story. For what purpose I have no idea but my friend Graham thought it would be a good idea since he hasn't the ability to read or write. He wants to learn though, and I've promised him that I will teach him. He says the first story he will read will be mine and I want him to be able to do so. I only hope I do this tale justice. It's a difficult road to explain and most people won't understand it. Even now I fear what you may think, Graham, when you know what this truly is. It's my history and that of the evil queen. My destiny has always been tangled with hers and those around her. It's not the only thing I've ever been tangled in that belongs to the Queen. Some would say that I'm also tangled up in her dirty bed sheets but that is a part of the tale I will get to later. Perhaps it's time I start at the beginning and hopefully by then you'll grow to understand just what it is that has made me into what I am; the dark queen's favorite pet.

My very first memory is red. How strange a thing it is to say that my first memory is a color but it's true. I was a child of barely four summers. One of the female servants, a matronly stout woman named Elizabeth, who even now works in the kitchens, was braiding my hair into a tight plait so that I would be able to get my work done without it being in my face.

"Ow!" I cried out as she pulled my hair tightly, cinching the braid up my back.

"Honestly, Emma how do you expect me to braid your hair if you keep squirming." Elizabeth asked, completely exasperated with my constant movements.

"If you didn't pull it, I wouldn't move." I whimpered, trying to keep the tears at bay. Even to this day my head is still sensitive to even the slightest pull.

"It's not for children to talk back to adults; you'd best remember that child. Learn your place in this world or it will be taught to you in a most painful fashion."

I frowned at her words glancing over my shoulder to see her. She rolled her dark eyes at me and motioned for me to turn around so she could continue her work. When she finally finished, after a few more protests from me she sent me on about my day. First off I was to go down to the apple groves and collect the fallen fruit. The Queen, our Mistress, liked them a lot and since she did they were used in a lot of things that Elizabeth and the other women made.

I liked the apple trees, no one came to see them but me or so I thought. I still like the groves, they're comforting to me but that day I was feeling particularly upset with the way Elizabeth had spoken to me and as such I couldn't wait to escape to my favorite place on the grounds. So I ran down the stone steps, hopping over the boulders and flower beds that stood in my way. I knew Jasper would be upset with me if I were to destroy the roses he worked so hard to plant and tend to. The Queen's favorite flowers though are actually jasmine. She smells like them too, which surprises most people since they think it would be apples but it's not. It's jasmine and sandalwood; she prefers to smell like the moonlight grove or so she says. But I'm getting off track again. I'm sorry my mind tends to wander when I begin to write about my Queen.

I made it to the groves and grabbed a simple wooden basket and began to fill it with the fallen fruits of the trees. I loved running amongst the trees, jumping for the limbs trying to climb them. I couldn't wait until I was tall enough to grab the branches and swing myself up into them. Back then I was small for my age. I took a running jump, my fingertips barely brushing the lowest limb of the tree before I fell back to the soft earth. I sighed as I looked up at the sky, filled with white fluffy clouds. Strange how even now I can remember these little moments like those but I could. Perhaps it was because it was the first time I ever saw…her…

I heard the clanging of armor as it moved towards the groves. I sat up, watching with a furrowed brow as the guards approached. I wondered if I was in trouble for trying to climb the trees. I hid behind the large apple tree I had tried to climb only moments before. The guards parted revealing the slender beautiful figure of my Queen to my eyes for the first time. At the time though, I only thought she was the prettiest lady I'd ever laid eyes on. She was wearing a crimson crushed velvet gown. It clung to her like a second skin, showing off her slight curves. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, revealing her long elegant neck to the world. My lips parted as the guards stopped. It was then that I noticed a young boy was being pulled behind her.

"I don't tolerate stealing boy." The beautiful lady spoke. Her voice was low and I found myself liking it immediately. It was a bit like a warm bath after a long day; soothing on all the sore surfaces of the body.

The boy, who I didn't recognize, tried to pull his hands away but the guards held him slightly up stopping his pathetic attempts.

The boy was only a few years older than I. He spat at the pretty woman and I gasped. How could he think that was right? I wanted to run out from my hiding spot and hit him until he apologized to her. She was too pretty to be spat at like that.

She took a breath as though gathering herself before she spoke again. "You know the penalty for trying to steal from me and yet you chose to do it anyway. You will pay for what you took." The lady gave a nod watching as the guards moved rather swiftly.

The large table that I sometimes used to reach the fruits that were still up on the tree but ripe enough to come down was brought over and suddenly the boy's arm was bound to the surface as though by magic. I had never seen magic performed at that time but now it's a part of my everyday life. Another guard unsheathed his sword. I was unable to look away as the boy flinched and the blade came down.

A loud scream echoed throughout the grove and I winced. I couldn't believe someone so lovely could be so cruel. Looking back on it I can clearly remember Elizabeth's words to me, even the prettiest flower can have the nastiest thorns. Watching the dark woman before me I knew those words rang true with her.

"Get him out of here. See to it a healer tends to him and send him back to the village." She commanded.

The guards left dragging the semi-conscious boy with them. It was then that I noticed the woman's shoulders sag ever so slightly as though she bore a great weight. But back then I couldn't understand what I was seeing. I only knew that she was scary and yet beautiful, much like the roses in the garden. She began to make her way amongst the trees in the grove, stopping to speak to each one as though she knew them intimately. This was the woman I wanted to know; the one that spoke to the trees here as though they were able to converse back with her. Not the cruel woman who had just callously ordered a boy to be mangled in such a fashion.

I watched her from behind my tree still not comprehending what I had seen. Apart of me was sick at the sight that I had just witnessed. Another wanted to know how this gentle woman could appear so hard and cold. And yet another wondered just why I was so taken with her. It was a strange combination of things that sent me running from my hiding spot when she was farthest away and back towards the kitchen without my apples. I got a nice beating from Elizabeth for that since she needed me to start coring the apples immediately so dinner would be ready in time for the Queen. It was then that it hit me. I had just witnessed the dark queen in all of her glory. She really was the woman of legends though at the time I didn't realize that. I only saw her as a rose; something so beautiful and yet able to prick even the most careful of gardeners.

My Queen is much like the rocky shoreline I later saw in my youth. I realize that now. She is the shore and I'm the waves, breaking myself upon her again and again. It's a pattern we fall into even today. My Queen is unyielding and I, in my devotion to her, willingly allow her whatever her heart desires as long as she is happy. In her happiness, I find my own. The marks of a true pet they say. I suppose I do wear my title rather proudly given how often I'm reminded of who I belong to. Even by the Queen herself. It wasn't until rather recently that I grew content with that title. Back then I refused to acknowledge that my wings had been clipped and I was being held in a cage just like the others that came to be here. But that I wouldn't learn until I was older. That is yet another tale I'm sure we'll come too shortly.