Those Three Kings - Chapter Two

I first must give special thanks to the people who donated points to me so I could upload this chapter. Thanks, guys! Stay awesome! ^u^ Anywho, on to the story.

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Two

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“Now, Xzalliff, your mother said that I had to put you into this corset-“

“I know what she said! Good grief,” the girl sighed with a roll of her eyes. She crossed her arms and pouted. “I just… I hate getting dressed up for these stupid auctions, you know? Father always says, ‘Well, you need to follow the rules of the Octaviax and blah blah blah.’”

“Xzalliff, it is truly absurd to treat your parents with such… disrespect,” Xzalliff’s butler said, pulling the strings of a black corset extremely tight. Groans and moans from the young adolescent were audible as sweat beaded on her forehead. The butler winced a couple of times when she started screaming in pain, though it was his duty to continue. “I’m sorry!” He squeaked.

Gasping, Xzalliff replied, “Stop!” A wheeze followed. “It’s… too… tight!”

When he was finished, the teen butler patted Xzalliff’s stomach. “We’re all done here. Now… Your dress.”

“I am not going to wear that hideous thing,” Xzalliff hissed, exposing her sharp canines. “It’s too bright, not to mention how puffy it is. Try to find something black. Or charcoal.”

“Xzalliff…your father said-“

“Bianca,” Xzalliff gently placed her hands on her butler’s face and caressed it. “Father wants for me to be a pretty little princess. I want to be a Forbidden Shadow. I want to know all of the magic, the spells… I want to teleport, to read minds… I want to be able to do anything with the snap of my claws-“

“Your father would never let that happen,” the butler replied. He ran a hand down his master’s hair. “You know that.”
Timidly, Xzalliff said, “I know.” She looked down. “Maybe if I ran away, I could-“

“You know who would find you, Xzalliff. They’d do as the Octaviax. If not them, then… the Seven would.”

“But, Bianca!” Xzalliff smiled, taking her butler’s hands. “Maybe I could become the Eighth!”

The door was knocked on. “Xzalliff, dear? Hurry up! Breakfast is ready!”

“Okay, Mother,” Xzalliff called.

Bianca brushed a hand through his white hair. “Come on, Xzalliff. Just pick a dress out that you would like to wear, and if your father doesn’t approve of it, I will tell him that it was my fault.”

“No,” Xzalliff said. “I’ll take the blame. It’ll be okay.” She scurried off to her closet and pushed through the racks of dresses. With a wink of her deep burgundy eyes, and smiled at her white haired butler. “Don’t worry, Bianca. Father likes you.”

Finally, she picked out a simple grey dress to her knees, followed by a black sweater. Since Xzalliff’s species is always naturally cold- they are literally cold-blooded-, they always must wear some garment over their outfit to keep them warm. And if the Shadow species gets too cold…

“Is this alright, you think?”

“Your father will disapprove of it…but…if it makes you happy…”

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The rest of the Shadow family all sat at the long dining table, napkins in their laps, legs crossed, and dressed appropriately. The maids and butler all stood behind Ellehctileavious, the head of the family. There Xzalliff came, running to her seat, with Bianca behind, blushing in embarrassment.

“Stop,” Ellehctileavious said. “Do not move, Xzalliff. Arms behind back, legs together, and put your wings up. First of all…”

Xzalliff groaned as she forced her large set of black wings into her back. “Continue, Father.”

“Your dress. You are dressed hideously. You are a lady, dear,” he replied in a dark voice. “You are not a human being, you are a Shadow.”

Xzalliff pursed her lips and dug her claws into the palms of her hands. “I… I am aware of that, Father.”

“Do I have to remind you that we live in the Octavius Realm?” Ellehctileavious said with spite.

“No,” Xzalliff murmured, her head hanging low.

“Secondly,” he announced, “you are late. Why is that?”

“I was…I was-“

“Don’t even try to make up some kind of zany excuse for why you were late,” Ellehctileavious replied, extending his hand out. “Now, sit down in your seat and eat your breakfast.”

The girl nodded, made her way to her seat, and sat down. Her butler put a silk napkin in Xzalliff’s lap and slowly walked away. “I’m sorry that I’m a female,” Xzalliff murmured.

“Do not say that,” Ellehctileavious reluctantly said. “It is just that… you must act like one, that is all.”

The girl nodded after she bit her bottom lip with force. She took a deep breath in and let out a puff of fire, followed by a scold from both her mother and father. Her father gave her the most evil look that she had ever witnessed in her lifetime. His eyes were slanted to almost nonexistent slits, his teeth were bared, suddenly making Xzalliff shudder just by glancing at the intimidating set of lethally sharp bones protruding from his gums, his lips were ultimately curled downwards in the most unfriendly and rude frown she had ever seen, and it seemed as though his head would explode at any moment.

“Why are you such a failure, Xzalliff?! Why can’t you just be like one of your brothers?” her father practically screamed, leaning over the dining table to get in his daughter’s face.

“It was an accident, I promise! Father-“

“Xzalliff, sweetheart! Ladies do not do that! Gentlemen are allowed, just not at the dining table,” her mother scolded.

“Xzalliff, if you are going to act disrespectful and-“

“Father! It was an accident! I’ve just been… Please…”

“What did I tell you about trailing off in thought as you speak? And stop your stuttering! Get your elbows off of the table, put your legs together, wipe that dirty look off of your face, stop humming, sit up straight, close your mouth, stop showing your fangs, put your tongue back into your mouth, stop making your eyes turn different colors, and quit the telekinesis!” Ellehctileavious’s voice got louder and more irritated by the word that he was practically screaming. “Be a lady for once! Make me proud to be your father!”

Xzalliff gulped, trembling. “Forgive me, Father.” Her gaze was glazed over with a thin layer of tears, though she tried to hide it.

Her father tilted his head up and peered straight into his daughter’s red eyes, but more than that. It was like her father was trying to stare into her soul. “Eat your breakfast, Xzalliff.”

After moments of silence, one of Xzalliff’s brothers, Zasamous, spoke up. “I’m done. May I be excused?” He flipped his glossy black hair and adjusted his bowtie.

“Not just yet, Zasamous,” Ellehctileavious ran a hand through his red hair. “After everyone is finished, your mother and I have to make an announcement.”

Half of the family was exclaiming and gasping, though the other half was moaning and groaning. “Is Mother expecting again?” a voice sighed.

“Is it going to be a boy? Please tell me I’ll have a ninth brother!” someone exclaimed, clapping their hands.

“I do not think she is,” Ellehctileavious said, eyeing his wife and grinning. “Molly? Are you sure, dear?” He stroked his wife's shoulder with his eerie skeletal hand.

“I’m not, children,” the children’s mother said with an eyeless gaze. She spooned a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth and chewed, uneasily looking at her husband. She whispered, “Stop that.”

After the family was finished eating their breakfast, Ellehctileavious announced, “Most of the family is aware of this, though some children may not be. Our family reads a book called The Octaviax, right? Alright. And whatever it tells our family to do, we must fulfil our duties as Octaveyells and do as it says. And since Xzalliff was born as the second female Shadow ever in history, the Octaviax instructs us to auction her off every year in February, though no one ever buys her, and your mother and I believe that it is intentional. The price on her is extremely high, and no one ever can afford her…”

 The man looked at Xzalliff and smiled. “Therefore, we get to keep our baby girl. So, today, at the thirteenth hour, we will go to the auction house and ‘sell her off’, but do not worry, Xzalliff. No one will buy you. No one ever bought your mother, so I doubt that anyone will buy you.”

“And if they do…?” Xzalliff nervously stared at her father with wide eyes. She brushed a piece of her light purple hair out of her pale face.

“Do not worry, dear,” her father smiled, “Daddy will always keep you safe.”