Young Writers Society

Days had gotten darker and darker as Starstalkers began to retire from their work for the winter. It was wisest not to steal any light during daylight savings, but some couldn’t help but notice that things had not slowed down like normal. The Day Clusters had been getting weaker and weaker. It didn’t help Lansie’s sleepiness in the mornings any better.

Footsteps breached the second floor just as Lansie had begun to fall asleep. Her leg was promptly kept out of the blanket, while the rest of her was covered in sheets and a cloak. An ice bath was performed immediately after she woke up, which was quite displeasing and shocking to her body. But she didn't mind the cold, since she got right back into her blankets. It was always freezing in the city.

“Father?” Lansie asked, muffled through the bedsheets. Does he know? Did anybody tell him? She pushed the bedsheets off of herself and limped to the door. Abigail stood in the doorway, fiddling around with the water and sandwich on her tray. “Abigail!” Lansie sounded. “Have you seen my father?”

“‘Fraid not, deary,” Abigail said. “Nobody’s seen him since last night. Would you like me to get your brother to carry you down and find him?”

“No!” Lansie’s eyes widened. “He’s already done so much for me today. He should rest.”

“Very well.” Abigail set the tray down on the edge of Lansie’s bed. “Eat. You’ll need strength today.” The lady-in-waiting left quickly.

Lansie sighed as she began tearing the crust off of her sandwiches. It’s fine, she thought. He probably got hurt too… But the nagging feeling in her stomach told her she needed to check. Her father was strong and smart. Surely he could’ve escaped the fire? Or did he get trapped in the whispering flames? Abigail won’t find him for me… Guess I’ll have to do the work myself. Lansie limped along the walls until she found her toy pony stick. Grabbing the stick as a walking cane, she began the tedious trek down the burnt and partially missing stairs.

It was quite surprising that the stairs had even burned, for they were not made of wood, but another unknown substance. It had the texture of gravel, but stuck to itself like glue. They never tumbled or kicked up dust- but the strange black color was always a good reason to question what the stairs truly were.

Lansie snuck around in the darkest shadows of the walls, hiding her fawn hair beneath the black cloak she had been sleeping in. None of the guards had noticed her yet- they were more focused on finding pales of water to wash away the last of the ash.

At last, Lansie made it to her father’s bedroom, where she saw red curtain pieces being blown away in the breeze and smokey black bed covers- but not a single other person standing in the room with her. Lansie’s shoulders rounded, and her eyes drooped to the ground as she collapsed on her father’s bed, hissing in pain from her burn. I’ll just wait… H-he’ll have to come back eventually.

“Little princess?” a voice sounded. Lansie looked up from the ground to see where the smooth, young voice had come from. She was still hoping her father was coming-but she knew that the voice was too smooth to be his. It was just the Duke- eyes opened wildly, and blonde hair unevenly chopped. The Duke was always unkept- with his father gone on so many expeditions, he had just inherited the title and was able to do what he pleased.

“Duke,” Lansie murmured curtly. “Quite the surprise. Don’t you have some secret party to be running off to?”

“Ha!” The Duke laughed. “Always count girls in puberty to lighten the mood.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing at all.” The Duke grabbed Lansie’s pony toy and handed it to her, offering his arm in the process. She swished it away quickly. Stupid teenagers, she thought. Always wanting to do the work for me. Her father never did that. Never lifted a finger…

“Soleil?” Lansie asked. The Duke’s eyes looked down at her with concern. She could already guess his thoughts; 'did she hurt herself again? Is there something else on fire? Am I on fire?' But none of those things were true. If there was one thing Lansie knew, it was that everyone in the royal family was a worrywart. Including her. “Where is my Father? My brother? For goodness sake, I don’t even know where my lady-in-waiting scurried off to!”

“Oh.” She could see the worry in his eyes fading. “All of the servants and royalty have made their way to my summer home, not too far away. But the king? He has been gone since the fire.” Lansie swallowed a lump of spit down, trying to keep herself from bursting into a sob. She could not make a cousin that was a mere seven years older than her think she was some sort of damsel in distress in a fairytale. Still, however, her heart beat faster with every pump of blood. She feared she grew pale. And worst of all, the voice of the fire was creeping oh so closer to her, just enough for her to hear it.

You pathetic excuse for a girl. You’ve killed the king. Now there is no monarch. You’ve destroyed the whole kingdom and yourself. Now surely you will be left in the castle to die.

No! Lansie thought. That voice can’t be right. It’s a figment of my imagination…

Lansie began whipping her head around in search of the fire. Sure enough, a guard was carrying another eerie blue torch. Just as the voice had come to her, it was gone, fading away with the guard in the dark corridor. She sighed in relief.

“You’re looking dizzy, little Lansie,” Soleil said in a wavering voice. He gently pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, gasping when he felt her skin grow warm to the touch. “You have a fever! We must get you to a healer immediately.”

“Or maybe it was because I was burned,” Lansie retorted. She could’ve sworn that the only smart male in her family was her brother.

“Eh, perhaps you’re right.” He opened the door and led her out to a carriage with glowing gold le chevaux. They must have had little light spheres put into them. They would run quite fast now.

They both stepped into the carriage, the coach whistling and whipping his reins for the horses to begin their stride north. Lansie exhaled, enjoying the wind whipping her hair and cooling her body. She wanted to stay in that moment forever. But soon, she saw Soleil holding the smallest torch of blue stolen by the castle. She gulped.

Now you’ve made everyone worry, Lansie.