Moon Touched

Aurora

A swift whoosh cut through the air as an arrow flew, hitting right in the bullseye of the multicolored round palate on the floor of the training ground.

The palate, a rather sorry excuse for an archery board, used to be just a moldy wood I had bruised my hands trying to carve into a circle. But it came out looking like a deformed hexagon shape. Whenever I took a look at this beat-up board, I was reminded of myself. Structurally unclear and pathetic looking.

In this realm, everyone had similar looks, similar eyes, ears, and mouths. I was considered different. I was a freak and an oddity. According to the creatures of this realm or humans as they call themselves, my features were similar to those of an elf, but not of an elf. Whatever I was, I certainly wasn't human to them.

With a flicker of irritation, I released another arrow, watching as it unsurprisingly landed right on the bullseye again, next to the one I had shot at first. Before I could release a third, a booming voice disrupted me. "Aurora!"

"Fuck," I cursed under my breath. I didn't have to see the source to know where it had come from.

"Aurora!!" the voice yelled again, even louder this time. It was Madame Stella, the head servant of the palace. With a swift move, I ducked out of sight and into the bushes, using the night's darkness to conceal my movements.

Let me introduce myself. I am Aurora and a palace servant. As a lowly servant in the Palace of Tasnim, my duty was strictly attending to chores and the royals, not practicing my archery skills like I was a soldier. If I get caught, I could be facing possible whip lashes and imprisonment in the dungeon. This is the reason I can only practice under the cover of the night, using that poor excuse for an archery board.

Hiding my bow and arrow beneath a pile of grass next to a boulder, I ran into the palace using the old wooden back door that led to the servant's quarters.

"You halfwitted child, where have you been?! The king returns tonight, and his chambers remain unattended. Are you single-handedly seeking death?!" Madame Stella's voice pierced the air and echoed through the hallway. For someone so short, she sure uses her voice to make up for the height difference.

I hung my head low to conceal my eye roll and the scowl on my face. But that was not a good idea, because the moment I lowered my head, Madame Stella used the proximity to land a slap on my right cheek. The pain that seared across my cheeks betrays how little and chubby her hands are. It would undoubtedly swell my cheeks by tomorrow morning.

Clenching my fists, I attempted to suppress my anger. If my past actions were anything to learn from, then acting upon my emotions wouldn't do me any good. My only options were to restrain myself and keep my head hung low.

Servants started to gather around us, relishing the little show that was going on. They always did. I was a spectacle at least once a day since I always got in trouble, and they would never miss a chance to watch me in pain and laugh about it later.

"No dinner for you tonight and no food for the entirety of tomorrow, either," Madame Stella spat, her tone severe. "Insubordinate, wench! Get to the king's bedroom and clean up before he returns! Go. Now!"

"Yes, madame," I replied like they had disciplined us to do.

"What's the use of her long ears if she can't listen to basic instructions?" One of the female servants snickered, her dry lips pulling back in a sneer.

"Oh, stop it." The other one said, picking at the dirt in her nails, "Her ears aren't even that long. I mean, if it was long enough, we would at least consider her an elf monster. But since it isn't pointy enough, we are forced to tolerate her as a human."

"What a farce. How did she get hired again?" a male servant scoffed.

Gritting my teeth, I trudged to the king's bedroom, while resisting the urge to bite back at them. What was the use? It wouldn't make much difference anyway. My feet dragged across the polished marble tiles on the floor with pure exhaustion and lanquidity.

How befitting, I look down at the tiles; black marble tiles...the same color as these people's hearts. I rounded the corner of the golden pillars leading to the royal chambers.

Elf monster, huh?

What would they know about elves when most of the citizens here haven't even seen one, let alone any other supernatural?

Oh! And how did I get hired? Let me see. Because of my looks... was it? Wait, no, I think it was because I had covered my ears with my hair, and so passed the servant's inspection. When they realized my abnormalities, it was already late. They had hired me. Since they were understaffed, they decided to keep me because I wouldn't run into royals anyway.

'Abnormalities' huh?

This was the human realm. It was called the Kingdom of Tasnim. And as the name suggests, it means paradise but its far from that. Unknown to the citizens of this realm, darkness lurked within the kingdom starting right here at the palace's satin hat, and I was about to face a terror worse than that.

Long ago, it was said that all races lived together as one in a kingdom called Danark. Werewolves, vampires, foxes, elves, demons, and the mightiest of them, all the dragons.

Apparently, while they lived in harmony on the surface, weaker races were preyed upon by the powerful ones. The human beings, the weakest of them all, were constantly being haunted and sometimes even made into slaves. This continued for a while until the races started to rebel, plunging the world into an all-out war. It is unclear how the war ended, but the after-effect of it birthed what we know today as the Great Kingdoms.

Danark slowly crumbled as each race started to form its kingdoms. The elves moved into the most flourished magical forest called, Ahren. The vampires enacted their kingdom called, Erebos. The Lycans established the Lyall kingdom which had several packs. The land of witches was called, Circe, and finally, the dragons. The dragons stayed on the land of Lanark, forming an empire out of the crumbling nation, now known as Caelist. Powerless races that didn't have enough power and population to form their own kingdom like the werefoxes, demons, and several others stayed behind and were assimilated into Caelist.

To avoid war, each kingdom chose a king who would meet every two years at a meeting called the Swerve. During this time, they would set boundaries, rules, and trade pieces of information. This year would be the year they hold the swerve meeting again, and that is why His Majesty has been busy as of late.

It is thanks to his occupied schedule that he didn't return on time today to catch my blunder. I couldn't help it. I had been angry earlier, and when I was angry, I practiced archery. That stupid skank Lola and her boy toy of a warrior Andrew, was at it again.

Just because my ears were a bit unique, they constantly ostracized me daily. Usually, their antics would go ignored by me, but today they had managed to light fumes under my pot, causing it to boil once more.

Entering the king's chambers, I mulled over the earlier event that made my mood sour.

Earlier that day-

"It wasn't me! It was that freak, Aurora!" Lola yelled in her shrill voice, rattled with fake sobs. "What evidence do you have that it was Aurora? The other servants all say they saw you walking out of the king's office and when they went in after you, they saw tea spilled all over his paperwork." Madame Stella said. "But- but we all know I'm not the only one that goes to the king's office. Aurora is in charge of cleaning his chancery. There's no doubt she made that mess and ran away in order not to get caught. I only saw it when I entered the chancery and was on my way out to tell you, Madame." Lola was now full-on crying her dainty little eyeballs out.

Rolling my eyes, I stood my ground and spoke, "How would I be in the king 's office when I spent all my hours in the kitchen all day washing the dishes almost everyone in the Palace used?"

Then, a gruff voice interjected, "What is going on?"

Great, here comes Mr. Knight in shining armor-I mean it literally. Andrew was an egoistic person who prided himself on his warrior's position which I presum. He wore this overly gaudy armor and pranced around the castle with his nose stuck up.

"Greetings to you Sir Andrew," Madame Stella said nervously. He didn't even acknowledge her as he made a comment for Lola.

"Why are you crying?! Who caused this?! Are you injured?!" He fussed, running his hands up and down her body and checking for any injuries.

Lovely, another drama queen.

"Oh, Sir Andrew, I'm so glad you are here, I'm being wrongfully accused of spilling tea on important documents in his majesty's office," Lola cried, falling into Andrew's arms. "It's obvious that was all Aurora's doing."

Andrew finally decided to cast a glare at Madame Stella, passing her a glare. "Care to explain Stella?" See? literally a knight in shining armor. "My goodness, no Sir Andrew, no one is blaming her. We were trying to find the right culprit, and based on her explanation, we were just concluding that Aurora was the one who made the mess. Rest assured she would be punished accordingly." Madame Stella said, fumbling with her hands while giving me side glares.

"Yes, see to it that she gets the appropriate punishments so that no innocent person gets treated unfairly," Andrew said, rubbing Lola's arm like she got hurt.

End of flashback.

'So no innocent person gets treated unfairly?' I repeated what Andrew had said earlier out to no one in particular. I call it rubbish. I fumed as I flipped over the silk covers on the king's bed.

It was obvious that Lola had tried to clean the king's chancery in an attempt to please Madame Stella, but made that mistake and ran away. And Madame Stella was too intimidated by Andrew to admit she knew the real culprit. She doesn't even like Lola, but she puts up with her because of getting good graces by Andrew.

Picking up King Raymond's shirt from the bed, I paused, my anger gradually subsiding. I brought the shirt up to my nose, inhaling the nice smell that came from it.

Working in the castle as a maid doesn't present a person the chance of seeing the royals, more or less the king. However, the few glances I'd stolen from him from afar were enough to have my heart racing. His perfectly leveled nose, hazel eyes, and short straight black hair were all qualities that anyone would find mesmerizing.

Sadly, though, I've never had a chance to get a close-up look at him. As servants, we weren't allowed to be in the presence of royals unless otherwise permitted. We could only clean their room when they weren't present.

Snapping back to my senses, I reluctantly folded the shirt and put it along with the hopes and dreams of ever getting noticed by the king - into the laundry basket.

Who am I kidding?

King Raymond had a fiancee. Her name was Esther. She was the daughter of a councilman and a beauty to behold. Sighing in defeat, I picked up the laundry basket and proceeded to head out the large golden doors before the King gets back.

Just as I was about to pull open the door, it suddenly swung inwards, smashing into my face, which made me lose my standing and fall right to the floor. I groaned and tried to look up at the person who decided to restructure my nose.

My eyes first caught sight of short black hair that was slicked back at the right side, then two pairs of hazel eyes, and then full lips. That hair looked so familiar... just then I realized who it belonged to, and I internally cringed.

My eyes widen as I tried to recall the number one rule of being a maid here was... 'Do not present yourself in front of the royals unless permitted to'... and I had just broken that rule.

Shit. I'm in trouble.

Aurora

Something wet and warm dripped down from my lips, and I unconsciously swiped at it while still staring at King Raymond in shock. He stared at me for a while, his brows raising in surprise. His eyes then dropped to take in my outfit, then his face turned cold.

"What are you doing here?" His icy voice rang out, drawing me out of my daze. I quickly scrambled to kneel on the cold marble floor, bringing my forehead to do the same- I bowed.

"Gre - Greetings Your Majesty." I stammered out, wracked with fear and nervousness. My show of respect earned me nothing but a tension-filled silence. The silence was so long that I found myself gaining interest in the marble pattern on the floor. An interesting back tile, with white swirls it was. An insistent dull ache came from my lips, and something wet still dripped down from it.

Resisting the urge to wipe my lips again, I tried to make myself smaller, hoping it would ease the glare I felt from the pair of eyes above me. Gosh, I wish this beautiful marble floor would just open up and swallow me.

"I said, what are you doing here?" I heard him say it again.

"Um, I was just cleaning up your chambers, your majesty. I was just - just about to head out." My voice came out frantic. Why couldn't I speak well without stammering, the king probably sees me as an idiot now.

"If I recall, one of the rules given to you servants was to make yourselves invisible. Yet why do I see one scurrying around in my chambers by this time of the day?" His voice grew icer "Perhaps Stella has gone soft."

Oh boy, I've done it now. Madame Stella will definitely get in trouble for this, and the result of it would be several punishments bestowed on me. She'd be sure to make the next two years of my life hell.

"Your majesty, I -" "Raise your head." his voice cut me off.

"Pardon?"

"Do you have a hearing problem or what? I said, raise your head" he repeated again.

Gulping, I slowly raised my head meeting his black leather boots. Damn, he really wears those boots nicely. Suddenly, the said boots in question started walking toward me until they stopped right in front of my face.

One of the boots then stretched out to touch my jaw, lifting my face even more until it met with a pair of hazel eyes. My breath hitched. I knew he was already good-looking from afar, but seeing him this close was blissful.

He had on black leather pants to match his boots, a white shirt threaded with gold embroideries, and then a complimentary white cape hanging from his shoulder. The right side of his hair was slicked backward and the left side was hanging out, making his hair fall above his left eye.

"What is your name?" he asked.

I was beside myself in shock and happiness that the king himself wanted to know my name. No doubt this was so he could report me to madame Stella and see to it that I was punished.

However, the mere fact that my name was something he was curious about made me leap for joy. I don't typically have a crush on this man or anything. It was just simply that I admired him. He was tall, strong, witty - from the way he governed us and most of all good looking as hell.

My sniffing his clothes wasn't because I had a crush on him, it was simply because his perfumed oil smelled really good, not like those cheap ones sold in the taverns. I loved nice smelling things, especially floral and earthy ones. And it seems most royals base their perfume oils on naturally scented themes.

"Are you deaf or is it that you have a speech impediment?" he spat in a venomous tone again. His feet yanked my face even more upward, causing me to wince from the pain that traveled up my lips.

"I do not like slow people".

"My name is Aurora, Your Majesty" I managed to speak through the pain.

"Hm." was all the reaction he gave to my name.

I didn't know what I expected from him, but my initial happiness was starting to fade. His eyes dragged all over my face like he was scrutinizing my facial features, stopping on my lips for seconds long.

He must be staring at the liquid dripping from my lips, and no doubt it was blood. He dropped his foot from my jaw and I immediately lowered my head, feeling extremely self-conscious.

Just then, a voice yelled out from the hallway leading into the room. "Darling!" the smooth voice called out.

Oh shit, I mentally face palmed myself. Only one person could call the king 'Darling' and that means I am going to be in more trouble.