Chapter 2 - part one

Liara awoke with a start. It was that dream again: the nightmare that had crept into her sleeping mind every night since she had returned to her father's palace at the age of 5. The dream is always the same: she lies in her bed, staring at the silk canopy above her, believing herself to be fully awake but when she tries to move she realises with horror that the only part of her body she can move is her neck, the rest of her body is paralysed by some unseen weight that crushes down upon her more and more until she feels it will crush the breath out of her lungs.

Now fully awake Liara looked around the bedroom she shared with her three half sisters. They appeared to have been up for hours, already excitedly buzzing about the room fussing with their short dark hair and leaving behind piles of rejected clothing. They were triplets, identical in their long swan necks and fawn limbs and possessing a grace and poise that makes Liara feel even more heavy and lumpen just to be in their presence.

Her sister Ava approached her and placed a hand on Liara's forehead, gently brushing away some of her golden hair. "Hey sleepyhead, you had better wake up before Nanny arrives and throws a fit."

"Too late," Ida and Clara whispered in unison, turning their identical heads towards the sharp click of footsteps approaching their chamber door.

Nanny, a soft and matronly name that seemed ludicrously ill fitting for the hard and brittle old woman who entered the room. As her beady eyes settled on Liara her thin lips puckered in lemon sucking look of disapproval that she had become much accustomed to over the years.

"Idle child!" Nanny cried. "Up! Up, I say! How you can laze in bed on a day that is so important to your father, to this kingdom!"


"Breath in, girl!" Nanny hissed at Princess Liara as she dressed her.

Liara took a deep breath, sucking in what little there was of her stomach as Nanny pulled mercilessly at the strings of her corset, causing the whale bones to cruelly stab the Princess in the ribs.

"I swear, girl, if you've been sneaking extra food from the pantry I'll box your ears and your father shall hear of it too," Nanny threatened, fastening the corset at last with one final tug.

Liara had arrived in Tenuis a plump and happy child of 5 years old with cherubically chubby rosy cheeks framed by blonde ringlets. Although her mother had escaped King Edric's cruelty and returned to Adipos, Queen Lyra's health had never fully recovered from her time in Tenuis and she passed away tragically early in her daughter's life. Liara's grandfather King Edmund loved the child dearly and was keen to raise her himself but King Edric stepped in to assert his rights as her father. Perhaps he was suddenly struck by a sense of paternal responsibility but a more cynical mind might conclude that he merely wished to secure Liara's inheritance for himself.

King Edric was determined that his daughter should conform to the standards of Tenuis and not inherit the physical defects of her mother that he had found so repellant. To this end he ensured that her governess imposed a strict regime of diet and exercise. This was successful in suppressing Liara's natural tendency softness but left the once vivacious girl lethargic and with a gaunt and sickly appearance.

To say Liara was abused was not quite true but she was certainly neglected by her father. The truth was that her dress was ill fitting not because she had been sneaking extra food as Nanny suspected but because the 18 year old Princess had not had a new ball gown in years because she was so seldom invited to formal events.

The triplets finished adorning their short dark hair with flowers, each wearing a different colour in an attempt to distinguish them as individuals. The girls were born of King Edric's second marriage to the fashionable but penniless Lady Vivienne. She had died in childbirth, her tiny bird-like frame unable to withstand birthing triplets.

Liara loved her sisters but she could not help envy the ease with which they navigated life in Tenuis. Ida, Ava and Clara had identically boyish figures: all sharp corners, flat chests and jutting bones so different from the womanly curves of Liara's own hourglass figure. They moved languidly and picked disinterestedly at their food while Liara sweated through hours of exercise every day and was left feeling hollow and longing for more after every meagre meal. She wished she could be more like them rather than constantly struggling against the defective nature she had inherited from her mother and her homeland.

Ava gave Liara's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Don't mind Nanny," she said, beginning to braid her golden hair for her. "You know she always gets sore every time there's a ball because she has so many dresses to press."

"And all the servants have been under so much pressure," Clara said. "Father has been storming around all week making sure everything will be perfect for the arrival of Queen Morgana."

"Do you really think she will marry father?" Ida asked.

"I don't know..." Ava said doubtfully. "But why else would she help him?"

The ball was being held in honour of Queen Morgana. She had ruled the kingdom of Impiorum for longer than anyone could remember and had never married. It was the most affluent and powerful kingdom in all the land and yet it was shrouded in mystery. Impiorum rarely concerned itself with foreign affairs but when King Edric had once again embroiled Tenuis in a war he could neither afford nor win, Queen Morgana had sent aid without solicitation or explanation.

As the ball drew nearer her father flattered himself more and more into believing that he could make Queen Morgana his wife and never fear for money or power again but Liara was left with only a creeping sense of dread and a fear that they were going to discover the high price of this mysterious woman's kindness.