Shadow of Blue

"It all began a long time ago…" She murmured to herself as she watched the raindrops collect on the window pane. Her words were not meant to be heard; the memory of her past was forbidden. It was something that everyone, save for herself and her brother, had willed themselves to forget. Because of this, she was ultimately forgotten as well. The young woman ran her fingers through her dark blue hair as she delved into her thoughts.

***

Her brother was the only son of the King and Queen; the Prince of Blue, as many called him. Some day, he would sit on the throne, like his father before him. But the King was unfaithful; he grew bored of his wife. She was the product of the King's affair with a servant girl. In order to preserve his reputation, he completely disowned his daughter when she was young, and had the servant 'taken care of".

She remembered that day so clearly; through she too would rather forget.

The Prince and his sister were playing together in the courtyard. They chased each other around the vast space, played hide-and-seek amongst the greenery, and chatted as they sat by the fountain. Secretly, she wished that those days had never come to an end, but such was fate; cruel and unforgiving.

The King emerged from the castle, and the two children ran to embrace him. He held his son, but pushed his daughter away.

"Father?" She said shyly. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Child," he began, releasing his son who went to his sister's side, "your very existence is wrong. From this moment on, I am not your father, and my son is not your brother."

"B-but I…" The girl began to weep quietly, tears streamed down her cheeks, but her brother wiped them away with his sleeve.

"Why would you do such a thing? To disown your own daughter to hide your sins? You- you are a monster!" The Prince glared at his father, even dared to make eye contact.

"How dare you!" The King roared as he brought his hand down across his son's face. "You disrespectful child!"

The Prince of Blue gingerly touched his cheek where a red hand print had begun to appear. He said nothing.

"From this day on," the King once again looked down upon his daughter, "you do not exist. I will permit you to live here, but not for your sake. You are not to speak of this, or of anything. Do you understand?"

She nodded weakly.

"My son, since you seem so attached to her, she is now your responsibility. Do with her what you will." And with that, he turned to leave.

"Will you be okay?" The Prince asked after the King had left.

She nodded again, not daring to take her gaze off of the ground.

"Look at me." He said gently.

She obeyed, and looked into her brother's clear blue eyes.

"Though the world may have forsaken you, I will not. I promise." He brought his sister, who had begun to cry again, into an embrace.

Looking back on it now, she realized that this was the moment she had fallen in love with her half-brother.

"P-please…" She murmured. "Let me repay you for your kindness. Please let me work as your servant so I may earn my keep."

"Such a thing is not necessary." He replied.

"But… I will be useless… I exist to no one else but you…" She murmured through her tears.

"…Alright, but I won't let you wok yourself silly. I will treat you well." He knew that this was for the best; he knew that his sister would now have a reason to live, at the least.

That was six years ago, and the Prince had kept his promise. The two siblings had always stayed close to one another, though other people never saw her, or pretended that they didn't. Her brother was the only one who still remembered her name. The King had held true to his word; his daughter no longer existed. To the rest of the world, she was merely a shadow of something long dead.

All of these years, she had locked away her secret love for him. It was a forbidden love; a love that could never be. For now, his smile was enough to satisfy her; she worked hard to please him. Maybe someday they could be together… All she could do was hope and dream.

She sighed, and looked out of the window to the gray, rainy scenery. Somehow, it was suited for reminiscing. It is what one's mind tends to do when there is no work to be done. In truth, she only gazed out the window so she would see her brother return. He'd had some important business in the Green Country to attend to that day and had left early in the morning. It was almost evening now, and she had a feeling that the Prince wouldn't return in time for his evening meal.

She turned her eyes away from the dreary landscape and looked at the furniture in her room. It contained little more than a bed with royal blue sheets, a wooden armoire, and a mirror, but a magnificent black grand piano sat in the far corner of the room. It had been a gift given to her by the Prince for her birthday a few years ago. She had taught herself to play, and had become very skilled, but the melodies fell on deaf ears. The Prince was the only one who heard her music, and she was happy; he was the only person in the world that meant anything to her.

She took a seat on the bench after taking a wooden box from the armoire. It was a music box that she had made herself; it was to be a gift for her brother. She had almost finished it; only the finishing touches on the tune needed to be completed. The song was something she had composed herself, something that she had put her heart and soul into. The box was to play a melancholy melody that would remind anyone of a rainy day such as this.

After playing through the last section of the song on the piano, she added the remaining notes by carving a few holes into a metal cylinder, which created raised, oval shaped bumps in certain places. Then she shifted a few of the mechanical parts, closed the lid, and opened it again. The melody began to play, and the sounds of the chimes echoed throughout the room. She listened intently while she wrote a note on a piece of paper. Just as the song finished playing, she placed her feather pen back into its inkwell. With a smile, she attached the note to the music box after closing the lid.

"I hope he will like it…" She murmured to herself. But wait - how long had she been sitting there? Hastily, she rose from the piano bench and rushed to the window. The Prince's carriage was already sitting inside of the main gates, and she wasn't there to greet him. She placed the music box where she had been sitting only moments ago and dashed out of her room. Though she didn't notice it, her footsteps did not echo as she ran through the castle's empty halls.