As always, I woke up to the sound of screaming birds. One of the perks of living in the middle of the woods I guess. You'd think the birds would shut up in the winter, but nope they just continue their out of tune melodies. Man, I really hate birds.

Grumbling, I got out of the bed I shared with Lilac and rubbed my eyes until I saw stars. Lilac, as usual was still asleep. Seeing her sleeping their all peaceful and serene made me think, 'what if I just shoved her off the bed now?' Naturally, I had to answer my question. I reached over and pushed her off. She let out a yelp of surprise as her body hit the floor. 

"Wake up, lazy!" I shouted. "It's Demonstration day and we don't want to be late!" 

She glared at me with as much hatred as she can muster. "That's not even for another hour!" She growled. 

I know she was trying to be threatening, but I burst out laughing. She looked so ridiculous sprawled on the floor, tangled in the blankets. Her hair was a magpie nest. Somebody's clearly not a morning person. 

Lilac made a face at me and picked herself off the floor and dusted herself off with as much dignity as she had left. "Well, at least Mom's up already." 

I looked over to the other side of the room where our mother's bed was. Sure enough, it was empty. After our father's death, we decided to move her bed into our room to keep an eye on her and help chase away the nightmares she suffered back then. 

We over to the kitchen where our mother was making breakfast. She had a solemn look on her face. Every year, our parents were always more upset over the Demonstrations than anyone else. I never really knew why. 

Demonstration Day was always the day before Solstice. On this day, the royal family visited every major territory. In front of a crowd, the king and the prince publicly executed captured rebels.  See, a few decades ago, magic used to exist in the kingdom and things used to be absolute chaos. I mean, we already all can't seem to coexist in peace now with all the inequalities we already have. Imagine, if you added magic users and non users to the mix. In order to protect the country, King Ashton claimed to have got ridden of it. However, it became very clear that instead of staying true to his word, he had actually somehow stolen all of the magic for his own bloodline. I guess in doing so, he solidified the inequality between social classes and made everything worse for people like us. 

Sad, yes, but then rebels started to pop up. These rebels are part of an uprising that aimed to rid Rosemellow of its royal family and get rid of magic once and for all. Thus, Demonstration Day was created in retaliation of these rebels. Everyone was required to attend to show the public that rebellions would not be tolerated. Sure, it's really morbid and upsetting, but these people are literal criminals. Most of these criminals have murdered or attempted to murder one the nobles. Everyone in the Fray hates the aristocrats and royal family, but to murder anyone is a line that should not be crossed. 

Seeing my mother's reaction, I can't help but wonder whether she actually sympathized with the criminals. She couldn't possibly support murderers, could she? 

My thoughts were interrupted by my mother slamming a bowl of porridge down in front of me. I smiled up at her. Lilac and I both loved our mother's porridge. My father's death hasn't stopped her from doing her favorite thing: cooking. I remember before my father died, she used to dream of opening her own restaurant one day. She always experimented and made new dishes. She's since given up on that dream, but she still loves to cook. 

While Lilac and I ate, our mother went back into our bedroom. She always likes to be by herself before the Demonstration. Lilac and I never understood it. She sees it every year; she should've known what to expect by now. 

After Lilac and I finished our porridge, we headed back to the room to get ready for the Demonstration. Everyone was expected to wear their best attire on this year. I turned to Lilac, remembering our conversation from the previous night, "Ready to confront Rian? " It's time to find out the truth.