Capítulo Uno *Edited*

Everything is mediocre, she thought.

Emelina sat in her study, eyeing the pile upon piles of her future kingdom's records -- that is until she can prove herself to her people. Only those worthy could touch these sacred papers. No mistakes were allowed and her family bestowed that luxury to their princessa.

Their future royal in the making.

She should have been jumping for the skies, but she dreaded the horrible task. She had hoped for a daily adventure outside the walls.

She groaned, running her palms along her thighs, meeting the fabric of her suffocating day dress. This was the fifth one her father made her wear.

It's all for the sake of appearances, her father would say.

He treated her like a doll made of glass, but doted on her like a madman. Her dark raven locks were pinned up tight into a ponytail, her flowing curls spilling from it. If her olive skin were as fragile as a doll's, then she would've had no hair on either side of her temples.

She felt caged; the white walls closed in on her, but she learned to mask her anxiety, deceptively, into a poker face. Some said she was a pathological liar because of it. Most just strayed away from her -- afraid she of her honesty through her knowing gaze and the truth was what people did not like to hear.

Ever.

Her mother was the worst of them all.

They loved their fantasy world they've created. They were comfortable, but not Emelina. Her imagination flew up to the sky. Limitless. Right where she wanted to throw these damn records, but she wouldn't cause a scene, again.

The sound of a barging door caught her attention. Her eyes met a pair of cold ones.

It was Reina Griselda, her mother. The queen.

She walked into the room, assessing her progress.

"Emelina! Are you done yet?" Her brown glare glanced at her pile, still fresh from when she assigned the chore to her daughter.

"Do you want to give mami a headache? Do you not care about what happens to my kingdom? Why aren't you saying anything?" She glared at Emelina for a few seconds before looking away from her.

The corner of Emelina's lips ticked, for a second.

She liked that she affected her, even if all she did was stare. Straight in the eye. It frazzled her mother a bit.

"D-Don't think for a second that you becoming queen in a few months means I'm out of the picture, nina. It'll take more than that to get rid of me." She gave her a scornful look, "Now get back to work or I shall tell your father." She huffed, lifted up her skirts and strode out of the room.

Emelina stared after her, her blank gaze hiding a violence she wanted to cast on her mother. She grit her teeth, drawing blood.

She tasted the tangy copper that enveloped her mouth, feeling no pain.

Every time Emelina was in her study, she would barge in every so often. She was a perfectionist, wishing her daughter had the same attitude.

She wasn't always like that.

What had changed, she wouldn't know. Or even cared.

Emelina took after her father in regards to appearance and mannerisms.

The door opened again, but this time it was her Nana.

Nana looked around before her ocean eyes fell on her.

"Ay, Princessa Emelina, you always had that habit since you were a little girl," Nana said, "And, I was always there to clean you up. You're lucky la Reina Griselda wasn't here to see you like this."

If only she knew her mother was the cause of this.

Emelina's eyes softened a bit. Her Nana was always there for her. They may not be bonded by blood and look nothing alike, but Emelina still thought Nana as a mother.

Emelia spoke, her throat scratchy. "I want to choke her."

Nana smirked, her eyes turning mischievous, "Don't worry, we all want to, but if we did, it's execution for the lot of us." She gestured her thumb moving across her throat. A gesture Emelina was past being afraid of.

Nana came forward, beside her desk and patted her head. Emelina stilled a little, never getting used to the gesture... She froze but had to endure the awkwardness until her Nana pulled away.

She knew her Nana meant well.

After she left, Emelina quickly got up to open the windows. She was sick of smelling her mother's perfume in the air and Nana's attempt to comfort her didn't make it better.

It made her gag. She let the draft come in.

She didn't realize the winds were strong tonight. The drapes surrounded her, flying around her like a cape.

It was a symbol of her life, she realized. The movement of the wind was that endless pressure she always felt in the presence of the nobles, especially, her mother, but that turned into hate a long time ago.

She felt uncomfortable with her father. She couldn't be in the same room as him. It was a feeling she couldn't mention to anyone.

Emelina walked back to her desk. She looked towards her papers. She could imagine them as a piece of her soul -- the confusing content in them defining who she was supposed to become.

She wasn't fit to be a princessa, she knew that and so did the kingdom. Yet, they're making her do things she didn't want to do.

It's not like she had the choice anyway.

She looked out into the black sky, a shooting star came and left just like her family members. She almost missed it, but she didn't.

She closed her blank eyes. For the first time in what felt like decades, she wished upon a star.

If she got her wish, she would never know.

___________________________

The walls to her cell seemed out of order. What was supposed to be right side up looked upside down. Every time Aishe moved her neck to balance her new line of vision, she would get dizzy.

She felt something squeeze her ankles. It hurt, but her head hurt the most.

Her dark hair was splayed in an odd fashion that defied gravity....or she was shackled upside down in a prison and her hair came loose after what happened last night.

And, what a night that was.

She grinned, thinking about the chaos and blood in the air.

The boys of the arena sure knew how to make a lady hot and flustered -- through fisticuffs.

Aishe smirked at the thought. She would have won that large bounty if only a rat didn't go out and inform the forces of their wicked acts of gambling. The sore loser just couldn't keep his mouth shut and accept that he lost, to a woman.

Brawling was her only way to survive at the moment.

The realization had her blood rushing to her brain, making it harder to focus. She had been captured when all hell broke loose back at the arena. Someone got her from behind and knocked her unconscious.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite gitana, Aishe."

A man came into her view outside of her cell. He was middle-aged, donning cowboy themed wardrobe. He had the largest mustache she had ever seen and that quality of his made him the town's mayor. Everyone in town knew the mayor had an eccentric taste. He was also a bastard who used bounty hunters to kill those who opposed him.

She moaned, tired of hearing his voice. "Oh, shut up, and let me go." She was sick of hearing it. She wasn't anyone's favorite. They just wanted her for her skills; to kill first and ask questions later.

"Not until you hear me out." The mayor was known to be persistent and annoying, mostly annoying.

"What do you have to say, Fabian? It's the same deal. You want me to kill a man just because he looked at you funny. Now, untie me. All this blood rushing to my head is making me dizzy."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking me, gypsy? I could have you hung for your insolence. And, from what I heard of last night, your chances of surviving this time are slim." He ended the sentence with a big grin.

If Aishe were standing upright, she would have shrugged. She settled with groaning. His words didn't affect her at all. They amused her and he was lucky she was at a disadvantage or she would have killed him by now.

"Fine, untie me, feed me, and then we'll talk at a public place. That way we'll both be safe." She smirked.

Fabian hesitated before agreeing. He called for his men to put her down.

She landed with a thumph. The bastards didn't help her up or anything. Even though she wasn't a princessa, they could've at least treated her like a lady. But, if she was, she would have these men groveling and kissing her toes like the perros that they were. The nerve of these men in this town not helping up a damsel.

She scoffed while stretching her limbs. Her vision slowly returned to normal.

"Now, that that's settled, let's go to my favorite place to grub." She rubbed her hands together in anticipation, patting her stomach. She looked at Fabian. "Your treat, of course."

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but his business came first. "Si, let's." He opened the cell door and gestured for her to step out.

Aishe took a few steps forward. Her instincts knew the mayor was up to something. She turned around just in time to dodge his pathetic attack.

He moved with a grace of a sloth and tried grabbing her. "Fabian! What do you think you're doing, hombre?"

"I'm trying to kill you," he said between haggard breaths. Clearly, he wasn't in the best shape of his life. "That is the only way my town can prosper if I kill the vermin in it and start a new order. This town will be mine for the taking."

Aishe moved swiftly, catching his arm and twisting him so he landed on the floor, hard. She stepped back a few inches away from him, glancing at his minions. They were easy enough. She had their bodies on the floor with no effort. She checked to see if she hadn't done too much damage or kill them. The motion of their chests moving up and down confirmed it.

She moved towards the mayor, crouching into a sitting position, observing the man motioning to his back in pain. "See, this is why you'll get nowhere." She blew on her fingernails then looked at her hand like it was the most fascinating thing. "You need me, not kill me."

She got up and offered him her hand. "Get up and let's go."

He took it and she knew he wouldn't be trying anything funny.

For now.