"Are you okay, mom?"

I watch her as she pants heavily with both hands on her knees.

"Oh, yeah. Just a little tired. I think we should stop here for today."

I nod and we both walk towards the exit of the ballet dance room.

"So Hope," She speaks up after a while. "have you planned your thirteenth birthday party yet?"

"No, not yet. I thought we could plan it together like we did last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. Basically all my parties."

She lets out a hearty chuckle. "Of course. We'll plan it in the evening. Right now I have to go talk to your father about something.'

"About what?" I question.

"Oh, you know. Just the "king and queen of Gelnesia" stuff." She replied, air quoting.

"Okay" I giggle. "By mom."

"See you soon, my little princess."

                            ~•~

"Princess."

I look up from the book I was reading to see two maids with looks of concern on their faces.

"Yes?" I reply with a small smile.

"Your mother... She's sick." The first maid, whose name I think is Jenna, speaks up."Your parents are calling for you."

"Sick? Is she alright?"

"You should go see." The second maid, Lia says.

I nod and walk from my room to my parents' room. Their room wasn't far from mine. For a palace, of course. It was still about 6 rooms' distance.

As I near, I see that dad is leaning with his back against the wall and.... Crying?

I quickly run to him and flood him with questions.

"Dad, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Is everything okay? Tell me."

He engulfs me in a hug and sniffles a few times before finally saying,

"Hope. Your mother's gone."

"What?" I swiftly pull away, hoping he didn't mean what I think he did.

"She's dead."

All of a sudden, I felt tears build in my eyes.

And that's all it took for me to fall apart.

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