• The Demon and the Beauty of Spring


    Part 1

    Once upon a time in a far away land where demons ruled the land, there was a small family of four. The widow, her daughter, and her two sons lived in a small house in the center of a large kingdom ruled by a ruthless demon. This demon was known to have slaughtered a thousand of his own kind in order to get the throne. The Demon King was barely ever seen by the public; so rarely, some thought he didn’t exist. The rumors were that he was a tall, handsome demon with amber locks that fell to the floor, with piercing black eyes and a pale complexion. Most people were happy if they never saw him, since most came back either dead or severely scarred for life.

    Late in the spring an announcement was made by the King’s right-hand man. Supposedly, the King was looking for “one of elegant beauty” and would be willing to reward the family or persons, ten thousand gold for this “one”. Everyone assumed he was looking for a maiden of exceptional beauty and started sending their daughters, in hopes of getting the reward and in fear that if they didn’t comply with his wishes that he would have hell brought down upon them.

    In the center of the kingdom, the family of four was dressing up their youngest. Flora, only fifteen years of age, was being sent to the palace at dusk, along with all the other daughters in the village. She was a petite girl with shoulder length, brown hair and doll-like, blue eyes.

    “Mama, do I have to?” Flora asked as her mother fixed her frilly, blue dress. Both Flora’s brothers, Arashi and Tulare, stood at the door of her room, watching.

    “Stop complaining, and look at that...stop moving, let me fix your hair”, her mother huffed angrily, as Flora’s hair fell out of its navy ribbon.

    As the sun was setting and the sky was turning dark, Flora was pushed out of the house by her mother in to a coach waiting just outside their front door. Reluctantly, Flora got into the coach and waved as her brothers looked on in fear that they might not ever see their darling sibling again.


    Part 2

    In the morning screams were heard throughout the kingdom; the screams of young girls. Apparently, The King had not been pleased with the selection and had all the young girls thrown from the palace, the royal guards on their heels, showing their lord’s displeasure. Girls who were chased into alleys were later found maimed, raped and left for death. Fear spread like a plague, never-ending.

    Fortunately, Flora returned to her home safely, but far from mentally stable. Her mother was shocked and at a loss. Arashi and Tulare quickly helped their sister to her bed. Tulare helped undress her and Arashi went to the kitchen to get her something warm to drink and eat.

    Their mother was sobbing in a corner of the hall when Arashi came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea and warmed butter bread. His hands trembled, shaking the tray, as he passed by his mother into Flora’s room. He set the tea and bread on the nightstand.

    He didn’t like seeing his mother like this. She seemed terribly sad, but terribly angry at the same time. This anger scared him, because it wasn’t the type of anger you’d usually expect in this situation. It wasn’t the type of anger of having made a mistake of sending away her daughter and having her return mentally broken, it was the anger of having been insulted. Arashi hoped his mother wouldn’t do anything to provoke the anger of anyone from the royal palace.

    Tulare took the cup of tea and placed it to Flora’s lips, “Flora, drink this...” Flora didn’t respond and continued to shake uncontrollably underneath the bed covers.

    Suddenly the sound of a chair falling and glass breaking came from the hallway. Arashi, Tulare and even Flora, turned towards the sound. Their mother had stopped sobbing. Next thing they knew, their mother had stomped into the room and grabbed Arashi by the wrist and tugged him towards Flora’s closet.

    “We’ll show that b*****d King! And Arashi, you’re going to help!” their mother hissed out as she selected a simple pink dress from her daughter’s closet.

    Tulare, being the oldest, twenty, and most willing to speak up, yelled, “Mother! That’s ridiculous! You can’t be thinking of sending Arashi there! Even if he passed as a girl, who’s to say he’ll come back safely?! You’ll just end up with another situation like Flora’s or worse! What are you even trying to achieve?!” She ignored him and continued to ruffle through Flora’s things.

    “Mother...?” Arashi asked timidly as he tried to back away.

    “Now don’t you even think about it! I’m your mother and you’ll obey me! You live under my roof!” she exclaimed as she grabbed at Arashi and started to pull at his shirt.

    “Mother!” Tulare snapped.

    “I don’t want to hear it! Arashi is perfect for the job! He’s short, slender and only a year older than Flora. Even as he is now, he could be mistake for a girl with his looks and attitude.” their mother stated as she pulled on his lengthy blonde hair. “Blonde hair and blue eyes, I’m sure that idiot King will love him! And after all, he only said ‘one of elegant beauty’ and not an elegant maiden!”

    Both brothers stopped arguing once their mother had started to pull a corset around Arashi. It was odd to say the least...