The great hall of the O’rmon Tribe smelled faintly of wildflowers and burning resin. Banners of silver and emerald hung from the stone pillars, their silk edges trembling with the mountain wind that slipped through the open arches.
At the end of the hall stood Lady Daina Flores, the unshakable matriarch, her presence commanding yet distant... like a moon that never strayed from its sky.
And before her, kneeling with folded hands, was me.
Lady Daina’s voice filled the hall, it was calm, steady, and final.
“From this day forth,” she declared, “Orchid Flores, heir to the O’rmon Tribe, shall be betrothed to the man of my choosing. The union shall be sealed at the next full moon.”
My breath caught. For a moment, I thought I had misheard. A marriage?
The O’rmon Lady had never married. None ever had.
The hall erupted into murmurs... confusion, disbelief, quiet disapproval masked behind polite bows. But my gaze was fixed on her... on the woman who had raised me, taught me, chosen me.
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“Mo--My Lady…” The word slipped from my lips, trembling. “Why?”
Her eyes, the same pale shade as frost, turned toward me. They softened... or maybe I only imagined that they did.
“You will understand in time," She paused. Her gaze steady on me. "my daughter." I breathed in, the seriousness of her words sinking in my heart.
And in that instant, something fragile in me splintered.
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Later that night, when the torches had dimmed and the palace halls grew quiet, I slipped away... as I always did when I needed to breathe. Past the fragrant garden of flowers and the guards, down to the hidden tree house where the mountain wind carried the scent of the forest below.
I sat on the window sill, watching the stars sway above me, their light shimmering on the tears that dropped on my hand. I hummed a tune, carrying the confusion within me and the rattle of my heart longing for something out there.
“They call it my fate, my obligation, my purpose” I sang to the wind, “but, my heart longs for something else.”
My hums were carried in the air like leaves falling from a high tree, falling before they could reach the mountains beyond.
Somewhere in the castle, I imagined Lady Daina standing in her quiet chamber, watching the same stars with eyes that refused to weep. I knew she truly cared for me, I knew that in her mind, she knows what is best for me. For years, I have followed with no complaints. Constraining the yearning that have pounded in my heart for years all for love, respect and gratitude.
And though I didn’t know it then, that night--the night of my betrothal--was the moment the O’rmon Tribe’s centuries of silence began to crack. The walls of polished traditions crumbling and a secret that was meant to be kept hidden is slowly creeping it's way up to the surface.
And I, Orchid Flores, have decided to take my fate with my own hands.