You’re going to read this, and you are immediately going to assume I don’t exist. That I am a work of fiction, a storybook accidentally placed into the nonfiction section. You’re wrong. I don’t blame you for your shortsightedness, but that doesn’t make you any less wrong.
My name is Opal, I’m a 16-year old elf, yadda yadda. I sometimes wonder if my mother was insane, naming me after a gemstone. She knew that it could only end in disaster, and it’s not much of a twist of fate that it eventually happened.
The beginning of the end started on my 16th birthday, or well, somewhere around that time. I can’t remember exactly when, but…
…
“Opal, we have to go now!”
I groaned, pulling my covers over my head and squeezing my eyes tighter. Perhaps if I ignored him, he would go away. Unfortunately, I had no such luck. Jace, my older brother, yanked back my quilt and gave me a look that could kill.
“GET UP!” He screeched. “QUIT BEING LAZY, AND ON A DAY LIKE THIS, TOO!”
He paused for breath, then continued in an eerily calm voice, “I don’t have time for this. Either get up or deal with your exile. You’ve got 10 minutes, then I'm leaving.”
And he turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him. I sighed. It was, actually, a rather special day in the Lost Kingdom of Kalima. A day that would decide my ‘destiny’ if you believe in that stuff.
I got out of bed, pulled on a deep blue tunic with a cinched waist and sparkly fabric. I pulled my hair back with a clip, then stepped out of my small bedroom.
The scent of bread filled our house, and I immediately knew my mother was making her special “It’s Eidos day!” bread. She made it once, every year, on the day of the dividing ceremony. ‘Dividing,’ in the old tongue, is ‘Eidos.’ My mother is rather attached to the old days.
I washed my face in the bathroom before finally joining my family in the kitchen. I lived with my brother and my mother, in this little village house. I’d like to say they were all I needed, but then I’d be a liar, and lying is a dangerous thing. As in, it’s life or death.
“Opal, my baby!” my mother squealed, coming over in her flowery apron to give me a hug. My mother and I, we look similar. We have the same, sweeping red hair mine cut short and hers to her waist. We have identical pale skin, and we have the same pointed ears (hers are more defined than mine, though). The main difference is our eyes. My mother's eyes are a splendid purple, to match with her amethyst necklace. My brother has a similar necklace, only his pendent is a ruby, to go with his red eyes. My eyes are a bleak grey, and my neck is bare, but all that will likely change today. That is if I do not get exiled.
I’d only just sat down at the table, with a perfectly cooked bun in my hand, when there was a knock on the door. My brother glances uncertainly at me, then at my mother, before tentatively going over to open the door.
A royal guard stood in our doorway, his eyes black as onyx. He said something, but I don’t hear. I knew why he had come. He’s here to collect me, to either bring me to my doom or my glory, and none of us knew which.
My brother was nodding, my mother stared sadly at me as if certain she’d never see me again. I turned back to the guard, who was now looking at me expectantly.
“Madam Opal, your presence is required in The Square for your Dividing Ceremony. You are not permitted to bring any belongings, except for your ID, which is required. A parent, guardian, or any other registered individual will be permitted to accompany you if you wish. All other members of your household will be expected to stay in their residence and tune into the event at 10:30, sharp. I will be giving you five minutes to collect your ID and say any final goodbyes.”
He stepped away from the door, waiting.
My mother kissed the top of my head, handing me a silver chain with an empty bale (Pendant holder.) It is my ID, or it will be after today. My brother nodded to me, beckoning me towards him. He grabbed my wrist, pulled me forward and out the door. I could feel my mother’s sad eyes burning my back as I left her, maybe forever.
As the guard exchanged a few quick words with Jace, I went over the different gemstone categories. There was Onyx, known for their physical and mental strength— Ruby, for their love and passion— Amethyst, for their peacefulness and stress-free ways—Diamond, for their leadership and democratic qualities— and Jade, Our royals. Of course, sometimes people got other gemstones, but it was rare to receive anything but the 5 main ones. Why are the stones important? Because they dictated your social life, job, personality, and everything else. We earned the right to receive a stone, and if we failed, if we lied or committed too many crimes, we were exiled. Sometimes killed, brutally, with the eyes of the entire kingdom watching the torture.
The guard raised a clear, crystal orb to the light, creating a portal on the dirt ground. He watched as my brother tightened his grip on my wrist, before pulling me through the circle of white light.
Our guard followed, and we found ourselves standing in a huge square, with tiled flooring and grand shops lining it. In a matter of seconds, I was separated from my brother and shoved into the roped-off area for all the 16-year-olds of the kingdom who had not been banished in their early years. There weren’t too many, about fifty. We were a scattered race, us elves.
The crowd soon settled, and I noticed the Queen come out onto the stage, in full view of our roped off area. We were, after all, the main event.
She gave a speech on the importance of the system. I don’t know what she said, exactly, since I tuned her out almost as soon as she opened her mouth.
When she was done, a Diamond man read out a list of names. There were maybe 12, and the kids those names belonged to paled considerably. But me? I thanked my lucky stars that my name had, by some miracle, not made it onto the list.
Those whose names had been called stepped forward, as if in a trance. They lined up on the stage. The Onyx guards tied their hands behind their backs, and a few of the kids actually burst into tears. Someone yelled. I watched numbly. I didn’t know these people. I had no friends.
And then, their names were called again, this time in alphabetical order. When the person’s name was called, an Onyx guard pushed them forward, and they were beheaded. One by one, the screams growing louder each time. The Queen stood back, watching silently in her shimmering gown, her posture regal.
When all the screaming teenagers were nothing but bodies on the floor, the Queen stepped forward again. She snapped her fingers, and our area of the floor rose up, becoming a stage of itself. We were told to sit, in a line, by alphabetical order, and we quickly arranged ourselves.
A basket of what looked like plain river stones was then carried around, one stone to each 16-year-old. I palmed my stone, looking at this bleak, boring thing that was to decide my fate. I did not like my fate depending entirely on a stone. I did not like what kind of omen my name was. I did not like anything about this situation.
But I also had no choice. We were each handed one piece of cloth, which was sopping wet. Not with water, I knew, but with a special potion that would absorb our energy at our touch, and transfer it into our pebbles, revealing our place in society.
I began rubbing at my stone with my cloth as if polishing it, and the grey slowly wore off. I couldn’t recognise the gemstone that was revealed. It was a translucent white, with a holographic shimmer to it. Yes, it was pretty, but… It wasn’t one of the five. The Onyx guard behind me cleared his throat, and yelled out to the crowd,
“LADY OPAL, DIVIDED INTO OPAL.”
He was announcing my stone, which I had slipped into the bale on my silver chain. I clasped the necklace around my neck, staring at the ground as I was hoisted up and taken to one of the tents set up behind the stage. There were 7. One for the Queen, one for each of the 5 gemstones, and one for anyone who got a different jewel.
But, before I was ushered inside, I heard the outraged whispers of the crowd.
“A magician?!”
“I hear they can lie without consequence…”
“Will they let her live?”
And the one whisper that resonated through them all,
“She’s too dangerous.”
The Amythyst boy (he couldn’t be much older than I was) in the tent performed some tests, to figure out what I could do. He showed me a mirror, too, and my eyes have become a holographic kaleidoscope. They are hypnotizing.
His general consensus was that the crowd was right. I had magic I could not control and I was definitely dangerous. But he disagreed that I could lie so easily. He did say, however, that my consequence for lying would likely be more mellow than a different gemstone’s.
The Queen wasn’t sure what to do with me, so she put me in her dungeon. I was drugged for most of it, so I don’t remember much, but I realized a few things.
I don’t feel emotion the way other people do. I’m sure you’ve noticed how little feeling I’ve put into this.
My magic is need-based until I learn to control it. More on that later.
The elves don’t deserve to live
Instead of embracing what I could do for them, they have decided to throw me in a cell. They have made me their enemy, cast me out like some inconsequential piece of trash, and I will have none of it.
They know, that with an ability like mine, I could take them down easily. This book is not a call for help, it is not a request for an alliance with the humans.
It is the story of how I, Opal, destroyed Queen Isabella and her empire. And if you, you powerless meat sacks, do not bow to my authority, you will end no better than she did. I will give you one chance, and one chance only. After that, I will slaughter your leaders and only those of you who accept me as the supreme will live. Be warned, my enemies, I have armies up my sleeve. I have magic, and I can easily make you do what I wish.
It’s time to claim my world.
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