Learning to See
A young dog of royal descent learns that there's quite literally more to see of the world than what her cult-like family and home allows. With a set of wings replacing what would be her ears, the royal family has adapted a habit of piercing their wing-like ears over their eyes; following the idea that one can see the world around them without the use of sight.
Author's Notes
This is my first time writing any dedicated literature, so go easy on me lol. I've had this story concept in my head for a long time, so I'm finally put it down on paper... digital paper. The characters here don't exactly have names; I feel like they'd loose a lot of mysteriousness with names, but let me know if it's too confusing!
I also had Forever by Labrinth in mind when writing this, if that helps any when reading!
Chapter 1
The hums of many voices rung through the castle's halls, the melody enough to drive anyone delusional. The young pup thought it to be some form of spell the members of the royal family and their servants used to lull canines into a state of obedience. In this part of the world, no one was allowed to go against the royal family's word, so the melody was rather helpful to them. Except for her. She didn't like being a part of the royal family.
Like all canines residing in the royal family's castle, some features of her resembled that of a bird's. Nearly all had heavily feathered ears, resembling wings as well as feathered tails and random spouts of feathers sprouting along their coats. Everyone was required to have their eyes covered once they reached four months of age. This process was typically done by piercing through both ears and overlapping them over the dog's eyes. Some canines had a chain piercing; it would allow for both ear-wings to sit separately, but they still were covering the eyes, connected by a very short chain. Jewelry was also common among the castle, typically for the royal family. The young pup did not wear any.
The young pup was not quite old enough for her ears to be pierced quite yet, but her mother insured that she was attending every ritualistic ceremony held and that she was growing accustom to keeping her eyes shielded. While her mother's eyes where permanently covered, some of the guards had hooked piercings on their ears, allowing for them to see when necessary. The young pup learned this when she was nearly caught once catching glimpses outside the castle windows.
One day after having finally finished yet another ritualistic ceremony - its purpose unknown to her - she had been sent off to fetch a servant responsible for attending to the royal family's garden. It was rather difficult navigating the castle corridors without the use of her eyes, but the young pup had started memorizing the amount of steps to take before turning or slowing, but surely shuffling down a flight of stairs. If there was one thing she could envy from her mother, it was her ability to walk flawlessly blind.
Finally making it down to the ground level, the young pup could feel soft grass touch her paws. Carefully, she peaked out from behind her ears, trying to catch glimpses of any guards that could be near by. However, when none were found, she removed them fully, taking in the beautiful sight before her. The castle stood along a shore, separated by a cliff, greenery reaching all the way down toward the coast. The sun shown brilliantly down over the many herbs and vegetables growing in the servant's garden, and reflected brightly off the ocean's surface in the far distance.
The young pup began down the well trodden path toward the servant's garden, taking in every sight and sound with each step she took. She could never understand the urgency to hide all this beauty within the castle. Far off in the distance, closer inland, she could see many canines in a small village going about their daily routines. While they had very little detail from this distance, she thought she could see upright ears. She longed to be among those villagers, without ever having to worry about following strict castle rules and being willfully blind to the world around her.
Reaching the servant, she stood awkwardly in the entrance to her garden, slightly covering her eyes - just in case. The servant had a build similar to a Saluki or Borzoi and was mainly tan in color, with white unders and black striping. The servant seemed so brightly and uniquely colored compared to the royal family which mainly consisted of solid colored canines, like herself (pale cream). The servant suddenly whipped around, not giving the young pup nearly enough time to fully cover her eyes. To her surprise, the servant didn't have her eyes covered either.
The intense eye contact was... a lot. Both canines starred at each other for what felt like ages before the servant finally spoke. "Hello, My Lady... What brings you out to my humble garden?" There was a sense of nervousness to her tone, likely worried that the young pup would rat her out to the guards.
Lowering her ears more, she finally spoke. "I'm here for the herbs for the ceremony tomorrow." She had forgotten about the stupid ceremony tomorrow. The one that marks her four months of being alive. The one where she will get her ears permanently pierced. Though with the servant in the garden also having partial piercing duties, she had hope given the canine had still not covered her eyes either despite being in a royal presence. There could be a way out of this...
"Oh, of course!" The servant whipped around, frantically creating a pile of miscellaneous herbs on a table and began to tie the bundles. While the young pup waited, she glanced around the garden, taking in the different plants - the variety of leaves, different shades of green, and the few that had flowers. The servant had caught her inspecting the plants. "...Aren't they beautiful?" She hesitated to ask.
The pup quickly looked back to the servant. Giving a small nod, the servant continued. "You know, I've always loved my duties as a gardener. I get to enjoy the presence of all this plant-life. There's so much variety and it takes many years of knowledge to know the needs of each and every one." The servant had finally finished bundling the herbs and began to pack them in a bag made of rabbit hide. "In the spring, the smells of certain flowers in my fruit and vegetable garden are amazing and the flavors are delectable, but it's truly the sight of it all that makes it worth it." Tying the bag closed, she dropped it at the young pup's paws. "Do feel free to visit any time. I'd love to teach you about the plants." The servant smiled warmly, hoping that she had struck a cord with the young pup and that she wouldn't get reported. Gods forbid what would happen if she were to get reported...
The pup looked back up at the servant, taking in her words. Given the nature of nearly every other canine in the castle about having their eyes uncovered, she felt warry of the servant. She wanted to trust her since she was the very first canine to have their eyes uncovered without being a guard, but alas the feeling of worry set in. "Thank you." She simply stated, giving a slight smile before grabbing the bag, and turning tail. She'd give the servant until tomorrow to report her. If not, she would return and potentially ask her to be her piercer. If so, she would report her for breaking the royal family's rules - after all, who's word would they trust more? The daughter's of the royal family or some measly servant outside the castle?