She stared in shock at her reflection for several moments, then lifted her hand and waved it, smiled and grimaced, and even hopped lightly a couple of times. When the image in the glass mirrored her perfectly, she had to accept that this was indeed her reflection.
But at the same time, it wasn't.
She was short, having never gotten a growth spurt like the other children had, ending up at 4'10" or 147 cm. She had black hair that was cropped close in a boyish cut, anything longer than an inch or so would break off or get terrible split ends. And most distinctive of all, she had pale brown eyes, the lightest brown of any eyes she had seen, closer to a tan than a true brown. Also, her skin was always pale from being confined inside.
The woman in the mirror, on the other hand, didn't resemble her at all. If she had to guess, this woman was nearly a head taller, probably 5'7"ish, roughly 170 cm. She had waist length mahogany hair, although it was lank and limp like it hadn't been tended for a long time. The eyes staring wide-eyed back at her were a bright jade green. The only similarity was that her body was even more skeletal that Elina's had been at the end.
Was she a prisoner? Had she been locked up and denied food? And why was Elina inside her body instead of her own?
Reaching out and tentatively touching her reflection, she murmured softly, "Who are you?"
She collapsed to her knees, holding her head as a jagged lightning pain tore through her temples. Before she could figure out what was going on, a barrage of memories flooded her, flashing by so fast that she could barely comprehend their content, even as each event and memory felt burned indelibly on her mind.
She didn't know how long she endured the onslaught, finally coming to herself curled up on the floor in a fetal position, her hands curled over her head as if that would've made the memories stop. It took a few minutes to persuade herself to uncurl, her breathing ragged and muscles aching like she'd just been trampled by a crowd wanting the best deal on a holiday sale.
Only when her heart beat had slowed and her lungs no longer felt in danger of either exploding or quitting entirely did she finally ease her hands down from her head. Thankfully, there was no longer any pain, although her clothes were soaked through in a cold sweat from the ordeal. Slowly pushing up to sitting position, she found that she was still right in front of the mirror.
Leaning onto the frame to support her frail body, she slowly reached up and touched the three-quarter profile that she could barely see from her awkward angle. This was a stranger but this was also her.
She murmured, the voice hoarse from disuse, "Elina Rosalind Serena du Brandt. Princess of Arrenrose. Or Princess-in-Exile. And a fool to boot."
While it was true that this was not her body, or wasn't her body, it was hers now. For reasons that made absolutely no sense to her, it seemed like her soul had found this empty shell and landed upon it, causing her spirit to inhabit it. From what she had seen in the acquired memories, although it would take to thoroughly study all of them, there was no way to explain or reverse such a thing. And even IF she managed to such a thing, she doubted that the original owner of this body would return to it.
After all, she was the reason that this body was in its current state. After being out-maneuvered and betrayed repeated, she had been exiled to the farthest, most desolate corner of the country with a handful of servants who despised her. Upon reaching the manor and discovering the abysmal conditions, which from the flashes she had seen were run down and desolate but not truly uninhabitable, the somewhat sheltered woman had been unable to adapt or cope.
Instead, she had fallen into a deep depression, sleeping all day and refusing to rise, unwilling to feed herself or move. The staff also didn't care for her, checking in on her maybe every three to five days, if that, not caring that she was slowly wasting away before their very eyes. They had sent her to die so why should she live? She was weak and powerless and had lost, she had no right to continue existing in this world. So sometime the night before her arrival, she had finally succumbed, her spirit breaking free of the mortal chains that bound her and disappearing.
Elina tiredly wished that she would find some sort of peace, wherever the woman ended up, even as she scoffed aloud. So what if she'd been exiled. As long as there was life, there was hope. Besides, exile was even better, it would give her a chance to rally and grow strong out from under their control and prying gaze. Even if the servants were spies and enemies, the distance to the capital was too far for them to get any sort of timely support.
With a bit of careful planning, she could easily launch a counter attack on those who had harmed her. After all, it wasn't like the princess was physically ill or uneducated.
She paused as she suddenly realized something. Raising her hand shakily in front of her face, she slowly opened and closed her skeletal hand several times, examining it idly even as she combed through her messy memories as best she could. She allowed her shaking hand to lower until it rested in her lap as she confirmed her suspicions.
There was nothing wrong with the princess. She'd been healthy from birth and other than the very rare childhood cold that was always treated quickly, she'd never been ill or suffered any pain. If it hadn't been for her depression making her not care, her body wouldn't be anywhere near in this shape. Well, that depression had also been assisted by the bullying from the staff and a soft body that was used to being pampered in the palace, even if the memories she possessed showed that she'd been far from the favored daughter.
Elina felt a small smile creep onto her lips even as anticipation started to fill her. This was not what she had expected at all. She had just been granted a second life, one that she didn't plan on taking for granted.
Pushing up onto her knees and facing the mirror fully, she pressed her hand against the glass and vowed solemnly, "I will reclaim everything you lost, I will make them pay, I swear, in return for this life you gifted me. They will all pay."
~*~*~
A beautiful manicured hand drummed impatiently on a gorgeous vanity, even as the other hand was curled into a fist, paper crumpled in the crushing grip.
After several seconds, the hand stilled for a brief moment before abruptly sweeping all the containers of perfume and makeup off the top in a crescendo-ing crash. Venom filling her voice, she hissed, "Why isn't that waste of air dead yet? I all but hand delivered her to the farthest corner of land, made sure that she was complete alone without a single person for support. Why then, has no one been able to handle one worthless person?"
A large hand reached out and gently uncurled her clenched hand, carefully pulling the crumpled paper from her grip. He looked it over to make sure it was uninjured before turning and lighting the paper in a candle, making sure that it was completely burnt before turning his attention back to her.
His voice was calm and mild when he spoke, but she didn't take it for apathy. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to handle this personally, since it seems like the others aren't up for such a simple task."
Feeling her anger start to ease, he was her most loyal dog after all, she offered him a wicked smile. "See that you do. Once that pebble in my shoe is handled, we can finally start putting our grand plan into action."
He didn't reply, merely offering her a bow before turning and slipping out of the room. She had no fear that he would be seen, he was always meticulously careful. However, she waited for a few minutes before calling for a maid to clean up the mess. After all, it would be a waste to lose a loyal pawn so early in this grand game.