According to Plan

It was finally the day his daughter was going to get married. He had prepared for this moment ever since she was born and although it made him sad to see her go, he was happy that she was going to be safe from everyone else. His daughter was ditzy and clumsy and could never befriend the right people. Most people said she was bad luck but he preferred to call her Gievenna.  

A scream from the room across interrupts his thoughts and he rushes out of the waiting room. He opens the door to see his wife slapping the bride-to-be. 

“Be quiet, you little brat or your father’s going to hear.” His wife says whispering.

He slinks into the room quietly, thanking the training that every heir to one of the Seven Houses had to go through. Although stealth wasn’t his main strength, he could still trick his wife.

His daughter lands on her knees and her blue eyes start to fill with tears. Her light brown hair covers her hair in a curtain. Her wedding dress scrunched up under her, and tears started dropping onto the white fabric. “Why did you do it?” His daughter asks, trembling. 

His wife stares at her, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why did you kiss my fiance?” The daughter screams, finally letting loose her emotions. The tears start falling harder and her makeup is running down her face. 

“Why do you think I did it? Your fiance was too good for you so I decided to give him something that was right for him. You should be thanking me for it instead of stringing your fiance along for a hopeless marriage.”

That was when he decided to reveal himself. “Oh, should she?” 

The wife’s head snaps back to see her husband glowering at her. “Oh love, you know what I mean.” Her words start getting sugarey and warm.

“Shut your mouth Linda; I know exactly what you were planning to do a second ago.” He found it was easy for him to notice when Linda “sirened”. That’s what people call it, when someone can use their voice to control others. It’s a rare ability but if you’re not part of the Seven Houses, it’s pretty useless. Living with her for 21 years had helped him notice how she did it and when. 

“Well I guess I could just tell you the plain truth then. I cheated on you with your daughter’s fiance.” 

“I know; I eavesdropped on the entire conversation. I know why you would cheat on me but I do want to know why you always picked on our daughter.”

Her mouth turns into a scowl. “Don’t associate that wretch with me. She has everything she could ever want: power, money, and looks. But she can’t even use it efficiently. She can ‘puppet’ which everyone knows is the dream ability. It’s to control people with your mind which is much more powerful than ‘sirening’ cause no one can tell if she controls people or not. However, she doesn’t even use the ability. She claims it’s too powerful, and harmful which just shows how weak she is. She’s an heiress to one of the Seven Houses so she could ultimately get away with anything, and she’s scared? Not to mention she’s a bad luck charm for this entire house. All of the people she’s befriended only end up using her for money.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Ah, I get it now. You’re jealous.”

“What-”

“No you are jealous. Why? Cause she has everything that you never had. Power, money, and looks. I know where you’re from Linda. A nobody from a nowhere town who would still be a nobody if it wasn’t for you seducing me. Now that your daughter can afford to not use her abilities for power, you’re envious. Because you wanted that, because you needed it before and now your daughter has it. So to essentially get back at her for it, you tried to take her fiance in order to feel ‘better’. That’s why you pick on her at home when she’s doing nothing but breathing.” 

His wife’s face is red and her bottom lip starts to tremble. He had just hit a point where he couldn’t cross back. 

“Well so what if I did?” His wife stutters, “What if I wanted to make my daughter’s life a living hell so she could see what I went through? You can’t even do anything about it because of the law your house abdicated. Each of the Seven Houses control something in the government. Our house controls laws, the Second House. And one of the original rules that has never been changed is: When two decide to marry, there is no going back. You can’t get rid of me and your daughter can’t get rid of her fiance.”

Both of them turn to face the daughter and the fiance. The man sits, dazed and confused. 

He walks towards him and lifts his chin up to face him. His eyes are glazed, just like he thought they were going to be. “Can you tell me what happened?” He asks. 

“The man starts to speak. “She said that Gievenna didn’t love me so I should just be with her. She said that I would be happier. So why aren’t I feeling happy?” His frustrations rolls off of him and he could almost see it. 

“A relative of the heir of the First House. A perfect match for Gievenna but clearly you thought differently Linda. I’m guessing you ‘sirened’?”

She doesn’t have to nod for him to know. 

“Linda, you asked me what I was going to do because we can’t get rid of each other. Actually, I can get rid of you with no trouble included.”

Her face pales. “What, there’s n-no way you can…”

“If you studied all of the laws and memorized them, you would be able to tell that there is a small, underlying text underneath the law you spoke of. If you read it, it says, ‘Unless judged.’ Which means that the head of the Second House is allowed to separate people if he judges so. I just so happen to be the head of the Second House and I judge so.”

“No, you can’t! You love me so you can get rid of me right?” She’s on her knees and he hands grip the bottom of his pants. 

“‘Sirening’ won’t help. It’s over Linda. It has been for a very long time.”

He crosses the room to his daughter and helps her up. Her tears are still spilling but she isn’t crying as much as she was before. She walks rigidly as they leave the room and head for the exit. They leave quietly and drive away before the wedding starts. He didn’t want his daughter there when people realized. On the drive he decides to make his daughter the head of the Second House. The people already loved her and since she was so naive, he would help her along. He was shocked as to why he didn’t come up with the plan sooner. He drives them home and helps his daughter into her room, as she lays down. He exits the room and enters his own barren bedroom as he opens a cabinet of liquor and grabs a glass. 

Prologue:

She lifts herself off from her bed as she undresses herself. She slides out of the white dress and cleans her ruined makeup. She sits on her bed and listens for her father’s footsteps. None to be heard. 

She grins from ear to ear as she celebrates in her room. Her plan had worked ever so perfectly. Her mother had always hated the kind ones, the sweet ones. He had been one of them when she was little. She was just an innocent child until she saw her mother whipping a maid that raised her. A maid that felt more like a mother than her actual mother was being whipped for loving her. That was when she realized: Being kind only leads to disaster. 

But she bore the mask. Stayed the sweet naive girl that everyone seemed to love except, of course, her mother. She stirred her mother’s own hatred by being innocent in every circumstance. When people get into a fight, the naive one is always the innocent one. Why? Because that person didn’t know. You can’t fault a person who didn’t know anything to begin with. So she continued to befriend the wrong people, making sure that they would use her. In the end, they ended up an outcast or they could never show their face in public again. Her mother’s hatred grew and when she turned 18, it was time for her final move. 

She knew her dad was going to pick a fiance for her but she had to make sure her mom was going to want him. So she asked if she could help choose her fiance and he gladly agreed. She ended up choosing the perfect guy. A young, handsome guy who is part of the First House. He was smart too and had riches beyond imagination. But she saw it herself when she met him for the first time. He’s too confident. Thinks too highly for himself so he’s not cautious enough. The perfect prey for her mom. She made sure every visit was with her mom and she saw how she seduced him, brought him in. Today was the day she brought attention to it, 

She knew her mother would be with her fiance the day of the wedding because it was going to be hard for them to meet after he was married. Twenty minutes before the wedding, she strolled into the room to see them both kissing. She screamed as anyone would and started crying. She could feel her father slip into the room as her mother slapped her. She played innocent, the role she played for a very long time as she watched the scene unfold. Since she was an heiress for the Second House, she also studied law. She knew exactly of the underlying rule that went along with the marriage law. She also knew of her father’s resentment towards her mom. Both combined meant an explosion that was supposed to happen 18 years ago. When they broke apart, her father was going to make her the head of the Second House while he helped. He wouldn’t trust her with another marriage ever again. 

She stretched in bed as she reviewed her master plan. She couldn’t stop the small laughter that bubbled up. 

She was finally in power, and she was never going to give it up.