XXVIII – A Night to Remember
In a sea of colorfully dressed people was the cream of the crop of the Northern kingdom gathering for one of their many balls–nobility and high-ranking officers dancing and frolicking about with painted smiles on their lips and overly polite words, their fine jewelries of different colors glinting against the extravagant chandeliers like twinkling stars in a starry night sky… but not her.
Because the next and rightful Queen of this snow-filled country had far too many things to think about than simpering and making allies with this stupidity, this sorry excuse of human beings.
So, she stands alone as a backdrop of darkness and watches from the shadows as its silent spectator while the people who referred themselves as ‘nobles’ sloshed their watered-down wine and pranced around the room.
It was a chilly November, the f
XXIX – The Knights of the Kingdom The following night, Sir Jin Sanscroft found himself quietly watching the winter storm beginning to manifest outside with tired, silver eyes. His body was still pleasantly sore. (Particularly the one on his collar bone–ahem.) And while he would not have it either way, the knight still found himself missing the much simpler times of his childhood where he would be teaching his Princess how to make a snowman, or how to ice-skate… maybe go sledding for once in a while on a snowy hill somewhere near his home but now– “Nephew…” Sir Crossram called as soon as he entered the drawing room; his expression akin to the skies overhead–grim and dark, “The others are bound to arrive soon. How do you intend to settle this one? I hear
XXX– The Promise of the Past ‘The twilight darkens, the curlew calls Along the sea-sands damp and brown Then traveler hastens toward the town And the tide rises, the tide falls Darkness settles on roofs and walls But the sea, the sea in darkness calls’ “Say, Aria?” “Hm?” the Princess hummed, not raising her eyes from the poem she was reading. In her defense, at least she’s listening. “Do you remember the time when we celebrated my birthday at the gardens?” Jin asked, turning away from the falling snow outside to look at his friend. “Yes, what about it?” she asked without looking up, flipping the page to another, eyes dancing on the lines, “Do you want to go outside, Jin? It’s freezing out there, you said s
XXXI – Cost of the Crown “Your highness, His Majesty wishes to see you.” At the present time, Princess Aria, now at age twenty, releases the thick but silky curtains that had been hanging from the large windows in her room and allows it to slip past her fingers like liquid as the reminiscing comes to a sudden halt. She turns slowly to face her handmaiden, her expression smooth but unreadable–like a carefully crafted mask. It might as well be her second skin. “He suddenly summoned me,” she noted, “…in his room.” “Yes, your highness.” “That has never happened before, has it?” the Princess mused, “Usually, he was the one to come barging into my room...” Her handmaiden shifted, uneasily. “…speaking and demanding of things he t
XXXII– the Queen’s Gambit Jin Sanscroft opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep… in the midst of doing paperwork in his study it seems–again. Sighing, the knight raised a hand to rub the drowsiness from his eyes but stopped short as he slowly moved his hand away, startled at the dampness of his own face. Tears were still rolling on his cheeks. That’s… odd. He had been crying in his sleep…? * * * * * “Sir Sanscroft! Sir Sanscroft, milord please we need your help!” Miss Eden Brighton’s loud and panicking voice rang out across the quiet halls of Sanscroft manor–it was loud enough to wake the dead. Frowning as he glance
XXXIII – When Darkness Falls “How come you are the only one who isn’t being thrown straight to prison?” Eden Brighton heard her younger brother complain to his friend, Sir Jackson Celestine, for what seemed to be the nth time. Sir Jackson squinted at Adam, “…do I even want to know why you sound like you wanted me to get arrested?” “Well, I think you should be.” “Hmmm… how about no?” “Why not?!” “Because he’s still of royal blood, you fool. They cannot arrest him just like that…” Sir Alfred Crossram grumbled in answer next to her, swatting at Sir Adam to be silent as he and the oldest knight, Sir Snow Ainsworth pored over a very old but detailed map of the castle’s dungeons. “We must hurry before they decide to search Si
XXXIV – Consequences “We need to rendezvous as soon as possible and meet up with Miss Brighton outside. Hopefully we will find Sir Brighton in the Princess’ private wing or meet up with him there on the way…” Sir Snow Ainsworth was saying beside them while Sir Jackson Celestine began leading their party out of the dungeon–most of it was reduced to rubble now and if that didn’t alert the guards then Jin has no idea what will. Hopefully the false-Queen’s men aren’t smart enough to trace their way out of… wherever they are heading now. Jin had to shake his head a bit before the ringing in his ears can truly fade to listen better, where Sir Jackson managed to procure such dangerous explosives, he didn’t really want to know… are knights even allowed to stash such precarious equipment inside the safety of their own homes–he doubted that was even legal.
XXXV – Secret of the Crown Sir Hans Bathory is not having a good night. He had been roused from his sleep by his younger sister, violently might he so graciously add, and he would have gleefully kicked her out of his bedroom as usual had not one of their guardsinformed them of the attack. Now, coming from an old family who believes and hunts the supernatural for a very, very long time, Hans had always prided himself as one who is not easily surprised–his fight with the Princess, he refused to count that (she looked too human to be a demon in her death, he had thought as he carried her corpse back to the palace)– but for once in his life, looking down from the palace walls as an overseer in place of the missing Sir Snow Ainsworth, Sir Hans bit back a curse as he saw the hell that was unleashed. Half of their people had already either gon
XXXVI – Unveiled “What is the meaning of this?!” The mirror watched on in glee as Queen Ysabel with her usually fashioned dark blonde hair now completely messed up and her gown wrinkled as she frantically paced back and forth in front of her distorted reflection, her hands running through her tangled locks as she continued to panic. News of the kingdom being invaded in the middle of the night by demonic beasts that simply won’t die had finally reached her ears in the midst of her supposedly victorious celebration, the people being hunted and devoured like livestock as they speak, the land pillaged and stained with blood and the only thing protecting her right now from them are the palace gates and very few of her men armed by mere swords and bows, becoming less and less– “Why is this happening? Wh