All the Queen's Angels

Chapter 1: Beginning of the End

My laughter echoes through the abandoned halls of my chambers, dispelling the hallucinations that threatened to consume me. It falls on deaf ears as usual, the silence settling like dust motes in the grey dawn.

I perch on my favorite musty chaise lounge, take a deep breath—and scream my head off.

My piercing shrieks fill my chambers, the chandelier above me tinkling softly with the vibrations. I scream like I am being ripped apart from the inside out, like my brains are painting the faded walls in a beautiful, brilliant red, hoping someone will finally release me from this forbidden wing of the palace. Even if just for a little while.

I have been imprisoned here for exactly 18 years because people were afraid of being ruled by a mad queen.

A bastard queen.

But there are worse things to fear.

I am losing my mind. I can feel my sanity unwinding like a spool of thread. But it is not yet lost. And I refuse to spend the last 3 years of my life rotting away, forgotten for eternity.

I pause my screaming, hoping to hear signs of help. Silence. They should be here by now, I think to myself. This was a stupid idea. I sigh, feeling foolish, when a sudden crash breaks the silence.

I slowly stand and make my way through the halls to the massive oak door in the main foyer and entrance to the forbidden wing. The domed glass ceiling casts an eerie glow over the room as I press my ear against the door with bated breath, trying to ignore the churning in my stomach.

Two muffled voices, so faint I can barely tell them apart. I catch snippets of the conversation: "quickly" and "crazy" and "screaming", which makes me perk up. I press closer to the door and catch one more word that makes me freeze: "kidnap". I recoil from the door, realizing the voices were clearer and no doubt approaching my wing. All is quiet as I wait, paralyzed with confusion.

An unfamiliar snick breaks the silence, and my stomach sinks as I slowly look down to see the bolt on the door turning. Unlocking.

The handle turns stiffly as I scramble for a heavy candelabrum to swing at any potential intruders, desperately wishing my hallucinations were useful.

I position myself so that I'll be hidden when the door opens, my legs trembling. I take a deep breath and adjust my grip on my weapon one last time before—

The door flings open and a man is violently thrown against the wall, causing his head to snap back against a mirror, shattering it. He spots me cowering behind the door and lunges towards me with a grunt, managing to slash my legs with a blade before suddenly being kicked back. He slumps to the floor and his eyes roll back as he slips into unconsciousness. I take in the blood running down his battered face, the dozen or so knives strapped to his body, and the crest on his chest.

I swallow, still frozen behind the door, realizing that whoever wrecked Knife Guy is most definitely worse than Knife Guy himself. And he's less than a foot away.

The second stranger steps further into the threshold, and his shadow turns to survey the area. I hold my breath, careful not to make any movements despite my nerves screaming at me to run, my legs throbbing dully. A rustling follows him as he begins to make his way deeper into my domain. Is there someone else with him? One, two, three steps and his silhouette is in the adjacent hallway. As he enters the library on the left I spring into action, desperately hoping he doesn't hear me as I scramble around the door to face the only exit.

The doorway is pitch black, the outside world a clot of inky shadows, making me hesitate for the barest of moments before remembering it's either this, or possible death.

I can make friends with the dark.

I sprint through the threshold and savor the feeling of passing under the doorframe. In the darkness all I can hear were my pants and footsteps before the rustling returns, this time much, much closer. Dread crawls up my spine and I try to run faster, but I barely make it two feet when something grabs my arm and wrenches me back into my chambers, slamming the door shut and pinning me against it. One hand has clasped my hands above my head, forcing me to drop the candelabra. The other is braced inches from my right ear. I can feel his breaths on my neck and I swallow hard as I think through my options. I wrestle one of my hands away before he can tighten his grip, my mind going blank as I inch my hand toward the broken mirror. My last resort.

"Screw...off!", I bite out before burying a shard of glass in his neck.

He goes still and the world seems to hold its breath as we wait in near-silence, our heartbeats filling the room with the only sound. Then he reaches up and slowly plucks the glass from where it was lodged. I gag, still pinned to the wall.

He leans in, our noses nearly touching, and his silver eyes glitter.

"They were right", he murmurs thoughtfully. "You really are mad, Stabby".

I can barely think with the blood rushing in my ears. "Please don't kill me...or kidnap me or whatever you were thinking of doing. Just let me go", I plead frantically. I try to blink away the black spots forming at the fringes of my vision.

"Oi", he says, snapping his fingers in my face. "Stabby. I'm not going to kill you or any of that nonsense". He motions to the unconscious man and says, "He was going to kidnap you. I'm on your side, so don't you go fainting on me because I spooked you. You're getting out of here".

Sunbeams begin to fill the room with a soft early morning glow, illuminating the red haired, freckled man in front of me.

And the massive black feathered wings behind him.

It might just be a hallucination, I tell myself as I look into his silver, inhuman eyes and take a steadying breath. He's beautiful. A real work of art.

"You're not all that scary, Angel Face. I am not going to pass out from fear", I say faintly, "but I will from blood loss".

He looks down at my skirts now soaked in blood, his face going pale, as the black spots crowd my vision completely.

I slump back into the wall and his toned arms wrap around me before I topple over. The last thing I hear is him murmuring curses in my ear as something rumbles faintly in the distance.

And then the world catches fire.
...

Please vote if you enjoyed!✨