Winter

Chapter 7: Winter

Dinner was quiet. The only sound to be heard was the clatter of cutlery against plates and the footsteps of servants bringing in more serving platters filled with more food. There was absolutely no conversation, between me, Levana, and her most trusted thaumaturges. It's always like this.

I slowly went over today's events. I contacted Cinder and her friends again, but was fruitless. I guess they have there own plans to devise, as do I. I just don't know where to start. We have the same goal, as much as it hurts me to achieve. But somehow, Cinder convinced me to join in their revolution.

I don't know what it was. Maybe I was with her even before she convinced me, maybe I wasn't, maybe I'm just unsure of which side I should be on, or if I should even choose a side. I was lost in thought. I didn't even notice when Levana asked me a question.

"Excuse me, stepmother, can you repeat it again?" I requested. She looked bothered.

"I asked what is your opinion on what we shall do with Selene and her accomplices," she repeated, rather irritated.

"Oh, uh...well I-I-I," I stuttered, surprised. She can never know that I'm rebelling against her. So far, I'm not doing a good job with keeping my cover.

"As I expected. No interest in the good for her kingdom," Levana said sternly. I hung my head down in shame. Lately, she's been more sinister with me than ever. Probably because of all of the stress of Cinder overthrowing her. It was quiet after.

One by one, thaumaturges started to leave the dining hall, returning to training the mutated soldiers. Shortly after, I was the only person left at the table. I was staring at the walls, just waiting for them to start bleeding.

Then, I saw something flicker in the corner of my eye. It went into one of the many corridors leading away from the hall. I knew instantly what is happening. My palace has been infiltrated.

I quickly took off my heels, and started giving chase. It hasn't occurred to me that I could've just called the guards. But that wasn't the thing that was occupying my thoughts right now. It was to track down the infiltrator, and find out why he was here. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins, pounding against my head.

I quickly turned the corner, but just came into a dead end. I saw a bit of red crawl into my line of vision. "No...no, no, no, no," I yelled. It was happening. Even though I knew it wasn't real, I couldn't help but be frightened.

The blood started to started to seep into the fabric of my dress. I quickly ran away, but everywhere I went, I was surrounded by blood. I closed my eyes. Get a hold of yourself, Winter. Stick to the target. I opened my eyes, burning with confidence. I would not let my fears control me. I continued my pursuit.

I saw the dark figure run around the corner. I quickly followed. My heart was pounding against my chest, my legs started to become sore, and my lungs were begging for air. But I kept running.

He must've saw me, because he quickly sped up, leaving me in his dust. But I wasn't done yet. I gave one last burst of speed, and I tackled him down. I got him pinned.

"Tell me," I demanded fiercely, "What business do you have here in the palace?" I was still gasping for air, and so was the infiltrator. I didn't let go. After a while, he turned to face me. He was a middle-aged man, with a buzz cut and wire-rimmed glasses.

"I'm sorry Princess Winter," he whispered, his hand inching toward a pouch slung around his waist.

I suddenly realized what he was doing, but I was too late. He reached out of his pouch and quickly shot me with a tranquilizer dart. My eyes widened with both shock and surprise. He pushed me off of him and stood up. "But you were too late to even help," he said,looking down upon me, "You leave us no choice but to take matters into our own hands."

In my last moments of consciousness I saw him talk into an earpiece. I managed to make out the words, "Phase One, complete. Everyone retreat back to base. Proceed to ready Phase Two."

He slowly walked away. I saw another object fall out of the mysterious man's pouch, but he didn't notice. It started to roll towards me. My eyesight was too blurred to make out what it was. But as it got closer, I saw it was red. And round.

It was an apple. It was the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness.
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.....So I know what you might be thinking. "YES! THIS IS SUCH AN AMAZING CHAPTER! THE REVOLUTION IS STARTING! I'M FREAKING OUT!" Or something like that........OK I GIVE!!! I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY ABOUT NOT POSTING IN TWO ENTIRE WEEKS!!! BUT THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR 2K READS!!! Ok so let me explain. I had a SERIOUS writer's block, and these past two weeks have been mostly me thinking about this story and the big reveals. OOOOOOOH!!! I'm pretty sure all of you have been checking your notifications every day to see if I've posted yet. Again I'm very sorry. And this chapter was really hard to write, I'm pretty sure you can tell. But I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WON'T TAKE SO LONG!!! But then again, 2K READS!!! IN A MATTER OF TWO WEEKS THIS STORY WENT FROM 1K READS TO 2K READS!!! CAN YOU NOT BELIEVE IT?!! I knew I was always a good writer, thanks to you guys. THANK YOU!!!!!! I really don't know what to do now. Maybe I'll do something else for you guys. Like the video I did last time. SO THANK YOU!!! I CANT BELIEVE IT!!! I CANT TELL YOU HOW MUCH HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW!!! SO THANK YOU!!! AND IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT ME, IT'S ABOUT YOU TOO!!! SO THANK YOU!!!

Be prepared for the revolution,
FanGirlfortheLC