The Seven Deadly Kingdoms

Chapter 5

  Henry slowly awoke as the sunlight pouring into the room from the small window shined in his eyes. He yawned and stretched, quickly flinching from the pain in his leg. He sighed and sat himself up, looking over to see his mother and father still asleep. But when he looked down, all he saw on the floor was Adelaide's neatly made mat, very much vacant. Confused, Henry looked into the washroom, which was also vacant. He began to look around the room, thinking he might have overlooked his little sister, when his eyes caught a small piece of paper laying on his nightstand, Adelaides neat cursive handwriting scribbled on it. With a sudden burst of fear growing inside of Henry, he picked up the letter and began to read it.

"Dearest Henry,

Despite what you and Father said, I'm taking your place. I'm sorry, but I would rather me die at war than you live out your days in a cell when they should be spent travelling the world with your future family. Take this as me paying you back for the countless times that you've saved me.

Don't bother coming after me, I'll be long gone when you'll be reading this. By the time you wake up, I'll be on my way to the camp. And I registered under your name, so if you try to get in to come get me, they won't let you. I'm sorry. This is something I have to do. I wish I could have spent my last days with you laying in our meadow, watching the sun set. You've given me a life worth living, even though it might only have lasted for nineteen years. Thank you for being the only man I ever needed in my life. I love you so much,

Adelaide"

Henry was frozen in his spot, eyes wide and jaw clenched tight. He stared at the paper a few more seconds before coming back to his senses. "Mother, Father! Wake up! Adelaides gone!" He said, getting out of his bed and painstakingly walking to grab his crutches and satchel.

Mother and Father stirred awake, not understanding what Henry had said for a few seconds. After they noticed Adelaides absence and Henry hurriedly throwing his clothes on, they realised what he said. "What do you mean, Henry? Where is she?" Mother said groggily. Henry didn't reply, but instead tossed the letter onto their bed. Father picked it up and Mother leaned in so she could read it. Both of their eyes doubled in size as they read down the paper. As soon as they were finished reading, they both shot out of bed, scrambling for their belongings. "Why would she do this? There could have been another way!" Father said, panic heavily laced in his tone. "I don't know, but we might not be too late. She could only get in so early, so maybe she's still there." Henry said, trying to be hopeful. Mother froze in place as she remembered her conversation with Adelaide last night. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realised what Adelaide had really been doing.

"Mary? What's wrong?" Father asked, pausing putting on his boots. Mother looked at him sorrowfully, her eyes filled with regret. "Last night... I woke up and I saw Adelaide leaving.. She said she was only going to grab a dress from the wagon, but I guess that's when she..." She didn't finish her sentence, too choked up to speak. She sat down on the bed and covered her mouth with one hand, silent tears of realisation rolling down her cheeks. Fathers brows furrowed as he bent down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "Mary, it isn't your fault. Adelaide made that choice on her own. There's no way you could have known. But we still have a chance at getting her back, so we need to go now. Ok?" He said gently, pulling her to stand. She nodded through her tears and stood. Wiping her face with her hands, she put on her overdress and shoes. Henry was the first out of the door, walking as fast as he could to their wagon.

"Please, please don't let it be too late..." He whispered under his breath, the fear in his chest building with every passing moment. 

...

Hi! I realise this is a shorter part, but I wanted to write the perspective of Henry reading Adelaides goodbye letter. In the actual book, this is only a small section of chapter 2. I've had to split up chapters here so it wouldn't take as long for me to edit each part. But thank you for reading, and if you're enjoying what i've written so far, feel free to leave a vote and comment! 

~Halle