The King's Obsession

1

C1 : Description - Excerpt

"Your bed is cold," spoke a voice in the room that had her eyes go wide in fear. Nervously, she turned around, gulping softly to see a shadow on her bed as if someone laid down there. The man who had been lying down sat up emerging out from the shadows where he had been waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when his feet touched the ground and he pushed himself up to start walking towards her. His handsome features looked darker than usual because of the lack of light in the room.

"I came to meet you," he tilted his head, "Where did you go?"

"I went out for a walk," came the quick reply that had him smile, a smile that scared her the most.

She took a step back when he came close to her. It didn't stop him from cornering her, and her back hit the wall behind her. He raised his hand towards her face, and she closed her eyes, scared. She shuddered when his fingers trail down from her temple and her jaw and neck. Her blonde hair was left open.

"In the middle of the night?" she didn't answer him knowing he could decipher her lies through her words. He stepped closer that had her turn her face away from him and his words vibrated on the skin of her neck,
"Did you go to meet him, my sweet girl?"

                                👑

C2 - Invitation

"Mama!" a young girl made her way inside the humble house of the Harris with an envelope in her hand, "Look at this!" her voice was full of glee and excitement that she could barely contain. She waved the envelope in her hand, she looked around the house, "Mama!"

Not finding her mother or her sibling inside, the girl made her way to the backyard of the house where she saw her mother and her younger sister who were hanging the wet clothes on the clothes line. The sun was bright and warm enough to dry the clothes they had washed in the river.
"Mama! Lisa!"

"Stop shouting, Momo. I am sure even Mrs. Parkins can hear you over the fence," said the woman who had an apron tied around her waist and her hair tied in a bun, "What's gotten you excited?" asked her mother.
The girl named Momo smiled at her mother and showed her the envelope in her hand, "Look what I received," there was a red seal on the envelope that had been opened, "It is an invitation to the grand ball of Hallow in the King's castle."

"That is not possible. Why would the King send an invitation to us?" her mother asked and then took the letter from her to notice the seal that was on the outside, "Lisa, why don't you read this one as my hands are wet."

That is not possible. Why would the King send an invitation to us?" her mother asked and then took the letter from her to notice the seal that was on the outside, "Lisa, why don't you read this one as my hands are wet."

The grand ball of Hallow took place every year in the King's palace and it was a ball that many wished to go but it was not for the lower people but only for the men who worked for the King and his other acquaintances who mostly hailed from the rich class. People like the Harris' family didn't have the opportunity to get an invitation which was why the woman wondered if her older daughter was imagining things.

The youngest daughter, Lisa said, "Let me take a look at that, mama," and she read what was written in it. Her eyebrows furrowed, "It is indeed an invitation from the King. We have our name in there."

"I told you!" the older girl replied, clapping her hands and coming to stand next to her younger sister who was two-inch shorter than her. Momo had dark brown hair that almost looked black and eyes that were green in color, acquiring her features from her father while the younger girl took after her mother's pale features with blonde hair and brown eyes that had her living in her older sister's shadow, "What do you think? Should we go to the ball?"