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A new morning lays its warmth upon the sleeping kingdom of darkness. There was no sunshine sparkling through the windows or singing of any kind from the birds waking up, but you could still feel the change. The way the air around slowly warms up signifies the change from night to day. Crippling darkness gave away to something more manageable and the mist that had risen during the evening was gone.
Rose opened her eyes and looked around, the memories from last night still fresh in memory. She had fallen asleep on a large wood framed bed with dark hangings. The fabrics were old and torn, but still maintained their original vibrant red colouring. On top of the burgundy-coloured camlet blankets was this beautifully crafted coverlet, decorated in golden symbols she did not recognise.
The tapestry next to the bed depicted a battle of sorts, there were faded pictured of men in armour fighting each other with long spears, till there was nothing but destruction. Over these men loomed a dark figure, arms open and from his chest came bony, fire spewing demons. In the middle of it all stood a black object, a cauldron of sorts that spout light. The girl found this quite scary, so she turned to study the rest of the room.
There were only two windows, one smaller than the other but both broken. The right one was almost fully void of glass, only having the decorative iron bars left. The other window much further to the left of the room was half intact, still managing to preserve the glass on the bottom. It was gray from dust.
A brown bearskin rug lay almost abandoned on the floor, clearly having seen better days. Now that Rose thought about it, apart from the few cobwebs up in the corner, the dusty glass window and the torn canopy, the room looked surprisingly clean.
Briar had spent the night in a strange state. At first, though thoroughly exhausted, she could not fall asleep. Her small hands kept holding on to the book she had received from the king, but she did not dare open it. What if she read something horrible about her father or, worse yet, herself.
But soon the curiosity got the best of her, and the princess opened the book. She read the first five chapters slowly wanting to take in as much as possible. They described the birth of the kingdom, its struggles, and shortcomings but also its victories and many strengths. It told her that the then king, her grandfather, had ruled the kingdom with wisdom, not leaving the citizens who worshipped him even when there was an outbreak of sickness. Or when the famine hit especially hard one year.
When the kingdom of Prumor had signed the treaty with the kingdom of Serin, it was not only to strengthen the relationship but to get help, medicine and food delivered to aid the dying people. He had made mistakes while ruling, but the more Briar Rose read, the more she came to admire the man.
When her father, King Stefan took over the throne, he had followed in his father's footsteps the best he could. Dragging her tired eyes through the rest she got the impression that her parents were good people. But how could she be sure the book wasn't just filled with traitorous lies?
Rose thought for a moment. If the Horned King knew about her family and aunts, he must have answers. So, she decided to seek him out.
Rose peeked into the cold stone halls and not seeing anyone, walked to the library. It was the second door to the right when going down the steps. She opened the door and was quite surprised to see the king already there. He sat on an old wooden chair, carved from dark walnut.
YOU ARE READING
Bring Me Joy: Aurora x The Horned King
FantasyHis cold hands balled into fists. He could not stray his eyes away from the beauty in front of him and he hated it. Something like this, something like her, could be seen as a weakness. And he had no weaknesses. She would have to die. Briar Rose...
