The Dark Realm

Serena Eavesdrops

Serena scowled at the books that were laying on Lilly's bed as she worked. Her new friend had been spending far too much time on trying to find some way out of this marriage and it was obvious to anyone who looked at her that she was exhausted.

Serena wished that she could do more. Lilly was one of the first people who had been genuinely nice to her and yet she was facing a horrible fate that she couldn't get out of. She didn't deserve this. The best that Serena could do to help was take on some of the book load and read them herself but neither of them had found anything.

Lilly stood still, acting patient while fury raged inside her, as a white fabric was adjusted around her. There was no way she was going to go through with this wedding. There had to be a loophole or something that could undo it. So far the only thing that she could find that would work was for the princess to wear the gold ring and her true love to wear the silver. She didn't have a true love... At least not one that she was aware of.

"This is a waste of time. There's no way that I'm going through with this wedding." Lilly grumbled to Serena.

"It's not like you've got a lot of options. I'm sorry, Lilly, but you might." Serena sighed as she adjusted the hem of Lilly's dress. "We've still got time to figure this out. We've still got nearly three weeks. I wish Max was the way he used to be. He wasn't always such a huge jerk who went around kidnapping girls. He used to be nice, you know?"

"I wouldn't know. He's definitely not like that anymore." Serena frowned at Lilly's reminder. Why was Max acting like this? His personality had changed so fast. Why?

"You're done." Serena said finishing the dress.

"Thank you, Serena. Now that that's done with I think I'm going to go to the library."

Serena nodded. "I think I'll join you."

A few minutes later, after Lilly had changed, the two headed to the library. They rummaged through books grabbing multiple off the shelves. Serena heard her pager beep. That must mean someone needed something from her. The screen read Max.

"I'm sorry, Lilly, but I have to go. Max wants me." She said, annoyance clear in her voice. What did he want from her now? Couldn't he just get someone else to do it? She was all the way across the castle. Why'd he always choose her?

"It's okay. See you later." Lilly gave the dark haired girl a smile. She couldn't muster a smile that was very bright and full of happiness but the small one was just fine. Serena nodded and scurried off.

It took her nearly eight minutes to get to Max's room, running as to not upset the prince with being late. Serena waited a moment, outside of Max's door to catch her breath. She over heard him talking to someone. She pressed her ear against the door.

"Soon, very soon, my lord." It was Max's voice. Who could he possibly be talking to that he would address as my lord?

"Good, soon the Light Realm will crumble and their will be no one to get in our way. We'll rule all the realms." Another voice replied. Serena stifled a gasp. Someone else was in his room and they were planning on eradicating the Light Realm! She didn't care for the Light Realm, few who live in the Dark Realm do, but completely wiping it out was going to far. There was supposed to be a balance between the light and dark, everyone knew that.

"Excellent... Now where it Serena? She's late." Max said from inside the room. Serena, not wanting to anger Max any further, knocked on the door.

"Come in." He said. Serena opened the door to the room and walked inside, expecting to see Max and his accomplice, but there was no one else. She was shocked. "Finally, you're here! What took you so long?" Max snapped.

"It's a big castle, m'lord." Serena said, through gritted teeth. She tried to hide a scowl. "Do you need something, sire?"

"Right, I want you to check in with the captain of the Knights,"

"You mean Sir Tybalt?" Serena interrupted. Max glared at her.

"Don't interrupt me." He hissed. "As I was saying I want you to find Sir Tybalt and find out more about his training schedule. Fix it so the knights are training as often as legally possible." Max finished. Serena raised an eyebrow.

"May I ask why?" Serena inquired. Max glared at the suspicious girl.

"Why should I tell you? You're just a peasant. It's not like it's any of your business. Now get to it." Max snapped. Serena bit her lip. She felt like her heart was about to shatter into a hundred pieces. This wasn't the Max she used to know. Everyday he was less and less like the friend she had once had.

"Right away, sir." Serena said, her voice cracking. She tried to blink away the tears. She would not cry, especially not in front of him. She swiftly darted out of the room, full of questions. How had Max's personality changed so fast? It wasn't even two years ago that they were best friends. Why did he want to increase the knights' training? Why he planning on conquering the Light Realm for good, especially seeing as right now was a time of peace between the two realms. Most importantly where had that voice come from?

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What do you think? What are your answers to these questions? Please tell me in the comments! I love hearing from readers! Also you guys should check out my friend, WeirdWonder and her story, The Rebel. It's really interesting and deserves some more reads. Thanks, bye!