Kingdom Shorts

Fatal mistake

Revenge of Empire, part 8

-Three days ago-

'I was born, and grew up, in Jenava' Shelley said with a sigh, no longer able to keep her secret. She just hoped the bond between her and Fabie was strong enough. Fabienne blinked a few times. Trying to comprehend what was just told her. 'You're a Jenavaan...?' Shelley nodded and went back to looking down, mind running over every outcome possible.

Fabie sat there for a few seconds in silence and eventually nodded. 'But that doesn't explain why those clothes were in your backpack?' she said, curiosity peeked. Shelley was relieved, Fabie didn't have the bad reaction she anticipated. 'Well, you see, I.. ehmm.. kinda went to Jenava..' She said slowly.

'Why?' Fabie said in response. She was curious, why go back to Jenava? 'Cause I was meeting someone' Fabie was already opening her mouth to ask why again, but Shelley held up her hand, indicating she was gonna continue. 'I was visiting a childhood friend' She continued. 'We had a really close bond back when we were kids, but when we fled, I lost contact' Fabie listened closely to what she was saying. She felt bad for her, leaving everything you know, must've been hard.

'How did you meet again?' Fabie asked. Shelley looked up at the ceiling, as in thought. 'Remember when we rescued Zera from Jenava?' she said while looking at Fabie. Fabienne nodded, ofcourse she remembered, It was the first time Shelley fought alongside Ljord. 'He was there as well, but he is way too kind to ever hurt someone, but he's forced to be in the army anyway, so he stayed a bit back.' She said while grabbing the scarf next to her and looking at it. 'We bumped into each other, while the others were fighting, and he recognized me. But since we didn't have the time right then to catch up, I quickly promised him I would drop by Jenava'

Shelley put the scarf away again. 'He told me about the gardens close by the throne room, he would walk by every day, and should I have time to drop by, he would see me there' Shelley ended her story. Fabienne took some time to let it sink in. Shelley had been going to Jenava for some time then, but that would mean... 'You crossed Malino and Eos every time you go there! That's dangerous!' She suddenly said, Malino was the most dangerous, especially now Empire roams it and kills everyone who dared to step on it.

'I know, but I've been fine so far, I know the way' Fabie did trust Shelley, but couldn't stop worrying. 'Can I meet him?' Fabie asked. Shelley blinked, not expecting her to say that, she had expected her to tell her that it was way too dangerous. 'Ehh.. sure, but you'll have to wait until Im able to buy some clothes from there for you' Shelley said, still dumbfounded.

'Then that's settled, tell me when you have the clothes and we'll go see him!' Fabie said happily, and Shelley smiled as well. The peace was broken when the door was thrown open, revealing Tom who stormed inside. 'Girls! Im glad to find you here, grab your armor and sword!' He said out of breath. Fabie and I stood up from the couch. 'Why whats going on?' Shelley said. Tom looked at her. 'Jenava is entering Malino with an army as we speak'

-Present-

Cemal sat by the gravestone, changing the withered flowers for some new ones. He's been doing this for the past few weeks. He long past crying now, but that doesn't mean his chest doesn't hurt anymore everytime he visits Dennis' grave. He was one of the few people who actually visits, along with Meindert. He had come up with an lie, which explained why Dennis was dead. He hated what he came up with, but he couldn't let them know the truth either. But now... now everyone sees Dennis as a traitor.

How did things get to this? When did things started going south? Now he thought about it, he never had it easy. First Leon, then Raftagar, Entropia... Empire.. There wasn't a day since he became king where he didn't have to solve some kind of problem. He wished he could just throw it all away sometimes, live a normal happy life, with a happy family. But that wasn't for him. Life seemed to have a grudge against him.

Cemal stood up, giving one last glance to the stone and walking away. He didn't know what to do. When he came back from Empire he got into an argument with Meindert. Meindert was pissed at him, calling him a lapdog from Empire. In the moment he lashed out against him, the events still fresh on his mind. But now that he was calm, he couldn't help but agree. He did exactly what Empire wanted, followed every order, always trying to please them. Was it worth it?

Meindert was right, Empire never did anything in return. Maybe he just couldn't let go of the past, after all, Thanatos used to be his friend. But something changed and he wasn't sure what. A thought crossed his mind, if he could figure out what made Thanatos like this, then maybe he could ''heal'' him. With that, he went back to the throne room.

Shelley walked alongside the Empire wall, again. She had the feeling something wasn't right, everything didn't make sense. They'd defeated Jenava and kept Malino, but It was only cause Empire warned them. Why? She was so deep in thought, she didn't notice the presence behind her.

Walking along this wall for so long has caused her to let her guard down. Ragkratis at his side of the wall, checking if it was still intact and no one was stupid enough to get close. When he suddenly heard the crunching of snow. He peeked his head up, it was the sound of footsteps. A menacing smile made its way onto his face. Seems like someone dared to get close. 'Hihihi..' he chuckled silently, as to not warn the person.

Silently he climbed on the wall, peering over it. Alongside the wall, only a few steps away from touching it, walked a girl. She looked deep in thought so she didn't notice his presence. A fatal mistake on her part. He grinned and leaped of the wall, silently landing on the snow. Now... what to do with her. Just killing her would be plain boring. So why not have some fun instead?

Shelley walked, hearing the crunching of snow beneath her feet. Snow had started falling not too long ago. She was frustrated that she couldn't figure it out. Should she tell Cemal about it when she would visit Quinten again? Her train of thought was broken when she heard chuckling.

'Hihihi...' was heard behind her, Suddenly pain exploded in her head and she fell down. She tried to look up but she felt her vision going dark. And she blacked out.

'Were gonna have so much fun...'