Throne of the Beasts ✔️

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Infuriated, I pushed Henry's disgusting body off of mine and nearly jumped out of the moving carriage. "What are you doing here?" I was breathing heavily, and he looked confused, as if not registering that I had moved. "I, I thought I should be, I'm sorry?" He stuttered as if he was the victim.

"So if I didn't get a bird as my spirit animal, than you would have just either be waiting around in a carriage for an hour or so, or you would've expected the shaman to lead me here and let me jump into a random vehicle?" I spat at him. Come to think of it, getting in here without a second thought was probably on me.

"Well, yeah. Plus I was late, I usually go to everyone's ceremonies." I looked at him crookedly. "Why do you even give a shit? You've done nothing but abuse me and my family for as long as I've lived or maybe longer, pissweasel." I tend to shy away from cursing, but Henry was definitely extremely infuriating.

He opened his mouth in response, but closed it. "Yeah. Exactly. Now, I'll be off." I said somewhat smugly. I banged on the front wall and it slid open. "Yes madam?" The driver said. "Could you stop so I can get-" Henry put his hand over my mouth. The driver shrugged and continued on, closing the front hatch.

As soon as I clawed his hands off, screamed at him. "What do you think you're doing? Get your filthy hands off of me!" I'm sure I was beet red, and I was uncontrollably shaking. I needed to cool off. "Look here, Eliza, it's already been determined- you're going to be my queen. Act like it."

That did nothing to soothe my nerves, but I composed myself in a respectful manner. "And if I refuse your hand in marriage?"

"You'd probably die. The spirits obviously wanted us to be together, and would not hesitate to kill you if you don't." He paused, cocking his head to the side. "Haven't you heard what happened to Thomas and Elizabeth? They both died within a week."

I hadn't really considered that. Of course, I had grown up where spirit animals weren't even in the realm of possibility in my family.

So it did seem like I had no other choice but to marry the monster who had scarred me all those years ago, and had been abusing me my whole life. But was there a way that I could get out of the whole romance thing?

"Alright, fine. We'll get married. But that's it. I don't want you touching me for the rest of my time as queen. Got it?" I snapped at him, irritability oozing from my voice. He shook his head. "We'll see, Eliza. We'll see." The rest of the ride was carried out in silence.

After a while, the driver knocked on the hatch. "We have arrived, sir and ma'am." Henry reached over me to get the door. I glared at him and reluctantly stepped outside, letting my dress caress the dirty ground.

As I looked up, my mouth dropped in awe. It was the O'Laggerty castle, home of the king and queen of Stuainia. I assume now that I am going to be queen or something, I should also look at it as my home. But I've never been a queen before, so I don't even know if there's any ceremony or anything to that effect.

Henry held his arm out to me, but I refused and put both of my hands behind my back. I wouldn't touch him until the day I die, and that's a promise. He grunted angrily and slapped my cheek. As I put my arm up to my face instinctively, he squeezed my arm in his hand and opened the grand palace doors. On the doors was a griffon painted in a circle, the symbol of Stuainia's upper class. I tried getting a few kicks on his legs, but he was walking to fast and too far apart from me.

As we walked into the main foyer, as spectacular a sight as it is, I couldn't help but feel anxious. Then, from the view of another room, I saw the same hooded man, this time with an assortment of weapons poking out of a pouch that hang loosely on his hip. Some were wet, dripping blood. My heart pounded, and on impulse I broke free from Henry's grasp and bolted up the stairs, unwilling to go back down.

"Eliza, get down here. Now." He scolded at me. Once I shook my head, he stomped up the stairs. Gave me another slap, and dragged me down the stairs. "What was it?" He said, sighing. Not saying anything, I peeked inside the room. This time, he was gone.

I gulped and replied. "Nothing." Henry rolled his eyes and took me up the stairs to the third floor. We walked into a breathtaking bedroom, with a library and tub connected. Both Henry's bird and mine were already in the corner of the room.

"Stay here. Your inauguration is tomorrow, and I need to set up plans to make it perfect. Just smile, wave, and follow my lead, ok?" He instructed sarcastically. I huffed in response, and plopped down on the bed.

He left, closing the double doors closed behind him.

He didn't know what he had left behind, though. I was going to scream, but it came out as silent. The hooded figure was leaned against the wall behind where the door was. A smile formed on his lips as he moved at an inhuman speed towards me. I was slammed onto the bed.

He traced my figure and put both of my hands behind my back. He leaned in, really close to me, and chillingly whispered, "You're coming with me, your majesty."