Throne of the Beasts ✔️

Henry

He looked around the room. From what he could see through the small slits cut in the bandages on his face, he could tell he was in the infirmary. He never thought he'd end up here. "King Henry!" Exclaimed a voice. There were so many people in the castle that it was hard to keep track of all of their voices.

He tried to speak, to thank him, to ask his name, but the only noises he could make were quiet, muffled words. "Oh, I'll take that off. You stopped bleeding thanks to the shaman, Charles." He could feel the cloth being stripped off of his face and his vision became full.

"Thank you, sir." He said, touching his face. It was raw and bumpy. What had happened? As soon as he thought of it, memories rushed back to him of what had to be days ago. He grimaced and shuddered, realizing he was burnt. Badly. He also filled with rage at the man who had inflicted him with such severe injuries. "Could you hand me a mirror?" Henry asked the youth sitting at his bed.

Suddenly in front of him was a red, deformed monster and he jumped, nearly whimpering. He looked closer at it, and thought of his burns. The image was portrayed by a mirror and the monster was him. He touched his face again in disbelief.

He had let the tumor of a nation grow despite them being a nuisance, but this was the last straw. They had taken Eliza and now his face and dignity. He couldn't let her see him like this.

He stood from the bed, still sore, and went upstairs into the chest by his bed. After digging around, he had found what he'd been looking for- a small, flat box with golden trim. Inside was a family heirloom, originating from the last plague a century ago. His family used to frequent there, and after they had arrived after a long journey, they had realized that people were dying left and right. The three princes at the time did their best to help, and only one had survived. This was his mask- the other two were buried with theirs.

He opened the box to see his plague mask, still with dead flower petals in the beak. Under it was a neck wrap. He fastened the mask using leather straps, and let the black cloth wrap around the remainder of his scarring on his neck. Painted on the beak in small letters was "O'Laggerty", the sir name of the prince at the time.

He put the box back under the stacks of folded clothes, and near where Robert was taking a midday nap, took a black, hooded cloak off of a hook hanging to the wall. He fastened the one button at the top, put on his usual boots, and took one of the many alternate routes outside, to avoid attention.

As he desperately struggled to find his way to the Lenai, he heard a horrified scream. Instinctively, he ran towards the sound at top speed. It took a good two minutes, but it was worth it.

It seemed that he had found a peeking-hole in the fence that surrounded them. He could barely see as the glass over his eyes started to fog, but saw a circle of people surrounding what looked to be Eliza, being held by a shirtless man. Her mouth was being held open by the one that had burnt him, and he seethed. A girl slightly resembling Eliza was holding a cup to her lips, yelling certain curses that seemed to be affiliated with their backwards views and religion.

It took every ounce of his strength not to break the fence and behead everyone there, watching his queen get treated like this. Eliza used her strength and head butted the girl in front of her, letting her body fall onto the person holding her mouth open. The liquid fell to the ground, fizzed, and let off a black smoke. He gawked at her newfound abilities, but then remembered that she worked hard, long days at the farm, probably more than his family combined. She had to be tough to do what she did. She cuffed the shirtless man in the jaw and he let go, giving her a chance to run. She took it thankfully, and instantly the crowd of people piled on top of the group. He was definitely worried now.

He then saw her crawl from under the huge mass of people and frantically running away as to not make a noise. Taking this as a hint to himself, Henry rushed around the fence just in time to intercept Eliza. Upon seeing him, she could tell she wanted to scream but didn't due to her current situation. It made sense- gazing upon a man wearing a cult-ish hood and a mask from a century ago in midday. It could have made her wonder if there actually was a crisis going on outside the small world of the Lenai.

He put his hands up in innocence, and in a muffled voice, rasped, "Eliza, it's me. I'm here to escort you back to the castle." It hit him that his voice sounded more menacing than kind or welcoming, and shrunk back when she shook in fear. But he didn't want to take the mask off, or she would see what he had truly become. "Wh-who are-are you?" She questioned, sounding almost threatening. She had to know. He unwrapped the black cloth from his neck, letting it hang loosely at his neck. He hesitated before slowly undoing the clamps and removing the mask from his face. She gasped and choked upon seeing my face.

"Henry, is it really you?"