Ever wondered what was going through her head when she sentenced her own daughter to death? Ever wondered why she did it? The REAL reason for the cruel deed?
The answer is here in the snow white pages, hidden like blood stained hands. All you have t...
I watched by the sides of my comrades as a pale face with peculiar eyes emerged from the mirror held by the little girl. His hair was as dark as coal and his eyes...his eyes...were odd..one was the color of fire and the other, the sun. It was a strange face but a young, handsome face with a friendly smile.
"Greeting Protectors, we finally meet!" He speaks in a deep voice.
"Who might you be?" one of the protectors spoke.
"Ah, forgive me good sir, I am Augustine, the King of the Umbrans." he replied back with a smirk.
If he noticed the surprise on our faces, he didn't show.
"I'll get to the point, I want to discuss about the barrier and what it now means for our people." Ferguson gets up and walks swiftly towards the wall of Mages. "Move" he orders. We oblige. After letting him through, we reform the wall again. "continue.."
"As you must have been informed by now, the barrier has somehow been broken. Now our people are at odds against each other, we've always been at war, I am one that believes that there are no winners in a war, therefore, we've agreed to choose the more peaceful solution. " he pauses, as if to let us process this information. "I am proposing a treaty." At this moment, 'Marietta' holds up a rolled parchment. One of the mages grabs it and begins inspecting it with a variety of spells.
"Do you mean to say that you or your people have no hand in breaking the barrier?"
"None that I know of, no. We have long since stopped trying. Now about the treaty, I've mentioned my terms on that parchment, I think a maximum of three days would be enough to discuss this matter thoroughly and, if decided to proceed, to propose your own terms."
"Well...it is considerably better than a war...however, I think a week or so-"
"A week is too long, 3 days is most what I can give." he states, and when protests arose he raised his voice over theirs. "My people are getting restless, King of Luxans, any longer and I wont be able to keep them contained, they want justice for the way they've been treated, abandoned by their brothers for years, for some petty reason no one seems to remember! I could have gone straight to war the moment that barrier decided to give way, but that is not what I want, I've seen my people suffer enough."
He took a deep breath, calming down. "We are not that different. What's in looks if we all bleed the same? What I want is exactly what you want. It's what every good king would want. To protect his people. And there no doubt when I say, I will protect mine."
'Are you willing to take a risk to protect yours?' The unspoken question seemed to hover in the air.
"We shall speak again in three days with our decision."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him clench his fists. I can't blame him. King Augustine may see, or pretend to see, a fair situation but we saw a hostage, do or lose situation. I had to wonder if this was his plan after all. There's little chance of us declining his offer if he had the king's niece.
"Splendid! I shall send one of my own in 3 days time, it was lovely meeting you all." He gives us a smile so infectious, I almost smiled back. Almost.
"Likewise."
"Oh and Fran, leave the poor child, you aren't helping me make a good impression" he said offhandedly. It took me a second to register that he was speaking to the creature holding the mirror. "We're going to have to talk about your rude behavior when you get back..."
'Marietta' gives a sigh, as she breathed out, a white foggy substance exited from her nose and mouth. From the fog, emerges another pale face, taller than Marietta and certainly older. Marietta's eyes roll back and her legs buckle as she crumples to the ground. Fran, or so I presume, catches her before she hits the ground. He takes the mirror from her and gently lays her on the ground.
"The girl will be fine, I caused her no harm. You can check if you wish. I assure you she is perfectly alright. Soul eating is strictly forbidden and even punished for. It is certainly something my king would not tolerate. Of course, body possessing is also forbidden but he must see reason in this case." There was a hint of doubt in his last word. Wary of the unexpected guest, no one moved to inspect Marietta. Not even her father, which came to me as a surprise.
"I have a request of my own, King Of Umbrans" Ferguson spoke with purpose. "Will you allow a member of your court to reside in my palace during the length of those three days? Our people have been separated for centuries time, we know little of each other. For all we know, that little may even be fiction."
"You make a fair point, King of Luxans." King Augustine says, his expression bursting into a thoughtful, calculating look. He nods slowly. "Yes, I agree. A treaty signed on a foundation of friendship and trust would most certainly last longer."
"You seem fairly certain that we will agree to the treaty." I speak without thinking. At that moment I was grateful for the heavy hood that covered most of my face. "Forgive me, I did not mean to speak out of turn."
"Well, agreeing to it seems to be the more favorable option for both sides." He answers my question offhandedly.
"Now, getting back to the matter at hand, shall we send one selected guest from our court tomorrow? We can send them so they will arrive at the clear end of the barrier at, say, 12 rays." Augustine suggests.
"Yes, and then they can exchange carriages so none but one from each end will cross the border." My king agrees.
"If I may, since I'm already present here-" Fran begins, only to be cut off by his king. "I think you've caused enough trouble Fran."
He hangs his head, "yes your majesty."
"Good." He speaks as a governor would speak to a disobedient child. "King Ferguson White, may I request a safe passage for my messenger back to my kingdom?"
My king pauses, whether thinking or processing the situation I do not know. At last he agrees, and after another 'splendid' from Augustine, the mirror turns back into a blank reflection and Fergus collapses on his chair.
A/N: Most of this was written at 2am so please pardon the possible errors but feel free to point them out.
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