Elizabeth does not know how much longer she can stand strong; she's bound to fall apart. The arranged marriage is her last straw, she feels her walls crumbling down and is ready to give up in a snap of a finger. Almost as quickly, the sweet and inn...
The sun was slowly going down and with it went the remnants of warmth. The cold had frozen my limbs, I could not feel my finger or legs, and everytime I exhaled it seemed like a small cloud of little crystals were formed.
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I had not moved for hours, afraid that I would be caught. This had led to my back aching like never before. I missed my comfortable bed. I missed my delicious breakfast. I missed Clarissa.
I closed my eyes, reliving the pain. The stab in the heart I got when I heard her cries of pain, when I stood there frozen. But I also felt angry at myself, if had I been brave I would've opened the door and surrendered myself. They wanted me, but instead they killed Clarissa.
I silently let the tears fall and looked down.
Thankfully, the two soldiers didn't seem to pick up on the fact that I was above them. At first I had tried to listen in to their conversations but they had nothing interesting to say so I stopped trying. For a moment I thought about shooting them and running away, but as soon as I heard they had wives and children waiting at home that idea flew out of the window. And even if I did, the loud noise would surely alarm the other soldiers nearby and I would not be able to outrun them. Let's say I miraculously pulled that off, how was I supposed to stay clear of all the soldiers, which by the looks of it were everywhere?
Looking down I noticed that most of the soldiers were back in base. They were all huddled around a bonfire, talking and laughing among themselves and eating and drinking. They were making so much noise, it was very unlikely they would hear me moving around and unpacking my backpack.
So, slowly I started moving my fingers and toes around, trying to get some circulation going. After a few minutes I slowly took out the contents of the bag. The first thing in the bag was a small white note, the writing was pretty sloppy and rushed, I guess written in the moment of the attack. I carefully took it out of the bag and started reading it.
Dear Elizabeth,
The castle is under attack as you know by now. I'm currently packing all the supplies you will need, with this you should be able to go a long way.
Now, about the kingdom. There are some things your parents haven't told but it is high time you know. There has been a group of people, the rebels, who have been protesting against the way your family has ruled this kingdom. They have been planning this attack for years, turning our most trusted guards against royalty, and therefore succeeding in their plan: to kill the king and queen.
You are now the last one left of your bloodline. This is why it's crucial for you to stay alive, I've seen first-handed how the Rebels work: they are cruel and cold-blooded. They will lead this kingdom to its doom.
Still, they have slowly taken over the kingdom turning the people against eachother and leaving chaos in their wake. This is why you will stay low for a few years and strike back when you are ready to rule this kingdom. You have to win back the trust of the kingdom and defeat the rebels.
You are the daughter I never had and I love you indescribably. Remember this: I will be with you every step of the way.
Stay true to yourself and be brave,
Clarissa
I looked at the small water stains on the paper, which were slightly blurring the inkt. I stared at it for a while, emotionless. I stared and stared. Slowly my hand started trembling and my vision blurring, but I remained rigid.
Why me?
I'm not brave. I'm not strong. What is so special about me?
I tried proccesing the information but I just couldn't. How was this possible? How did this all happen under my nose?
I thought about my parents, about Clarissa. They were all dead.
Dead.
I would never see them again.
They never were the best of parents, but it still hurts.
Clarissa. Mother. Father.
The rebels killed them all and who knows how many people. I know my parents weren't the best of people, but why clarissa? She was innocent in all this. She was a gem, a one in a million. I tried silencing my son with my hand.
After composing myself I unpacked the back. Shakily undoing the zip. It contained a map of the kingdom with a big red circle around a place called "Old New York". The city to which I was headed if I ever got out of this alive. Next, I found some warm clothes: Thick pants, a sweater, a thin jacket, socks, gloves, a scarf and a hat. I cried in joy after putting them on, finally getting some of my body heat back.
At the very end of the backpack, two water bottles and some weird packaged food were packed together. The packaged food turned out to be some nutritious bar, there were about 10 of them.
After getting some of my energy back and an end goal to strive for, I started thinking about a plan to get out of here alive.
But first a night of sleep, filled with the haunting faces of my family and nightmares about the future.
This was supposed to be an insightful chapter! After 1 or 2 chapters I'll start introducing the other characters, I just wanted to set the mood first. Let me know what you thought and vote if you liked it, it would mean the world to me!
