Bright sunbeams softened the horizon's terrible truth, very thin shadows from the enemy vessels calmly dancing on the bay waters.
The castle was under attack. In between the shakes and screams, memories flashed in front of her eyes, her father giving her one of his hour-long lectures after hearing protests from the princess about the harshness some of her professors treated her with.
"Pay attention and dedicate yourself to your lessons. These gentlemen and ladies have agreed to put all of their assignments on the side in order to make time for you. Each and every one of them, Beatrice. One day you might have to start a fire by your own, or to protect yourself from an enemy. Be a good girl and do as I say."
She came back to reality just in time to watch another giant rock hit the castle somewhere above her, a couple of stones falling off the wall as more people screamed in agony.
Enough. I need to do something.
She got up and stormed through the corridors, glancing on both her sides checking if she spotted any victim or assaultant. Unfortunately, she only ran by corpses. For another moment, she thought of quitting. Forget about Yvette, leave it all behind, and go help her people, save her home, survive. And once more, she refused such idea.
There is no going back.
She shook her head and kept on running. She went through corridors, rooms and stairs until she finally reached the castle's biggest square. By the time she reached the common area, her clothes were dirty and her boots soaked in blood. The place looked exactly like the servant's area she was in, just bigger. She bent on her knees and tried to reestablish her breathing and calm her nerves; her arms trembled as thin tree branches. Only after the shakes were gone, she raised her head and froze. No, there weren't Conquerors on the square nor victims but five people hanging from dark wood crosses. And she recognized them. The Thorels.
The once proud and ambitious Renard Thorel now was just a scarecrow feast in the air. The eyes she had fallen in love with were now gone, same as his muscles all over his body. He was sided by both his parents, followed by his older sisters. All of them were eaten and bitten in horrible places, their clothes made it clear they had been prisoners long before the execution. Under Renard's greyish toeless feet, the girl found a wood sign on the floor, words written with some dark red liquid, possibly the victims' blood.
"May the Thorels serve as an example to those who attempt to poison and destroy the Queen", she could clearly read on the wooden board.
Renard and his father wanted the throne no matter who they found sitting on it. Now they all paid the price. And I thought they were on the run... They were probably imprisoned already. I wonder for how long. Hopefully as long as I've been away.
She ran past the crosses with her left hand covering her nostrils, otherwise she would have puked. The smell was unlike any other. She reached the other side of the square and walked through the small arch, soon climbing more stairs.
The last time she found herself that close to the throne's room had been about six years ago.
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The Queen of Blood
Fantasía* #2 on the Historical Fantasy Chart * Don't deceive yourself with the handsome boy or the blood bonds. What you'll read is not a regular fairy tale, it's the story of Beatrice Dale-Ivey, a girl who lost everything to an ambitious stepmother. Join t...
