Immortality's Edge

Part 2

"I probably shouldn't, I got to tend to-" I get cut off.

"Oh bollocks, Sam. I know you need one so come on." He drags me alongside him. Through back alleyways and secret passages, we finally make it to our good old pub. Like always, we are greeted inside. After we get our usuals we sit down in our usual spot too, a place in the corner, good for people watching.

"Whaddya think Samantha?" He coughs before taking a sip of his beer.

"About?" I stare into my glass of wine, watching it swirl around as I play with the mug.

"If your parents plan on being gone longer, you'll have no choice but to become queen. You're the only heir to the throne." He says quietly. I'm guessing he doesn't want any other bar patrons to know that the queen and king have been gone for longer than they thought.

"I honestly have no clue what to feel."

"I never thought, even in a millennium that you'd be ready for that position. You proved me wrong, good for you..." I don't even take a sip of my drink, I just push it away from me. Ramses starts laughing uncontrollably, I can tell he's very drunk. I do what I can, trying to make my way through the night babysitting Ramses. That task is not an easy one that's for certain. Around 1 am, Ramses finally passes out and I drag his unconscious body back to his fiancé. He'll figure out where I am when I wake up, at least I hope so.

As soon as I drop him off I walk slowly back to the castle. Like I said before, only about a third of the castle was damaged, but my room and countless others were saved. Only the ballroom and the dining hall were severely damaged, thank god; no more parties. I reach the castle and walk the empty stone halls all the way to my room. Along the way, I'd look out and see the ocean crashing into rocks surrounding the cliff and then I'd see the broken and shattered remnants of the castle. It could take forever to rebuild the castle, but I guess in my kingdom, time is all you got at this point. No one has to worry about getting old or dying, they just keep on going.

After I make it to my room and change into my nightgown. I plop down onto my bed and look up at the ceiling. I will have to become queen; it sucks. I still want to live my life how it was before all this. I could still be with my knight friends and I could still fight in countless wars. I could still be the rebellious daughter of the King and Queen. But now, that life is gone. I don't think they'll ever come back if they've been gone for this long. I start to feel tears rolling down my cheeks; I can feel them spill across my scars. As much as I hate it, this will haft to become my new normal. My people need me as much as a newborn needs their mom; yet I am a newborn without a mom. Helpless yet, I still go on. I turn on my side to look out the window, but by now everything is pitch black. The lights on the mainland have all gone out and no ships sail the sea within eye range. I quietly sob myself to sleep.

A year and a half later, I have been coronated as the new Queen. The population has only risen, which takes us back to the exact problem we had in the first place. I've taken up more 'womanly' and 'queenly' duties, gained more responsibilities which destroyed my self worth. Even simple things these days are a hassle. I can't even eat in peace without servants trying to feed myself. I am extremely grateful for them, but I've managed for 20+ years, and I can certainly manage myself now. By the end of each day, I'm exhausted, I'm burned out. Mentally and physically.

I stumble into my dressing room and rip off each piece of my layered dress. Very uncomfortable. After a quick shower, I try to slip into my nightwear when I hear noises coming from my main bedroom. It sounds like a builder chiseling into the side of the tower, but then I realized, when you look out my window it's a straight 50+ ft drop. I shake off the sound as echoing construction from a few rooms over. I put on my clothes for tonight when I hear the sound again along with some blatantly loud curse words. I rush out of the room, to see Ramses at my bedroom door in a hot sweat. He must've heard the noise too. Ramses ran up three flights of stairs to find something completely beyond our point of thought. We look back and forth at each other, to the thing standing in the middle of the room, then back to each other. I turn red and then, I silently sob. Ramses comes and hugs me. He is more than furious, but he also looks deathly sick. Although, the thing in the middle of my room is quite a sight to behold. There is blood everywhere, and I mean everywhere. There's a whole trail of blood from the window to the middle of my carpet. I can't stare for long; I hide in Gary's tight embrace.