Xia’s fingers curled around the hilt of her sword as she stared at the High King who sat across from her in the carriage her parents had set up for them. She had not let her guard since they had left that morning, knowing that she should never let down no matter what. He was staring out the window and turned his dark gaze to her. A smirk crossed his face as he saw how tense she was.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He relaxed in his seat.
She studied him with cold eyes, “Really? Why am I finding it so hard to believe you?” Her eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.
“Because your smart my dear.” His smirk grew as he leaned forward a little, “Let me guess, your father told you not to trust me, that I’m a monster.”
“Monster wasn’t the exact word he used.” Her words came out as a slight growl.
He chuckled and studied her, “Your father never liked me… Tell me Xia, did he train you? Teach you to fight, how to survive on your own, how to not be a princess.”
Surprise flickered in her eyes but she quickly hid it hopping that he hadn’t caught it, but he had, “So what if he did? Why would it matter?”
“Because it will help you, you have the upper hand on half of the others that will be at this feast.” A dark glint came to his eyes, “Who knows, it might help you come out alive.”
Confusion filled her eyes causing her to quickly look away from him and direct her eyes outside the window. But the scene outside confused her even more. They were travelling through a forest that she had never before been through, a forest that looked just as dark as the King. She scooted a little bit away from the window when a large and dark figure moved past her window.
“Where are we?” Her voice shook a little with fear.
The King looked out the window, “The Enchanted Forest, the castle in which I hold the feast in is located at its center.” He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, “You will find this forest very hard to navigate.”
Xia stared at him for a heartbeat before looking back out the window. From what she could see, the trees seemed to be dying and rotting, their braches like clawed hands reaching out to steal you away to die in the darkness. No light was coming through the tops and nothing seemed to be moving. It was as if the whole forest was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
Minutes passed by before the carriage came to a stop and the door was opened. The King looked over at her and motioned for her to get out first. Still holding onto her sword she stood up and slowly exited, not liking the feeling of having him out of her vision. As soon as her feet hit the ground she lifted her gaze up to see the castle and was surprised to see it.
It was much larger than her own family’s castle but that was expected of the High King. A large black gate with spiked tops surrounded it with guards standing at the front with the weapons. The outside was all black and she was guessing the inside would match. In some odd dark way it was stunning, standing out from the dark forest that was around it.
A sudden hand on her shoulder made her jump in surprise before she quickly turned around to look at the King who was watching her in amusement, “Surprised?”
“That it’s not ruins? Yes.” She spat as she walked away from him and to the entrance. The guards gave her no notice as they opened the gate and let her in. She studied them as she walked past, wondering why they didn’t seem to care about her and were only watching the forest.
Two more guards opened up the main doors to the castle for her and moved to the side so she could enter. Both gave her subtle nods of greeting as she walked pass them and she couldn’t help herself from doing the same back to them. She looked away from them just as they started to bow to the High King as he quickly walked in past her. As soon as they were both inside the doors closed with a loud thud behind them and a female servant came hurrying up to them. She bowed in front of her King and directed her gaze away from him.
“Welcome back sir. The others are all in their rooms waiting for you to call them to dinner.” She spoke so fast that Xia found it hard to follow what she was saying.
The King walked right past her, heading towards one of the main hallways that were connected to the room they were in, “Good, now take Xia to her room so she can take a quick bath.” He stopped at the mouth of the hall, “And be sure to give her a change of clothes, nothing to feminine though, it just wouldn’t suit her.” He laughed as he walked away.
Xia scowled at his back before looking at the girl, “You don’t have to get me any clothes, I’ll be fine in what I am wearing.”
The girl shook her head and led Xia down one of the halls, “Everyone has to change clothing… It’s just the way he has always had it, don’t worry though, I’ll get you something that is easy to move in.” Her last words confused Xia a little, she didn’t understand what the girl meant by it.
Both walked down the long hall in silence. A blood red carpet stretched out the length of the hall that seemed to be going on forever. Doors lined in gold and red were lined down the hall with writing that she could not read written next to them. Black tables sat next to each door with red roses sitting on the tables. The scent of the flowers hung in the air, but there were so many that it seemed as if they were being used to cover another smell.
Xia thought that they would never stop until the girl suddenly stopped in front of a door making her run into her. She was going to apologize but had no time as the girl opened the door and pushed her inside. A scared and sorry look was written all over her face as she looked away from her.
“I’m sorry… There is not time for you to bathe… But your change of clothes is on the bed… His highness made sure that we had everything set up before you arrived…” She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, “Someone be coming to get you in a few minutes for dinner, please be changed by then.” Not saying anything else she pulled the door closed and hurried off down the hall.
“How strange…” She muttered as she looked around the bedroom. It was completely different from what she had seen of the rest of the castle. The walls were a creamy white with pearl like furniture. The bed was large enough to easily fit ten people with pure white sheets and light pink lace. The last thing she looked at was the clothes on the bed.
Walking over, she picked each article up and studied them. They all had chainmail attached to the inside and armor on the outside. The clothes were obviously not meant for a dinner, but for a war. Dismissing it as the King just being weird she stripped down and pulled on the other clothes, attaching her sword last. A knock on her door had her walking over and quickly pulling her hair into a ponytail.
“Who is it?” She called out hesitantly.
A male voice called out from the other side, “I am here to take you to the feast miss Xia.” As she opened the door the only thought that came to mind was, ‘that was fast’.
---------------
Authors Note
Sorry if it seems rushed... Cause thats how it seems to me -.- Please tell me what you think, it will help me write faster....
