Trapped in His Darkness * Completed*

Drawing Close

Victor's POV

      She has been gone for three days. The festival is still going on. The festival will last two more days. How long is she going to be gone? I had this festival all planned out. What Ivy didn't know. I wanted to have our wedding on the last day of this festival or the day after the festival has ended.

        I wanted it to be memorable for the wedding. I don't want the celebration to end. My people look happy and enjoy the day. Even the children are playing.

        My knights and I are walking around in town. I want to be in the town with my people. I want them to see I am just a man, I was once one of them. It puts a smile on my face to see all my people enjoying themselves.

      A group of small children ran past me holding a teddy bear, when I noticed a small little girl bumped into me. The small girl had tears running down her face. I bend down to her level, "What is wrong child?"

One of my knights spoke up, "Do you want us to remove her?"

      I shook my head and motioned them to shoo away. I looked back at the little girl.

She wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt, "They took my teddy."
"Do you want me to get you a new one."

The little girl shook her head "no." I am still bending down to her level. "Do you still want that one teddy bear?"
"Yes.. Mr.Teddy!"

       She smiled and just looked up at me. As if she was begging me to get it for her. I felt bad for the girl. She reminds me of the girl Vance used to play with when we were growing up. I never knew what happened to her.

     I smiled and stood back up, I turned around facing the young boys. "Are you going to give back her teddy bear?"

     The young boys looked terrified. The boys looked at me if I was going to bite their heads off. I grin, at this moment I can't laugh. Even if I wanted too laugh.

     The oldest out of the young boys handed me the teddy bear. I looked at the teddy bear and then the young boys. I looked around, they noticed I was looking at them. The boys stood straight up.

      One of my knights behind me, coughed to get my attention. "I'm sorry, your highness. The older one is my boy. The girl is my step daughter. I'm sure they were just playing around."

I handed the teddy bear to my knight. "Make sure she gets it."
"Yes your highness."

    I turned around to face the boys, the oldest of the young boys standing up tall. "You look like your father."
"Yes your highness."
"Do you plan to serve my kingdom like your father?"
"Yes your highness."
"Great."

     I patted the boy on the shoulder, when I went back to my knights that were guarding me. My knights and I smiled and went back to walk throughout the kingdom. The knight from before went to his step daughter to get her back her teddy bear.

***

      My knights and I are sitting at my around table. Everyone is discussing the new updates on the rebellion that is happening in the smaller towns of the kingdom. We are hearing more and more cases of the rebellion getting closer to the kingdom.

       I'm sure they want to take over the kingdom. But who could be behind the rebellion. I can't have King Leo to know anything about the rebellion. I'm sure he would back out of our treaty if he knew about the rebellion. He would think that I can't take care of my kingdom. I can't have that.

***

     After my meeting with my knights, it's time for the feast of the festival. Every night of the festival we have a feast for everyone in the kingdom. Everyone gets to eat and drink on much they want. King Leo can have any women in the harem, if he wants. My royals of my court can have the woman of the harem too. If Ivy was here she would be with me, only me. The only woman in this kingdom I want.

***
Ivy's POV

       I turned over in my bed, I didn't see Mary and Rose in theirs. I quickly got out of the bed when I noticed I overslept. Mary and Rose made their bed, I made my bed before I looked around the small house.

        I looked around the house. I didn't see the dresses hanging up from the night before. Mary and Rose must sell their clothes. I walked outside the house, Mary was talking to customers about the clothes. Rose makes sure the clothes are hanging in the right way for people to see them. From the looks of it, Rose is not as outgoing as Mary is.

***

        I sat down watching them interact with customers. Mary is most of the talking. Rose made sketches of outfits. The sketches she was making were different from what they have been selling. Different colors and different fabric. I smiled, looking at her sketches.

"Do you like them?"
"Yes, they are very pretty."
"Maybe one day you can wear one of them."

Mary turned around after she was done talking to a customer about the prices on a pair of pants, "We should close up shop for today, and get more apples. I want apple bread for dinner."
"Dinner?"
"Yes."

           We all agreed and I helped Mary and Rose put everything that was left that wasn't sold today back inside the small house. We hung the clothes up, Rose grabbed a wooden basket.

       After everything was put inside the house, then Mary, Rose and I walked to the tree. Mary and Rose skipped their way to the tree, while Rose was still holding onto the wood basket. Mary smiled at me, "Here come hold hands with us."

      I held Mary's hand, the three of us held hands while skipping to the tree. Mary, and Rose stopped in their tracks. Mary and Rose kept looking at the crowd of people.

"This doesn't look good. Everyone does gather around the tree. Not like this. Something must be going on."

      We walked closer to the crowd, I noticed there were knights from my kingdom, and the knights were putting young girls in line.

     I tried turning around and ran away. A knight with a drawing in his hand. Looked at me then looked at the drawing in his hand.

"You look like her. The girl's hair is different."

      The knight is a few inches taller than I am, closer to Vance's height, same age as Vance too. The knight has brown hair and eyes with a hit of green. He has a little stubble on his face. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the crown of young girls that he and the other knights were lining up.

      Mary and Rose were in the same line of girls. Each knight looked each of the girls up and down. I turned my head to look at how many girls were in line. I counted 8 girls.

       After the knights were done, look each girl up and down. A group of knights talking to each other in a small huddle. They looked at each one of us while they were talking. Not all the knights were in the huddle, three knights were in horses. With their hands on their swords. Everyone knows not to move. The knights could use their swords on us and kill us.

       Each one of the girls does look like me in one way or the other. Same color eyes, same height or same size. Looking around at the girls, I think the knights are looking for me. I think the drawing that one of the knights is holding. Is a drawing of me.

     One of the girls, when one of the knights wasn't looking at their horses. She made a run for it, towards the woods. One knights on a horse took off after her. She tripped on a rock and fell. She looked up at the knight, it looked as if she hurt her ankle. The knights took his sword and cut her neck. Blood is everywhere.

      All the girls held onto each other, the knight with the drawing in his hand called out, "That will happen to you if you decided to run away."

      All the girls looked at each other and cried. None of us wants to be here, but none of us wants to die. We knew we had better follow directions to stay alive.

     Each knights to a girl and tied her hands to one long rope. The knight has the drawing in his hand, he folded the drawing, then put the drawing in his pouch on the side of his horse. He climbed up onto his horse and pulled on the rope that wrapped around our wrists.

     The seven of us girls cried out when he pulled on the rope. He did that to make sure the rope was tight enough. The knight in front pulled on the ropes again and started to walk with his horse, pulled the rope while he started to walk in the direction of my kingdom.