ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ᴍᴀɢᴇ 一 ɢᴇʀᴀʟᴛ ᴏꜰ ʀɪᴠɪᴀ

𝕏𝕀𝕀𝕀. "𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖, 𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕥."

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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ

"ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ, ɢᴇʀᴀʟᴛ."

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       The gusting wind howled through the night, banging against the tall glass windows in the princess' room, begging to be let in. Tears from the clouds dropped heavily onto the Kingdom of Kattegat as the sudden 'boom' of thunder forced the little girl to hide even deeper beneath her covers. Storms were not uncommon in the faraway kingdom, but nothing like this.

       Eleanora squealed in fear, whimpering against her blankets. Gripping onto her pillow, she slowly creeped out of her large canopy bed. The silent 'creak' of her bedroom door opening made her wince. It was pitch black; even the moon refused to illuminate the castle halls. Hugging the pillow closer to her small frame, the princess made the long (or so in her small eyes) trek towards her parents' bedroom. Every once in a while, the bright lightning outside would guide her, but that never stopped her imagination from running wild every time the slightest bit of noise arised.

Then she felt it. 

       Something was behind her. She could feel the intimidating presence looming over her, but she refused to acknowledge it head on. So, she continued to walk, the thumping footsteps following close behind.

       "I haven't seen a storm like this in over 20 years." His deep voice mumbled. Eleanora almost didn't catch it. "They a sign, ya' know that?" The little girl wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question, one that she shouldn't answer, but the deafening silence forced her to do so anyway.

       "No, I didn't." 

       And then she saw it. Hadley and Corsliss' room was just at the end of the hallway, the gold trim of the double doors shimmering, almost screaming at her to run, to pick up her pace. But she didn't want to startle the man. She didn't want him knowing she was scared. A snarling laughter resonated in the empty hallways, a noise that made Eleanora cringe away and hug her pillow tighter.

       "A nasty one like this can only mean bad news is on the way." Just a little further. "Look here, girl." And then she stopped. Swallowing the big lump in her throat, the princess found herself standing in front of a tall silhouette. "One person's sadness is another's happiness." Eleanora gasped when the 'crack' of lightning exposed the man of the voice.

God, how does someone even get a scar like that? Running diagonally across their face, just slightly missing the eye? The crooked nose only enhanced his other scary features.

"And I'm gon' be happy very soon."

In just a blink of an eye, he was gone.