Parallel

Chapter VII: Bow

Auralea

The castle was oddly silent at this time of night. The night was still and the moon beamed into the darkly colored bedroom. In the bed lay a beautiful woman. Her curls were fanned out beneath her as she slept peacefully. Her baby was finally down for the night and she knew that she had to take advantage of that in order to get any rest. She was also aware that her baby would wake just hours after being put to bed. Though there was a nanny on call, she wanted to care for her own child whenever her duties allowed for it. Further in the corner sat a man at his desk reading through paper after paper to decode a message.

A radical group had been sending threatening letters for weeks but the message inside the letters was unclear. As of late, the majority of his hours were spent reading these letters and when he wasn't reading them, he was thinking about them. Something in his mind was telling him that himself or even those close to him were in danger but he couldn't figure out why. He rubbed the frown lines in his forehead and put the letters down. He had had enough of these for the night and longed to see his child. He stood up from the intricately crafted oak desk and navigated his way to the nursery. The nanny bowed when he entered the room and updated him on the baby's status.

"She has been asleep for a little while now. I don't think she'll wake anytime soon though she was particularly fussy today." He nodded and smiled softly, remembering his wife's exhaustion. "That explains how quickly Sarai was to fall asleep this evening." He reached down into the crib and used his thumb to stroke the sleeping baby's cheek. She was a carbon copy of her mother. Her messy curls sat atop her head and underneath the chub of her cheeks, he knew she'd have the same cheekbones and face shape as her mother had. He stood there admiring his first and only seed until he heard commotion in the halls. He stepped away from the crib and hesitantly looked out the nursery door to find a guard charging at him full speed.

"Your majesty, the castle has been breached!" This phrase immediately set the king into a mode of panic. "Go and spread the word. Make sure the queen is protected." He walked back into the nursery and bundled up his only heir, wrapping her in her warmest blanket. He dismissed the nanny to safety and pushed over the candle lighting the room. The fire was fast to travel and when he was sure the room would be set aflame, he held his daughter tight to his chest and bolted back toward his own chambers. He prayed that his love was safe; that no harm had come to her. When he did finally reach his bedroom, he realized that he had been too late. The covers were sweeping the floor and the sheets were a tangled mess. There were signs of a struggle.

The king grimaced and left the room, distractedly bumping into Braxton, his most trusted official. Braxton bowed his head in shame as well as out of respect. "The queen...they took her..." The king nodded, he knew what they were after and he'd be damned if he let his worst fear personify. He pushed the baby's sleeping form into Braxton's arms. "Take her. Get as far away from here as you can. Protect her with your life. She is our legacy. I am trusting you and I pray that you won't let me down. The nursery is taken care of. There is a door to the tunnels behind the armoire that will lead you to an exit. A carriage will be waiting for you, now go." He didn't bother to wait for a reply, he took one last look at his daughter and kissed her forehead warmly before he was gone.

He rushed to the throne room where he heard the most commotion. He heard the queen's cries of distress and there was no way in hell that he would let her die alone or in vain. The sadistic devil who organized the attack stood smirking as his hand wrapped its way around the queen's throat. His men were surrounding the two and watching in amusement. He glanced up as the king made an entrance but didn't let her go. "How nice of you to join us, your highness." He even added a bow for theatrics. His men chuckled lowly, dangerously. Now the true fun could begin. The man dropped the queen's quivering body and nudged her aside with his boot. "What do you want with me and my family?" The question wasn't for clarity as the king knew exactly what the sadistic man wanted, it was just a stalling tactic to delay the inevitable.

The man released a boisterous laugh. "I want to destroy you and everything you hold dear. You know nothing of struggle. You were born into the royal family, you have never had to work, to be frowned upon. I have outsmarted you and for that I deserve the kingdom. First my men killed your precious heir and now we will kill your wife right in front of you. You will die knowing that you were the reason for their deaths." He grabbed the queen by her curls and lifted her to her feet with one hand. With the other, he reached for the sword on his hip and drew it. In one smooth swipe, he cut her head clean off and tossed it at the king's feet. The amount of blood surrounding them now made the king's stomach curdle. He shut his eyes and fell to his knees, praying for his child, praying for forgiveness and ridding his mind of the image of his love decapitated in front of him.

The man in power lifted his sword once more and curled his lip up into a snarl. "You are a coward. You didn't fight for your child or your woman and now you kneel before me, the true and proper king." He sunk his sword deep into the former king's chest and pressed his boot into his abdomen to retract his sword from his limp body. He turned to his men and raised his sword. "Bow to your new king!"

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I opened my eyes and glanced around the room frantically, wailing from the scene I had just experienced. Prince Leopold took hold of my hands in his and tried to console me but I flinched back from his touch and shrank into the shabby mattress in the physician's quarters. I had just seen a woman beheaded and a man be impaled. Two royals died right in front of me. I couldn't will the tears to stop pouring down my cheeks even if I tried. "It was just a dream, Auralea. It wasn't real." The words that should've comforted me only made me cry harder. "It felt- it was real...I could see and feel everything. It was more real than anything I have ever experienced."

Prince Leopold just arched his brow at me and drew me into his strong hold. His warmth was comforting. I didn't need logic in this moment, I just needed to cry. He held me while I did. I cried for hours grieving those two strangers. I cried the trauma away. I cried until I fell asleep in his arms and he held on tight until I was ready for him to let go.