The King's Persecution

Chapter Three

Music is "London Falling" by Michael Giacchino.

In the wooded area close to the castle...or what was left of the wooded area...dwelt the mansion housing the beast. To this mansion, Eliza was escorted that night to carry out her task of killing the beast and ridding the kingdom of this monster.

The knights were eerily silent as they galloped through the streets onto the paths outside the city. Eliza tried to engage them in conversation as she did before but to no avail. Why are they not laughing and jeering like before? What could have changed over the last couple of hours? The men refused to meet her gaze. He must have had some words with them...that's why they're so afraid of him. But still... She gazed at her surroundings as they rode, taking in one last look at the outside world...before she'd likely never see it again.

When they reached the outer edge of the mansion, the men halted their horses. A hedge of roses guarded the estate with no visible entrance. The plumed guard silently retrieved a tiny pouch from his saddlebag and sprinkled its contents on part of the hedge.

The roses withered and faded away, leaving a small hole for one person to squeeze through. It would be a tight fit...and a painful crossing between the thorns. Indeed, his royal highness was living up to his reputation.

"Go, before the roses grow back," the guard said, turning away from Eliza, "It only takes a few minutes."

Eliza nodded to the guard. Then, without saying a word, she dismounted, made sure her bow, quiver, and knives were still with her, and pushed herself through the hole, earning multiple scratches on her face and legs. As soon as she was on the other side of the wall, she heard the knights gallop back to the castle, to relative safety.

Brushing off the stray thorns that had latched onto her cloak, she turned to face the mansion.

Sitting at three stories high, it loomed above her as she walked toward it, stray leaves crunching under her feet. Shattered windows gaped down at her, while the patches of paneling missing lent a patchwork-like texture to the walls. Shockingly enough, the roof was still attached to the building but scattered shingles lined the lawn around the castle. The stabbing winds howled around her, whipping her skirt between her legs, sending a chill throughout her body.

"Great," she said, pulling her cloak tightly around her arms. "There's no warm fire to look forward to either..."

Surely no monster would be able to survive the cold, harsh winters in this mansion. Even bears, with their thick fur coats, hid in caves for the winter. The building appeared to be in a similar state as the castle, barely holding itself together, but still standing.

"Is the mansion going to kill me before the monster does?"

Then another thought struck her. "Maybe...the monster is already dead from the cold! Wait..."

A minute passed. The mansion came ever closer. She was nearly upon the splintered threshold of the cursed mansion. Her soiled boots trod up the crumbling stone steps to the front door. Her hand shaking slightly, she opened the door to the mansion and stepped inside, bracing herself for whatever lay beyond the entrance to this new world.

The scarred door groaned as she pushed it open, revealing a dark passageway with a flight of stairs at the end. Doors were staggered throughout the passageway; all of them shut to protect their secrets, of course. Several candles lined the walls, but none were lit.

If only I had a match...

Walking down the hall, she tried to open a couple of the doors, but to no avail. A quick search on the tops of the door frames was fruitless as well.

Is the monster merely confined to the halls? Why are these doors not ripped to shreds yet?

Discouraged, she made her way to the end of the corridor to the flight of stairs. To her surprise, they were elegantly carved, with wooden roses and vines looping up and down the railings. No claw or teeth marks could be found. The faded carpet lining the steps of the stairs was dotted with rose petals, although one had to peer closely to see them.

Looking behind the staircase, she noticed a second set of stairs, not as elaborately decorated, but which appeared to lead those who wished it under the ground. Made of stone, surely these steps would lead to where prisoners were kept. She took those stairs instead.

As she walked down the stairs and into the corridors of the basement, the hope of her bargain with the king filled her thoughts. I...can finally make this right to my parents.

Nearly a year had passed since that horrible day. The day when her entire world was taken from her.

This corridor resembled the one upstairs. No stone walls, no padded cells, nothing appeared to be prison or cell-like to keep prisoners in.

Like her sister's cell. And her parents' cell. And the cell she should have been put in herself.

She frantically tried every door, brushed off the top of the door frames, and looked behind every picture in the hall. No keys. Even if the monster couldn't open the doors, someone had to open them at some point. Wasn't there a place to keep the prisoners waiting to be...

But alas, she didn't know. She wasn't there...to see the end.

According to the king though...it wasn't the end. For her parents, there was still a chance. And she was going to make it right.

And yet, you still couldn't save Lydia and James.

"Shut up!" she shouted into the darkness, momentarily forgetting her situation. "I know I couldn't save them, but you don't have to keep saying it!"

She fell silent, struggling to catch her breath. Fighting back tears, she tried more of the jeering doors, trying to find a different place other than these haunted halls.

A handle finally turned. She immediately pushed herself through and slammed the door. Breathing heavily, she looked around at her new surroundings.

And stifled a gasp when she found herself face to face with the creature she was supposed to destroy.

Ehehehehe.

It's late and I'm trying to fight back against this dreadful cold that has taken over most of my family, but I also have 800 more words to write for my word count today.

Sleep or writing? Do well on pharmacology test tomorrow or write about angst and the inability to forgive oneself for one's failures?

Ooof, that's tough. One does sound more fun though.

As promised, your meme for the day.