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"stop pestering me! I'm not telling you anything about myself or my family Blade, so stop trying."
"Tobias James Schlatt!!"
"uh oh." "Toby, we're leaving, say goodbye." "What? Why!" The woman narrowed her eyes at the teen, scowling as she turned away and began walking back towards the castle to leave. "Techno? Why's Toby leaving?" "This.. might be my fault." She rolled her eyes as she listened to the brothers talk, feeling her younger brother grab hold of her hand as they left. "Bye Boys."
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The two siblings arrived home just before sunset as they had stopped off in the towns and were now in their own gardens, Toby sat on the ground as Elaine paced back and forth. "Toby what were you thinking? No! It's not even that, why weren't you thinking!? You can't show people that! Especially not those people, do you have any idea what dad would do if he found out you had done that? Your lucky I haven't told him and he hasn't found out!" She scolded him, sighing to herself as she looked down at him. "I just want you to be safe Tobe, I'm sorry for yelling." She placed a hand either side of his face as she spoke then pulled him into a hug which he happily accepted, resting her head on his shoulder. "What else did you get up to while you were there?" She sat down infront of him, letting him go.
"Well Tommy showed me around their castle, it's a lot nicer than ours but they have more than we do! They've got a super fancy training room, and Techno showed me some of his books, oo! He actually wanted me to give you this one, he said it's about the gods or.. something." Elaine took the book out of the young boys hand, running her fingers along the spine as she smiled, nodding at him to continue. "And then, some guy that Tommy knows.. he's an outsider but they seemed to be friends, his name was Dream. He asked me where I came from and stuff so of course I told him, he didn't like Dad but who does..?" The two chuckled as they wore smiles on their faces, Toby's ramble came to an end as he leaned into her, looking at the lake seeing the ducks swim around, it was peaceful, for a while, until rushed footsteps came their way.
"Your Highness..! Your Highness!" Elaine hurriedly stood up, walking over to the maid who came running. "Hey.. calm down.. what is it?" "I-It's your father.. he.. um.." her eyes went wide and she looked to her brother. "Tobe, I have an awesome idea for you, go and wait in the training room and I'm going to send Quackity to come and spar with you." "Really!? You said you weren't going to let me until I turned 16!" "Well, I changed my mind, now go before I change it again." "Going!"
The young boy ran back towards their home and she turned back to the maid. "Take me to him."
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"Father..?" "Elaine..! Darling.. Hi.." "What happened..?" "What do you mean what happened? I'm fine, can you tell these medics and.. other people that I'm fine!" "You are not fine, what have you been drinking?" "My usual! Only difference is the guy that gave it to me." She quirked her head to the side, raising a brow, urging him to speak more. "I had a guy over, he wanted to discuss if he could buy any land off of us, I told him i'd look into it and he gave me a nice big bottle as a gift!" The medic and the princess met eyes before glancing at the king. "And you drank it?" "Course I did!" "How stupid can you be.." she mumbled, sighing a little. "Medic, please keep a keen eye on his vitals and do whatever you can, I have a feeling we'll see much worse signs in him in the next couple hours.."
Elaine was unfortunately correct, her father had to be resuscitated twice throughout the next few hours, his skin had gone pale and he could barely stand, the effects of poison. She had gone to find a log of everybody who had visited the castle that day and who she didn't recognise, as much as she disagreed with her fathers actions, she couldn't let this slide, because who else in the castle could this happen too.. she had found 2 people with their addresses written next to their names as to where they were and huffed to herself, running her hands down her face as she looked over to the king who was laying on his bed. "Dad.. who takes over? When your.. you know.." "Well, it would be you." "But I'm not.. I'm not ready.." "Says who?" "Me.. I-I'm not, I don't think I can rule." "You'd be the best ruler this country has had in a long time El." "You really think so?" "I know so." Silence washed over them as she glanced at papers full of different laws and deeds. "Why did you drink it? You must have known.." "I did know, it's time honey, it's what's best for me and this country, as well as for you and Toby and you know that.." "Couldn't you just step down, you didn't have to.. kill yourself.." "It doesn't work like that, let go El, it's okay.." "It's not okay! We can get you healed! You can step down!" The man spiralled into a coughing fit as he shook his head, trying to sit up. "It's okay." He placed a hand on her cheek, pressing their foreheads together. "I'll get to see your mother again, that's where I belong." Elaine glanced up at him through her brows before closing her eyes, a small tear sliding down her face. "Okay." "Okay..?" "Okay.." A few moments of silence passed, then the kings body fell limp, she sat up and looked at the now dead man, intertwining her fingers with his as she stared, silent tears falling down her face as the castle staff on-looked the situation, the room remained silent as the woman stood up and walked over to his desk, she removed all of the bottles from the room, putting them in the hands of a maid and asked her to dispose of them. "Find my brother, explain to him what's happened.. I'll um.. I'll alert the people.."
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A long black ring beamed across the country, this was something every kingdom,every town was alert of, a black beam, a symbol from Manberg the king had died, every royal had a colour and an amount of rings that would flash for the occasion. The Manberg town fell silent as bells rang.
"Elaine, is that some sort of joke?" "No joke Toby. He's gone." "But.. how?" "It was time, he knew it was, he accepted what the universe had to hand to him." "What now?" "I.. don't know, I know that I can't rule this place Tobe." "And I can?" "Much better than I ever could, rule the kingdom Toby, make it exactly what you've always wanted." "What about you..?" "What about me?" "What will you do?" "Move away.. I can't have people thinking I'm a coward, granted I am, but.." "I'm with you, don't worry." "I'm leaving tonight, will you be okay?" "Of course."
The siblings stared at one another, Elaine placed a hand on his cheek and smiled at him. "Your going to make a fantastic ruler Tobes, will you be safe without me..?" "I don't need you to help me be safe, you made me feel brave El, and that's even better.." She hugged her brother tightly and headed to her room.
Elaine packed her bags, taking her clothing and any essentials she might need, she would leave to somewhere isolated, where she could build a house and live a desolate life, she wanted to fulfill what her mother wanted from the kingdom but for that she had to be stronger, wiser and more resilient and she could only do that alone. She loaded her smaller bag full of documents, scrolls and ink, she prepared herself for whatever she may face. She double checked she had her sword on her then left the castle, leaving to the stables to mount her house then left, it was dark out now, the moon high in the sky with the stars scattered in a picturesque way, they had a long night ahead of them...
