The Part Where Katherine Is The Queen Of England

75 3 0
                                    

A/N
I fully admit that this prompt was entirely based on how I felt every day before exams (thank goodness they're over)-- compulsive pacing, feeling strangled, etc, and I made it be Katherine because I figured if there is ever a war she would freak out and single-handedly try to end it peacefully because she's the only ruler fully invested in peace. I don't know but it made sense in my head.
Then the AI ignored her and wrote about its own character.
Parts I wrote are in italics. Have fun.
___________________________________________________

Queen Katherine of the Overgrown was pacing through her gardens, wringing her hands tightly as she walked the well-trodden paths. The wind snagged small pieces of her dark hair in her crown of purple flowers, and her loose skirt felt stifling. The scent of her beloved blooms smelled oppressive, and the gentle sound of the leaves hurt her head.

'Everything is wrong,' she thought, and those three words followed Katherine around like her shadow. 'How could I have let this happen? It's all my fault .'

She stopped abruptly. There, right in front of her, was the bush she had left on the fence for a hundred years. It had grown incredibly tall over the centuries, through fire, war, drought, and all the times people came and went from Katherine's land. The branches of the bush spread out, heavy with the largest leaves Katherine had ever seen. There were so many of them that they touched the top of the fence on both sides. Every time a wind blew, the bushes shook, and they emitted a low, throbbing hum that sounded painful to Katherine's ears. She had grown to hate that sound. The leaves were striped, deep red and green, and looked almost alive. She had heard people say that the old man at the graveyard used to think that if you were good enough to touch the bush, you were supposed to come back here. And every time she passed it, she always imagined that the old man had come back, and had something important to tell her.

Katherine stared at the bush. She felt as though the bush was talking to her. The thorny branches seemed to reach out towards her, and she shuddered, thinking that maybe the bush was trying to touch her and take her with it. Katherine turned to go back to her mansion. She had had enough of this place already. She didn't belong here, with all of the so-called royalty and the queens who ruled over them. She didn't need to be another person in a long line of others. Her destiny was elsewhere.

Katherine's carriage pulled up to the gates of her manor. She sighed deeply and climbed out, leading the carriage through the huge iron gates. Her servants had been expecting her, and several of them offered her friendly waves as they waited for her to dismount. The Queen met the Queen of Castille at the door to her manor. There was such a sadness in her eyes as she gazed down at the Queen's skirts, and something about the way Castille said her name sent a shiver down Katherine's spine. It was the way Castille said her name that made Katherine feel like an interloper, or like she didn't belong. It was as though Castille had forgotten about her hundred years ago, and Katherine was just coming back.

'Why are you here?' said Katherine, her voice soft and sad.

'I...I don't know,' said Castille. Her voice sounded scared, and Katherine felt pity for her. 'I just...I just had to come back,' she said, sounding much younger than Katherine remembered her being.

'I'm sorry to have been such a bother,' said Katherine. She felt almost offended, thinking that the old lady had been on her mind. 'Why don't you spend the night in my dining room?' she said. 'If you're hungry, you can get anything you want for breakfast, or for supper. It's up to you.'

Castille glanced over at the older lady in the green velvet dress. Katherine wasn't looking at the Queen, but in the direction the old woman's eyes were looking. Katherine sighed again, clearly disappointed that her efforts to return the lady to her proper place were not working. 'Thank you, but...I don't think I can,' said Castille. 'I just don't know where to start.'

AI writes an Empires SMP fanfic.Where stories live. Discover now