A Kingdom of Bloodshed

*¬*Chapter Thirteen*¬*

Weeks have passed since I was sent home. Weeks of pacing, being angry, then numb, then angry once more. Weeks of confusion and boredom and fighting practice. I'm tired of the same routine, but I have nothing else to do. I know that the final tournament has already happened, but he hasn't announced who the winner was. I don't want to know. I don't care enough to know. But that's a lie. I do care. I very much want to know who he's going to choose.

Sighing, I flop back onto my bed and throw an arm over my head, "Why am I so bothered by this?"

"Bothered by what?" Rosemary's voice startles me. Lifting my head slightly, I see her standing in the doorway, her hands are wrapped around an envelope and she looks nervous.

"Rose? What's the matter?" She shuffles on her feet, her toes tapping at the floor nervously. "You received a letter in the mail." I blink. That's what has her acting so weird? "And? Is it anything important?" Rosemary bites her lip, chewing it anxiously. "Well, I think it's from him." I pause, then sit up quickly, "From who?" Though I already have a feeling on who she's talking about.

"Lord Kazimir."

I blink. "Let me see." I reach a hand out, waiting for her to drop the letter into it. Rosemary hesitates, "Rose?" She sighs, then proceeds to walk towards me, "I don't know what it says but I doubt it's anything good."

She hands me the letter, then steps away; waiting. I blink, "You can go now, Rosemary." She frowns, "But-" "I'll be fine." Sighing, she closes her mouth then turns and exits my room.

With shaking hands I rip open the envelope, pull out the cream coloured paper from inside, then unfold it to see beautiful handwriting scrawled across the paper.

It states:

My Dearest Althea,

I am writing to you today, in the hopes that you are well and that your time back home has been pleasant. As you know, the competitions are now over and it's time for me to pick a winner. As much as I wished you to be there to compete, I must accept the choices that were made. I am writing to you, in the hopes that you'll attend the ceremony; as you were a competitor, it is only right that you be here. If I don't hear back from you then I know your answer. Though I hope to hear from you.

This is your invitation to attend the Crowning Ceremony at the Kingdom of Bloodshed.

Please RSVP when you can.

All my love,

Kaz.

I blink after reading the letter. Placing the paper on my lap. He's inviting me back to his court? To watch as he announces the winner of his games? Why would I want to attend that? Is he trying to hurt me more? Anger begins to course through me, and in a fit of frustration I tear the letter into several pieces.

There's no way I'm attending that ceremony. He's waiting for my answer to appear in the mail, well let him wait. He can wait forever for all I care.

Combing my fingers through my hair, I stand quickly then storm from the room; aiming for the training ring outside. I need to let off some steam and I need to do it now.

⤗

Swing after swing, I hit the punching bag with all my might. Every hit lets out another puff of frustration. I try to fall into a rhythm but my anger only seems to consume me more. It only seems to worsen as the minutes pass by. Finally I can no longer keep the waves of hurt at bay and with a swift round-house kick, I send the bag flying across the room and landing with a thump on the far side of the room.