Backwards Fairy Tale

Chapter 22: The king's faithful knight

While the wedding between Prince Jay and Princess Clover was being decorated and prepared, the king of Drendecile snuck away to the hideaway of his faithful knight to prepare for war with the snake king.

Agnes was far from happy when he was summoned by the king once again, but when he heard the odds were Fairiosa and Drendecile vs Hedrin, he wasn't as angry.

"Agnes," The King greeted, "You have prepared our plan of attack?"

"Indeed sir," Agnes agreed drinking some wine, "You will give me a share of the plunder after this war of course, I will not fight for free."

"Of course," The King chuckled nonchalantly, "The same cut as the dragon wars."

"About that," Agnes interrupted, "I must talk to Princess Clover about my cut. I trust she is still the head of your treasury?"

"Absolutely," The King agreed, "I will summon her to your courters immediately."

Agnes reviewed his plans with the King before they were joined by Princess Clover who was faking a smile that only Agnes could detect.

"Now if you'll excuse me," The King began, "I have a wedding to plan."

Clover and her father shared a joyous grin before he fled the room, and Agnes finally rose from his seat with a heinous grimace.

"The ogre King," He began, "We will not require his assistance this time around. The snake king is strong, but he's hardly a formidable opponent."

"Perfect," Clover lied, "I will inform him of the news. In the meantime, we must discuss our plans of attack."

"You will lend me your strength," Agnes warned pointing to the map, "Here."

"Are you sure it is not a trap?" She asked skeptically.

"Are you afraid of a few snakes?" Agnes asked irritably, "I thought you were supposed to be the strongest queen this realm has ever seen."

"I am," she hissed fiercely, "But I am also engaged to be married. I cannot afford to scar this body anymore."

"As you wish princess," Agnes replied annoyed, "I'll take care of that region, but that means you will be up close and personal with the Snake King."

"Easy," She replied with a swish of her hair, "Are we done here? I have a wedding to plan."

"You may go," Agnes replied rolling up the map, "Do not reveal my location to anyone princess. We wouldn't want to cause a misunderstanding, right?"

"You wish," She growled with disgust before exiting the shabby hideaway.

Shaking her heels, she felt she had scrubbed off a little of her dignity. Now that she felt disgusting after meeting Agnes, she felt she may as well pay a visit to Ezekis and reject his offer.

Descending into the vulgar cave was quieter than the last time she had visited, and as she came closer to the throne, she immediately began to worry.

Kicking off her fragile heels, she ran down the poorly crafted stairs and realized there weren't ogres anywhere.

Ezekis's throne was completely abandoned, the cages that once held screaming humans were completely empty, and the fire pits they had once gathered around were stomped into dust.

Princess Clover's heart was racing as she dashed around the large area hoping Ezekis was somewhere around the corner, but no matter how much she searched the revolting place, she couldn't find him anywhere.

After a million reasons for his disappearance ran through her mind, only one reason seemed reasonable. Why else would he leave her ahead of schedule? It was definitely out of character for Ezekis to break a business deal, and to leave Clover alone was out of the question.

"He must've heard about the wedding," She thought shrinking to her knees, "He thinks I've betrayed him."

Her feelings towards Ezekis surfaced once again, feelings she would never show in front of her father.

As the tears fell down her pink cheeks, she was haunted by cruel reality.

Ezekis was really gone.