Hallow King

The Cruel King

"What in heavens name are you thinking wandering out again?!" Leiah stood before the king who remained seated on his throne, waving an angry finger at her face. "Are you crazy? Every time I tell you not to go out, you always do so!" Leiah raised her hands up in protest, "But, father. It's so boring in here. If you can just let me go out only-."

"Absolutely not," he retorted, tapping his finger furiously on the throne's armrest. Closest to him stood another girl with short brown hair to her shoulders. She peered at the two with a serious expression on her face. The slightest hint of a grin lingered on her lips.

Leiah could feel her spirit begin to crumble inside her as she tried once more to try and calm her father, "If you could only see things my way-"

"No, Leiah. I've had enough. I don't ever want you stepping foot outside the castle. From this day forward, your doors and windows will be chained."

"What? You're joking."

The girl with short hair took a step towards the king, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Afraid not, little sister. You've been acting very bad since this month started." Leiah glared at the seemingly innocent woman in front of her. "Vivian...you told father I was out didn't you?" Vivian blinked a few times, shaking her head with a fake tone of sadness in her voice, "I only did it to protect you."

"Liar!" Leiah hissed and ran towards the girl- who screamed and hid behind the throne. The king stood up suddenly and grabbed Leiah's wrist, calling one of the guards to his aid, "Take her straight to her room and lock her up."

Leiah struggled and kicked as she was forcefully dragged out of the room. Before the door shut, she caught a glimmer of a smile on her older sister's lips. "You rat!" Leiah called out once more before the doors shut completely.

"Let me go. I don't like how you're holding me!" She yelled at the man who had both her wrists in a tight grip. She continued to holler until they ultimately made their way to her bedroom. "Sorry, princess." the man responded and tossed her inside, slamming the door shut behind her. Leiah laid on the ground quietly, looking around at the darkness with a trembling jaw.

She silently crawled over to one of the drawers beside her bed and slid it open, searching blindly for a pair of matches. Once she caught hold of them, she commenced to light the match and held it close to a gold lantern close by. The room lit up slightly as the wick caught fire.

Leiah got up without a word, opening up her wardrobe and pulling out a white sleeping gown. She pulled it down over her head after peeling her old clothes off and loosened the pins from her hair; long black waves cascading down to her waist. Fists clenched, she turned and faced herself in the mirror, a small tear running down her cheek.

"Oh, mother," she sniffled as she turned away from the mirror and curled up in her bed. Another tear crawled down her face as she began to sob to herself, grabbing on to a pillow and squeezing it with anger.

With a loud growl, she hurled it across the room, watching as it knocked over some objects she had on a table. It didn't matter how much of a fuss she made, no one was going to save her from her imprisonment.

Sprawling herself all over the bed, Leiah decided it was best to try and cheer herself up. Her mother would have wanted that.

"I know, "she finally spoke, thinking of a way to brighten up her gloomy night. She scurried off the sheets and bent down, pulling out a small box from underneath her bed. With a smile, she lifted up the lid and pulled out some paper bats and ghosts she had made a few days ago. "Now no one can bother me," Leiah continued, trying to convince herself that being confined would be alright after all.

Now that all the cutouts were gone, an empty, wooden music box was all that remained. She gently lifted it up and observed it, setting it down to one side gently. Carefully, she winded it up and watched with slight joy as a slow, yet beautiful tune began to ring softly throughout the room.

This was the last gift her mother had ordered to be given to her before she passed away. Nobody could cure her of her illness, but even so she never stopped trying her best for everyone around her. Leiah set the music box down on the bed and wiped her damp eyes, quickly grabbing some scissors to cut out some pumpkin shaped figures she had seen in books.

Leiah's father and sister never did seem to appreciate her presence after her mother's death. Perhaps they blamed her, but even so she didn't care. Her mother loved her, and that was all that mattered.

"There we go," the young woman exclaimed proudly, holding up her pumpkin along with the bat and ghost. She stared at the pieces for a while, then proceeded to rub the back of them with some glue she had stolen from the maids down stairs. With a proud nod, she pasted the paper figures on the wall beside her.

No, there was no way she ever going to show anyone, not even her father, that she was sad. Instead, she was going to prove to everyone that her spirit could never be broken.

From outside, the guard watching over her door rolled his eyes as he could hear her little fits of gleeful laughter. He heard the princess was eccentric, but to him, she was on a whole other level of weird. 

Throughout the rest of the castle, all was silent. The citizens from outside the walls were still running around, eager to get as much decorations as they could for the night. Strong gusts of wind were beginning to rise, however, and all eventually decided it was best to take a rest. They hurried home, wrapping their coats tight around their shivering bodies.

All was eerily quiet in the dark streets now, and not a soul could be seen. Further away from the dark corner of the kingdom, a large graveyard stood abandoned. Headstones were damaged and broken from years of neglect. Weeds entangled themselves around dried flowers and a light fog descended among the dead's last resting place. Everything seemed calm, but something strange seemed to take place in the yard that night. Many crows stood perched on trees close by, dark beady eyes looking down below at the mass grave site. It seemed they were all waiting for something, watching tentatively with little noise.

For a long while nothing occurred, but a sudden rumbling started to rise from the dry ground. It was different than an earthquake, and seemed to be affecting the graveyard only. None of the citizens nor those in the kingdom could hear or see the strange occurrence that was taking place. The crows began to scream, flapping their wings furiously as the sound became more intense. The fog became opaque as it surrounded the headstones and swallowed them whole. Then, as quickly as it came, the rumbling immediately stopped. A moment of eerie silence fell over the birds as they moved closer to the tombs, hopping around curiously.

A long, skeletal hand suddenly pushed straight up through the dirt, causing the nearby crows to cry out and scurry to safety. Noticing their companions fly back up into the trees, the other winged creatures did the same. All started to call out once more as the bony hand started to feel its way around, grasping on to a nearby root protruding from the ground.

The crows watched in wild amusement as the skeleton managed to free its upper body and ultimately crawled out. It shakily stood up on its bony legs, swaying from side to side as the sound of birds hollering wildly echoed inside its skull.

Looking up, the skeletons empty sockets devoured the sight of the large kingdom far off in the distance. With a husky, dry voice, it let out a loud cry of exclamation.

"At last!" Its stiff jaw fell open, "The Master will finally rise!"