Realm Drifter: Cruel King

~Chapter Forty-One~

Chapter Thirty-Nine; Dressed for the Occasion

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..."Save them. Save the Kingdom and restore what is right."

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My heart plunged into my chest, everything had made sense. Why Salvatore was so cruel, why he didn't care if he killed hundreds of his own people. Why he could so easily torture and torment.

He wasn't a true Royal, his family had taken over. But where had the true Royals gone?

She said they were in hiding, waiting for the perfect moment. What did that mean? How long had that letter been sitting there... what if they had already taken back control?

I was so lost, everything swimming around me as I processed what I had read. What did this all mean, how long had it been since they took over? Why did they take over? I had to find out before I ended this all. It was my chance.

Everything was falling into place, it had all come to this. If I killed the King, the true Royals will step up, restore order the world.

I had to find the knife.

I quickly stuffed the letter into my dress, carefully getting up as to not strain my body any further, and began my search.

I had to be discrete and quiet as to not alert the Guards posted outside. I had to be aware, listen for any footsteps, for any movement and even for anything hidden on the walls.

I began to pad the walls in sections, from top to bottom, moving along the walls as I searched, waiting for anything.

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I had found it. The last spot I had looked, right next to the door, out of direct line of sight.

The very corner held a little groove, and when you pulled at it, a rectangular piece of wood slipped out, and behind it sat a hole where a thin and discrete knife sat.

The blade itself blunt from lack of use, deeming in nearly completely useless, if not for the fact that the knife ended very sharply. It had never been used.

I let out a deep sigh, things were progressing quickly now. Everything presenting itself before me, laid out as if it was simple.

I couldn't let myself linger, I had to hide the knife again, and collect it somehow in the morning. After that, the sweet joy of sleep.

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When I had awoken, three women stood in my room. Pulling objects into the room and setting things up.

"Excuse me?" I called out, rubbing my eyes.

"She's awake!" A brown headed woman shrieked in glee, clapping her heads. Next to her stood the same woman from yesterday, a joyful smile across her face as she laid out a new stack of dresses onto the bed. They were all white. The third woman, the same maid from yesterday, smiled at me. Her smile full of sadness, before she quickly glanced towards the floor.

"Let us begin!" They squealed, racing over to pull me out of bed and towards a stool they had placed in the middle. Immediately reaching to tug and pull at my hair, trying to tame the wild curls.

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Music and the sound of joyful chatter echoed throughout the castle.

Hundreds of people stood outside the castle, dressed in their finest clothes, the sun scorching down on their backs as they anticipated the biggest event of their lifetime. A wedding and coronation of a King and a Queen.

Alannah was dressed, her elegant dress trailing across the ground as she was lead down the hall. Flanked on all four sides were Royal Guards, leading her towards the Grand Room, where she will have her final moments as a maiden before she becomes a Queen.

Inside her bodice laid the knife, slipped between the crevice of her breasts, cutting into her the sides, but concealed.

Her hands we clammy, mildly shaking as she tried to contain the overwhelming anxiety that flashed before her eyes as she made her way further and further down the hallway.

Time was growing smaller, the silent clock ticking in her ear, urging her forward.

They were at the doors now, her pulse echoing in her ear as the guard opened the door.

The Grand Room was empty, devoid of almost all furniture, just the grand ceiling and lavish pillars that rose from the floor. In the middle sat a tall, full-length mirror, angled towards the fast west corner.

Alannah was lead towards it, before the guards dispersed, each going to stand in a square formation surrounding her.

She gazed into the mirror, terror lining her features, crinkling her forehead. Her eyes were dull, lifeless. She looked immaculate, but she herself seemed exhausted.

"Are you ready?" A monotone voice cut through. It was the Royal Guard, clothed in purple with studded swords.

They dressed for the occasion.

"Yes." 

~