Strangers of the Forsaken.

Chapter Four: Part One.

Chapter Four: Part One.

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The devastatingly horrific, torturing fire that had been mercilessly ravaging its way throughout the kingdom, was finally beginning to show slight signs of slowing down a little. It wasn't until now, that the true extent of the damage was really starting to make its presence known. Trees had been savagely ripped from where they stood, becoming knocked to the ground with force. Large, vast areas of once beautiful grasslands were now charred jet black, from the effects of the unforgiving flames of nightmares. Various buildings and structures had suffered major architectural damage, having had huge sections completely burned away. Great billows of black and grey smoke had been endlessly pouring into the air, throughout the entire duration of the fire. As a result, this had caused the now polluted air to become toxic with poison, threatening the very lives of any who dared to breathe in the dangerous fumes. Human losses had also been taken on a catastrophic scale, sending the entire kingdom as a whole into an almost total meltdown. Princess Laylah's father, the King himself, had bravely taken the risk of jumping from the window of the room he'd been trapped in. Whether he was still alive was unknown, which his people were rapidly getting into a state of utter panic over. Not only was their one, true beloved King missing, but his Queen and also Laylah's younger sister; Alissiya, had also not made it out of the burning castle. After being abandoned by King Nikolai, the two had no way of getting themselves to safety on time. Because of this, the two had perished mainly due to smoke inhalation, and been found after the fire by Tobias; one of the royal servants who worked primarily in the castle's kitchens.

It had been a truly sombre morning for all who resided within the castle's walls, particularly those who were closest to the royal family. Servant Tobias had been one of many, whom had been frantically searching the castle building, hoping to at least find some trace of Queen Katharina. Things had first started to darken, when Tobias had begun to smell a rather strong smell, of what could only be described as burning human flesh. As he cautiously followed the scent, it had eventually taken him to the grand bedroom. There, laying motionless on the floor, were the Queen and her youngest daughter. A true tragedy had befallen the entire kingdom that day, a tragedy that would most definitely not be easily forgotten.

"How are we going to explain this to Princess Laylah?" Tobias had turned to face Anthony, his fellow servant who had been with him at the time. "She's going to be mortified when she finds out about all of this."

Anthony had then looked back at Tobias as if he had just fallen from the sky. "...Are you serious?" He'd retorted, sharply. "You know as well as I do that Laylah hightailed it out of this dreaded place a long time ago – and who can blame her? There was nothing here worth staying for anyhow, particularly for one so bright and promising as her.

A deep sigh had then slowly escaped Anthony's mouth. "As much as it truly pains me to say this, our Princess is most likely a lot better off where she is now. With any luck, she will never be stupid enough to return back to this frightful place."

It took just about every possible scrap of willpower within Tobias, for him not to just slap Anthony, right then and there for that comment. Instead however, he opted to take the more mature, refined approach to his response. "While I can absolutely understand where you are coming from with such a point, I regret to remind you that we have just now found the Princess' mother laying dead. Surely if Laylah were to never come back here again, she wouldn't ever find out about this – and then what? It just wouldn't be right, you know?"

The few moments of silence that followed between the two was almost as if a light had been switched on inside of them both. Neither one spoke of it at first, but it was glaringly obvious that the beginnings of a plan had now been born. Both were quite clearly thinking the exact same thing, but refraining from outwardly vocalizing such darkened thoughts, just incase the other one found them to be crazy.