The Fall of a Kingdom

The Mad Kings Plan

King Damian had traveled to town incognito looking around for that brilliant mane of red hair. He had not felt this alive in years. The thrill of having his goal that much closer to completion had his steps feeling as if he was walking on air.

Him and his guards had arrived at the last place they had seen Raven and had seen no clue of her shortly before it became dark and decided to scope out the place believing that she probably went into one of the nearby home.

"My lord, someone of your standing does not need to stand out here to find one little girl. Why do you not go back..." A sword glinted through the night slicing the guards head off.

The sword now covered in blood was held by none other than the King himself. "Anyone else wish to tell me what I should or should not do?" His question sent a chill down all the guards present spine. "Clean this mess up. We do not want the little lamp to see it and run away if she is near." Damian kicked the now headless body to the side as if it were trash and not the corpse of one of his guards.

The closest guards to the body quickly surged forward to do their kings bidding afraid that the next head to role would be their own.

Damian's eyes glinted with a sharp light as he looked at the blood that now covered his sword. "Wait!" His voice reverberated through the alleyway they were currently standing in. Walking over to the body that the guards had lifted from the ground his face an impassible wall showing no emotions. He took his sword running it across the pants of the deceased clearing it from any evidence that it had recently been used.

During this time night had fallen, and lanterns had been lit. He walked back towards the end of the Alleyway peering out into the dark only to see two figures slip from one of the building to his left. From their size and shape it was not hard to tell that one was male and one was a female. The figures kept to the shadows looking around for any eyes that me be upon them unaware that the very person they were trying to avoid had his sights set on them.

Without even seeing if his guards were following him Damien crept from the alleyway following the same path the two figures had just disappeared down. He kept a slight distance between them. Close enough to keep his eyes on them but far enough away that they would not hear his steps.

From the direction they were heading there were very few places they could be going. The church being one and the other being the forest which they could have reached in less time going the other direction.

The lanterns started to become far and few between as they reached the outskirts of town their light being replaced by moonlight. The two figures that had been walking ahead of Damian started to slow their pace as they reached a bridge.

Damian's breath caught in his throat. It was like looking into the past in front of him was a splitting image of the late queen. Ravens red hair framed her face as she stared up at the moon her eyes closed just enjoying the silent night around her.

"My Alina." The Kings whisper went unheard as the two figures continued on their journey. Walking towards the church with all its lights dimmed.

He stood there a few more moments thinking of the woman he had once knew and how the one he had just saw could have been her ghost. He was overcome with an emotion he had not felt in a long time. Desire to have something other than just the Kingdom, to own and to hold his sweet Alina.

He shuffled back to the Alley in a daze where his guards were in a panic trying to find him.

"Your Majesty!" They almost all exclaimed at once upon seeing him, worried at his pale face.

He did not even meet their eyes, lost in his own thoughts that revolved around a red haired girl. "Let us return to the castle." His voice was quiet almost swallowed by the night around him.

The trip back the castle was silent, nobody wanting to risk the ire of the King if they were to say something unpleasant. They were used to him getting lost in his thoughts, but they had never seen him so pale as when he returned alone that night.

The moment the carriage stopped the King lept up from his seat, jumping down and barking orders to the guards around him. "Call a meeting! I want everyone that needs to be there in the throne room within the hour!"

As he requested within the hour Damian found himself surrounded by his council and higher up members of his military.

"I have come up with a new plan, a plan that will keep me on the throne and give me an heir" He announced. "For the past 17 years we have searched for Raven with the intentions of killing her, but if I offer to allow her to rule by my side as my Queen then I will stay as the King." His previously pale face had regained all of its color and even had a rosy tint to his cheeks.

He was very proud of his plan, so he did not see the look that crossed each of his Captains and council members faces. Even Abigor was confused and slightly sickened by the Kings plan. Did he not remember that the girl was his own niece by blood? Had he finally snapped to the point that all logic had fled him thoughts.

In the audience there was however one member who never lost his smile. A sinister look plastered upon his face.

"My King that is a wonderful idea. Surely anyone would be lucky to rule by such a magnanimous ruler as yourself." Michael had a Cheshire grin that made even the cat that got the canaries look like a frown.

Damian only smiled wider at the declaration of Michael. He would have his sweet sweet Alina. Finally she would be his and only his and nobody would ever take her away from him.

"Tonight in town I saw her. There is no mistaking that she is the one we have been looking for. My Alina." Everyone in attendance flinched at the use of the late queens name. All of them thinking that the King had lost his mind. He had been crazy for years, but he had officially went over the deep end.

"They went to the church on the outskirts of town, kill anyone that stands in your way, but I want her brought to me unharmed." King Damian looked out to those in his audience noticing that they did not immediately jump to follow through with his plan. His happy smiled faded to a frown quickly noting the tense atmosphere that surrounded everyone's mood.

"Now!" He roared saliva flying from his mouth.

General Abigor bowed in King Damian's direction his face betraying none of the disgust he felt. He would order his underlings to fetch the girl, but he wanted none of this. He had stood by the Kings side as he took over the kingdom, through all of the murder he was forced to commit, each of the kidnappings and hiding of bodies. He had once thought that he would do anything for his King but even he had to draw the line at incest. It would be a different story if he had been commanded to kill the girl, but to fetch her and then force her to marry her own uncle... even he could not fathom doing such an act.

General Abigor left the throne room to fetch those who were directly under his command. There were few he trusted with his own life, the seven men in his until were those few. They had been with him almost as long as he had been serving the king. Each one hardened by battle and notorious for their ruthless tactics. He would send them to fetch the girl and then he would retire. He should have done it years ago, but his need to please the man who had once saved his life caused him to stay.