Blue Blood and Belgium Chocolate

|00| Of Blue Blood

20 YEARS AGO

Footsteps echoed the hallway, the steps were soft. The soft taps of someone wearing soft fuzzy slippers which ironically, was grating enough for the long pathway of marble to echo. When the Queen had first came to the palace, she'd taken painful notice of the eerie silence and had hoped to fill it as soon as she possibly could. Now five children later and still at night the sound of echoes reverberated the halls.

There must have been a time, long ago when the halls had lacked the sound, perhaps when the palace had been filled with people, when there had been more servants and soldiers. When the kind had been allowed to enter. At present, there was only the royal family and the few workers and soldiers who stayed. She heard the sound of two footsteps before she saw them. The two guards patrolling stopped to bow as she passed them. One of them hurriedly stood up as she moved to walk past, "Your Royal Highness," the guard said, "would you like us to escort you to your bedroom?"

"It's fine," The Queen Adelia replied waving her hand. "I know my way around."

The guards bowed and let her pass. She continued walking footsteps unhurried to the youngest sons room. He was only two years old. His room was at the far end of the castle. Queen Adelia could never understand why her husband thought it was fitting to let his room be the furthest away from theirs. He didn't even take into consideration that she would long for the youngest one, her last child, to hold when sleep wouldn't let her rest.

It's because of that, that Adelia found herself taking a five minute walk from her room to head over to the youngest's room. She tried not to think of the great sorrow that might befall him. She reassured herself of the impenetrable rock that was the castle. No stranger could enter unless they were invited in and Adelia would not invite any stranger in.

The castles room were such that if a stranger did attempt to break in, it was easier to get lost in the corridors and search each room drawing attention to themselves. The Kings room was far from his sons so there would always be a heir. There was merit to it, but it pained her to be separated from the youngest.

Adelia reached her youngests room. Her shoulders eased. Adelia opened the heavy oak door to find the room empty. Then her heart races and panic bubbled in the slimness of her throat.

He's hiding in the room, she tells herself keeping shrillness from her gentle tone as she called her youngest, "Laurent!"

She couldn't convince herself of it when five minutes of her searching had gone by ad he wasn't in the room.

Her heart raced, "Laurent!" She cried looking at the room, "Laurent!" She was frantic. Her child was gone. She looked under the bed, in the cupboards, he was only two, her youngest boy. She could hear his name echo on the walls.

"Your majesty," two guards came barreling in, eyes focused and strong.

"My son, he's gone." Her voice was surprisingly calm despite the rapid beating of her heart.

"We'll find him," One guard said, the other nodded, drawing up a walkie talkie as he left room. Then the guards left, both dashing down the hall in the event of an intruder.

While Queen Adelia looked around the room in vain. Urgency to check on each of her children, forces her to head out. A new guard stood outside holding the walkie. He bowed to her. Adelia doesn't wait for him to rise. Her mind already on Prince Jasper. The nearest room to Prince Laurents. Her footsteps were faster now, urgent. It takes every bit of her not to run. Trust the guards, she told herself. They will find him.

The lines of a curse she'd heard came to her unbidden as she rushed to Jasper's room.

One line of the curse echoed painfully against her throat as she forced herself to stay calm but couldn't ignore the lump that formed, The smallest of hands shall croak. He was the youngest, the one who held her finger with his whole palm. The last child she could have.

The guard opened the oak door to the second youngest bedroom. There, her heart calms. Illuminated by the moonlight, was two bodies. One distinctly smaller than the others.

Thank Heavens.

"Thank you," Her voice was dry. The guards bowed and stayed by the door.

Queen Adelia walks towards the two boys, touching their heads and reassuring herself that they were very much real and whatever that witch had said was merely a lie.

The words of the curse had kept her awake countless of times after the wedding.

A wedding was meant to be the day where your cheeks would hurt from smiling, more so since Adelia had the pleasure of marrying the handsomest bachelor in Belgium.

It's that same wedding she had looked forward to, which haunted her in her nightmares. She had been an overbearing mother since.

Flashes of it flocked to her. The witch who had worn a mask and entered.

The way she had swayed as though drunk on a song Adelia couldn't hear. The way she had pointed an elegant hand with a ring to Adelia, bringing forth the promise of Adelia's dream for a big family. But also the nightmare of losing it.

Her husband, King Philippe told her it wouldn't happen. Curses were not permanent, they could be broken and she would not live for the words that had uttered her lips. Adelia still remembered the inhuman voice she desperately sought to forget.

In no longer than a full moon's circle,

One by one shall wickedness fall,

The smallest hands shall croak,

The one of charm shall choke,

The strongest will be the heir,

The weak of heart shall betray,

The most beloved will save them all.

The woman had smiled when her song had been done, and laughed when the guards grabbed her. She didn't fight. She died the following morning in prison.

Queen Adelia held on to the knowledge that this would be enough that no harm shall befall her youngest. And as she gave birth to more and more, she began to believe that no harm would fall on her little ones.

AN

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