His Light ✓

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3

Published 3/23/20

𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇! 𝐸𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎

Annalise/Ann's POV

My feet trudged along the dirt path. I have been walking in the forest for what feels like ages. The warm air was becoming more crisp as the hours grew by; which meant that night was approaching upon us. I feel my legs shake and suddenly give way from under me. I fall to the ground, unable to stand.

"Alzati! (Get up!), wench!", the commendatore shouts at me. I force myself to get up with my wobbly legs, but the effort is quickly gone when I'm on the ground again. I hear the commendatore huff and mutter 'weak'. He flicks his horse's reins again, and I am dragged in the dirt.

As time went by, we finally make it out of the forest. The dirt path that was under me becomes stone. I feel my legs being cut by sharp edges of the stone.

I see a torch-lit bridge that leads to the entrance of the castle. I force myself to stand up, not able to bear the even more cuts if I continued to be dragged on the stone path. Guards at the base of the bridge become visibly intimidated, standing erect when the head knight walks by. 

We walk through the gate archway, the knights dismount from their horses and give them to the nearby stable hands. I unknowingly make eye contact with one of the stable hands and notice his face. He had a swollen, blue and black eye, a cut on his lip, and a limp.

His eyes capture mine, and I give him a soft smile. He doesn't return the expression. After a few seconds of staring, he blinks and finally leads the horse to the stables.

I am violently pushed to keep moving. The head knight leads me through the main castle doors. Where I am greeted by a lavish entryway. The walls had an intricate design around the edges. It had a tall ceiling with a candle lit chandelier that hung in the middle. Suddenly, I feel small and out of place. 

I am led to a huge wooden and metal door with guards stationed on each side. They grab the handle and gave it a pull. The doors make a 'creak' sound. The knight pushes me into the next room to what appears to be the council room. I notice a ragged man in the middle of the room with a man in royal clothing sitting on a throne to who I can only imagine is the King. The council body appeared not to be present during this meeting.

The knight walks over to a man who appears to be the messenger. He whispers something into the messenger's ear, he then walks off toward the King. I turn my attention back to the ragged man. "Per favore, mio re (Please, my king), spare my life! I have a newborn son that I wish to see grow up!" he begs between his cries. I look at the King, who looked unstirred at the man's attempt to spare his life.

"Well, you should have thought that when you stole from me! "the king grits at the man. Suddenly, the messenger appears next to the king and whispers to him. His eyes glance in my direction.

He then responds with a nod. He looks back at the ragged man with no compassion and mercy. He says, "Mr. Blasio, you will be hung for your crime of stealing. You are to wait for your execution in your cell without knowing the day of it." The ragged man began to hysterically cry as he is dragged away by the guards. My heart sunk upon hearing his penalty.

The doors shut with a 'boom' sound that makes me flinch. My bicep is grabbed, and I am pulled to the middle of the floor. I am harshly thrown to the middle and I drop to the floor on my knees. I keep my eyes focused on the floor.

"Your Majesty, I bring you my report back of the Amasmo Village." I hear the King respond with a 'continue.' The knight begins to tell his majesty of the village."Did you do as I commanded? Did I not command you to burn it down?!" the king interrupts with an aggressive tone.

"Sire, it was this female! She exchanged her life for us to spare her town!", the knight says in an accusing tone and points at me. "You mean to tell me that a peasant girl gave her life to serve me in order that I spare her village?" The king asks curiously. I hear the knight answer, "Si, sua signoria (Yes, Your Lordship)".

I hear the King get up from his seat and start walking over to me. I see his shoes come into my line of vision. His strong scent of cedarwood clouds my senses. I refuse to look up at him. He gives off an aura that is dark and intimidating. My eyes begin to swell with tears at the thought that I will end up like the man before me.

"Look at me," he commands in a deep voice. I refuse. He commands again, this time more cynically. "Look. at. me!" His voice booms off the walls echoing in the room. I flinch at the tone but still refuse. Then suddenly, he roughly raised my chin. My eyes meet his cold blue ones. His eyes seem to soften for a moment, then quickly return to their cold state.

He muttered something under his breath that I didn't catch. He lets go of my chin and walks around, scanning me with his eyes. "What am I to do with you?" He mutters to himself. After a few moments, he is back in front of me. He smirks, "I will make you my personal chambermaid."

"Your Majesty, are you quite certain that you want to make this peasant to be a maid?" the knight interjects his question. "FRANCESCO! Know where your place is!" The king growls.

Francesco stammers, "y-y-yes, my lord. Won't happen again."

"See to it that it doesn't."

The King calls for someone, "Agnesia!".  A young woman walks over to him with her head bowed low. She greets him with a small curtsy and a 'Si (Yes), my lord?'.

"Take her to get dressed into some..." his eyes scan me again. "Proper clothing and show her where she will be working." The young woman nods her head and orders me to follow her out of the room.

While walking out, I feel eyes on me. I slightly turn my head to see the King staring at me with a glint in his eye. It was a look that I was unfamiliar with. But It was a look that will be etched in my brain forever.

𝔈𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3

𝒩𝑜𝓉𝑒: How was chapter 3? Don't be a silent reader! Your feedback would be appreciated!

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