THE QUEEN'S SERVANT

19

One second, everything was alright. People were enjoying a meal and talking joyously. But the next instant, screams were rising from every corner of the palace, creating instant chaos and making the guests wild and scared.

Queen Rocky was frozen in place as she watched people run without direction, bumping against each other and pushing away anything that stood in their way. She couldn't understand what was happening. Her worried eyes looked to her side. King Hassan was already up on his feet but his facial expression proved that he also didn't know what started the chaos. They were sitting at a dinner table with a few official guests who were quickly standing on their feet as well.

"What happened?" The king asked a young guard who was rushing towards them.

"I-I don't know for sure." The young man said in between shallow breaths. "I believe there are intruders in the palace. A few guards and guests were killed.

"What?!"

The king fisted his hands, taken by pure rage. Who dared spill blood inside his home on the day he was celebrating his queen's pregnancy?

"Ok, just take the queen and my guests to safety." He ordered the young guard.

Before Rocky could stop him, the king was already running. He kept his sword and a fire gun under his throne for situations like this. Said throne was located a few meters away from where he was but he was determined to reach it despite the mess that surrounded him.

People were so scared, they paid no mind to their surroundings. A commoner ran into the king and didn't turn around to apologize.

In the corner of his eyes, Hassan saw a woman that fell to the ground and was desperately trying to not get crushed by the running crowd. The king helped her up swiftly before rushing quicker towards the throne hall. Whoever was responsible for this was definitely going to face his wrath.

When he found his weapons and returned to the main hallway, he found three mutilated bodies of his guards on the floor. Eyes still wide open in fear, it seemed like they were attacked with swords or matchets. That type of cruelty was not unknown to the king. He knew people who loved to butcher their victims just like that: the sudanese.

But how could they ever get inside his palace without being noticed?

King Hassan knew he was in trouble because the sudanese men were known for being smart, skilled and cruel. If they were in his palace, then he needed to find his men quickly before...

"We killed them all."

He turned around at the sudden voice coming from behind him. A sudanese man was standing there, his clothes drenched in blood and a matchet dangling in his hand. His eyes were so dark, King Hassan knew the man had lost all of his humanity. He was nothing more than a monster.

"We killed all your guards, your majesty." He repeated in a mocking tone. "As I am speaking to you, some of my brothers are outside these walls, taking over your precious capital city. We started at your military base, so don't even think that help will come because your soldiers are fighting for their lives right now."

King Hassan gritted his teeth in fury.

"Why?"

It was the only question that came to his mind at that moment. Seeing the man in front of him shrug made him even more angry.

"You killed our men too, dear king."

"Because you were trying to invade us!"

"Well...It's the law of the jungle, isn't it ? You shouldn't have weakened yourself tonight, especially when you know that my people are only waiting for the right time to make you pay for what you did to us."