Whispers of the Night

The Marriage

*The Next Morning*

The two maids who had helped Lori get better yesterday went to her room to wake her up. They were assigned by her father to look after her and make sure she looked presentable for the wedding.

They walked in and saw the beautiful princess sleeping peacefully, they pitied her for how the king treated her. One of them shook Lori's shoulder, she stirred and finally sat up.

"Good Morning, miss. We are here to assist you. Your breakfast is ready, kindly freshen up and then we will serve you" said the other one, they were restricted from giving Lori a title.

"Alright, thank you so much for assisting me. I do not have much but I promise to reward you."

Lori's kind smile beamed up at the maids, surprising them to see that she was so kind after enduring all that abuse.

They thereafter left the room and Lori got ready and had her breakfast, she then started thinking about what to reward the maids with. She then had the brilliant idea to give them some of the jewellery she had gotten when she was young, she never had the chance to use them, but now at least someone would use them. She quickly walked to her closet took the jewellery out and called both the maids, she was quite excited to gift them and see their reaction. They walked into the room and Lori went up to them, smiling from ear to ear "Here is your reward, this is some jewellery I got when I was young. I do not have much use of it, kindly keep it" she requested.

They looked at each other and took it, although did not want to, they thanked the kind princess and went about doing their work.

Whereas The King of Night Kingdom, had finally reached the Palace, he did not wish to come here, this was the last place he wanted to be, yet here he was. Kraven's gaze swept across the Palace of Eloria. Its smooth walls and ornate gate conveyed a sense of pride. The windows, adorned with colourful images, and manicured gardens with shaped bushes presented elegance.

This place, with its grandeur, reminded him of his worst enemy. It left him feeling uneasy and displeased.

He entered through the majestic black gates made of wood. He walked through the halls. The Palace Corridors were like a grand and mysterious maze. They had arched doorways and high, arched ceilings that made it seem like it went on forever. The floors were shiny, almost like liquid gold.

The walls were adorned with paintings of past monarchs and their achievements. The air was cool and had the aroma of polished wood and burnt candles.

As he reached the throne room, one of the soldiers came running to him and asked Kraven to follow him. The soldier led him towards Archibald's private study. The soldier knocked on the door and after listening to a come-in, opened the door for Kraven to enter. Kraven stepped inside baring with him, his dark aura, as he took careful stealthy steps towards where Archibald was seated.

"Kraven, just the person I had been waiting for" Archibald declared as if it wasn't just his worst enemy that walked in.

"Archibald, I very well know you have some kind of scheme in your mind, depicting how you accepted the proposal so quickly, what do you intend to do?" Kraven asked in his deep and serious voice it held so much power that Archibald gulped in fear, and though he tried to be discreet the action didn't go unnoticed by Kraven who just smirked.

"What about you? Why did you send the proposal in the first place? What intentions do you have in mind or is it that you had a glimpse of my daughter and fell in love with her?" He replied snickering.

Kraven, leaning against the polished mahogany desk, responded with a smirk, "Love? No, Archibald. It's a transaction – a settling of debts"

Archibald retorted clenching his fist, he was trying to act as if Lori was his most priced possession, and that he cared for her dearly "You're sorely mistaken if you think you can use Lori as your pawn. Remember this, if anything happens to my daughter, I won't hesitate to declare another war"