Hallow King

What is going on? She wondered now, setting her food aside before coming out of her hiding spot. With vigilant steps, she pushed her way into the porch and looked down at the quiet town below. Everything seemed normal. What exactly was the problem?

Puzzled, yet determined to figure out what the issue was, she walked over to the edge of the porch and hopped over it, grabbing on to a pair of thick vines that had been growing on the castle walls for quite some time now. Steadily, she slowly lowered herself and made sure to not look down. Once her bare feet touched the cool, moist grass, she finally turned and began to jog down the hill. Her white gown flowed behind her as she panted and pushed open the gated entrance of her home. Luckily, there was no one there to block her path.

It took her a few minutes to reach the village, but once Leiah had arrived to her location, she was stunned to find each and every one of the small houses lit from the inside.

Why is everyone awake? She questioned herself as her naked feet stepped on the cold, stone streets. Everyone did seem to be active behind their curtained windows, but there was no sign of life outside. A light fog surrounded the area and distant shouting crows sent a chill down the young woman's spine. Fearless, however, she made her way deeper into the fog until a distant glowing object caught her attention. She paused, chewing on her lower lip as the object flickered. "It must be a candle," she whispered aloud, trying to reassure herself.

As she cautiously stepped forward, she realized much to her shock that the object was nothing more than a carved pumpkin. Her jaw dropped as she got closer, examining the perfectly round jack-o-lantern siting on the edge of a fountain. Leiah glanced around, wondering if whoever had left it there was still in the area.

With a large grin, she bent down and peered inside, noticing that right next to the lit candle a letter with some red ink lay snuggled against the orange edges. She squinted and noted that the strange, blotchy handwriting on the envelope read: 'For the King of Feria".

Leiah scanned the area once more, wondering why someone would just randomly leave it there instead of dropping it by the castle. Shrugging, she picked up the heavy pumpkin and peered down at it, smirking as it glared back at her- its sharp carved teeth formed into a menacing grin. Leiah had never once seen or touched a jack-o-lantern before in her life; to her, this was a great honor. Holding it close to her chest, she hopped down the cobblestone, looking down now and then to make sure the candle wasn't burning out.

The path was still dark, but luckily for her, the light was proving to be very useful. No longer worried, she made her way back into her gated household. If her father would get angry at her for sneaking out again, she didn't care. It was worth it, after all. At least she now knew whoever left this at the fountain also loved Halloween as much as she did. That was a comforting thought.

Dirty footprints trailed behind Leiah as she pushed open doors, trying to figure out where the king was. She remembered the direction he last went to and decided it was safe to guess he was in the throne room, conversing with everyone still.

"I'm sure father will love to see you," she patted the pumpkins head and tapped her knuckles against the door where she was sure the king and his men were still talking.

The faint voices inside immediately went quiet. She frowned, ready to knock again when suddenly the door cracked open. A guard stood before her, eyes widened in surprise. "Princess!" he looked down, and suddenly his face became eerily pale. Before anything else could occur, the king flung the entrance open even wider and noticed his youngest daughter standing before him, a jack-o-lantern in her arms.

All the color drained from his face as he took a step back, his eyes ready to pop out from their sockets. Leiah wasn't smiling anymore as she tightened her grip around her prized possession, "What's wrong?"