Alexandria: The Rebel Princess

Chapter 1 - Part 1

Squatting before the ruined queen, her blonde strands fall sporadically around her face. She looks up at me, her hair falling back, exposing her swollen and red cheek. Slapped and beaten, this woman holds such determination and hatred in her eyes. A sea of blue, swam in her eyes, a vision of memories flowing through it. Even in all the suffering she had endured for her silence, she still held firm to her beliefs. That tight lip of hers holds a promise in her glare that she will never reveal Chloe's location.

King Thaddeus storms behind me, huffing in frustration. Draped in nightly garments, his eyes rimmed red from lack of sleep and rage. His crazed state is suppressed into his clenched fists, dripping in Helena's blood. His men stood as far back from him as possible, avoiding him at all contact, they searched the same spots over and over again. These are the men that are supposedly helping me find their princess?

Queen Helena laid before me, but her gaze was fixated passed me, her murderous intentions directed at Thaddeus. There is a deep determination in her eyes, driven by loyalty and not betrayal. Cocking my head to the side, I watch her curiously. She is married to the king, but seems so faithful to the Northern Clan.

"Who are you really?" I snarl.

A rebel, she had to be. How had I never seen it before? This woman looks at her husband like an enemy, he probably always was. This revenge plot of hers to return Chloe to the Northern Clan was ignorant. Had she no consideration for her daughter in law's safety? Chloe was innocent and they would do anything to get the crown, even if it means her suffering. A shine in Helena's eyes has a knowing destiny that I begin to see. She will die for their cause, as will Chloe. I glance behind me to Thaddeus. It would be all this bastards fault.

Silence hangs in the air and she stares continuously, daring me to drag it out of her but it would be pointless. With a sigh, I rack my hand through my hair in frustration. She is useless, I will have to find Chloe on my own. Standing up, I walk away in thought. Chloe needs to be found immediately.

"How does it feel to lose her again?" Helena's shrilly hisses with taunt and pride.

His bare feet pound against the floorboards and I hold back a disgusted flinch. A shriek fills the silence, and a sickening crack ripples through the air. "You insolent slut," King Thaddeus drunkenly slurs in rage and exhaustion. His fist continues to collide with her once dainty jawline, now plump with swelling redness. Her screams ripped from her now split lip. A trail of blood dribbles down the seam, coating Thaddeus' knuckles farther with each punch.

The once proud soldiers, draped boldly in the Alexandria crest and colours, now turn their heads shamefully. It was clearly not the first time the King had behaved this way. It was a fact that not all his victims had done wrong, but this clearly bothered his personal guard. How many innocent lives had they allowed him to take in his search for his daughter? Flipping up the blankets and checking under the bed, they scanned the whole room. Opening a chest, a soldier tosses clothes to the stone floor. This is no way to search for a missing girl. Yanking open her desk drawer, I pull out some of her papers, but they are all useless and empty. Anger fills me, and I toss the papers to the floor. Settled on the floor, one paper shifts suddenly, fluttering across the floor. Odd. Helena's screams become incoherent with a strangled breath and I cringe.

Her voice gurgles, and there, Thaddeus is, with a hand wrapped around her throat, suffocating her. Helena's blood shot eyes shoot up and stare in terror. Her face turns a horrid purple. Placing my hand on Thaddeus' shoulder, he whips around, his stare fierce and berserk, a deep sunken purple undertone hidden without the circles of his eyes. "Enough," I command him in a hush.

He stares at her, unwavering in his desires. His grip tightens in a threat to snap it and suddenly he gives in and releases her, letting her drop to the ground.