Elizabeth swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at the her parents who were sitting right beside Aldous. She was the only one who was distant, except for the empty seat right next to her. She was forcing herself to not turn her head to that seat but she was failing every time.
In that moment, her family were looking like cruel judges, the ones that would decide her faith and with a task like this difficult, she didn't think it was going to be a good one.
"Bring it in." Aldous's voice boomed inside the large room.
One of the servants left the room in hurry before he brought a big plate. He put it right in front of the princess and opened up its lid with a swift motion.
"Let's get started," Aldous said as another servant brought his meal but it was so easy for him to say so, he wasn't the one who was going to deal with a tiny girl on her plate.
Elizabeth was almost dropping her fork to the ground as she saw the little girl at the center of the plate that was surrounded with all kinds of fruits. Her hands and legs were tied up like she was some sort of a feral beast. But under her sauce-stained clothes and closed eyes, the princess could see her fear. She was trembling like a cornered animal. If the brunette grabbed the poor thing, she was sure she could hear the little thing's pathetic pleas.
Her gaze hardened as she looked up to her family with her icy eyes. Was she really going to do that? End a life in a way that was so cruel? Did she even have a say in this?
No. This was the price she had to pay to become the queen.
The princess sighed and pressed her thin lips together before sliding her hand under the tiny girl. She was looking so scared that she was mumbling things under her breath out of fear. Elizabeth could feel Aldous's gaze on her but she didn't want it to end so easily. She could've examine her meal at least.
The angel was not any bigger than her palm. Unlike to Elizabeth, the angel had long and blonde hair. She couldn't have any guess about her eyes despite the fact that they were closed shut. The brunette could see she was in pain because of the way the cook had tied her up. And there was no sign of her majestic wings. Elizabeth had limited knowledge of Angels, Aldous was the one who has taught all she knew, but an angel who were lacking wings couldn't be a good sign, right?
Elizabeth grabbed her knife and pinched the girl's limbs to prevent her from doing anything to hurt herself on accident. She cut the ropes meticulously but she didn't understand why she had pity for the prisoner inside of her palm. She was an angel, the enemy itself. Her kingdom was the one who had started the war and threathened her grandfather with death after they poisoned him. So, why Elizabeth was feeling sorry for her? She was a princess who just belonged to another kingdom that had to be erased from the map along with the others. But seeing her all tied up, looking all dirty and flinching even at a small movement of her finger was just making this task impossible for Elizabeth.
Their conditions weren't the same, they were not equal. Their battle was not a fair one. The little girl was just a prisoner and Elizabeth wasn't even the one who had caught her. So what it would change, anyway? It wasn't a logical way to prove she was worthy to become the queen.
That's when she felt a small movement on her palm. When she gazed down, the sight was a bit different,; the girl was holding onto one of her fingers with a hand, trying to stay balanced on her puny legs.
"A-Art," she managed to stutter out.
Elizabeth furrowed her brows and slowly lifted the angel up to her face to hear her better. In that moment, her whole attention had focused on the poor girl; on her dirty blonde hair, on her shaking hands, pathetic bruises from the treatment she received as a worthless captive and last but not least, on her dark blue eyes which were looking like glass beads from the distance. Unlike Elizabeth, blue eyes were the only sight Cassandra could see. The threatening gaze of the princess were examining every inch of her, almost not even leaving a room for Cassandra to breath properly. It was breathtaking, putting all of your trust in someone's will. Cassandra had to snap out of her trance as soon as possible if she wanted to live.
The little girl swallowed hard and squeezed Elizabeth's finger to gain the power she needed to speak up.
"A-Arthur." She said as she leaned onto the massive hand, she didn't have enough energy to stay still.
"H-He sent-"
Elizabeth clenched her jaw when she heard the name. It was familar to her. So familiar that her whole hand surrounded the tiny girl and forced her to suffer in her firm grip.
Nobody had dared to say that name in her presence after the war.
Elizabeth stood up from her chair, surprising everyone around her. She was having a hard time to organize her thoughts and the haunting look on those figures were not helping to stay calm. Though, she wasn't in the mood to care the rotten expression of her past family members.
Meanwhile, the angel's heart were beating rapidly in her tiny chest. Her ugly clothes had stuck on her body because of the powerful fingers which were squeezing her fragile body. She started to scream as the pain became unbearable to hande. The worst part of it was her back, the part where her wings were. Of course, she couldn't feel her wings in that moment, but the bruises were still fresh.
Elizabeth flinched a little as she heard Cassandra's miserable pleas. But she had made up her mind.
"Grandfather," The future queen said as she lifted the girl up.
"As you can see, our circumstances are not equal. I can't kill a pitiful being and claim that I'm worthy to become the queen. Look at her, she's just a pathetic little thing that's not even worth my time. It's against the honor of my title as the princess."
Aldous started to scratch his beard once agaib before he cocked a brow at Elizabeth.
"What do you suggest to do, then?"
Elizabeth had to come up with something to save the tiny girl from her grandfather's grasp. Because she knew he would kill the angel without blinking his eye after his granddaughter tosses her to him.
The princess smiled, it wasn't a reassuring one for Cassandra, who was still in fight with her immense grip. Her cruel smile widened as she spoke.
"I'm happy you'd ask," she finally lifted up the pressure on Cassandra and slammed her to the table. She hoped it wasn't harsh enough, Elizabeth needed her alive.
"She's nothing more than a bug, so why I don't treat her like one?"
The princess let out a chuckle as she saw Cassandra's useless struggles under her hand. Her grandfather looked at her in suspicion yet a joyful smirk curled on his lips.
"I like where this is going." He said as he leaned back to his chair.
"It would be such a waste to end a life of another princess like this, so I want her to be my pet. My personal servant. A toy that I can 'play' whenever I want and do whatever I want as I pleased."
She lifted her chin up to look more confident, she knew Aldous very well and she would play the game as he pleased.
"So, what are your thoughts?"
All of the eyes in the room were locked onto Aldous. Her parents were looking nervous as they waited for his answer. Elizabeth see that her mother was having a hard time to not speak up abour it but she could also see her relief when her daughter decided not to do something so barbaric to the little girl. The king and queen were always a bit distant to this whole event after the war. They didn't have a strong hatred in them for the angels but also, they were not pointing out their thoughts as it should be.
After a long pause, Aldous had finally decided what to do.
"Yes, you can keep her."
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It was a tough one to write and I hope I pulled it off!
Please don't forget to leave comments, your thoughts are very important for me to improve my writing.
I don't know how many chapters it will last but I can guarantee that it'll be a long story.
That's all for now, have a good day!
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The Will of The Queen (Part 1)
Start from the beginning
