Idk Im in a fantasy mood also I happen to be obsessed with a webtoon (doom breaker) and well it's fantasy and royalty and yea blame the webtoon for the onslaught of fantasy chapters there r going to be :3
edit: i don't think u understand my pain, the author announced that they would take a 3 month break which they totally deserve by the way for continuously providing us episodes for the whole year but it's my favourite webtoon/manhwa :')
Trigger warning: mentions of torture, death, and breakdowns.
Remi dodged as quickly as she could, flames licking at her dangerously. She let out a grunt, blocking hits aimed for her head with her own lightning-covered arms.
Ice shards soared nearby from what she could tell from her peripheral view. They shattered against the stone wall behind her. Last she remembered Isen and Blyke were in a showdown with the black-haired woman that controlled pink orbs.
That distracted her long enough for her assailant to punch her in the face. The grass smeared against her clothing as she fell to the ground.
She hissed, pain searing through her ribs.
The vibrations from her attackers' steps could be felt with her hands on the basis. She could tell when he was closeby this way, and that brought her some relief as she quickly looked at her surroundings, ignoring the pain to see some way to bring this fight in her favour.
The sound of battle fading into white noise,
her main focus was to get her back.
They needed to get her back.
12 hours earlier...
By all means, it was a regular day in the palace. Remi, Blyke, John, and Sera were at the training grounds, sparring and improving their abilities to the point that the regular knights and soldiers were avoiding the area like the plague.
Isen, Cecile, and the team she had were going through different treaty requests, letters from neighbouring kingdoms, death threats, and whatnot. You could see how displeased Cecile was given that many of the letters were not well written whatsoever.
Arlo was in his study, signing said requests, agreements, agriculture plans, etc. He was working fast since he had a lunch 'date' with ladies from neighbouring kingdoms in an hour. And Elaine, she was getting ready to leave, back to KnightTime forest to cleanse Lake Sirenity.
The sunlight shined upon her study that was connected to the clinic. It was late into the morning as she gathered the final things she needed. As usual, she would be spending the night in her old home before returning to the castle the next morning. People could reach her via messaging pigeons in case of emergencies.
A rustling could be heard as Elaine muttered about the weather changing. She grabbed a cloak and held it close to her chest. She had bought it some time ago when she, Seraphina, and Remi had disguised themselves as villagers to browse the market and shop. Elaine smiled, they had so much fun that day, sure Arlo had a few choice words to express but it was so worth it.
She swung her bag over her shoulder and shut the door to her study. She walked to the stables, mentally checking off if she had everything she needed. Maids wished her a safe journey, she thanked them graciously.
"Healer Elaine!" Elaine turned around at the address of her official title. Evie, a young maid was running in the most dignified way she could.
"Oh thank goodness I caught you before you left," she huffed out. Evie was hunched over, trying to catch her breath.
"Evie, are you okay?" Her brows furrowed, it must be extremely important whatever it was, for Evie to have run to get her.
Usually, it was because Arlo and John got into a disagreement that got physical. Doc could take care of it if they asked but to be fair Doc was terrifying.
"Fine, fine. Just one of the," she took a deep breath,
"the?" Elaine questioned, the maid sighed, "one of the ladies that came today to meet with Prince Arlo injured herself right outside the kingdom. Since you were planning on leaving soon already I thought that you could stop by to heal her..." Her voice positively died, as if realizing the request was unneeded.
Elaine smiled kindly at the girl, "The carriage is right outside the kingdom? It shouldn't be a problem to stop by and heal the lady. Thank you for informing me."
Evie bowed deeply, thanking her profusely, she simply laughed, telling her it was no problem. Once she turned around her smile disappeared. From the way Evie was so thankful, she had a guess on how the ladies 'asked' for help.
'I used to be like that' she thought bitterly. Just a few months ago, the way she acted, was so high and mighty yet she was only a healer. She wasn't even a royal healer, there must have been a line of healers that worked for this castle for centuries yet they chose her. She used her position to justify being "better" than other people.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she would right her wrong but right now there was someone injured who needed her help.
As she walked to her assigned steed, a cold gaze stared at her while she was leaving. Elaine turned her head, goosebumps rose, her hair swished around trying to find the source of her unease.
'Maybe I'm just nervous about facing the ladies..' She thought to herself, she mounted herself on her horse before taking off.
Going at a moderate pace, she reached them in half an hour. But, she spent most of that time paranoid. She just couldn't shake off the bad feeling. Elaine came up with many possibilities as to why;
The injured lady could be very seriously hurt,
The lake could be awfully polluted and the sirens hostile,
The lady could be very rude,
And the last reason she really couldn't believe she was thinking of.... The other ladies could be throwing themselves at him (albeit they might throw themselves at a barrier in the process-) or worse Arlo could be enjoying himself with them.
Her brows furrowed, upset with herself. She quickly pinched herself, reorienting her mind. She really didn't want to be the jealous type, Arlo wasn't even her's.
That would be lunacy, she was a healer while he, the prince of Wellston East. He was a god-tier and she only just barely made it to a high class healer (4.8). She scoffed, giving herself false hope by filling her mind with the wrong idea.
He was a prince, and quick affairs with different castle staff were normal. She frowned but it was true. Her hair flipped about, she shook her head. Enough with her nonexistent love life, someone needed healing.
Before long they reached the outskirts of the kingdom. She could make out two figures, one sitting on the lush green grass, leaning against a tree. The other stands stoically, guarding her. Once she reached them she could make out a large gash on the woman that was on the ground. Even with what she presumed was a piece of fabric wrapped around it, it was bleeding through it.
Dropping from her horse she rushed towards the lady. "Don't worry, I'm here to help. My name is Elaine, I'm the Royal Healer of Lower Wellston," she explained calmingly to the injured woman. She started healing her leg right away,
She looked up and startled when she realized how much fear was in her eyes. Tear stains marred her ivory face, her lips bleeding crimson.
Elaine placed a hand on her arm comfortingly, "It'll take a little bit of time to completely heal you but, it'll be painless I promise."
The woman she just noticed had stunning rose gold hair and soft pale yellow eyes. Her hair which she thought would be luxurious was dirty and matted.
Elaine furrowed her eyes and viewed her leg again, how'd her hair get messed up? If she fell her wound wouldn't be this serious. She glanced back up, her eyes screaming desperation, and she saw her mouth move. The woman didn't make any sound but her lips trembled with fear as she mouthed the words
'help me'
Her mouth twisted in confusion, but I am helping her-
Elaine's eyes widened, she slowly turned her head, her hands reaching for her bag. She thought the guy above her was a guard overseeing the ladies visiting but could he be...?
As her bright green eyes met his darkened crimson ones, he glared.
She swiped the knife she kept in her bag and threw it at his head. She shifted her body to protect the lady that she didn't even ask the name of as she prayed it hit him.
A blast of heat forced her to brace herself.
Elaine peeked through her arms and saw the knife she threw laying on the ground. She glanced around her surroundings, the grass was ablaze, the trees burning.
Her eyes flicked all around her,
she heard a snap to her left and whipped her head around, the hot air slapping her in the face.
A shadowed figure stood there, hiding in the fire.
But that was all she saw as something hard hit her at the back of her head. She hit the soot-covered ground, her vision blurring. The roaring fire caused her head to throb.
The last thing she could make out was not one but two figures standing in the burning inferno.
'Arlo...guys, help us please....'
Arlo walked briskly to greet the ladies he had the absolute pleasure of meeting today. Take that with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
He could feel his eyebrow twitch at the thought.
He couldn't believe this but he would rather be locked in a room with Isen than be in the presence of 6-7 entitled and bratty Ladies. He could see the carriage approaching with speed which perplexed him. He knew for sure that the people inside of the carriage would throw a fit if the speed of the ride ruined their makeup or whatever.
But as it got closer something was off, the horses were in a frenzy, the coachman barely able to keep them in check. The carriage itself was covered in a black powder? And there were splotches of red-
"What in the names of Wellston...?" He didn't understand what occurred but he knew the others could help.
"You," he pointed to a nearby servant, his name started with an R if he remembered correctly. "Gather the rest of the Royals, whether they're guards or mages if they have the title of Royal summon them here in my name."
The servant, he knew his name, was it Rolly? Roni? Roland, his name was Roland, he nodded hastily and went off to summon all of them. Arlo continued watching the carriage approach with caution, he moved towards the castle gates, just in case he needed to create a barrier to stop the carriage.
He could hear people approaching him from behind, he spared a brief glance behind him to see John and Seraphina upfront while the trio were trailing behind. Roland was probably gathering the rest of the Royals.
"HELP! Help, please!"
The scream for help garnered their attention, the group speeding their approach. Arlo focused his gaze back on the carriage nearing them. He could now make out that the black powder covering the once pristine carriage was ash. His icy blue eyes narrowed, and the patches of red were definitely blood.
The horses continued galloping frenzied towards them, not stopping despite the coachman's best efforts at controlling them.
"What's going on?" John's voice spoke beside him, the others guarding the entrance to the castle. He grimaced, "not sure, something just seems off."
Sera shared a glance with all of them, Arlo wasn't one to make decisions based on gut feeling, something was really off.
"He's not stopping..." Remi pointed out worried, mostly for the coachman since they had Arlos' barrier.
"I don't think he can, something provoked the horses, they're out of control," Blyke answered, just from observing he had a bad feeling about this.
Just when the horses were gonna crash into them, Arlo put up a wide barrier protecting them from being trampled on by horses.
The coachman cried out, his body hitting the ground with a thud.
Arlo dropped his barrier, and Remi ran up to the guy, helping him up. He appeared to be physically fine but his eyes were trembling, hands shaking. He was speaking but no one could make out what he was saying.
A couple of the stable boys unfastened the horses and tried to calm them down. They pulled the horses into the stable to the left.
"Wait, wasn't this carriage supposed to be transporting ladies that were supposed to meet with Arlo today...?" Isen asked, he approached the fallen carriage with caution, but there was a growing feeling of dread falling over them.
Sera watched carefully from a good distance before sniffing. Her face contorting in disgust, "do you guys smell that?" It was coming from the carriage, wafting into the air.
Remi sniffed warily, bile rose from her throat but she pushed it down. The man in front of her needed her attention, not the awful smell assaulting her nose.
Blyke nodded, pinching his nose, he was behind Isen in case he had to shoot anyone.
The others, including the Royals that had gathered, eyed the carriage sharply as Isen opened the door.
He immediately shut his eyes, the image too horrid to look at for another second. His fists clenched, looking at the coachman that was being consoled by Remi. He could now understand what left him in that state.
"What's inside?" John asked with narrowed eyes, Blyke came up behind Isen peering into the space.
He stumbled back, eyes widened in horror, "what the fuck...?"
Isen finally spoke, with a sharp inhale
"the ladies that are supposed to be inside? Dead. That smell? It's the smell of multiple burnt bodies. You can't even make out the differences between each person, burned beyond belief." His voice wavered at the end, he had never seen something so horrible in his life. He could barely stay standing, the weight of the situation falling on him hard.
A stunned silence spread through everyone in the courtyard. Remi finally broke down, she hurled, coughing up, trying to figure out how to breathe again.
Seraphina moved indiscernibly closer to John, squeezing his hand, bringing both a small amount of comfort in the face of gruesome death. John closed his eyes, breathing unevenly, flashes of his loathsome past making their way to the forefront of his mind.
Sera's hand interlocked with his own was the only thing grounding him from spiralling.
A sharp cry from the back broke through all of their internal struggles with grasping what they had just discovered.
Remi lifted her head, her bangs falling into her eyes but she could make out the figure.
Evie had fallen to the ground, tears were streaming down her face. Her mouth moved but no sound came out from her gasping and broken breathing. Her hand came up, shaking as she pointed at the bloodied carriage.
"I- you," a shaky breath, "they're dead?"
Her usual upbeat voice cracked, her hands bunching in her skirt, knuckles turning white. She was trembling uncontrollably, the ribbons holding up her pigtails loosening.
"Evie?" Arlo's voice rang out, unsure of her state of mind but something was very wrong. He could feel his heart beating erratically, swart was starting to pool from his forehead. His head was spinning but he held it together, just barely.
His questioning voice just made her break down more, she was heaving, trying to get air into her lungs.
"She went to meet one of the ladies," she barely got out through her tears.
"She went to heal one of them b-because they were injured," she was shaking her head violently, a realization coming to her mind.
Sera's eyes widened, no, no, no. There was no way.
Her grip on John's hand tightening, her breathing quickened.
John's body completely froze, he stood there, coming to the same realization as Evie. He was still as a rock as Sera held onto his hand but he couldn't even register that. Everything around him seemed to disappear into darkness as he tried to process what Evie was saying
"No..." That was the only things Remi let out before she started crying. She clamped a hand over her mouth, quieting her cries. Blyke kneeled down next to her, taking her other hand and squeezing it randomly. He was experiencing his own shock but needed to comfort Remi.
Isen still stood there, but his fists tightened, he grit his teeth but he sagged slightly when he let the thought take hold of his mind. Could one of them really be her...?
From the crowd, Cecile stared at Isen's still form. She didn't let it show she was worried for Isen, but she was. Isen was never like this.
Isen knew her. Really knew her.
She didn't.
Isen turned his head and set his eyes on Arlo. He couldn't see his face but he noticed the tiniest bit of shaking coming from him. Arlo wasn't looking anywhere else except at Evie, not at the still trembling and frozen form of the coachman, not at the crying Remi, not at the frozen John, and not at the shocked forms of Sera and Blyke.
When Evie looked up to meet the varied shocked faces of the Royals, her eyes were frenzied with pain.
Her body shook, her question coming out of her mouth in a broken whisper.
"Did I kill Elaine?" Her voice cracked, but she raised her gaze onto Arlo, seeing his turmoil and pain, that was all she could handle before she broke down in sobs.
There was a bright light shining on her face.
Chains on her wrists and ankles, pulling her upright.
Something soft was covering her eyes but the light was so bright she could feel it through the blindfold.
Cold metal was tightened around her neck almost to the extent it was choking her.
From the cold air hitting her legs she was stripped down to her tank top and underwear.
She could feel her heart speeding up, she moved her head side to side, hearing the sound of the metal chains clanking. Fear was taking over her. She tried her best to control her breathing, knowing she wasn't very successful.
She felt violated despite the fear coursing through her body. They touched her without her consent and stripped her down. Elaine struggled against the restraints, feeling them pull on her delicate skin.
She gritted her teeth, trying once more. She already figured that the restraints were ability cancelling- wait what?
Her ability activated. Her eyebrows furrowed, why allow her to use her ability? Was it because it wasn't an offensive one? Activating her ability still allowed her some strength and speed.
Elaine glowered, he probably didn't see her as a threat. Wait, she paused, the clinking of the metal stopping. Her head spun, trying to remember the details from the fire. Her memory was blurry but she could have sworn she saw two people in the fire instead of one.
That would make the most sense, they probably ambushed the whole carriage so they could use one of them as a hostage. Her head jerked, where was the injured woman? From the amount of blood loss she could die.
How long had she been out?
"Looks like our guest is awake. You know it's very rude to fall asleep when someone went out of their way to invite you here." A smooth voice purred out. A woman's. Elaine could hear her stepping closer, she pressed her mouth into a thin line, refusing to give her anything.
"Well that's no fun. You should speak when spoken too." Her playful voice gained an edge, Elaine cried out as her chin was forcefully grabbed. The woman turned her head every which way with force, squeezing harder if she made a noise.
"Stop struggling, you'll waste your energy before the main event has even started." She released her face with a huff, muttering some particularly nasty words about her.
"Main event?" She whispered, before shaking her head, her locks of hair flying about even if she couldn't see them. "Who even are you?" She directed her latter question towards the mystery woman.
"Me? Compared to Cyro I'll be a damn dream, I can't say the same about that Elsa pyshcopath." She scoffed, Elaine could tell whoever she was talking about she did not like one bit. But that observation meant little because fear was starting to takeover again.
Cyro?
Was that the second figure she saw in the fire?
Before she could dwell on it a something sharp was inserted in her arm, she froze, trying to shake it off. While it didn't come off it seemed to vanish as if nothing was in her arm to begin with.
Her arm started to spasm, shaking uncontrollably, the chains holding her clanging loudly. Elaine whimpered, her arm was burning, like her blood was on fire. What did she inject her with? Some kind of poison?
She screamed, the burning was spreading all throughout her body. It was burning her, it felt like lava was in her blood. Her fingers contracted, wanting to rip her whole arm off but unable to because of the restraints.
Not even 2 minutes ago she thought they were too cold and now she could barely tell what temperature they felt like.
It was getting increasingly harder to breathe, each breath she took was burning her throat.
The likelihood of this killing her was small. They kidnapped her for a reason, this was only the beginning. Nontheless, she activated her ability, gritting her teeth as she tried to heal herself to the best of her abilities. She didn't know what type of poison it was or the dosage. What was it meant to do?
It was slowly dissipating, relief washed over her, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Though her arm she was initially injected in still burned a little it was miles better than what she was experiencing a minute ago.
"Perfect, just like planned." She startled, this was a new voice. Deeper, smoky, spoken with a purpose.
In a flash, her blindfold was ripped off, Elaine squinted, her eyes adjusting to the bright light hitting her.
Once her eyes had gotten used to the bright light, she focused on the figure standing in front of her. A woman, with silky long black hair and skin as light as snow. Her face was firmly set in a frown, though she was disoriented she could tell the woman was beautiful. Beautifully scary her mind whispered. Her eyes a pale, pale pink in colour but staring into them showed they were much darker.
Her eyes glowed pink, as she raised her hand to Elaine's face, a fizzling pink orb at the tip of it, sparking violently. The cold collar flaring when one of the sparks grazed it, shocking her lightly. Elaine stained against the collar, trying to move back as much as she could from the orb threatening to harm her.
She smirked lightly, everything was taking route. She moved back, the orb fizzling out, Elaine let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Awww everyone is having fun with our prisoner except me, even my apathetic little bro." A new playful voice rung out, she focused her eyes behind the ebony haired woman. In her peripheral view she could make our dark stone walls trapping her. An old orange, rickety light shining on her. That was all she could make out before a guy with shocking white hair was smiling in her face , crazed. His ice blue focused on her his smile widening, he skipped up to her, touching her face lightly.
"All the things I'm gonna do to you..." He spoke in a deceptively soft voice, sickly sincere.
She glared at him, pulling her face away from his hands despite the collar choking her.
The guy she presumed as "That Elsa psychopath" tsked lightly but his eyes shone with delight upon her rejection of him. His icy pale blue eyes glowed with sinister intent, Elaine gulped, fear coursing through her ten ford.
"Don't worry, by the end of this I've had teared you down and have you begging, just you wait my little sheep, just you wait..."
I've been wanting to post this for a while so I finished it as quickly as I could so it might have a few mistakes.
Hope you enjoy it!! 💜