Steady hearts beat,
While Kings and Queens fall to and endless silence.
This is not war,
But the end of a renegade empire that was meant to perish.
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2. The Escape
The weeks have passed since the arrangement had been made. I wished I could have done something more to enjoy those days of freedom, or what I had left of them anyway.
The sound of clashing champion bottles along with fine music dance along the air till drifting into my bedroom window, were I watched in my poignant leisure.
I was dressed in a traditional pearl white with the best of imported silk they could find, along with a pair of laced heals. Its always been a girls dream since childhood to marry happily with a cheerful smile upon their face, but sadly it was not my dream, or at lest not like this anyway.
Tiny droplets of tears ran along the sides of my cheeks, staining them with a pinkish glow.
My veil was laid down next to me in the small wooden seat as I sat next to the window, staring dazed into the setting sun. I would wed him, once the moon had risen and was expected to proclaim my empty words of love to the father of the church, just like my father, the ruler, had told me.
Sighing at the mere memory, I slouch ever so deeper into the window in an unladylike fashion, praying that my pleas would be heard from the heavens.
Massaging my temple, I could feel the hint of queasiness inside my churning stomach, making my fair skin turned white as freshly fallen snow.
A soft knock at the door interrupts my rummaging thoughts and I glance upward to the door.
"Come in.." Was all I could mange as Lee, my childhood friend and my personal maid stepped in, dressed in a sleek pastel pink dress that just didn't seem to fit with her short, perky red locks.
"This is one of the most embarrassing dresses I've ever worn!" She hisses, picking up the dress for me to see the huge bow upon her backside. I couldn't help but stiffen a giggle when she turns to me again. She saw the fits I was having and blushed a rosy red, like a child would do when it were annoyed or insulted.
"I'm so sorry Lee, its not you..really.." My voice becomes a whisper, now momentary looking back to the window to see the guest still chatting with one another in their seats. "It will begin soon..."
"I still say this is wrong." Lee comments with sour features, her chestnut eyes staring straight through the window to the celebrating guest down bellow. From my view I could see the women conversing amongst themselves and men joking about their lives and neighbors.
I also could see my parents having a quaint conversation, playing the role of a loving couple that was about too see their beloved daughter being handed off to a handsome young man. If the guest had truly seen through their little act, they would have notice the strange glint in my mother's eyes and the way my father practically smirk with power.
Sometimes I wonder if they're even human. I thought with disdain as they walked through the garden, having small chitchats here and there while pointing out small details to the maids to tend to the roses that were slightly showing some wilting leaves. I had to hold back a sneer when they sent their gaze upward, toward my bedroom window were they silently snickered at my indifferent features before heading back to the refreshments table.
Sighing, I took my gaze away from the window and back to my friend Lee, whom seem to have caught that little display between the two people who masqueraded as my parents and me. I tried to smile despite my mood but only found enough strength to twitch my lip in dismay.
To my good grace, Lee had enough will to smile through the depressing gloom that had overcast the large room.
"Oh don't think about those people down there. It will be all the much merrier when they find out were all their good tax money had gone too. Your mother's expensive makeup of course."
"Indeed, yet I doubt the good people would know of it." I said halfheartedly, Looking past the people and to the alter were the minister was setting up the candles as the sun began to slowly drift beneath the hills in the horizon.
"Good people? Oh dear don't make me laugh. If I were as much as a fool as them then I'd be with the lot. Trust me, those folks down bellow had it coming to trust such gluttonous pigs." Lee snorted in an unladylike fashion before flipping her fiery hair over her shoulders, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she studied the people in the garden. I couldn't help but laugh as she made faces to the unsuspecting by passers.
"You need to leave this place, Cecilia." Lee unexpectedly said, the laughter in her voice dieing as her eyes turn grave. The sudden change in her behavior startling me.
"Lee, you know that's impossible." I murmur quietly, letting my eyes roam around the room as my stomach seem to have dropped in depression.
"Its not. You know as well as I do that you aren't meant to marry that fool." She argued and turns her chestnut gaze on me, causing me to look down in shame.
"Even if that's the case, I just can't get up and walk away from this place." Though my voice was faint, it was still strong enough to send the message I was trying to get through too Lee. I couldn't leave because this was all I had. If I were to just walk away I would have nothing to survive on.
"Then we will cause a distraction." She exclaims, a sly smile spreading along her lips as I felt my stomach tighten.
"We?" I question slightly, one of my fine brows rising in the process.
"Yes. The other maids don't like this forced marriage talk either." Lee explicated while seating herself upon the edge of my bed, letting herself relax as I shook my head in apprehension.
"Oh for the love of god, Lee, please don't tell me you and the others planned this?" I asked in a low voice through trembling lips as I try desperately to shake the shock from my body.
"Indeed we have, and there is no changing our minds." Lee stated confidentially and before I could say another word in that matter she calls to someone behind the door.
"Drake! You can come in now." She said in a slightly sweeter tone as a young man about three years older than us steps in from the hall. His eyes were of auburn brown with deep, long brown hair that was swept back into a braid that reached his mid back. The clothing he bore was that of a black and gold uniform with a silver badge upon the location of his heart. The badge had been engraved with the letter A, signifying he was apart of the Arion military guard.
"You called Miss Lee?" He asked threw a deep voice that reminded me of summer storms thunder, and sounding just as equally as commanding as well. From my view I realized he was not just any guard, but the second in command who was known from around the palace that he was one of the most skilled fighter of the entire guard.
"Yes, can you call for Margaret? I need some help to pack Cecilia's dresses." Lee explained to the guard while he gently bows his head to her, accepting her demands without any complaints. This was simply odd to me but I just shrugged and tossed the thought aside. Lee was known to be quite the charmer around men, and could make them bend to her will, despite how strong willed they were.
"Of Course." He murmurs before disappearing back behind the door, closing it with a soft click.
"See, we'll get this all straightened out." Lee exclaimed with a delightful tone, causing me to almost loss my own wits with her ever-changing attitude.
"This is madness! Do you have any idea what father- No, what mother will do to you when she finds out you planned this? What she'll do to the others?" I practically shout with frustration, my arms shaking at my sides as I restrain myself from bashing the girl into the wall from my own anger. I had stood up from me seat and now watched as me friend merely shrugs at this.
"Then lets hope they don't." Lee merely stated as she then turns back to packing, completely ignoring my words of warning.
"Lee-" I try to speak again but was cut off when she turns her sharp gaze upon me.
"Cecilia, we are doing this for your own good. Please be sensible and try to be clam. We don't need the whole manor to find out do we?" Lee retorted back, red locks flying about as she turns her whole body to face me. I had to fight the urge not to cringe at the girls daunting features.
"But Fate can't be changed Lee." I whispered weakly, my legs crumbling from underneath me as I sat back down upon the window seat.
"Yes I know it can't be changed, but it can be altered. If you haven't notice, Fate has her own plans and makes new paths for us as we grow, letting us choose our destiny." Lee exclaimed softly, her eyes focusing on the task at hand while her words sink in. I opened my mouth to say something back but nothing would come out. As the words begin to sink in I find myself just staring at her with a baffled expression.
"Now that you have finally seemed to have settled, can you tell me which dress you like the most? I always fancied this blue one on you but the red one is fine choice as well." She said while holding up the two dresses for me to see. I could only shake my head as I place my head into my hands with a futile sigh.
"Just put both in." I muttered through my hands, ignoring the fact that I was even going along with this idea. Lee merely smiles to me before placing the dresses into the large bags.
"Now your starting to sound like your old self, Drake is Margaret here yet?" Lee called towards the door again, which was once again answered by the guard from the other side.
"Yes, Would you like me to send her in?" He inquired while Lee nods a yes.
"Please do." She says as the door widens to reveal a woman in her mid 20's, large almond eyes scanning the room over with a contented smile.
"Do we have everything ready miss?" She asks Lee tentatively, looking about the place with before her eyes landed on me.
"Almost, can you please find some shoes in the closet that will match these cottons?" Lee holds up two more pairs of clothing to the woman as she scurries about the room, quickly looking for shoes and other necessaries that I would need for my departure. By the time we had found everything there was only an hour left till the sun would fade behind the hills, and my wedding would begin.
"Looks like we have everything. Are you ready Cecilia?" Lee said while poking me in my side, making me vaguely twitch out of my wondering mind.
"Ready as I can be." I murmured lowly, seeing the sun was now whispering its silent goodbyes as the moon began to rise from the opposite direction. We have little time now that my mother and father would be arriving to my room, ready to wed me off to my betrothed who was just as much as a pawn as I was for this event.
"Alright, Drake is the west wing clear?" My friend inquired to the guard once more.
"Yes." He reported back while shifting his body to give us space to leave the room.
"Lets go." Lee whispered as we all swiftly move out, our feet lightly tapping the ground in a steady rhythm.
"We'll take the north wing down to the servants quarters, hopefully Matthew will be waiting for us with the carriage." Drake said while explaining to us what will happen, his hazel hues reflecting the dim candle lighting that lit the halls. From the corner of my eye I could see Lee watching Drake with interest, her own eyes seeming reflecting an odd emotion I never seen.
"Carriage?" I questioned with a curious tone, wondering how they could mange to get a one without my mother and father knowing of it.
"Yes carriage. It'll hide your face from bystanders in the main streets all the way down to the gates of Arion." Drake said as we all turned down a hall that led to the north wing, Margaret somewhat jogging while Lee went ahead of us, her features set in determination.
"Where will we head from there?" I ask again, getting a strange vibe that told me something was amiss. I knew Lee's and Margaret's intentions were set on my behalf, but what about Drake's? A guard never goes against the their rulers, so why would he help?
Unless.. My gaze moved ahead were Lee was leading; her fiery short locks dancing weightlessly in her pace. I remember that strange gaze she had when she was looking at the guard. I look back beside me were Drake was and met his hazel eyes. He winks and suddenly it clicks.
How come Lee didn't tell me? I thought as my lips curve up into a smile. I knew she fancied some of the men here but a guard and a maid? Who'd thought?
"That miss, is one of the things I will not tell as of yet." Drake said with a secretive look in his eyes, and then fastens his pace to were Lee is as we all head down to the servants quarters. The two were having their own little conversation as my smile widens until I realized the meaning of the guards words.
Oh how nice. A surprise. I mentally rolled my eyes. During this past month I had enough surprises too fill my heart with loathing towards that very word. God only knows I need more of them.