Elizabeth's PoV
A week had passed since the wedding and James and I were happy as ever. Alec and I were back to the relationship we used to be. Before we fell in love and all, that is. Not realizing it, I noticed he talked about Valerie quite a lot and it made me smile knowing just how happy he was. Valerie and I had gotten very close and I could easily say were were very good friends. Based on the way she interacted with Alec it was like they were meant to be. It often had me wondering though if all of this happened for a reason, because it sure seemed like it. I looked next to me and saw James sleeping peacefully next to me. Since we were married now the King and Queen had both of us moved to a master room. It was a beautiful room with a king sized bed with sheets made of the finest materials. The color scheme was red and made the whole room look lovely.
I slowly got out of bed not wanting to wake up James. I quietly slipped into the washroom and cleaned up for the day. My mind was wandering quite a bit about everything that had happened. I was happier than I ever thought I could be and I was curious as to when the titles would be passed on. Glancing over at James I noticed he was awake and staring at me lovingly. "Good morning, love. How did you sleep?" Smiling at him sweetly I blushed. "It was the best sleep I've ever had... Even though I'm.. Quite sore."
James flashed me an evil grin and got up, letting the covers fall from his naked body. Slowly he made his way over to me, as if he was a predator stalking his prey. Wrapping his arms around me he held me close, my ear against his chest I could hear the soft thump thump of his heart. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" He whispered seductively in my ear, causing my face to heat up. Gently shoving him away I flashed him a smirk, "Yeah.. Although you should probably start telling me more often."
His deep laugh filled my ears as I relaxed in his warmth. "Hey James.. When are the titles going to be passed down to us?" James gently put his finger under my chin and lifted my head up to look at him. "Is my little Lizzy getting impatient?" He said in a baby voice, pouting at me. I laughed and slapped his arm playfully, but then my face grew serious. "No... I'm just.. Kind of scared for it, I'll have so many responsibilities just dropped on me so quickly."
James hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead. "I think they were planning on doing it within the months end... You shouldn't worry though, you'll be a great queen. I can tell." I sighed and walked to the wardrobe, opening it and running my hands through the outfits. Finally picking out a plain blue dress I liked. "I think I'm going to take a walk with Valerie through the garden today... I'm going to speak to her about Alec." I felt James walk up behind me and kiss my neck gently. "Trying to get them together I presume?" I nodded, walking over to the mirror and changing into the dress. "I can tell they like each other, it's too bad they can't seem to see it. Oh well though I suppose it gives me something to do." Admiring myself in the mirror, I turned around and looked at James."What do you plan on doing today? Any exciting soon to be king duties?"
James sighed loudly. "Unfortunately yes, the captain of the guard wishes to speak to my father and I regarding the mysterious Ashdor kingdom." I looked at him, very confused. "Ashdor? I've never heard of it, why do they want to speak to you about it?" James quickly threw on some clothes while we spoke. "Not much is really known about the kingdom, not even its ruler, aside from the fact it isn't technically a true kingdom. The ruler doesn't have royal blood flowing through his veins. From what I've heard though, it's a very dark and secretive kingdom. The Captain thinks they might be planning to invade us soon though we aren't quite sure why." I gasped, shocked by the news. "Well.. Just be careful today okay? You never know if a spy could be sneaking about."
James kissed my lips tenderly. "I will dear. I'll find you later and we can go for round two.." Winking at me suggestively, we exited the room and went our separate ways. Him off to protect the kingdom, and I was off to help a love blossom. I walked down the halls slowly, admiring all the decorations. Without realizing it I bumped right into someone. "Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." A soft laugh made me relax, instantly recognizing it. "Hey Val, how are you doing today?" I asked softly, hugging her tightly. "I'm pretty good, just seeing if I can help around the castle at all."
Valerie had been helping the cooks, she had been wanting to learn to cook and so far she was doing a good job. "So.. Where's Alec today?" Upon the mention of his name, I noticed her face flushed a bright red. "Oh my... You like Alec don't you?" Valerie shrugged her shoulders casually," No.. Of course not." I excitedly clasped my hands together. "Don't be daft, you obviously like him." Letting out a loud sigh, Valerie nodded at me. A grin broke out on my face and I grabbed her hand, pulling her to his chambers. "I knew it! Well I have news for you, he likes you too." A grin spread on Valerie's face quickly. "Really?!?! I mean... Really?" Her response made me laugh, noticing how excited she sounded. Nodding at her, we made our way through the halls. After some moments of silence we arrived at Alec's room and I knocked loudly on the door. After a few moments footsteps sounded on the other side and Alec opened the door. His hair was messy and it appeared he had just woken up, his shirt was off as well. I could feel Valerie's eyes stick to him.
Speaking super fast, I pushed Valerie into Alec's room. She lost her balance and he caught her against his bare chest. "By the way Alec, Valerie likes you and I know you like her. So you two should probably discuss your mutual feelings for each other. Bye!" I took off down the halls, glancing over my shoulder to see the two of them staring at each other in stunned silence. The doors to the garden burst open as the cool fresh air hit my skin. Stopping, I sat down on a bench overlooking a fountain and the village. It was a beautiful fall day and I couldn't help but be very happy. At first I resented coming to the castle, but now it's almost like the only place I've ever lived. Looking down at the village, an urge suddenly hit me. I wanted to visit the village and see how the people were doing.
It was a rough time right now, and I knew that I wouldn't be allowed out of the castle due to all the talk of being invaded. Standing up, I sneaked through the halls quietly not wanting anyone to see me leave. There were a couple guards standing guard at the palace door, so I walked up acting scared. "The King needs you in the throne room right away, it's very urgent." Both guards exchanged looks and took off toward the throne room, giving me easy access out the door. Awhile later I arrived at the village, with a cloak on so that no one would recognize me. The village was very active today, and people were walking around and buying goods at stalls and trading. Looking around, I noticed a young child wearing rags, begging on a street corner. "Can someone please spare some gold... My mother is very sick."
Sad looks were thrown in the child's direction, but no one stopped to help. I assumed that people just didn't have the money to spare. Walking up to the child slowly, I took 5 gold pieces out of my pocket. "Here you go dear, give your mom my best wishes, okay?" The child grinned at me "Thank you so much miss! My momma will be really happy." The kid took off and vanished from sight, as a small smile settled on my face. Walking around town, I gave some gold here and there to some people who were in need, which really made me feel good. The whole village seemed to grow quiet suddenly. Looking around, people look scared. Not sure why people were scared, I looked the direction everyone was looking.
There were about 20 men, all walking through the village with heavy armor on. Except there was one riding a horse and it was easy to tell he was leading them. The man had no helmet, but the same armor as the others but slightly shinier. You could tell he took good care of it. He had a huge scowl on his face as he rode up to a cowering shopkeep. "You there, peasant. I heard you are the source of the rumours of the attack. What say you?" The man looked at him with a confused expression, "I don't know what you're talking about General... I'm not stupid enough to do such a thing." I knew that this General was not from our army, I wasn't quite sure where he was from, but I didn't like the looks of him. The General looked angry, "I don't have time for your lies." With a flick of his wrist, his guards parted and threw a small child out into the open. A guard took out his sword and held it against the childs throat. "If you don't stop lying to me, I WILL have my men kill your daughter." The shopkeeper looked terrified, but softly mumbled, "Yes... I did it... I don't want you to invade the kingdom. Our royal family are kind and care about their people. I just had to warn them."
The General grinned and motioned for his men to let the girl go, she ran to her father and quickly embraced him. "Seize him." The guards grabbed the shopkeeper and drug him away, heading off into the forest. The little girl cried out, "Papa!" While starting to sob softly. The General looked over everyone, clearing his throat. "What you have witnessed today is what will happen to you to all of you if you cross our kingdom. Tell your King and Queen we are coming. We WILL invade your kingdom, and we will leave a pile of bodies in our wake!" The Generals gaze locked on me as his horse reared up, neighing loudly. In an instant, he had vanished through the trees. The sound of hooves getting quieter as he got farther away, until it was silent. All of the villagers were motionless, and then everyone began slowly shuffling home. Their anguish evident upon their faces. I was angry, I knew I had to get back to the castle and tell the King and Queen what had happened. I raced back to the castle, anger fueling my every step.
Bursting through the castle doors, I was met with the worried gaze of James. "Oh my gosh Elizabeth where have you been!" He raced up to me, embracing me tightly. "I was so worried about you, where did you go?" The King and Queen were behind him, giving me relieved smiles. "I need to talk to the King and Queen immediately, it's very important." Within the hour we were all gathered in the war room. It was myself, the King and Queen, James, Alec, Bill, and the Captain. "When I was in the village today, I heard about the attack." I continued to explain everything to them, telling them all that had happened when I was in the village. By the time I was finished, everyone was silent. The King shook his head, "So that was the brave soul who told us about the attack... Hopefully he is still alive. Why were these people allowed in my kingdom? Where were all the guards at the time of this encounter?" The Captain stared at the war map. "They were all at a guard meeting, though I'm not sure if they knew this, or it was just a coincidence." The King sighed loudly, "I won't tolerate people like them coming into my kingdom. Threatening my people and taking one man prisoner. We need to do something."
I listened as they all debated for a good amount of time, with no solution yet. What could we do? We weren't quite sure where this kingdom was, and why this fake King wanted to attack us. It just didn't make sense. Suddenly a courier burst through the doors, out of breath. "My lordship, there is important news from Princess Elizabeth's kingdom." All eyes fell onto him, "Speak." The King said lowly, waiting for his response. "There's been an attack.. King George is dead." Silence filled the room, until I comprehended what he had said. Anguish filled me suddenly, and I let out a choked sob. "Oh my god.. My father.." James reached out to me, grabbing my arm. I broke out of his grip, sprinting toward the door and leaving the room quickly. I let my feet carry me, not sure exactly where they were headed. Until I was out on the balcony in my room, putting my head on my hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Even though I didn't know my father that well, after finally knowing that I even had a father.. It made me care about him a lot, very quickly. His death was a blow to me, making me feel a mix of emotions. Anger, sadness, and guilt. Anger toward the people responsible for his death. Sadness, because my only real living family was now dead. Guilt, because what if I was there? Maybe he would have lived... Or maybe not.
My shoulders shook lightly as I cried, when I felt warm arms wrap around my midsection. I could easily tell it was James, and he held me silently until my cries stopped. After a short time, his soft voice whispered in my ear. "I'm so sorry about your father... I didn't really know him, but he was a great man." His words made myself sniffle, "Yeah.. I didn't know him much either, but I still loved him a lot.. He was all I had... Who's going to take his place?" Instant dread filled my stomach, I didn't want to have to leave to take over in his place. I wasn't sure if James would be able to come with me. "He has a brother, who they're planning on sending a courier to explaining the situation." I felt a little relieved knowing this. "What.. What happened? How did it happen?" James breathed softly in my ear. "The castle was attacked and among the chaos, an assassin somehow got to your father and executed him. Everyone in the kingdom is in mourning." The news was understandable. My father's reign was a great one, and he was loved by his people. "There's going to be a funeral held at dusk. I would love to escort you there, my lady." James's words made me smile, and I turned my head to kiss him softly. "Why thank you, my lord."
Later that night I was looking in the mirror, sadly eyeing the black gown I was wearing. I never thought that I would ever have to wear it... For the purpose it served. My fathers body was being buried in his kingdom, but we were holding a funeral for those who wanted to pay their respects here. I was almost glad, I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing my father's lifeless body. A knock broke me out of my thoughts, and James walked in and held his arm out for me. "It's in the garden, let's go." I held onto his arm feeling slightly sick to my stomach, thinking of what awaited us. Walking out to the garden courtyard, I was met with many concerned gazes thrown my way. Trying my best not to let them get to me, we made our way to the front of the crowd. A clergyman was speaking, preaching about how the King was in a better place as my mind wandered. What felt like an eternity later, the service was finally over, and everyone began filing their way back to wherever they came from.
While people passed by me they gave me slight apologetic nods, which made caused my heart to feel a twinge of pain. All of these people felt bad, although that thought didn't really help. I felt like everyone was just pitying me. The lost princess who just lost her father she barely got a chance to know. Although they probably didn't mean it to be hurtful, it still hurt nonetheless. James walked me to the dining room, and for the first time the entire room was silent as everyone quietly ate. There was nothing that could be said really, it was nice having a moment of silence. After dinner I quietly retired to my chambers practically collapsing onto my bed, feeling weak. My eyes grew heavy, and soon my world darkened.
"Eliza.. Eliza.. ELIZA!" An urgent voice woke me from my sleep, startling me. I opened my eyes to see a maids terrified face. "We need to go Miss Eliza, the castle is under attack!" Upon hearing those words, my blood ran cold, "W.. What?" Without responding, the maid pulled me to my feet, ushering me out the door. "The King wants you to get to the war room immediately." She escorted me throughout the halls, the castle was in an uproar. Guards and servants were rushing in different directions, and it was hard to hear over all the shouting. The maid shoved me into the war room, slamming the door shut behind me. I saw all of our Generals, Alec, the King, and James gathered at the table, going over plans. James looked over at me, relief evident on his face. "I'm so happy you get here Eliza, now I won't have to worry about you." James pulled me in for a tight hug. "Whats going on right now? Status report." The Captain laid out a map, pointing at several different parts of it. "We have invaders here, here, and here. They're coming from all directions, right now my men are holding them off as best as they can. I fear though, that they might flank in from another direction. We have several cannons laying heavy fire on the west tower. As of now our archers are doing damage control and providing cover as our men move in." I studied the map and where all the troops were placed. "What do you guys plan on doing?" James looked at me carefully, "Alec, the Generals, Captain, and I plan on joining the battle. We're going to hide the King away in his throne room, while you're going to hide in the secret passages. "Secret passages? I can't just sit idly by as you and Alec put your lives at risk, I want to help!"
James shook his head at me, "No that can't happen. The reason why you're not going to be hidden with the King is because the invaders would be excepting that, we need to keep you safe at all costs." I looked at Jame's confused, "Me? Why would they want me?" The King looked at me softly, "We can't tell you now okay? After the siege is over, we'll explain everything." I sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing. "We're going to have guards placed at every entrance to the secret passages, as well as a few guards inside with you to keep you safe." James looked at me worriedly. "Promise me you'll stay put, and stay safe okay?" I nodded at him simply, "Of course." James embraced me gently, kissing me on the lips passionately. "I'll come find you right after we repel the invaders, I love you." Giving me a quick peck on the cheek, he grabbed my hand and led me to a large painting on the wall, touching a certain part of it, the painting opened outwards, leading to darkness. Four guards waited on the other side, waiting for me. "Stay safe James, I wouldn't be able to go on if anything happened to you... Same for you Alec, I love you both." They both nodded at me, helping me into the passageway, and sealing the door shut behind me. The guards had torches, and I walked in the middle of them as we quietly crept through the passageways. I could almost feel the walls shaking with the battle that was going on outside. One of the guards spoke kindly, "Don't worry Princess, you'll be fine."
We walked for a little while, reaching a small room, with stone benches on the sides. "This is where we'll be waiting, have a seat, who knows how long this could take." Sitting down slowly, I examined the room. It was basically just a dimly lit circular room with stone walls, and torches hanging on the sides. It was almost eerily quiet in here, and I could almost imagine how deep in the castle we had gone. "Do any of you guys know exactly who is attacking?" I said softly, trying to break the silence that hung in the room. "We believe it's the Ashdor kingdom, but that's pretty much all we know." Saying nothing we sat in silence for awhile, until I could almost swore I heard soft footsteps heading towards us. The guards seemed to hear it too because they stood up, taking out their weapons. "Who goes there?" One guard called, but was met with no response. Suddenly someone stepped out of the shadows, stabbing one guard right through the stomach. They pulled their blade out quickly, turning on the next guard. "Run Princess!" The remaining guards called out, attacking the figure. More of them stepped out and started slaughtering the guards.
I quickly ran as if my life depended on it, because it most likely did. I just ran and ran through the maze of corridors, not quite sure where I was going. Just hoping I would run into an exit somewhere. All the halls looked the same, dimly lit and creepy. I stopped running, completely out of breath, I heard someone take a step behind me. Quickly whirling around to face the direction, my shaky voice called out. "Who.. Who's there? Show yourself!" Walking out into my line of sight, was one of the Generals. His name was General Adams. "Hello Princess, are you okay? What happened to your guards?" My heartbeat stopped beating so fast as I sighed in relief. "You scared me.. We were attacked, I think they were all killed." General Adams looked instantly concerned, "Come with me, I'll lead you out of here." I followed him through the corridors quietly. "How is the battle? Have we won..?" General Adams shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I was told to come find you." We walked for awhile longer, and before long a door appeared in front of us. "This way your highness, the exit is just through here," He gestured for me to go first. Opening the door and stepping outside, I was met with hundreds of faces of the invading enemy. Some of them gave me evil smiles and smirks. I quickly tried to turn around and run. Right when I did however General Adams grabbed my wrists, holding me in place. "You're not going anywhere Princess," He hissed.
Before I could open my mouth to scream I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head, knocking me to the ground. My vision was hazy as I laid on the grass, my eyes struggling to stay open. The last thing I saw was the General reach towards me before I succumbed to the darkness, blacking out.
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This chapter is dedicated to my bestie, who inspired me to actually write it c:
Thanks everyone, hope you enjoyed!
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