I was still in Marcus' arms, and I felt safe. But I slowly started to realize that I was not going to be there forever. Slowly, he pulled away.
"Anna, someone has to report this." He told me.
"I'm scared Marcus." I say, with a shaky voice.
"Don't ever be, okay? I will always be here for you." He said,taking my cheek in his huge hand. I smiled, and he went to alert the guards, pretending like he was patrolling, I then went to the party to wait for the news. I looked for king Luka, but I didn't find him around. Just then I heard him call out to me.
"Anna, I was getting worried. Where were you?" He asked me, in a concerned tone.
"I was outside in the balcony. I went for some air." I say trying not to sound scared.
"What is the matter? Are you okay? " He asked, sensing the fear that had sadly slipped out.
"I have an omnious feeling. Like something bad is going to happen. I've always trusted my instincts, and I know something is wrong somewhere. What scares me the most is that I don't know what." I say avoiding his gaze because it made me feel really guilty because I knew I had lied to him, and I hated lying to him.
Just then Marcus came running to where we were.
"Your Majesty, please come with me, it is a serious matter." He said, and the fear in his eyes made my heart pound hard against my chest. I ran upstairs behind Marcus, as Luka ran behind me, and the whole crowd was wondering what was happening. As I walked into the room, all my burried childhood memories came rushing in, and I instantly felt my heart sink. I remembered back when I was little, before my dad had turned into the heartless bastard that he was. I was bored in my room so I decided to go bother him because he was way too serious. He was doing some work, probably revising war strategies when I decided to barge into his room. The guards tried to stop me, but I wittingly outran them all and barged in, hiding behind my dad.
The guards followed suit, but my father told them that it's was okay, and that I could come anytime, so they left.
"I'm sorry father." I said as I looked down in shame, realizing what I had just done."I won't enter your room again."
He knelt down in front of me and said,
"One day, this will be your room, because you will be the next queen of Mayvna.'
"Really? " I asked excitedly.
"Of course, you are my only child. You are the rightful heir to this throne, and you will make a fine queen." He told me, putting his crown on my tiny head, and it fell over covering my eyes.
"My first decree as queen is that you shall me my brave knight, and you shall save me from this castle" I ordered, hands on my waist.
"Yes, my queen" he replied getting on his fours and carrying me on his back.
He then proceeded to carry me around his room, as I yelled,
"Giddyap horsey " . After a while of terrorising my father, mother came in and told me to leave father to finish his work. But I remained stubborn, so she had to drag me out of father's room.
As that memory faded away, it was replaced by the momory of that man slitting my father and brother's throats. I slowly knelt to my father, and I looked into his eyes, they still had some bit of life in them.
"Anna.." he whispered straining.
"Father." I said quickly holding his hand tightly "father I am here, I'll take care of you okay? Please, don't make me an orphan." I said sobbing and hugging his hand on my cheek.
"B...be.... careful.... Don't trust.....pe.....people.... around....yo....." Before he could finish, he looked up right behind me, and his eyes widened, filled with fear.
"Father, father talk to me. Father." I yelled, trying to get me to look at me, but he was down right horrified. Before he could say anything else, the last bits of life left his eyes, and his hand dropped from my hand.
"Father, father." I yelled crying hard. Then I turned to look at my brother's decapitated head, staring right at me with the same fear I saw in father's eyes. But father had seen something, someone. When I turned to look at where he was looking at, I saw a shadowy figure fun out if the room. I quickly followed it, and left Marcus trying to call out to me. The figure in front of me, was running way too fast and I was in a tight dress which couldn't permit me to run well.
The person seemed to know the palace inside out, because he or she was using secret passage ways that most people didn't even know existed, and she was doing so with accurate precision. Just as I had caught up to her, she turned to face me, and her face was covered by a black hood. All I could see distinctly were their glowing red eyes. He or she then proceeded to chant a spell and in a split second, the whole passage way was filled with a bright light. Within a blink of an eye, he or she was gone. Completely without a trace. I stood there in awe as I tried to process what just happened. Was she a sorceress?
I slowly started walking where my legs were taking me, as servants and guards tried to stop me. I was completely lost in thought, as I didn't find any logical explanation for what had just transpired. As I thought, the incident replayed over and over again. I replayed the chant in my head over and over again so that I don't forget it.
My legs had led me right into my father's room, and I immediately fell into Luka's arms. I felt the wall I had put up just fall apart, and I broke down like a child. Luka hugged me tight as his other hand carresed my hair. I held on tightly to him as I felt my heart sink. Why was I feeling this way? I should have felt better. My biggest enemy was dead. I had planned to kill him anyway. I tried to console myself, but all I could think of were the good memories I spent with my father and brother, and my brain seemed to forget how badly they had treated me and how they killed my mom. I felt angry with myself, because I was hurt that they were dead, yet they killed mom, and to make matters worse, I was not the one who had avenged my mother's death.
I then said the spell the person who I was chasing after said, and Luka and Marcus looked at me.
"Anna, are you aware of what you are saying?" Marcus asked me.
"I was chasing someone who was in a black hooded cloak, who was here. Before father died, he looked at their direction in fear, so I assumed that they were the ones who had killed father. As I was chasing, they landed into a secret passage, which dad had covered a while back, so it had a dead end. They turned to look at me, and I saw their red eyes. They then chanted a spell and disappeared. Marcus, Luka, I'm so scared."
Luka turned my head to face him.
"Anna, I swear on my life, if anyone, man, woman, child, animal, spirit or even death tries to harm you, I will give them such a fate, that even the heavens and hell will tremble. I swear it." He said slitting his wrist. "No matter who it is."
With that I laid my head on his chest again. However Marcus and Luka looked at each other as if exchanging information. Just then a guard barged in and said,
"Commander, we have a big problem."