Orders were being shouted. Troops were moving about in their heavy gear, as they scrambled to their assigned locations. The gardeners and cooks whispered among themselves, with a rather worried look on their faces. There also seemed to be a loud commotion beyond the walls of the palace.
"Hey, uh, what happened?" I directed it to the guard who was escorting me. His boots clicked rapidly against the floor, forcing me to play catch-up. His breaths were short and quick, and sweat trickled down his temples. Judging by his non-response, it seemed like he had other orders as well. A minute later, we arrived at the entrance of another hall, its doors twice my height. Afterward that guard scurried off, leaving me to the two guards stationed outside this one.
"Please, Her Majesty awaits you."
The door opened into a long hallway, streching out before me in opulence. Polished marble floors gleamed underfoot, reflecting the warm light coming from the chandeliers above. Along both walls, paintings hung, either of lush greeneries or of important figures. Layla's was at the far end, on the right. As I approached to get a closer look, voices reverberated from behind the right wall. Curious, I headed over to the opening to take a look. There was a large, smooth circular table in the middle of this room, with multiple lords seated around, Layla being one of them. Their expressions were tense. Sunlight poured through the stained glass windows high above, illuminating the space with a sense of reverence.
"Your Majesty, you cannot do that! Who will lead the country if both its King and Queen are gone?!" A frail, wrinkled, white-haired man argued.
"Indeed. There is no guarantee that those foul creatures will return His Majesty. There must be another way!" Another man, slightly younger and with gray hair, added on. He boasted a larger build.
What? Was Javen captured by the ghouls? But how? We were just talking about two hours ago, not to mention that large barrier enveloping the city, which I assumed was to keep out the ghouls.
"No." Layla stood up and placed her palms on the table. "I'm the cause of all this. As the Queen, I should take responsibility."
The room immediately fell silent. Everyone, apart from Layla, exchanged silent glances with one another. The air hung heavy with tension, but nobody uttered another word.
"So you all do agree I am responsible." She sat back down.
The gray-haired man immediately responded: "N-no, your Majesty, we--"
"No need to explain Gerard," she interrupted. "You don't have to lie to me."
Their dicussion seemed to be so heated, not a single soul even noticed my entrance. I had snucked into one of the back seats, settled down and continued listening.
"Ahem. Your Majesty, perhaps we could organise an elite group to accompany you?" the white-haired man suggested.
"No need. Like I said, I'll be going in all by myself. Now." Layla leant back and folded her arms. "Let me make it clear that whatever happens to anyone who follows me is none of my responsibility."
A brief pause ensued. Nobody had any objections. Well, not like it would be considered. But 'going in all by myself'? Was she planning to confront the ghouls alone?
"And while I'm gone, General Zoloe will be in command. Everyone is to take orders from him."
"Understood, Your Majesty." A muscular, tall man donned in heavy armor stood up in acknowledgement.
"Any objections?" Layla directed it to the rest of the table. Seconds passed, but nobody responded. "That will be all then. Zoloe, come with me."
I watched in awe. To think that Layla could be so assertive. Based on the past two days, I've always thought she was the gentle kind who avoided conflict as much as she could. Well, maybe it was because of her position as the Queen. Would I do the same for her if she was the one being captured? She then stood up, with General Zoloe following after her, and the two of them then exited the room. I decided to stay for abit, sensing the amount of words that were waiting to be unleashed.
"Who does that bitch think she is?" The wrinkled, white-haired man shouted.
"Careful, Felken. She might hear you." A dark skinned man with a neck tattoo cautioned. His eyes were closed and his back was leaning against his seat.
"So what?" Felken continued. "What is she going to do?"
The dark skinned man used his hand to imitate a cutting motion across his throat.
"Hah, like I'm afraid of her." Felken snorted.
"Calm down, let's get back to topic, shall we?" Gerard spoke up. "It would actually be good for us if the Queen trades herself, wouldn't it?"
"That's provided if His Majesty doesn't return." A young lady in a black dress spoke for the first time. Her sleek ebony dark hair cascaded down her shoulders in glossy waves. "It wouldn't be good if he knows we allowed the Queen to sacrifice herself."
"So you are saying we should protect her?" Felken asked.
"Yes, ideally we should. Or at least try to."
"She took on three ghouls by herself, I don't see a need to!" Felken slammed the table. "In fact, why not just send an army after those creatures while she's at it!"
"We can't. The Queen is extremely strong, only second to His Majesty, no doubt. But we don't know how many ghouls there are. You also know how powerful those creatures are, especially the Ghoul Champion. We'll be losing unnecessary lives if we fight them," Gerard rebutted.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Right, and our magic barrier
"Well if that barrier keeps the ghouls out, then how the hell did they take His Majesty?!" Felken roared.
The group fell silent once again, but at this point, I sneaked out of the room. Although I was curious as to how the events had unfolded, Layla was more important right now. I had to stop her from going. Once I was back out in the hallway, I fortunately caught sight of Layla giving instructions to General Zoloe. When they were done, Zoloe left the place.
"G?" Layla noticed me coming from the discussion room. "So... you heard everything?"
"Layla, are you really going to--"
"Yes. Please don't stop me."
She stepped away for a bit, before continuing, "Actually that's why I called you here. To say goodbye..."
"But you'll die! The ghouls will kill you, won't they?"
"You don't understand, G. If I don't go, the city will be laid to waste." Layla then produced a magic screen. "Look at this."
A black figure occupied most of the screen. He donned a black coat and wore a wide top hat.
"Well well well, citizens of Haventry City. It seems that you have decided to hide your Queen instead of handing her over as your King and I had agreed. Because of your King's foolish decision, he lies here paying for it." The black figure moved aside to show a grunting Javen lying face-down on the ground. Black vine-like veins were spread throughout his body, burrowing deep into his skin. "Therefore, you shall send your Queen to me to atone for her sins. If you don't, you can bid both him and your city goodbye. You have two days."
The magic screen cut off. This ghoul was no doubt the same one I had seen in my dream.
"Let me go with you, Layla."
"What? No! You're nowhere near ready."
"I-I know, but it's better than you going alone."
"They only want me, G. They'll kill you if you show up. And--" She abruptly rushed and wrapped her arms around me. "--I don't want to lose you again, G. I can't lose you again."
She continued: "Do you know how lonely the past 100 years have been? Everyday, I wake up and hope to see you by the courtyard, waiting for me so that we can practice our sword together. Everyday, I sit at the dining hall and wait for you to open that door, and apologise for being late again. Everyday, I head to bed and wish that you were lying beside me, cuddling and giving me forehead kisses. Every single day, for the past 100 years. And now, it-it has finally become a reality, but... but..."
Her sniffs became sobs. My shirt now had a wet stain on it.
"But now it's all gone again... it's all gone..."
Her sobs escalated into soft cries, and her arms wrapped my body even tighter. "G, I'm scared. I don't want to go, I don't want to..."
My arms enveloped her, drawing her close as her sobs wracked throughout her body. With a gentle rhythm, I patted her back. "It's okay, Layla. We'll face it together." But her response was only the rapid shakes of her head.
"Lay, do you remember the promise I made on our first anniversary? I promised that I'll go through everything with you, even if it means going to our deaths." I softly spoke.
Memories of my past started to pour in. There was this night where both Layla and I were out in the eastern part of the city, attending her favourite annual festival. We were 18 then. We went about the various game stalls, but this one particular game stall stuck with me. This game needed participants to pair up and each walk across a tight rope simultaneously, above a pool of magic alligators. Pairs would only win if they both made it across. We watched as countless of couples tried and 'died', with some going again. When it was our turn, Layla said that she was afraid of 'dying' alone and being an embarrassment. That was when I held her hand and told her that I would go through everything with her. We ended up being the only pair to win that night, even doing it with our hands interlocked the entire time.
Layla's eyes widened as she pulled back and looked up at me. "G, y-your memories...!"
"Yes, I am starting to remember." A gentle smile painted across my face.
"You're back!" Her head pressed into my chest again. The two of us stood in the hallway, embracing each other tightly as other memories started to return to my mind. I felt her warmth, her heartbeat and her breaths, and she felt mine too.
But suddenly, the dragging of chairs echoed throughout the hallway. The clicking of footsteps filled my ears as the commotion from the discussion room gradually grew louder. Layla gasped and instantly backed off from me, wiping her tears off, and using Creation Magic to create a mask on my face. Huh?
"Lay, what--"
"G, meet me back at my chamber." Then she scrambled out of the hall, just right before Felken and the rest appeared. Their gaze fell upon me for a split second, but upon seeing my mask, they paid no mind and instead continued with their chatters. I quickly turned on my heel and followed after Layla.
Back outside, the troops were still moving about. Some of them were giving commands to the gardeners and cooks who were just going about their day. My eyes scanned the sea of people, but Layla was nowhere to be found. How in the world did she disappear so quickly? I turned to one of the guards stationed outside this hall and asked for directions to Layla's chambers, but his words were rather confusing. 'Turn left at the garden', 'turn right when you see the statue', 'keep going until you see the flower-shaped bush'.
I walked about with my brows furrowed as I looked out for whatever landmark the guard had mentioned. Some of my memories may have returned, but the palace had definitely changed from a hundred years ago. There were so many turns here and there, I was starting to doubt whether I was heading in the right way. Halfway through, I passed by the main gates of the palace. They were opened, but blocked by rows of guards who were pushing back a large crowd of ordinary citizens clamoured with fervent voices. Shouts of discontent filled the air as many gestured unpleasantly. Their faces were contorted with indignation, their eyes ablaze with fury.
Atone for your sins!
Short live the Queen!
Don't drag us down with you, useless woman!
The situation was no good, it seemed that not only the lords, but also the citizens wanted Layla to head to her death. I hastened my pace and made several more left and right turns, and finally, I found Layla right outside her chambers. She was pacing up and down, with her fingers fidgeting with one another.
"L--Your Majesty." I corrected myself upon seeing the stationed guards. Layla must have created this mask on me to hide my identity for a reason, so I had to play along. Although to be fair, my face was already kind of exposed when I was brought to this palace, and when I was walking to the discussion hall, but perhaps all that commotion had helped disguise me.
"Come in," she commanded.
We were now both in her bedroom which bore an exact resemblance to that underground room she created back in the destroyed palace.
"Sorry, G." A wave of her hand and my mask vanished into thin air. "The council of lords, they know I stole the resurrection device. But they don't know who I was trying to resurrect."
She plopped onto her bed. "And if they find out it's you..."
"What will happen?" I sat down beside her.
"They'll use it to overthrow me by saying I'm an adulterer. Unfaithful Queen. Something like that."
That reminded me of Javen's words, that he and Layla were King and Queen because of political reasons. I wondered how that worked. If I remembered correctly, Javen and Layla's family were never on good terms.
"It's complicated, G. I'll tell you about it another time. If we get another time." Her voice trailed off and her head hung low.
"Don't say that." I put my arm on her shoulder and got straight to the point. "Lay, is there no other way? Do you have to really go?"
"Tell me what else I can do, G? Tell me?"
To be honest, I couldn't think of any other solution. If only there was a magic for cloning someone. But to the best of my memories, nobody back then knew how to develop such a spell. And if none of the lords or Layla had suggested it earlier on, that meant that the same was true for now.
"Then we should prepare oursevles," I replied.
"Oh, oh yes, G." She turned her body to me. "I need to know how much you remember. Come with me."