Gong! Gong! Gong! The royal palace bell rung thrice.
Gong! Gong! Gong! The royal palace bell rung again. A royal had died.
Uproar suddenly ensued in the kingdom of Aldia, from the hell of a capital to the realm of the gods, the noble echelon. A person from the royal family had died. Before even the truth behind the sudden ringing of the royal bell could be unravelled,rumours of the speculated departed royalty,yet safely behind closed curtains and doors, that maybe, just maybe,their king, king Hernius Wolff,had finally breathed his last,were spreading around like a hellish wildfire.
Some rejoiced merrily at heart, that's, for they were afraid to be known of having ill will towards their king. While others feared what would become of them and the kingdom, fearful of the unsightly slyly nobles;they would rather have had the devil to the vicious demons themselves.
Others seemed unbothered by all the commotion rising from a dead king, for they would gain in uncertainty and confusion, robbing of an already poor people of the meagre coin they had. For the king dead or alive,he still couldn't give a foot of their melee.
The night was moonless and beasts of the forest's now growled, and howling, ever louder as it echoed to the very heart of the kingdom,the royal palace. The queen had died in labour. In doves,the most notable nobles from reputable houses soon began to pour into the royal courtyard, to offer their words of comfort to their bereaved King. Riding in elegant horse drawn carriages ,one after another made their presence known. Dressed in elegant pieces of clothes and to rub shoulders against other nobles;scepticism was to be right at the very tips of their tongues.
Lords and Ladies, all donning fine jeweleries,entered the royal palace, where royal stewards ushered them to the king's throne hall and inside there, lanterns burnt brightly, chasing off the darkness away and out of sight.
And there it was, the king and queen's thrones, seated opposite of each other,side by side. On seeing the royal thrones, carved from the finest trees and with furs of wolves and lions warming them, they jealously licked their lips in envy.On the palace walls,as many as their eyes could see,banners hanged boastfully,with the royal crests woven on them. They covered half the palace walls and ceilings.
Game trophy heads like wolves, antelopes and lions were mounted on the walls,with weaponries, such as swords and broad axes,also having a piece of the glory.
The royal stewards began to serve the noblemen and women with some, seated around the rectangular carved tables, with food and wine as they waited for the king's audience.
In groups,they discreetly opened up of their hate for the king.
"What distressing tidings! " said a fat noble as he gobbled his food unnobly.
"Yes.what an awful death! " responded another noble,another fat shallot. In their ever envious tickers they were merry,of the death of the queen but mostly they had hoped for the king to have kicked the bucket.
"But did the runt die with her? "enquired Lady Myra kroewc Phea, house of the blue pheasant,as she gulped down her wine.
"Who knows! But it would be better if they had all died, " replied another, smirking gleefully.
"Lord Julius Eegle, you do have a mouse in the royal palace, right? " muttered lord Glanius Kroew ,the king's coin keeper, from the house of the crows..
"I would implore you, lord Glanius Kroew ,to cease with such unfounded rhetoric," implored lord Julius Eegle, from the house of crimson eagle. Even he, lord Julius Eegle, found true of such rhetorics would have meet dire wrath raining down upon him. He feared the insanity of king Hernius Wolff. Without deliberation, he would've had his head chopped off and pinned onto a spike.
"Stop your bickering, you two! "said lord Vlanius Wolff, from the house of black wolf,a high ranked noble and an uncle to the king and one of the three king's advisors. He, of all other nobles deviously desired the kings crown the most.
The king stood outside of his bedchamber, with two palace guards manning, armed with lances at both ends of the chambers door,as he anxiously awaited to hear from the midwife. He was restless, walking from one place to another,heaving heavily at every step he took,deep in thoughts. His queen, her highness Lady Anna, was no more. The only person that kept him sane, and tamed. He now had nobody to trust or turn too. He was sweating, a royal sweat.
The head midwife soon came out of the royal bedchamber, carrying with her either good or bad tidings. She was soaked in sweat and a middle aged woman, who's face told she had seen it all, as she courteously bowed before her king.
"Your Highness, " said the midwife. Her eyes meet with his. His hopeless eyes told of his fears, unable to fathom what had just happened. There and then,she was struck with pity for this man.
"How did the labour go?!"he asked with a hint in his voice of trembling and fear.
"Your Highness, the child lives," replied the midwife. He was elated to tears, if I may say so. "Is it a girl,?" he asked eagerly, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Yes, Your Highness. It's a girl." In his joy, he,unbothered by the presence of a commoner,jumped in jubilation. His hopelessness was short lived. He now had someone to live for . At least his queen had left a bundle of joy to console him in times of loneliness but his joy was abruptly dampened by his grieving son,the Prince of Aldia. He was Prince Alvc,a twelve year old boy,with lips red as a setting sun and a slender physic. On his head ,grey hair adorned him. He was dressed in royal gowns with scented perfume masking his aura of hate for the child. Weeping, he ran inside,of the king's bedchambers,to where his mother lay dead.
Weeping,the young Prince fell to his knees calling out for his demised mother. Her body slept lifeless, covered with a white shroud,while it lived. His tears knew now no end as they flowed in bursting force like the great waterfall. His father, the king,unable to put up with his son unmanliness in front of his subject's rushed unto his grieving son with a slap to his face. Grazing prince fragile lips,soft like butter against a hot knife, with his nails,sustained a light cut, as droplets of blood soon began to drip out of the lower lip. The cut burns like that time,he thought. Like a hot coal. Alvic Wolff was clueless to the meaning behind this.
" You fool,get a hold of yourself! " king Hernius Wolff barked out.
" But father... I want mother back,I want mother beside me!"replied the Prince, drenched in his own tears.
" And you dare call yourself a Prince of this great kingdom?!"asked the king in a roar. The young Prince ,still on his knees, looked up in distress, only to meet his father scornful glaring eyes. He feared the man in front of him.This behemoth of a man made him fear less of the world outside the palace walls. Since that day, on that fateful afternoon,his father to him had became a man to be feared. And his fears bore unparalleled hate for the father who had struck him. He hated his very existence and now he hated something even more than him. His baby sister. Her existence was the very reason he was wallowing in pain. The excruciating pain. His hate was calling out to be set free. His hate was his vindication. Prince Alvic Wolff eye's meet with his tormentor's as the royal subjects looked on in terror,of a father striking his helpless grieving son. They were stunned beyond words. Vladd, standing just behind the king, looked on at the unexpected unfoldings, calmly and his strong urge to intervene quelled like an deflated bloated stomach.
"Vladd!" the king called out.
"Yes your Highness?" answered Vladd as he stepped forward to hear his orders. "
"Take this nuisance out of here,dispose of it in it's chambers!" ordered the king.
"As you wish,your Highness," replied Vladd as he bowed before his king. In a one swoop , Vladd scooped the Prince down fom the ground to his shoulders, with one arm,as Alvic Wolff threw his feeble limb's in resistance of his manhandling; of a Prince like him?! Yelling and crying, he swore torment on them all.
"Vladd!" called out the king again. Vladd, with a sack of a Prince on his shoulders, stopped in his tracks.
"Yes, your Highness?" asked Vladd.
"Lock him up before leaving. Don't let him out until my beloved, the Queen, is laid to rest, is that understood?!" commanded his father,the king.
"Understood, your Highness," responded his right-hand man,Vladd. Then his joy was brought forth for him to hold and kiss,wrapped in royal shawls. She was the mirror reflection of her mother. Her eyes glowed with abundant amount of love. She was the bridge the kingdom had prayed and hoped for. The king warmly embraced his new found joy, more than he could handle, as tears came rushing out of his eyes. His guests, the nobles, anxiously awaited for the king to break the news to them of the unfortunate death of the Queen. Still holding onto his daughter, in his warm embrace, he trod carefully to the throne chamber,holding her gently like a precious merchandise that she was, to break to his noble men and women of the sad news but more importantly of the birth of his daughter,the princess of Aldia.
Vladd carried off the Prince to his bedchamber,as he cursed and flailing his arms and legs here and there. His chamber was a bit bigger for a slender boy like him as his flooded eyes drenched Vladd's cloak. He felt his pain but he was a loyal subject to his king first and foremost. Vladd, on entering his chamber, tossed the Prince on his gigantic bed with a thud,Alvic Wolff letting out a painful groan.He hated himself for being weak in face of stronger foes. Unapologetically,Vladd bade his farewell to the prince,locking him up inside all alone; to wallow in his own bitterness and pain.
At the throne chamber's,the king unvailed himself holding his pride and joy in a cradle. The nobles, noticing their king's presence's, rose up to their feet,bowing ,along with Ladies,before their king and new born princess.
"Raise your heads,my loyal nobles!" He cheerfully said. And they'll raised their heads , looking up to the king and his new born daughter,the royal princess. But some still held a speck of doubt .
" Who's that the king is holding?" whispered lord Glanius Kroew.
" How the hell should i know !" murmured back lord Julius Eegle." And will you,lord Glanius Kroew hold your tongue. The king may hear you ."
" Alright,lord of the mouse," Lord Glanius Kroew mocked him back . The king sat on his throne as his better half throne sat empty.
" My fellow friend's, it's with sad news that i announce the death of the queen of Aldia and also my dearest wife, Queen Anna. Although her death will forever be sorrowful and had to take, however I can't deny that she did leave me with a precious gift ,as a father and king,who is overjoyed to share of this bundle of a gift with his fellow friends. Here is the joy my Queen left me with before her demise.She is the princess of Aldia ,"said the king deeply emotional," she is Princess Annia." The king ,escatatically,lifted her above the throne and the crown, holding her over his head, for the whole of the noblemen and women to see their new born princess.
As soon as they had gazed upon her innocent birth, they all bowed before her, chanting her name loud enough for it to drown the beasts growls. The king, on seeing this, was pleased by his nobles reverence to a fault
"My wife,the queen left us but her soul lives on within this child. Her love will never perish. The Queen will be laid to rest tomorrow at the crack of dawn. "
The king having said that relieved himself unapologetically to feed his new found joy, as her cries persisted with no sign of an end. However for the nobles,they saw no need to excuse themselves from their venomous scathing words, loathing the mere sight of the king and his daughter.
The next day ,the kingdom was in mourning,for their beloved queen and a mother to all. She had been the epitome of the good in people. For she had not been cut from the same cloth like the other noblemen. She was the queen of all Aldian's .And she had died loved by many, beggars alike.For all those who knew her kind heart, cried for her.
At the break of dawn, her body, cold but still beautiful as she was alive, was finally laid to rest at the royal crypt, under the guidance of the spiritual leader,the spirits vessal,so that her soul could be accepted by the revered spirits and be ushered into the afterlife.Her husband and King, together with his a day old daughter watched, sorrowfully as they bid their final farewells.
The royal bell once again rung four time's , informing the kingdom that a princess had been born. All those who wept for their queen, danced and sang songs of a new birth. The beggars drunk their day's earnings silly and merrily, while the noble's drunk their own bitterly.
As were the royal son,drunk stupor in his own, the unquenchable chalice of hate , deeply locked up in his own bed chamber. He wept uncontrollably to himself, drowning in a pool of tears and despair. For his dearly beloved mother was now forever gone from him. Her warm embrace,and the comfort in her bossom were now but memories. In ire,he roared curses of his hate against his father,the kingdom and now his new little baby sister, princess Annia.