Chapter 33: 33- Past... (2)
"I reckoned the bet was abolished?" Marleen inquired as she strolled behind Ava with a tray in her hand. After hearing what happened between her and the king, and the death of Mr. Sam, she had thought the bet wasn't worth it.
"I don't go back on my words, Marleen. And I'll find the name of the first king in no time." Ava mumbled, determined.
"But you only have till midnight, that's the deal." Marleen reminded.
"I know. And I'm not backing out, don't worry, I'll be more careful this time." Ava said.
They strolled toward the living room with the trays in their hands and kept them on top of the center table. They spun around and left the room.
"I heard Mr. Sam's family will be holding his funeral tomorrow. Would you be attending?" Mildred asked, something was notifying her that Ava wouldn't, and that was because of the King.
"The king won't allow me." She mumbled. They wander past the east wing corridor to get other work done.
___________
That evening, Ava couldn't sleep. She searched everywhere but all she got was the same old answer.
Something tells her the tomb of the first king was at the Royals' cemetery.
So, after finalizing, she decided to leave the palace for the cemetery once everybody was asleep. Even knowing how dangerous it was, her inquisitiveness had gotten the best of her.
She loitered until it was almost midnight, she didn't take the lamp like she had thought she would, the moon was up in the sky, glowing brightly.
She stepped out of her room and descended the stairs quietly, she then made her way toward the back door. She didn't lock it that evening, unlike usual, so she opened it without catching attention and went outside.
The air was slightly chilling, but she didn't take a coat with her, she couldn't risk being caught or delayed. She ran toward a big tree where a small horse was tied. She had tied it there.
After losing its rein from the tree she clambers onto it and mounted away.
-After some time-
The Royals graveyard came into view so she stopped the horse and tied it to a tree. She didn't want it close to the cemetery.
She strides toward the cemetery and looks around for a place she hadn't searched the previous day.
She had expected to be shittily scared of the cemetery since it was midnight, but that wasn't the case. She suddenly felt excited, excited, and amazed. Who in their right senses would go to a cemetery at midnight and be excited over it?
As she looked around, she noticed a small cavern a little distant from the Royal cemetery; she didn't see it there yesterday. So she strides closer towards it. Seeing it was big enough for a person to walk in, she went inside.
It wasn't dark as she had thought it would be, moonlight reflected inside the cavern.
She glanced around, searching for anything that could lead her to her goal.
She came across a long strand tied across opposite walls, not knowing what it meant she walked under it.
Suddenly she heard a rumbling sound. Panicking, she made her way outside of the cavern, but the entrance was already blocked.
Everything happened fast and the ground she was standing on began sinking. She screeched out for help.
But her senses were quick to think of something, so she dived towards the wall and grabbed the rod connected to the wall. She watched as everything on the ground sank.
Then suddenly, something emerged from the ground.
A box. A big, dusty old box.
Seeing that ground had returned to normal, she hesitantly placed her feet on the ground, one after the other. She took slow steps forward toward the box.
She traced her hand across the box, it looked like a casket, only older and rougher.
Her inner voice told her not to open the box, but her curious mind decided against it. So, she gently pushed the cover away, and dusty air came out of the box, throwing her into a fit of coughs. She waved her hand and stepped back a little.
She opened it wider and peeped inside the box.
The first thing she saw was a body…
A lifeless body.
And writing…
'First king Of Gograonia Empire— Late King Dominus Lambert'
The body looked exactly like the King, Mr. Lambert…
She gasped sharply.
"You aren't supposed to be here." The cold voice from behind her scared her. She jumped in fright and turned around rapidly to see who it was, and it was the King.
She stared at the fierce King with parted lips and then peeked at the body in the box, there was no difference between the two of them.
Then she noticed one thing, the body wasn't a dead body… the body was Frozen. A dead body would have become rotten or decayed, but this was still fresh.
Suddenly, a realization hits her.
"Y…you are…" her lips quivered as she pointed her forefinger at him. "There are two of you…" Fear then grips her. "You were the first king, you..you are ancient…"
She watched as a smile raised on his lips, maniacally. It was frightening. He took a step closer to her and spoke. "I've always known you were intelligent, the only problem was your 'too inquisitive' mind." He lingered. "You weren't supposed to know or see all these, but it's too late now."
Before she could digest his words, his hand was already around her small neck. Breaking it wouldn't be hard for him, knowing how strong he was.
"W–wait… I–I…The..the Man is waking u–p…" She couldn't make the right sentence since his hand was tight around her throat.
"What?" The king asked, distracted. He glanced behind him and quickly ducked his head to prevent the casket from hitting his head.
His frozen doppelganger has woken up. This wasn't supposed to happen.
"W–where did he go?" Ava asked, stunned. She looked around but couldn't find the frozen man.
"Shit!" The king cursed, his head turned towards her with a glare.
"I guess you'd be living another day."
-- Gift
received