บท 4: The pale wanderer
A few days passed when Arja heard the horse outside her window and jumped out of her bed. She dressed in the most beautiful outfit she could have and ran to the main hall. Her father and brother returned.
King Arak'thor and his son Ulrich were leading the column. Ulrich jumped out of his horse and ran to his sister in the hall. They embraced each other for a long time. She smiled at him before asking.
"How was the campaign? I missed you so much!"
Ulrich seemed to lose his light. He lowered his head and shook his head.
"The news is not good. The enemy is spreading to our territory. We will not be able to avoid the conflict and we will have to prepare the army."
She heard, from Altraya about the new King in the North. The rumor said that he was a young hero coming out of nowhere and leading people to their glory.
In a little time, he gathered soldiers and devoted partisans. He managed to expand his land up to the border. King Arak'thor sent a delegation to discuss this, unfortunately, no men returned.
Arja was worried about the situation. Of course, she was not prepared for the war. Her education consisted of embroidery and elegance. She had no idea what could happen if the kingdom was attacked and this terrified her deeply.
"Brother, please, tell me. Where is Altraya's father?"
Then a voice interrupted. Her mother, the queen, appeared and pushed her away.
"We, ladies, don't ask questions about politics. Back to your room, your hairdressing is not proper"
Arja behaved, she immediately came back to her room but this time, she felt like someone special was outside. She rushed to the window and saw a man dressed in a white coat.
She called for her handmaiden but when she arrived, the man was not there anymore. Arja didn't want to lose her face and asked for help with her corset.
Arja was a true beauty. She was thin and tall. Her pale skin was like the purest pearl. Her eyes were green as the rarest emeralds and her long black hairs were falling in the bottom of her back to continue their road up to her knees.
She used to make up her long lips and made sure to be perfect before returning to his highness the King.
When she came back, as she was in the corridor she saw her mother closing the doors of the reception room. Her mother had a pale figure, she looked frightened by what she just saw. She saw Arja and looked scared for her child, she took the hand of her daughter and dragged her away in the most absolute silence.
Arja noticed that her mother didn't even dare to breathe normally. What could be so scary to make the Queen like this? Arja needed to know. She followed the Queen and simulated going back to her room, then she left again.
The palace was huge. The long corridors were all covered with large curtains, all richer than the others.
Arja and her friend Altraya were used to snitching behind these curtains to go to the kitchens and steal some improper food at night.
Both girls had the same age, around fourteen years old. If Altraya had a less important position than Arja, it didn't stop them from acting like true sisters and a solid bond existed between them.
Arja went to the curtains in the direction of the reception hall. With all this going back and forth, the day had already passed.
When she finally managed to slide into a hidden passage to the room she felt a warm arm and almost fainted with fear. Then she realized Altraya was there, Arja thought she probably wanted to know why her father didn't return yet. Altraya placed a hand on Arja's mouth to avoid any noise and showed her to be silent.
Arja never saw Altraya with a face so severe. Something wrong was happening. Then she turned her head inside and finally saw.
A man in a white coat was in the middle of the room, the King was in front of him, sitting on his throne. His hands were tensed on the metal. Arja realized that she never saw her father in this posture, he always looked so confident. She never saw him being worried, not once.
Her father was the kind of King loved as a god. Solid as a rock and glorified for his force and courage. Arja could even feel a tear running from one of her eyes seeing him so stressed.
In front of the King, the man was hiding his face. We only could see his hands, and what hands…
They were the ones of a dead man. The skin was gluing directly to the bones, his hands were gray and life was not running in his veins anymore.
Long white nails were falling and the smell from him was nauseous. The air around him was extremely cold.
Arja was curious and panicked at the same time, She didn't know what to feel anymore.
The man was talking with a low voice, a hoarse voice, adding to the general state.
Then the King stood up and acknowledged. He followed the man to the main entrance to accompany him. The man turned his head to the curtains and smiled at the girls. Arja and Altraya were sure to be invisible at this moment and opened their mouths wide.
The man had a white thin face, his lips were gray, and his hair was white but most of all. His eyes were red.
Once they left, Altraya caught Arja and ran to the opposite of the palace in a secret room under a stair. The usual place for the girls to meet at night hidden from the people.
Altraya screamed.
"Did you see?! Did he see us?! He couldn't see us! Why did he do this?!"
Altraya cried after shouting all her panic.
"What was that? Was it alive?"
Arja put a hand on her friend's shoulder and then saw she was trembling herself. Her voice was also shaking and she barely could say anything.
"He saw us."
Altraya became quiet. Tears were running down her face. She trembled and said in a murmur.
"The King made a deal with this creature."
Both understood what it meant.
The Kingdom was falling.
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