Captured. That one word has turned their lives around, and Blossom hated it. Her face was covered with something thick, quite possibly a sack. She hated the fact that she was being taken from her birth home to a different city. A city that eradicated her own.
"That's the daughter of the Emperor and Empress of the Ice Kingdom?"
"Yes, I can see the Snowflake *insignia on her dress."
"The Ice Kingdom used to be so much stronger than this. They mocked us and attacked us for years."
"Ha! They deserved to be destroyed by the Great Emperor of the Fire Kingdom!"
"The Ice Kingdom's own *snow fox has been taken from them. They wouldn't dare attack us now!"
"All hail the new Emperor! All hail the *dragon!"
She hissed as she heard the comments of the passers by. She knows they placed her in a cage. She knows the Fire Emperor decided to humiliate her further, to show their people what they have achieved. She hated this new Emperor, the one who decided to attack her own kingdom.
She felt the cage stop after a few more minutes, and rough hands pulled her out. She pulled her hands back, but before she could even think about taking the sack off, she felt a blade placed on the small of her back.
"Move, or you will taste the pain of my blade."
At first she thought she wouldn't move. She would rather be dead than to be taken and placed on a pedestal for all the world to see, the last of the Ice Dynasty. Once a symbol of power, now a symbol of the strength of the Fire Kingdom.
No! I won't allow it! I, the last of the Ice, the last of my dynasty, shall not die without avenging my home! The Fire Kingdom will feel the storm in my heart, and their flame will be smouldered by the cold blizzard of Ice!
She held her head high, though she could not see, and walked with as much grace and power with each step. Another pair of rough hands led her to a place. She could hear the chatter stop, and she could feel the eyes of people looking at her. The same hands forced her to kneel, and she could hear the people cheer. She felt her heart grow colder, her hands clenched, as she realized where they took her. The throne room. Her anger amplified, her desire to see who she has to destroy, as they pulled the sack off of her head.
The room was silent as they looked at the daughter of their enemy, and she felt a wave of anger crashing at her as she saw him. The one they called the Dragon Emperor.
He sat on the throne with thr aura of a leader, a composed, calculating leader. She was not surprised such a man had been able to overcome the defenses of the Ice Kingdom. She was, however, surprised to find out that the man who stole her from her homeland, the one who ordered the death of her entire clan, was not an old, withered person, but a young man, almost her age.
They stared at each other, her with a strong contempt, him with a calculative gaze. The murmurs around the throne room increased just enough for her to hear them.
"So that's the snow fox of the Ice Kingdom."
"For someone who came from such a cold place, her hair seems to be as bright red as the late Emperor himself as an adult."
"Haven't you heard the rumors? Acoording to them, the Empress of the Ice Kindom was actually from the Fire Kingdom."
"With hair like that I don't doubt it at all."
"Look at her eyes, though. It's pink!"
"They say that their Empress was a daughter of one of the past Emperors, the one our Emperor's father managed to defeat."
"But if that's the case, isn't her eyes supposed to be red?"
"The eyes of the Ice Dynasty was silver. Perhaps she inherited both her parents eyes."
The Dragon Emperor raised his right hand, and the throne room was silent once again. Blossom was tense. She eyed the sword on the Emperor's waist, the sword rumoured to feel like a piece of you burns with every cut. Dragon's Breath, a fitting sword for a person from the Fire Dynasty.
He slowly stepped down the throne steps, and the people took a step back. She could feel the heat radiating from him, as she was sure he could feel the cold radiating from her body. He slowly took his sword out of his scabbard, and everyone gasped as the heat in the room seem to be amplified. Blossom, not used to such a heat, started to sweat. He took slow steps, like a predator approaching his prey, until he was in front of her, the heat from both him and the sword was enough to heat up her cold blood. As he raised the sword, preparing to strike, she closed her eyes, swearing vengeance in her next life.
She heard the sword swing, and she waited for the burning pain to come. What she didn't expect was for the blade's heat to be felt close to her hands, and the ropes that were originally tied to her wrists were now seen on the ground, cut straight through, the tips looking burnt.
She didn't realize her hands were shaking until a pair of warm hands pulled her up. She quickly found out who owned those hands, and quickly pulled away from the Emperor's hands, before slapping him hard on the face, causing some of the ministers to flinch, and the rest of them to take a step back, certain her head would be rolling on the ground soon enough.
She glared at him, expecting him to call on the guards to hold her still in order for him to finish her. He didn't. Instead, he looked at the crowd, and what he said startled even her.
"This woman shall be you're Empress, the wedding will be set in two weeks time."
Before she could even protest, she was pulled by two guards, and though they were gentler than the ones that brought her there, she still felt a pang of anger as she was taken out of the throne room.
Just as she was taken out, she heard the crowd begin to murmur again, as a familiar black haired woman, and a small blonde girl were brought to the throne room. She wanted to scream in joy and frustration, for she was not the only one who survived, but they might not be given back to her, seeing as they will not allow her any chance to escape.
She needs to know where they will be sent. If they will come out alive from the throne room, that is. She prayed to *Aerith, *Gomoria and *Elzar to protect them.
o O o
They were forced to kneel, just like their lady, but unlike her, there wasn't a sack to cover their faces up. They saw that their snow fox, though bruised and a bit battered, was still alive, and that gave them hope. They were shocked, just like the rest of the people in the throne room, when they heard the so-called Emperor's announcement.
Buttercup could still feel blood tricking out of her arm, a warning wound when she almost strangled a guard using the ropes. She sworn to protect the snow fox, as her personal guard and as one of her friends, and she failed. She was glad she was alive, but she felt the frustration of not being able to do anything as she watched her being dragged away.
She saw the blonde tremble as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She knows what she was thinking. The snow fox was alive, so she didn't need to see another body. Though Buttercup was trained to be a soldier, a guard, Bubbles was nothing more than a personaly servant. She could not stomach the mere sight of blood, let alone a body of a loved one.
"The rules dictate that I am to kill you, " He pointed his sword at Buttercup, who hissed at the sudden heat, "seeing as you were the closest to the Ice Kingdom's royalties, and one of their most loyal soldiers."
She figured as much.
"However, you are also close to my soon-to-be Empress, so as a gift to her, I will let both of you live."
She felt the little servant sigh in relief.
"But, seeing as you," he said, looking at Buttercup with an air of mild frustration, "killed countless of my men, and almost killed one more on your way here, I think it will be best to give you to one of my men, seeing as their comrads had died in your hands."
He looked at one of the men behind Buttercup, and she swore she had seen a small smirk on his lips. "A strong woman can only be tamed by a strong man, so I shall give you to my first ranked general."
She growled when she heard that. She saw the first ranked general all right. She knows who he was. She met him in the battlefield. He was the reason she was captured with the other two in the first place.
The Emperor then turned to Bubbles, who was looking scared at the thought of what they could do to her. The Emperor simply scanned her, then issued another order.
"This woman will continue to be the new Empress's personal servant. Only she is allowed to speak and to help the Empress amongst other servants."
Buttercup almost sighed in relief. There was hope that the message can still be sent to the snow fox. She only needed to tell her what the message was.
With a nod, the two were pulled up to stand, and Buttercup saw her chance. She knew what this place was about. She may be a soldier, but she was still a woman, so no one questioned her when she hugged Bubbles. Nor did anyone questioned her when she whispered something the others thought was a farewell. In reality, she just took a large risk by whispering the message to Bubbles ears.
Bubbles subtly nodded, before the guards pulled them apart, Bubbles being pulled to the same direction Blossom was taken, and Buttercup was pulled to be positioned next to the general, who she heard was known as the Demon General.
When the time comes, she was going to enjoy ripping his throat out.
o O o
Bubbles almost cried in relief when she was placed in the same room as her majesty. She could have hugged her there and then, but she can sense there was someone else in the room. Someone watching them.
Bubbles, for the first time in her life, wanted to curse. As a servant, she was taught to feel the presence of a person, so she would report it to the guards. She was just a mere servant, no one would suspect thst she was their own little spy, telling the guards if she senses an unknown person even close to her Lady. It was a talent taught to all the personal servants of the Ice Kingdom's royalties, to ensure that the royalties will be safe from all harm.
She knows her Lady could feel the person's presence, too, so Bubbles was not questioned when she merely bowed and told her she was her personal servant.
She could feel the person's eyes on ber, so she must plan quickly. She needed to pass the message. It was life or death.
"Servant, I want to bathe, draw a bath for me."
Her Lady gave her a chance! No one, not even a secret spy of the Emperor, would be allowed to see the Empress-to-be naked! It didn't matter if she was a male or a female, he or she would be killed on the spot!
"Of course, my Lady."
She quickly drew a bath, impatiently waiting for the water to boil, before gently taking off her Lady's clothes. One of the advantages of being a personal servant. She is exempted in the rule as she is needed to help her Lady wear clothes and take them off, giving her a chance she needed.
"My Lady, personal guard Buttercup has told me that the Blizzard will come as soon as the river will freeze."
Bubbles smiled a bit when she felt her Lady's shoulders sag a bit due to relief. A Blizzard was a code for the eldest prince, as for when the river will freeze, in their country, the river is surrounded by *Frost trees, and the river shall be surrounded by their petals and leaves in ten days' time.
Her Lady's smile didn't last long, though, as she seem to have remembered something. "Where is Buttercup?"
The fear in her voice made Bubbles flinch. She knew what her Lady was thinking, in fact, an image of Buttercup's head rolling on the ground made her stomach roll.
"She is being punished, my Lady." At the sight of horror on her Lady's face, she quickly explained, "For killing the Emperor's men, she should have been killed. Instead, he gave her to the first ranked general, for him to marry her. That is all I know."
Her Lady's lips formed a small smirk. "So he thinks Buttercup can be tamed by a man? Hmph, she will show him hell on earth."
She seemed lose for a moment, but she quickly shook of whatever thought she had.
"Help me dress, I think it's time we leave before that person will be suspiscious."
o O o
"What did you just say?!"
A cup was thrown to the ground as Concubine Berserk stood up in a fit of anger, glaring at the bearer of bad news.
"I-it's true, my Lady. His Highness has announced that the snow fox of the Ice Kingdom would be his Empress."
Berserk shrieked, throwing yet another cup at the ground close to where the servant was bowing. She flinched, and Berserk ordered her away.
"This isn't fair! I was the first, the best, the most beautiful out of all the women, faithful to the Fire Kingdom to a fault, and he made me a Concubine! Now a girl from a rival kingdom, a girl who should have been killed, has been made the Empress?!"
"Calm down, child." Her father, one of the prime ministers of the king, soothed.
"He is only doing this to get a better hold on the Ice Kingdom. As soon as he manages to full defeat the rest of the Kingdom's forces, he will no doubt execute her."
This calmed her down a bit, but the thought of the unfairness of the situation left a bitter taste on her mouth.
"But father! I want to be the Empress! Me! Please make that happen, father!"
Her father sighed, then nodded. "I promise you, my child, I will find a way to make you the *Flame Empress of our kingdom. You and no one else."
This pleased her, and the thought of the unkown woman made her blood boil.
Soon. Soon she will be dead, and the Emperor will love only me!
Yes, the thought of that made her smile a smile of a demon.
oooo
*Insignia- A symbol of the clan a person is from.
*Snow fox- What the people of the Ice Kingdom calls the first daughter of their Emperor and Empress.
*Dragon- What the people of the Fire Kingdom calls the first son of the Emperor and Empress.
*Aerith- The Ice Kingdom's Goddess of the Cold Winds, protector of the Ice Kingdom's women.
*Gomoria- The Ice Kingdom's Goddess of Women Warriors, protector of female captives.
*Elzar- The Ice Kingdom's God of Blizzards and Ice Storms, Patron God of the Ice Kingdom.
*Frost Tree- A tree that can only survive in the coldest climates. It's flowers and leaves looks like ice, though it is only a few degrees colder, and whenever it falls on the river, it makes it look like the river is frozen.
*Flame Empress- The Highest rank of the Fire Emperor's Harem.
Author's note:
The idea of creating my own world fascinates me, and I borrowed a few things like Emperors, Empress, concubines, etc. from cultures of Asia. So if a person recognizes these things and tells me what is right and wrong, please understand that this is my own mix of the past and fantasy. Thank you.