There was a kingdom once. A great kingdom ruled by a king and queen, who were adored by all the land. The king was kind but governed with a strong hand. People knew not to mess with his land. The queen was quieter, but when she did speak she could move mountains if she wished. The queen was popular with her citizens as she visited the market and became good friends with many in her free time. No one could have seen it coming.
The king and queen had no children. The queen was infertile, you see, and they had no intention of adopting. When asked about the matter of their predecessor, the king would shrug it off with nothing more than "We shall see when the time comes." They did in fact see when the time came, as horrible as that time was.
It was a calm evening like any other when it happened. Dusk was falling on Silverbrook: shops were closing, children being ushered in for the night, and the business of the castle was finally settling down. The guards switched positions and the night watchmen settled in for another uneventful night as always. And it was, for a while. It was a few hours later that they saw a shadowy figure making their way up the steps. The person kept their head down, hidden under a cloak. This, combined with the tall and lean body, gave them almost a specter-like appearance.
"Halt!" cried one of the men by the front gate, "What business do you seek with the king?"
This produced a laugh from the stranger. "Do not fear what my business is, for it is none of yours. Just let me pass and no harm will come to your precious royalty."
The guards knew better than to let the suspicious character through, so they sent them away with a warning to never return. The cloaked stranger did though. They came back night after night asking the same simple question, only to be met with the same reaction. Finally, the guards had had enough. When the person came back on the fifth night, the guards took them by the arms and dragged them inside to the throne room.
By now, the king and queen had been informed of the disturbance, and sat waiting on their respective thrones. The stranger was thrown to her knees and had their arms chained behind them by the guards that had been waiting inside. The hood that had been hiding their face was ripped off to reveal what appeared to be a teenage girl with short but wild brown hair. Once again, the stranger laughed quietly. "Thank you. Now was that really so hard to let me in?"
It was the queen who finally broke the silence after the unanswered question with one of her own, "What do you seek here, traveler?"
The girl looked up for the first time with a crooked grin. "Well, you see my queen, it's not what I seek. My… companion wanted me to ask something for you. She happens to be terribly shy at times, so I was sent as a spokesperson. Although, I suppose technically it is asking about something that we both want…"
Growing impatient with the young girl's avoidance of the question, the king stood up and walked over to her. Towering above the suspicious teen, he glared down as he let out a shout that echoed through the room. "Tell us what you wish to say or I will have you thrown in a cell. I will not let you be a threat to my wife any longer!"
The girl's grin became dangerous and her eyes shone with a dark light. Her head tilted slightly to one side as if she was closely studying the kind's reaction. "Do I frighten you? A small girl against the all mighty king? It's like a mouse in front of a lion. Never mind that though, it appears we have more important things to discuss. All my companion wanted me to nicely ask was if you would allow her, and I by that extent, to take your place as rulers of the kingdom." She spoke with such a calm assurance, as if she were only asking for a sip of water. The king took a step back, confused and unnerved by the statement. He should have been relieved at the fact that this seemed like a simple teenage prank that had gone too far. He couldn't assure himself with that thought though. Something just wasn't right.
The stranger's eyes shifted past him and locked onto the queen. The king let out a low growl and drew his sword from his side. The guards sensed the impending danger and shoved her fully to the ground. "What's going on here? What are you plotting, felon?!" A guard cried out. She didn't have time to answer before chaos erupted in the throne room.
The king yelled out a warning to the queen as he ran towards her, sword drawn. She turned around the see the man pouncing from behind the king's throne at her at the exact moment the guards did. Before the king got there, a short guard darted forward. In one smooth movement, she had pushed the queen behind her, drew her sword, and pierced the oncoming assassin in the chest. He let out a choked cry as his momentum only cause the blade to slide deeper in. The girl kicked him off of her sword to the floor, and finished the job.
The two men still restraining the mysterious girl yanked her head back as they prepared to execute her on the spot for assisting in attempted murder of the queen, but they never got the chance. The king ran the remaining space to hold his wife, as they both thanked their savior profusely. The blonde girl glanced over her shoulder at the queen as if checking that she was unharmed, and then whipped her body around and slit the queen's throat straight to the bone.
It took a moment for the reality to sink in before the guards were now moving to grab her while the king wailed in pain and anger. With his sword still drawn, he lay the body of his beloved wife down and swung with all his might at her killer. The guards were too confused to even try and figure out what was going on, but they knew they needed to protect the remaining ruler. The guards holding the brunette glanced at each other, not sure if they should hold the unarmed intruder or go after the armed blonde with the other three guards. Finally they decide on the latter, and with one final shove and a "DON'T YOU MOVE AN INCH," they rushed into battle.
The rogue guard was now fighting six to one, although with the raging strength that the king had she might as well have been fighting against an army. They forced her back as she expertly dodged and blocked their onslaught, until she was pressed to the corner of the room. Still, she showed no fear as she confidently continued to fight. The small spaces they had pressed into made it near impossible for all six men to swing effectively without hitting each other.
It seemed like the end for the murderer as she quickly wore out. Suddenly, a guard let out a cry that was quickly cut off and fell to the ground. A small throwing knife lay buried to the hilt just below his neck. It only took a moment for another to fall beside him. The remaining three lost focus in the blonde as they were now being attacked from both sides. The king, however, was still swinging wildly at her as tears and spit flew from his face from each enraged battle cry. His attack was unrelenting, but sloppy and he hardly landed any hits against the opposing blade. There was only one more guard facing her now that the other two were going after the unknown girl again. Her size proved a huge help when she dropped to the ground and pounced through the space between them to open ground.
They only had time to turn around before the king's throat was slashed as well and the guard was suddenly missing an arm. He screamed in pain before he was silenced forever and she turned around, panting, to watch the other teen. The stranger had downed one of the two guards, and had the other bleeding heavily and pressed against the wall with a blade at his throat.
"Let him leave," the blonde wheezed, "Let him warn the others that there are two new rulers now." The brunette glared at the man, who began nodding fiercely in agreement.
"W-who should I t-tell them reigns n-n-now?" He stammered weakly through his tears.
The teen guard stepped forward while cleaning her blade off on her cape. "Tell your men that they are to serve us with absolute submission. Any resistance will be met with immediate punishment of the most severe kind. Tell them that Tatiana and Kaity watch over this land now."