Warning: GORE. Gore. Don't read if you have an aversion to death.
Own nothing not even the DVD. Sad, i know. J
Marianne
The walk to the parlor had been a short one, and the maid who led us here had gone to fetch the king. With nothing else to do Vivel and I stood examining our surroundings. We marveled at the parlor room we had come to, with its grandeur and furniture we could not place. In the middle of the room where there would usually be a sitting area for guests there was a rectangular table with green fur on top, with numbered balls of different colors sitting in a raised triangle outline that kept them corralled in it. A few staffs that were wide at the bottom and smaller at the top stood in a wooden frame in the corner, for what purpose I couldn't tell. The fire place glowed familiarly with chairs on either side, as if they had been an after thought. Vivel had rounded the table, studying its every angle in hopes of unlocking its secrets but in the end could discern nothing from the surface and came once more to my side. Only a few minutes passed after Vivel finished her inspection that the maid I had sent returned with a deep curtsy. " His Highness will be with you in a moment, my lady" I nodded my head to confirm I had heard and smiled politely at the young maid. She was a lithe little thing, all softness and frailty. She obviously wasn't used to royalty, she fidgeted and shifted in my presence. In fact, I had noticed all of the kings staff seemed to be nervous, like they were all new. Just on the way here a laundry maid had dropped a linen towel and could not stop apologizing profusely. I had had to order her to calm down just so she wouldn't go into a fit of hysterics. Wendell either beat them continuously or had replaced them all with young girls so he would have something to look at. "Thank you, you may go" She curtsied again and left leaving me to wait once more. I did not have to wait long. The king entered shortly after she exited the room, to go back to her real duties, along with someone I assumed was a servant. The king stood a head higher than her with dirty blonde locks that curled slightly on the end. He had a slight figure but she could see the muscular undertones peeking out and he carried himself with such grace that I envied him. The king bowed as he entered the room and I curtsied in return. "Hello My Lady I am King Wendell. It is a pleasure to meet you" he seemed as uncomfortable as I was with the situation. As he stood back up I did not see the reproach I had expected but astonishment in his eyes as he looked me over. 'Why the hell was he astonished!?' I thought furiously. Did he expect me to frill myself up for him? I grudgingly introduced Vivel and he introduced Antony, who was apparently a lord of some sort (go figure), who responded with " Just Tony please" and took each of our hands and shook vigorously. It was quite an odd greeting that left me and Vivel confused. Seeing our confusion he sighed. " I forget you people don't shake hands". Wendell cleared his throat and gestured to the seats around the fireplace. Do you wish to sit and talk together, my lady?" He was already heading to the seats as if he knew my answer already. He was treating me like I was every other royal I realized. " No I would not like to sit your majesty" I growled out. I was being unreasonably aggressive but I didn't care. " I would rather have a tour of the castle" 'Might as well learn it now' I thought. 'It will be my home soon.' Wendell widened his eyes in astonishment, obviously not expecting me to disobey him. I could tell we weren't going to get along already. He quickly recovered and smiled at me. " Of course. What would you like to see first then?" I thought this over for a minute. "Do you have a garden?"
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Wendell
I was surprised to see the look of excitement on Marianne's face when we exited the castle and entered the garden. This women was quickly becoming a mystery. Every women before her had sat with me, talked about past accomplishments or fashion and then asked to see the throne room or in the more promiscuous case, the bedroom. She had only asked to see the garden and hadn't spoke to me since. She stopped beside a bright orange Tiger Lily that I had had imported especially for my garden. I stepped up beside her. " They are Tiger Lilies, imported from the Tenth Kingdom" I reached down intending to grab a stray weed when she grabbed my sleeve. I looked over at her quizzically and she frowned down at me. " Don't pick them, they are happier in the ground." I chuckled at the comment which only made her look angrier at me and pulled my sleeve from her grasp. She certainly didn't want my title, not with that attitude. "I wasn't going to pick one" I reached down and pulled the weed I had seen and smiled at her. She blushed much like I had expected and turned away with an "oh". I could tell from the expression on her face she hadn't expected me to know much of plants so I decided to show off a bit. " I also have Nights Breath" I pointed to a purple flower native to the Fifth Kingdom. " And many more besides." I began to point out more intending to name them to her when she stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. " I know their names." She turned to me and continued animatedly. " Do you have anymore from the Tenth Kingdom? I haven't seen those before." She turned her attention back to the garden, a small smile playing at her lips. I couldn't help but stare until she turned back to me expectantly. "um well, I have a section for them in the back corner here. These are just my favorites" I pointed in the general direction of them and offered her my arm to escort her there. She hesitantly grabbed it and as we walked we discussed all the plants we knew of. "How did you get into gardening so much?" She finally asked as we exhausted each others lists of plants. " My mother before she died had created this garden." I smiled at the memory of her bent in the beds planting all types of herbs and flowers. "She would always call me to help her. 'Teaches patience' she would say, though suspiciously I took care of the bugs mostly. I've taken to tending it since she has passed on though the gardeners still do most of the work". She smiled at that. " Who taught you?" I asked in return. She frowned. " The servants who took care of the gardens of the castle told me about them when I would go there but I didn't see them until mother decided I should 'come out' as a royal as she put it." I looked over at her with confusion. " Did you not grow many flowers at your castle?" She shook her head and laughed mirthlessly. " We did but they were only the ones that bloomed red or herbs that wolves didn't like. Nothing was just for beauties sake like here." She gestured grandly to our surroundings and I realized we had almost passed the section we had intended to head toward. She seemed to notice as I did and let go of my arm to dash excitedly to them. My arms felt emptier than ever with her gone so I shuffled close to her and began naming off all the different types of flowers to her. She would ask questions every now and again like " Does it smell like babies breath?" or "Time? What does it do?" and I would explain them to her before continuing with the names. As I was saying the name of the last plant in the corner garden a guard arrived behind us and announced his arrival with a rough cough. " Your Majesty, My Lady. The council wishes you to attend dinner in the main dining hall" I looked up into the sky in surprise. The sun was falling into the horizon with deep orange and gold rays of light twinkling out of existence. " oh, my it looks as if we lost track of time" I grinned and offered my arm to Marianne once more and she took it immediately, sending little waves of euphoria to my heart. We walked this way, talking of our hobbies and interests along the long walk from the back of the garden back to the castle. " I can't imagine you trying to cook" Marianne giggled at him. I furrowed his brow. " Neither could the kitchen staff. In retrospect it wasn't the best idea to start with cake, had to buy an entirely new stove by the end of it." This caused her to laugh harder. She was still laughing when we made it to the doors leading back into the main hall of the castle. The guard on duty bowed as we approached and opened the doors for us and closed it back when we were through. The main hall had been decorated by my interior decorator and as such showed excess everywhere. A fireplace crackled against the far wall safely out of reach of the large useless table in the middle of the room covered in decorative flowers and mini statues. Chairs surrounded the table though they were never used. A chandelier hung low over it, roughly as wide as the table and flanked a few feet by smaller but no less gaudy chandeliers. A coat hanger sat next to the door they had entered through and several ornaments including a large wall clock and a mural of the town of Snowfall in full swing hung on the walls. They entered to see Vivel, Antony, and a blonde who I immediately recognized as one of the royals I had turned down who had been on the power hungry promiscuous side of my refusals and sighed as she wrapped her arms around Antony's waist. He would never learn. As we approached them Vivel claimed Marianne's other arm with exasperation. " PLEASE save me from this" The girl looked positively at her wits end. She glanced over at me with a look of surprise and quickly added " My Lady" to her plea. I smirked at the obvious nervousness and released Marianne's arm. " Well My lady" I winked at Vivel as I said this and she blushed furiously and looked away. " I must make sure the dining hall is prepared before we dine so I must take my leave of you" On a whim I grabbed her hand intending to kiss it and felt her skin for the first time. It was soft and cool to the touch, utterly beautiful and electric. But what I had thought was a small electric thrill at touching her became an uncomfortable shock and suddenly I no longer saw the main hall that we had been standing in. Instead it was a twisted version of the room. It was completely drowned in blood. It was splashed on the walls in abstract droplets. The floor was soaked an inch deep. As I studied the room further I noticed something even worse. The great big ornate chandelier that had once glittered golden was now dark, blood putting the candles out. Bodies hung loosely from the metal from clothes or in worse cases their own skin, dripping more blood to the already covered floor. The two smaller chandeliers reflected the first with one exception. The bodies of well dressed noble children swung lightly on them, looks of horror plastered forever on their faces. He looked down quickly from the horrific sight only to see body parts cut to pieces burning in the fireplace. Arms and legs stuck out in a chaotic pattern, blackened and bloody. The table was by far the worst though. The table had been emptied of its previous load and was now set for a dinner. Bodies had been strapped to the chairs around it using rope to keep them upright. The plates placed in front of each one of them were meticulously arranged and their severed heads were placed in them. As he stared terrified, a small body came crawling out from beneath the table. He was no more than ten and held his hand against his neck where blood was pulsing out in great gulps. He looked straight into my eyes with despair evident. There was something familiar in his yellow eyes… he opened his mouth then and I saw his slightly large teeth before he spoke. "Help us".