The overthrow of my father didn't happen until two months after the war began.
The attack came so sudden. They attacked the castle directly. There was no way to avoid it. Our soldiers came as soon as they could; our guards fought as hard as possible. But in the end, the palace was taken over…and my parents were killed. Peter and I were outside in the meadow when the attack came, thus we were already wearing our peasant clothes. We ran inside the second we saw the soldiers, but we were too late.
Nicolai personally beheaded my father in the midst of the tumult. Brother was unsuccessful in covering my eyes so I wouldn't see. Before we could be spotted, Brother stealthily led me through the castle. We ran as fast as we could, hiding around corners, making unexpected turns when there was nowhere else to run. It felt like forever when we finally made it outside.
Even out there, we weren't safe. It was chaos everywhere we turned. Bullets shot left and right. Civilians joined the battle. Houses burned. Death was all around me.
Brother grabbed my shoulders and pushed me through the streets. We dodged bullets, rocks, and many other flying objects. At one point, Brother actually was shot in the arm. Even still, we pushed through. And we didn't stop running until we were away from the warzone – where we were safe. Miles and miles away from the place I had once called home.
We had finally found refuge in a town five hours away from our country, at the border of our neighboring country. The very same one out to kill us. Brother had lost a lot of blood and fell unconscious thirty minutes before we got into town. I had to drag him with one arm slung around my shoulder. The hospital took us in right away and he was taken into surgery.
The hospital was busy and crowded with wounded soldiers of Nicolai's army. It was terrifying to see them. I kept imagining that one of them would recognize me and kill me. But that didn't happen.
As I waited tensely in the waiting room – dirty, sooty, tremulous, exhausted, and stained in my brother's blood – I stared at the floor, trying to take in the reality of the situation. I couldn't stop…seeing my father getting decapitated. Thank God we left before I could see what Nicolai did to my mother, or I would be insane right now. No…What had happened to my father was enough to drive me mad. I buried my eyes in my hands, but I couldn't cry. If I learned my brother was dead, too, then I would cry.
Cautiously, a nurse came up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Miss?" she started. I brought my face up to look at her. She was a pretty woman with a nice smile. "Your brother is going to be fine." My heart leapt into my throat. "You may see him in a few minutes, but for now, I need some information, if that's fine."
I swallowed hard, wiping the tears that attempted to clean my cheeks, smearing soot. "That's fine," I said weakly. "What do you need?"
The woman sat down beside me and took out a clipboard and pen. She began asking me questions like what was my name, what was my brother's name, where did we come from, how did he get that wound? At first, I wasn't sure if I should answer. We were in the enemy's country. Would they turn us in? I didn't know. But I did know one thing:
We survived. The son and daughter of the fallen kingdom had survived. And Nicolai would want us back.
I gulped. If no one recognized us by now, we were obviously unknown here; no civilian saw my family when we came to visit Nicolai and his father. Which was perfect. "My name is Elaine," I answered her, closing my eyes, thinking hard. "My brother's name is…Phillip. We're wanderers, you see. And we were passing through the neighboring country, but we didn't know they were at war."
The woman tsked and shook her head. "You poor dear," she said morosely. "It's awful, this war; so unnecessary. All this over some territory." She smiled as best as she could and squeezed my shoulder. "Well, Elaine, you'll be safe here. The war is almost over anyway."
Safe was a term used loosely on my behalf.
The war ended that night, but the damages were permanent. They tore down our castle and left the remains as a forever reminder of Nicolai's success. My country was renamed, forgotten, and Nicolai's kingdom expanded. My people were left to clean up the mess left behind, which took two years to do. Brother and I went back to help them with the damage, and we ended up staying there.
Word of our return spread swiftly and silently. Those still living knew us and respected us, but acted as though it was nothing – that we were commoners. At first, Peter and I weren't sure it would work out. We were positive that we would be discovered quickly and sentenced to death or worse. But with God on our side, we survived eight whole years.
In that time, we became more and more like commoners. And I was loving it.
Over the years in Nicolai's reign, the country fell into poverty. He was a horrible monarch, unfit for the throne. Many were starving, even more were homeless. But Peter and I were coming through relatively well. We opened our own inn and welcomed anyone with considerably low prices. Brother was the chef and I took care of mostly everything else. On the weekends, Brother would work in the fields, leaving me with the inn by myself.
We hired the few that we could afford. They knew of our royalty, but Peter and I refused special treatment from anyone. If we were to keep up our cover, we couldn't have people treating us differently. I don't know how they did it, but they did it. Everyone that knew of us never breathed a word to Nicolai. If they did, he took no mind to it – which I doubt. Perhaps the people hoped that one day Peter and I would come to throne again and overthrow Nicolai. Now that was a thought worth living for.
In the eight years I spent as a peasant, not one day went by that I didn't think about Zane. I had no idea if he survived or not. He was nowhere to be seen in the raid, or at least not that I saw in my frantic state. I missed him horribly. He, too, haunted my dreams. I didn't have a good night's sleep in at least a year. My heart ached every time I thought about the incident. And the way I had to pass by the remains of the castle when I went to town tortured me.
I tried to let it go. But there was no way I would forget my life before pauperism. I would never forget Zane. I would never forgive Nicolai. And I would not die until I had killed him.
I awoke with a start when Peter knocked on the door. Heart still racing from the nightmare, I refused to get out of bed. Was it morning? Was I still dreaming? A few moments later, Peter entered the room and sat on my bed to confirm that I was awake. "Sister," he whispered, "wake up, sister." He brushed my light auburn hair behind my ears. "The boss has called in early. I need to get going, which means you need to be awake, okay?"
Eventually, my eyes fluttered open and I looked up at my brother. He had dark green eyes and dark chestnut brown hair. Peter had grown so handsome as we got older – the heartthrob of the town. Maybe we both were, but I couldn't tell. We didn't look very much like twins, but the resemblance was there.
I nodded. "Okay," I said hoarsely. I reached up and kissed the little beauty mark under his right eye, and he kissed my forehead. He was already dressed in his ruffled white shirt, brown vest, pants and boots. Brother stood and put on his hat. With a small wave, he walked out of the small room. I stayed in bed for a few moments before hearing the click of the front door close. Then I watched Peter leave until he was out of sight.
With a deep sigh, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Brother always made sure that I was awake before he left. He would hate himself if I was taken when I was sleeping. Quickly gathering some clothes, I took a hasty shower, and then rushed out to the front desk. The other cook was already awake, getting breakfast ready. A few tables were set up across from the front desk. Brother's room and my room were side-by-side behind the counter, and the kitchen was a closed off corner of the lobby with a window where you could watch the cooks work. When you walked in through the door, right across from you was the staircase leading to the bedrooms.
At the time, we had five rooms occupied – not counting our two employees rooms – leaving seven more vacant. I checked on Louis and he smiled at me. "Would you like an omelet, Miss Elaine?" I accepted and thanked him, and then went to my brother's room. In his top drawer, I got the money that belonged in the cash register. At night, it stayed in his room in case there was a thief who dare steal from us. I counted it twice and then put it back in the register.
Nothing eventful ever happened at the inn. I mostly spent my time behind the counter or sitting with the employees. Two homeless men lived here, as well, and we provided for them – Thomas and Will. They were sweet men, and we were happy to take them in. Our employees were Louis, Angela, and Icarus. Louis was a handsome man in his mid-twenties, with blond hair and gray eyes. He was the assistant chef. He came here simply in search for a job. In fact, he didn't even know we were the prince and princess when he came here; he had to be informed later on.
Icarus and Angela were father and daughter. Icarus was once a guard for us at the castle with his family – one of the only survivors. I was ecstatic to see him and Angela again. Angela was an adorable ten-year-old girl now, and she worked hard with her father as a maid. "It's an honor to be working for you once more, my princess," Icarus said the first day we met up again. He was an older man with dark hair pulled back into a small pony-tail and dark blue eyes behind glasses. Angela looked just the same – the spitting image of her late mother.
I frowned, remembering how much I missed Melody. She was beautiful and extremely kind – my nanny. Snapping me out of my trance was Thomas coming down the stairs with a booming, "Great morning to you, Elaine!"
I laughed. "Quiet down, won't you? It's six in the morning; people are still asleep." We provided Thomas and Will with clean clothes, razors, toiletry, et cetera. Though it was obvious Thomas had just rolled out of bed, he looked like a fine man when he wasn't all scraggly.
Louis fixed us breakfast, and after that, the day passed smoothly. At noon, I sat at a table, stirring coffee, listening to Will read the newspaper. Thomas had left to work earlier and that day, Will worked the night shift at the factory. Thomas was a miner, Will tailored clothes.
"Listen to this," Will said, shaking his head, "'King Nicolai in Search for Bride. Possible Uniting with Neighboring Country.'"
I stared at my reflection in my coffee. I went from content to serious in two seconds flat. In the kitchen, Louis spat. "He's only looking for more land to take over, the selfish bastard," he growled, gripping the cloth he was using to clean dishes from lunch.
Icarus leaned on one hand and grunted. "I don't know any princess who'd want to marry a brat like him," he commented dryly.
"You never know," I said solemnly, "the other countries don't know what he's really like. Even if he's ugly as hell to us, there are other people who actually like his type."
I sipped the sugary coffee as all eyes trailed on me. They should have known better than to bring up Nicolai, even if they weren't trying to change my mood. Whenever I thought about him, I automatically became somber. Because just the mention of his name brought back all the memories I had stored. All the memories I would never forget, could never forget.
Louis stuttered awkwardly. "U-um, Elaine!" he said, trying to sound cheerful. "We're almost out of sandwich supplies. Would you mind going to the store and picking some up?" He grinned sheepishly.
With a sigh, I stood. "Sure; no problem." I slid my cup over to Icarus. "You can have it," I said. I took some money from the register and grabbed my handkerchief. As I walked out the door, I slipped the money in my dress pocket and tied the handkerchief around my head.
Outside, Angela was still playing with her friends. She waved to me as she jumped over the jump rope. I gave her a weak smile in return and continued walking. My black, heeled boots clicked rhythmically against the pavement as I walked. I always wore these boots and an old, brown dress that Will sewed for me long ago. It was made of a soft fabric. And though it was a bland dress, I loved it regardless.
Some of the townsfolk waved to me, or smiled, or tipped their hats, which I respectfully returned with a wave, smile, or bow. As I passed by my old, demolished castle, I frowned and occupied myself with playing with the strings on the nape of my dress. I didn't want to look at it; I hated seeing it there. For all of the public to see. Nicolai was so proud of it. It was to show us, "Look what I did to the 'all-mighty' kingdom! Do not defy me, or you will be done in the same!"
Civilians were killed often – thieves and murderers. But more often than that was those caught speaking illy of Nicolai – "conspirators," they were called. Anyone opposing his ideas or his rule would be put to death. No trial. No excuses.
Finally at the store over thirty minutes later, I picked up the essential – bread, lettuce and tomatoes, cheese, meat, the usual. I even grabbed another carton of milk. My arms and fingers would be aching by the time I got to the inn, but it was worth it.
However, on that fateful day, I was in for a surprise on my way home.
Despite my efforts not to, I slowed to a stop as I passed the remains of the castle. Prying my eyes from the floor, I stared at the rubble. Memories danced through my head – of Peter and me running through the many corridors; of Father holding me high, helping me fly; of Mother reading to me so I could sleep; of watching Peter skillfully shooting an arrow through the apple on Neli's head; of Zane and me locking pinkies in my bedroom. All of these memories flooding my heart. I actually felt my eyes beginning to tear up.
Maybe it was the clouds that were doing this to me, darkening my mood as they moved in, low and intimidating. It would rain soon. I would cry soon. …Or perhaps I would die. Freezing me in my thoughts was the resounding click behind me. Of a gun.
My eyes widened as I turned slowly. Only to come face to face with a monster. It was a huge creature – bigger than I was, round like a cannonball, with a terrifying, frowning face. Coming out of its body were barrels of cannons, all pointed towards me. Inside the barrels, pink lights powered up, and I knew what was coming. Whatever that pink light was, was going to be the death of me.
Clutching the grocery bags to myself, I let out a scream. And just as I did, a flash of black and white bolted in front of me. It was a person! And the person's left arm grew from his shoulder, long, large, and white. With one quick swipe of his claws, the person destroyed the monster. It exploded and was no more.
Suddenly, more of the creatures appeared, tearing out of civilians' bodies! The boy who had saved me looked over his shoulder at me. His hair was snow white, his right eye (the only eye I could see) was the color of a storm. He had the features of a very handsome young man. "Go! Run!" he shouted at me. Before I could react, he jumped into the air and began to kill the other monsters.
Heart racing and almost losing sense of direction, I took off running. People screamed and ran from the monsters all around. The demons began shooting large, pink, shining bullets, puncturing buildings and even hitting some people. The less fortunate who were hit with the bullets immediately turned to dust. I kept close to the buildings lined up, hoping to not run into the frantic townspeople.
A bullet whizzed by just a few seconds behind me and crashed right into the deli. The force of the impact threw me to the ground. The milk I carried skidded across the ground, pouring out the liquids over the sidewalk. Sitting up carefully, I cradled my sore elbow, barely aware of the blood trickling from the cut on my temple.
The monster that had destroyed the deli turned its gun on me. I covered my head and screamed, not ready to die. But before it could kill me, an enormous, black object that resembled a mallet slammed into the beast, killing it. I didn't bother to wait around to see who had saved me. Scrambling to my feet, I lifted my dress above my now bruise knees and ran for my life, forgetting all about the groceries I had left behind.
The chaos seemed to stay in that part of town, central. Three blocks later, I had finally reached the inn. I grabbed Angela's hand and rushed her and her two friends inside, slamming and locking the door behind us. Like that would do us much good against those creatures. Breathless, I leaned against the wall. Icarus stood from his seat. All three men looked shocked to see me in this state.
"Elaine," Icarus said worriedly, "what happened? Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I lied. "Just – stay in here. Everyone. There are monsters attacking the village."
Louis came out of the kitchen, knife ready. "Then we have to go and fight!" he said valiantly.
"No!" I exclaimed. The three girls began to cry in fear. "Here is our safest place." I went over to each window and closed the shutters. "There was a boy in town," I explained, out of breath, "he killed the monsters like nothing. We have to trust him to protect us."
I was trembling uncontrollably, adrenaline and fear the only thing I could feel. Icarus came over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "All right," he said almost bravely. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Hours later, when all was quiet, a man came to the door. He made sure everyone was all right and said that the monsters had gone. I was relived. My knees were bruised and ached, my elbow was scraped, but not badly, and the cut on my temple was now bandaged. Though I was sore all over, I was fine and alive. So were all my friends, so that was good. But I couldn't sit down for the life of me. Thomas and Brother hadn't come home yet and I was worried.
"Sit down, Elaine," Will said calmly, "please. I'm sure Phillip and Thomas are fine."
"I can't," I said shakily. "You didn't see what I saw in town. They could be dead for all we know!"
Just as I said that, the door opened, and Thomas and Peter rushed through. It was raining outside, but the clock read that it was evening. "Peter!" I exclaimed as we ran into each other's arms. My brother held me tight, stroking my hair.
"Are you all right?" he asked. "I heard about the attack in town. What happened?"
Tears of happiness streamed down my cheeks. "I don't know, I don't know," I babbled. "I was just walking and they attacked, and…oh, Brother!"
Peter calmed me down and after we all settled, I told everyone everything I knew. I knew I sounded insane, but the evidence was all there. I felt insane, myself, though. Today could have been my last day. And because of that, I vowed to always to tell my Brother and my friends how much I cared for them.
As it got later, Thomas and Will decided to take Angela's friends home to make sure that their parents were safe. The three girls hugged each other as tightly as they could, and then the small girls were gone. I stroked Angela's hair back. "How about some hot chocolate?" I offered softly.
As I went to the kitchen, a family of three walked in. They looked forlorn, and I immediately knew they had lost their home in the attack. Brother stood from his seat and checked them in, told them they were welcome to stay as long as they needed. As Peter led them upstairs, Louis grumbled bitterly under his breath, "How many families are we going to take in now?"
"As many as we need, Louis," I snapped. "They can stay in your room, if you'd like." It was unnecessary to bark at him, but it was the least we could do for these poor people.
A while later, the family came back down and asked for some food. Of course, we obliged, and I had Louis fix up some soup. As Louis cooked, the other guests we had staying upstairs came down simultaneously, as if they had planned it. They were out-of-towners, just in to visit. They had all packed their bags and the leader – an older man – placed their keys on the counter.
"We're leaving now, Miss Elaine," he said. "We don't quite feel safe in this town after that event today."
I nodded and said that I understood. The man paid for the three of them and then they all walked out. I sighed deeply and put the money in the register. Fourteen rooms, four occupied by Louis, Thomas, Will, and Icarus and Angela, and now only one room is occupied by this family. I started doing some math in my head, wondering if we would be able to pay rent this month.
"Order up!" Louis called from the kitchen. Brother started to move from his place against the wall to get the bowls, but I held up a halting hand and got the bowls myself. Still, Peter took one bowl of hot soup. I wouldn't allow him to take the other two. As I headed for their table, I watched the soup, careful not to spill any. However, luck wasn't on my side that way, of course, because just as I passed the door, it swung open and a man stumbled into the room, slamming right into me.
I cried out on impact and we both fell to the floor. The bowls shattered on the floor, spilling the soup all over the place. "Elaine!" Peter exclaimed as everyone else gasped. He quickly set his bowl on the family's table.
"Ah, crap, crap!" the man I bumped into shouted. "I'm sorry, I-"
He stopped talking the second our eyes met. For that moment, I even forgot about the steaming soup burning my knees. Because the person I came face to face with had long-ish scarlet hair, kept up by a bandana. And he had only one eye – a pure emerald eye. The other was covered by an eye patch.
Zane.
