Hey guys! If you've read the rest of this story, thanks for sticking around! Sorry for this late update, things have been going pretty badly for me. Hope you'll enjoy this third chapter!
The Red Coronation
Rosabelle squinched her eyes shut, lips trembling with terror. Cold sweat dripped down the sides of her face as she tightened her fists around her blankets. She felt tears starting to well up.
A few moments ago, a servant from her parents' palace had shoved her into her own room, and closed the door. Before she left, she stared at Rosabelle right in the eyes, mouth gaping and eyes widened with shock and fear.
Rosabelle would never forget the servant's eyes, those blank, hopeless eyes, full of certain, destined death.
"Do not come out. Do not come out no matter what happens."
She then slammed the door. Rosabelle could hear her soft footsteps, slowly fading away. Rosabelle was frozen with fear, paralyzed from foot to toe. Cold sweat began to trickle down her body. Her breathing became ragged.
That's when the terrible sounds sounded.
Screams, shouts, yelps, clashing metal.
Bangs, crashes, cries, and the terrible, terrible sounds of death.
Rosabelle buried her head in her red pillow. Unable to hold in her tears, they flowed out. Rosabelle's eyes were wide open, and her mouth was gaping. Finally, Rosabelle stood up. The sounds stopped coming from the living room.
It took all of her courage to open her door, and walk down the stairs.
Suddenly, she stopped, hiding behind the huge pillar at the end of the stairs.
Knights, with metal and bronze armour, and huge red plumes on top of their helmets. White, gleaming eyes shone through the bars that laid across their helmets. Candlelight from the huge crystal chandeliers bounced off their armor. Instead of the warmth from the candles, all that Rosabelle could see was the harsh, cold aura of the soldiers.
Dragging her eyes away from these cold people, but immediately regretted it. There she saw her parents, kneeling in front of the tons of soldiers.
The whole palace was crammed with soldiers that tried to not step on the corpses. Blood smeared the once pristine walls and floors. Dead bodies were stacked on top of each other, rosy colored faces gradually turning gray.
Her parents' faces were ashen, stricken with grief and terror. They stared at the ground, given up on all hope. Her mother's red hair framed her face. Her father's brown hair clung to his face with sweat. Tears streamed down their faces.
Rosabelle watched as two of the soldiers pulled her parents onto their feet. Before she could react, the soldiers systematically pulled their arm back, synchronized.
Time slowed, and as Rosabelle hesitantly reached out her hand and opened her mouth, the soldiers thrust their arms forward. The spears pierced through her parents' chests, and came out through the other end, splattered with blood. The spears came from every direction. More than ten spears penetrated each of them, due to the large amount of soldiers surrounding the king and queen of Firmament.
The lights flickered out of their eyes and the life bled out of their chests. Rosabelle watched in horror as they slumped to the ground, their lifeless frames tumbled on top of each other. There was no reaction whatsoever from the soldiers, and they quickly whipped out torches from a large pouch they each were carrying. Suddenly, the maid that locked Rosabelle in her room before came rushing over to her.
She threw a velvet hood over Rosabelle's head that almost completely covered her face. The maid mouthed a word to Rosabelle.
Go.
That word radiated through Rosabelle's ears, and bounced around in her skull. Instinct took control, and as she swivelled around to run from the palace…
Flames roared behind her. Pillars crumbled, and the smell of festering flesh reached Rosabelle's nostrils. She gagged, but tried to keep on running. The maid was out of sight, but honestly? Rosabelle didn't care. She ran, sobbing, from the grand door.
She didn't stop until she reached the farthest she could get before she ran out of stamina. She turned, looking at the horrible sight.
There was almost nothing left, the flames swallowing the whole palace.
Before she could do anything, Rosabelle collapsed, huge tears welling out of her eyes. She bit her hand and screamed into her teeth, squinting her eyes together to try to stop the tears, but failing horribly. Rosabelle then put bother her hands on her face, and threw back the hood, no longer trying to hold back the tears.
Tears were falling freely now, but she could not risk being heard by guards or civilians.
Why did this happen?
Why did this happen to me?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Her thoughts were jumbled and she could not think, could not function. Keeping her mouth shut tight, she lied down in the grass and tried to calm down.
I wish Iris was here.
She'd know how to cheer me up for sure.
She'd comfort me and won't sigh at me impatiently or fake her pity like the town people.
Thanks for finishing this chapter! Leave a review or a comment, tell me what you liked and what you hated about this story. Thanks! ~(◡﹏◕✿)
