Yo! Sorry for the super short chapter last time… I was kind of having a writer's block…ehe…Anyway, I hope you will like this chapter more! But I'm still happy that I've gotten reviews and people adding me to their favourites and story alerts! Thanks, you guys have done nothing but boost my( rather tiny) ego!
Chapter 7
Kahoko sighed repeatedly as she stared blankly out of the carriage window, head supported by an elbow of sorrow. The carriage was travelling across the beautiful countryside of Solaris, but the view of the rolling green hills speckled with colourful flowers and the occasional animal was wasted on Kahoko. She was still recovering from the shock and anger and disbelief of having been chosen by Prince Len. Once again she let out an exasperated sigh as the scene which had been playing over and over in her head these past few days entered her mind for what seemed like the millionth time…
-Flashback-
"What the h***?" Kahoko screamed, falling from her chair.
"Kaho dear, are you quite alright?" asked her father who had appeared by her side out of the blue.
Even in her trauma, a whimsical thought crossed the girl princess's mind 'Wow…this is kinda cool! My dad seems to have the power of teleportation! He wasn't even here just a second ago! Hey, how come I don't have superpowers?' Then Kahoko looked up into her father's face, only to see a pair of golden eyes identical to her own peering anxiously at her.
"Er…Kahoko? Are you okay? You spaced out for a bit there…" her father said as he helped his daughter to her feet.
"Y-yeah, I'm good…I think…" came her shaky reply.
The king of Solaris shot his wife a questioning, concerned look. In return, the queen nodded towards the door and the two stepped out of the room. Kahoko could hear hushed, muffled voices talking fast on the other side at the door from her position, which was squatting down with one ear pressed against the keyhole of the door. She put a finger to her lips, telling all the servants in the room (who had quickly rushed in after hearing the crash and scream) to keep quiet. They nodded and then some of the younger ones, who had been Kahoko's playmates since they were children, squat down next to her also trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Not long after, she could hear footsteps. They were coming back! She and the servants that had been with her hurriedly scrambled to look like they had been comforting a distressed Princess Kahoko. It wasn't hard to pull off.
Kahoko's father came in with a grim, serious expression on his usually happy face. Queen Lilith followed behind, but her face was devoid of all emotion.
"As…as much as I don't want to do this," began the king "I am afraid, darling, that you shall have to stay with this prince." He looked down at the floor, twiddling with his hands.
"Wha…?" gasped Kahoko, shocked. She had been so, so certain that her father would get her out of it! He always did! Queen Lilith did all the punishing and scolding, while King Takahashi did all the defending and protecting. Kahoko stared at her hands, sure she had misheard.
"I'm sorry, Kaho. I'm sorry," the king knelt in front of his daughter, wrapping his big hands around hers. "But your mother is right. This isn't something you can escape from; we can't leave such a bad impression of our kingdom on people, can we? Anyway, it's not like your actually marrying him, right?" he spoke softly to her, but Kahoko felt the last line was more for himself than for her.
-end flashback—
The next few days after that had been a blur… all Kahoko had was a vague memory of seeing her clothes being stuffed into various trunks and then being packed off into the carriage at the crack of dawn. She also remembered her father's face, wet with tears, as he hugged her right before she left. Her mother's face had been just as emotionless as when she first learned of the news.
The rest of her journey was just as filled with worries and concerns as Kahoko tried to make sense of what was going on. In the end, she just fell asleep in exhaustion from thinking. Her mind, still a restless whirl wouldn't let her sleep properly and she was haunted with weird dreams…
All of a sudden, she was lying face down on a cold, grey floor. She tried to get up, but found herself bound to the floor by thick iron chains. Something told her struggling would simply be a waste of time. She tried to lift up her head, which was splitting with pain, as if a lead ball sat on it. When she finally managed to raise her head, she saw a figure sprawled on a throne fused of bones, half covered by shadows.
"Who…who are you….?" She gasped, in a raspy voice that sounded completely unlike her.
"Oh…don't you recognize me?" jeered the figure.
Kahoko felt her stomach twist; the voice was all too sickeningly familiar…
The figure got up from the throne and walked into the eerie grey light surrounding the whole place.
Sure enough, it was him.
Len.
He sauntered towards her, lithe and graceful yet dangerous. Like a cheetah, ready to spring on its prey. He grabbed her chin and pulled her to face him.
"I think, you remember me all too well now, don't you," he grinned maliciously.
Then with a cackle, a shining foot-long knife appeared in his hand.
"NOOOO!" Kahoko screamed, eyes widening with fear…
Down came his hand.
"My highness! Are you quite alright?"
"Wha…?"
Kahoko's vision, which was slightly blurry at first, slowly started to clear. She saw a worried face looking over her, but it was the face of the footman, not her parents, as she had expected.
"Where…" she began but felt the whole floor shaking slightly and saw the footman's lantern sway. The sky outside was dark with bruised storm clouds. Immediately, she remembered. She was on her way to Crystalasia! She tried to get up, only for the anxious footman to tug her arm, a gesture that advised her not to get up.
"I heard you scream and came to check on you. You were sweating and shivering when I got here," the footman explained, as he handed her a water bottle.
Her throat felt quite parched, so she gratefully took a swig of water from the bottle. Kahoko handed it back with a clammy, trembling hand. She dabbed her forehead, which was drenched with cold sweat. 'Did I really scream out loud? How embarrassing….' Kahoko felt her face heat up slightly.
"I am fine, I only had a nightmare. Nothing important," Kahoko said in what she hoped was an offhand voice; she didn't want to seem like a baby! And the poor footman looked rather distraught; Kahoko didn't want him to worry even more.
"Are you most sure, your highness?" the footman asked her uncertainly.
"Yes, I will be just fine," said Kahoko determinedly.
With one last anxious glance, the footman swung the carriage door open and nimbly scampered to his position to the back of the carriage.
'Well! On a moving carriage, too!' Kahoko thought to herself and burst out laughing. It seemed so strange a thought to have at this time! That one careless little thought made her heart feel lighter and she reassured herself that it was just a dream.
Just then, the carriage stopped in front of a pair of foreboding iron-wrought gates. Looking at the razor sharp spikes at the top, Kahoko grimaced at the thought of any unlucky thief who tried his luck of climbing over the gates.
"Princess Kahoko of Solaris has arrived!" the trumpet like voice of a man announced.
A peal of thunder boomed, sending a flash of lightning splitting the ashy black sky into two.
It illuminated the palace not far from them. And this time, it didn't look all that dreamlike and magnificent as Kahoko had remembered. The many pointed towers looked like the wickedly sharp ends of a pitchfork, and the whole place looked slightly eerie and surreal in the fluorescent light.
Kahoko bit her lip and thought 'New home sweet new home'
