A/N: Hey sorry for not updating in a bit, this tournament kicked my butt and I'm dead right now and its only Saturday night. But anyways, I really don't even know how many people are even reading this but for those that are thanks so much for reading and hope you like it! And sorry for the mistakes, I typically don't reread the chapters before I post them so there's bound to be some!
Disclaimer: Totally forgot this last chapter, but everything belongs to the movie!
Chapter Two
Had Alex known then how the stars watched Earth, she'd have shuddered at the very thought of an audience to her humiliation. But, fortunately for her, nearly every star in the sky was at that moment looking in earnest at the land on the other side of the wall. The King of all Stormhold lay on his deathbed. Which was a coincidence, because it was the King's final act that would change the course of Alexandra's destiny forever.
On the side of a mountain deep in Stormhold was a grand castle of sorts. Stone rose up out of the mountainside to create the cylindrical walls that were uneven, as if they had been carved by hand out of the mountain. Light shone through the various openings from inside the walls. Towards the top, the walls tapered to a middle point where an arena sat, looking much like the coliseum of ancient times. From the middle of the coliseum rose up a perfect stone cylinder, rising up until a dome topped it off. Under the dome is where we find our ill-fated King in his grand bedroom.
The king was a frail, old man who lay on a bed covered in furs of various sorts. His head was propped up with a mound of brown and gold pillows. His robes billowed out over the bed, making it hard to tell just how big the man on the bed truly was. His hair, long since grey, was extremely thin as was the beard on his face. His eyes were sunken in, beady almost, as they glanced around the room, not even really turning his head much. It seemed that any sort of movement other than that of his eyes and mouth caused him too much energy.
The beady eyes of the king scanned the room and its occupants. The first man on his left was in a purple dress robe with gold fastenings. His hair was a golden brown and hung down to his chin, matching the mustache that seemed to point up on both sides of his mouth. His eyes, unlike that of the other occupants seemed softer, as if he was the only one capable of showing any type of mercy.
The next man was of the scaly sort, his back ramrod straight and hands clasped in front of him as he observed the king. His leather coat and high-necked collar with silver fastenings doing nothing to help lessen his intimidating image. His hair went down to his shoulders in dark brown waves, glistening in the light of the candles. Whether the glisten be because his hair was slightly wet or from grease, it was easy to tell beings as they stood indoors. The poise he carried himself with was obvious, arrogant and smug.
The final man standing before the bed of the king was pudgier than the other two. His hair was tangled and fell about to his chin in a greasy heap. His large forehead constantly wrinkled in worry as he glanced nervously around the room. He seemed to be the mousy type, with a slightly pointed face that was rounded by fat. He wore green dress robes lined in gold that bulged around the midsection. His face constantly screwed up as if he was constantly nervous.
As the king's eyes met the last man's, he realized that one was missing. "Where is Secundus?"
The first man in the purple robes responded kindly, "He is on his way, Father."
The king looked off in the distance with an emotionless face, "Then we shall wait." At this, the three men at the foot of the king's bed all looked at each other before the one in the middle rolled his eyes.
Suddenly the double doors to the room burst open and a man entered with his red robe billowing behind him. He gave off a very confident and regal air as he sashayed into the room. His eyes looking straight ahead as his left hand gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword slung about his waist. "Sorry I'm late, Father. I came as swiftly as I was able." The man then kneeled at the foot of the kings bed, standing in between the slimy man and the slightly pudgy one. Both of them rolled their eyes at the man's antics.
Upon standing, the new man then addressed the other men of the room. "Septimus, Primus, Tertius," he said addressing the slimy one, the kinder one, and the pudgy one respectively each with a nod of his head.
The king merely gazed on at his sons impassively. "So, to the matter of succession. Of my seven sons, there are four of you today still standing. This is quite a break with tradition. I had twelve brothers…"
The one called Septimus interrupted him, hoping to cut off the long-winded story that was sure to follow. "And you killed them all for your throne before your father, the King, even felt poorly. We know, Father. You're strong and courageous."
The king smiled slyly, remembering all the triumphs of his day. "And cunning. Most importantly, cunning." The smile left his face as he turned his gaze on Secundus, "Secundus."
With a smug smile he replied, "Yes, Father?"
"Look through the window. Tell me what you see," the king said in a monotonous voice. Upon command, Secundus moved towards the balcony with a smug chuckle towards his brothers, looking out towards the open expanse of land. His red robes billowed slightly in the wind as he glanced out. Although it was dark, the light of the torch fire lit up his face as he gazed upon the land in greed.
"I see the kingdom, Father. The whole of Stormhold," he replied, still gazing out.
"And?" The king questioned, causing his son to turn to him with a surprised, yet confident smirk.
"My kingdom?" Secundus questioned, putting a hand to his chest as if to make it clear whom he was talking about.
The king just eyed him, then looked up towards the sky as if to gesture. "Maybe. Look up."
Secundus then turns and looks up towards the night sky full of the glowing stars. With his back facing the occupants of the room, Secundus was unable to see the significant glance shared between the king and Septimus. With a mere raised eyebrow, Septimus turned on his heel and walked up behind his brother standing on the balcony. Without any hesitation, he shoved Secundus over the balcony railing, sending him falling straight down the side of the castle to his death. Tertius walked over, as if to look down at his fallen brother, putting a hand on Septimus' arm. Septimus quickly glanced at Tertius, as if daring him to try to shove him over. Tertius immediately took the hand back and pretended to scratch his neck, causing Septimus to roll his eyes. The king's laughter was the only sound in the room, as his whole body seemed to shake with the hoarse laughter.
Unbeknownst to the king and his sons, the chuckling of three more sets of laughter was heard from above the king's head. Behind the bed stood three ghostly figures of men, each disfigured in some way. One of the ghostly men had long black hair with a mustache and long beard. His robust figure would be normal if it wasn't for the ghostly white complexion and the large axe sticking into his skull. The next figure was even whiter than the other two, his hair slicked back to his head. It was hard to tell the color of anything on him as everything was frosted over in white, obviously he had suffered a run in from extreme cold as icicles clung to every part of him. The last man was the tallest and his rotund figure and long hair and beard matched that of the first ghostly figure, except for one difference. Instead of an axe, the left side of the man's face was devoid of skin from the middle of his forehead going diagonally to just below his left ear. Whether it was burned or scraped, it could not be seen.
As the dead princes chuckled, another ghostly form started to take shape in the form of Secundus, yet the right side of his face was squished and even his hair was parallel to the ground stuck to the left. As he appeared all the other ghostly figures turned to him and greeted him altogether, "Secundus!"
Secundus looked around at the men, well the best he could with his face so disfigured. "Sextus, Quartus, Quintus," he exclaimed in surprise, looking at the man with only half the skin on his face, the frozen one, and the one with the axe in his head respectively. "You're alive. You're…"
The other brothers shook their heads in disbelief at their brother. "Stuck like this till the new king is crowned," Sextus replied in disdain.
Secundus whimpered and whined and flailed his arm, "I was that close!"
Quartus scoffed, "Well, at least you haven't lost your looks."
Secundus rolled his eyes, "Oh, please. You're not annoyed about that whole murder thing, are you? I mean that was ten years ago."
"Mhmm, yeah. Great deal of good it did you, didn't it, killing me Secundus? Because now, of course, now you are King of all Stormhold. Oh, sorry. Wait. No, you're not. You're dead," Quartus deadpanned causing the other two brothers to burst out in laughter as Secundus again rolls his eyes.
Oblivious to the dead brothers, the king's gaze lands on the last brother, Tertius. "Una? Una?"
Tertius repeatedly shakes his head, glancing at his other two brothers who are chuckling quietly. "No, Father, it's me, your son. Tertius."
The king sighs in disappointment. "Oh. Where is your sister, Una?"
The brothers all glance at each other before Primus finally speaks. "Sorry, Father. Nobody has seen Una for years now."
The king gives Septimus a chastising glance, "Septimus."
Septimus looks at his father and shrugs his shoulders, "What?"
"Tradition dictates the throne must pass to a male heir unless there is no one else left for the throne. And even then it does not fall to the daughter, but the granddaughter," the King replies stiffly, still gazing intently at Septimus.
Septimus looks at his father and says truthfully, "Exactly, Father. So why would I kill my sister when these cretins are still alive?"
The king nods his head slightly, seemingly appeased by what he has heard. "Indeed. Therefore, we shall resolve the situation in a non-traditional manner." With frail, shaky hands the king takes off a necklace from around his neck. A gold chain holds a ruby that is mounted in a set of gold. The king then holds the necklace before his face, eyeing it carefully. As they all watch the ruby loses its color and slowly turns clear, glowing a brilliant white light. The king then releases his hold on the necklace, as it stays afloat before him still aglow. "Only one of royal blood can restore the ruby. And the one of you that does so shall be the new ruler of Stormhold."
With that the king's head lolls back as his eyes close. The necklace had stopped glowing the minute the king took his last breath, yet all the brothers' eyes were still fixed upon it floating in mid aire. At once they all lunged forward, trying to grasp the necklace and all that it would entail. Before any one of them could reach it, it flew out of their grasp and out through the balcony, up into the sky. They watched is it shot straight upwards. Suddenly a bright light flashed in the sky where the necklace had gone, a blue trail following the light as it started to descend back towards the ground.
On the other side of the wall, Victoria and Alexandra sat watching this same streak of light fall through the sky. "Oh, Alexandra! A shooting star! Oh, beautiful!"
Alex looked thoughtful, then stared at Victoria intently. "More beautiful than a fancy ring from Ipswich? Victoria, for your hand in marriage, I'd cross the wall and I'd bring you back that fallen star."
Victoria turned towards Alexandra as if she were crazy. "You can't cross the wall. Nobody crosses the wall. Now you're just being silly."
Alexandra shook her head, "I'm not being silly. I'd do it. For you, I'd do anything."
Victoria looked off in the distance with a slight smile on her lips. She thought of how nice it would be to have her own star. "My very own star. It seems we have ourselves an agreement," she said with a smirk on her face as she held out her glass for a toast. Before Alexandra could respond to the toast, Victoria pulled her cup back slightly. "You have exactly one week or I'm marrying Hailey." With that they toasted, sealing their agreement with two goblets of champagne. Hope blossomed inside of Alexandra as she was determined to go and find that star and return, no matter what she may face on the other side of that dreaded wall.