A/N Ooh, dramatical-ness! Sorry if this part moves a tad too fast, but I had to get this bit out so that I could start having some REAL fun with this! The best is yet to come! Read, review, and enjoy!
Tess watched wistfully as the caravan disappeared on the horizon. She knew that Edmund had to leave and fulfill his duty as a king, but so soon after his return? It seemed unfair. She turned and walked back through the courtyard, and into the castle, a tear running down her cheek.
That night, Tess was tossing and turning in her bed. Unable to sleep, she decided to walk out to sit in the courtyard.
As she sat down on a bench, she heard a ruffling in the branches behind her. She gasped and looked around, but nobody was there. Must have been a squirrel…
Suddenly, strong, black-gloved hands covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Tess felt herself being pulled upwards. She kicked and writhed, flailing her limbs.
She managed to punch something, a face by the sound of it.
"Agh!" the voice screamed.
Her captor let go of her face for a brief moment, allowing Tess to scream at the top of her lungs. Her mouth was again covered, and she felt several other hands grasping at her. She heard footsteps, running towards her.
"Tess!"
Lucy had arrived in time to see Tess, who was tied up, be whisked away into the dark night sky.
Once airborne, Tess saw guards racing out of the castle, searching the skies for their lost queen. But her captors were too fast for them.
After an hour or so, Tess felt her feet hit stone with a resounding thud. She was hauled into a cold, dark room, after what seemed like several flights of stairs, and chained to the wall and floor. Her captors, who were dressed in all black, walked out. One lingered, long enough for Tess to analyze her face.
It was indeed the cruelest face she had ever seen, with bright red eyes that were somehow fiery and stone cold at the same time, snowy skin, high cheekbones and sharp angles.
The woman walked away. And Tess slept, afraid that if she dared to move or talk, she would be killed by the frightful woman.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
Zoraia chuckled darkly to herself. Mission accomplished.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The next morning, messengers were sent out to Lionsclaw and Faun's Hollow. Instead of the usual running method, they were sent out on griffins, to ensure that they would reach their destination within the hour.
One messenger, named Talbot, reached Edmund and Peter first. He slowly dismounted his griffin, unsure of how to break the news. He settled on just telling them straight up.
"King Peter, King Edmund, I have grave news to report. Her Royal Highness Queen Tesaklara has been… stolen."
"No!" shouted Edmund in agony.
He fell to his knees, sobbing angrily.
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no…"
A/N I feel sorry for Edmund, I really do, but now I have reached the author's playground of doom. In essence, now I have fun writing tragedy-ness. Anyway… I hope that turned out to be the cliffhanger I was aiming for! Dunh dunh dunh! Nobody likes cliffhangers, but they're so much fun to write!
I'd like to thank QueenOfSparrabeth for not paying a hint of attention to me when I talked about this. Thaaaanks, partner.