… still trying to get back to the original length :/ Any advise?

11.

See The Hidden

Rolanda and Alannah had been crying over Aurora's sudden death for the last few hours, holding on to each other as if they could see each other for the last time in their lives. Loss seemed to be painfully closer to them than they had thought.

Exhausted both physically and emotionally, hungry and feeling cold once again, they snuggled under their excuse of a blanket and tried to get some sleep.

But suddenly, guards were storming into their cell, causing Alannah to release a scream of shock as they grabbed Rolanda, pulling her to her feet roughly.

The last Rolanda saw of her sister was a terrified expression as her older sister was ripped from her arms and dragged out of the cell.

"What are you doing?!" Rolanda asked, her heart beating fast in her chest as she tried to get her feet down onto the floor properly, but she was barely able to take a step as the men hurried through the corridor.

"We have orders to take you upstairs. Be silent now, or you will be punished," one of the guards answered bluntly, shoving her slightly. Rolanda nearly fell on the stairs as she was unable to hold the pace of the men, forcing them to slow down in order to prevent her from getting injured.

They left the staircase and led Rolanda through the hallway the room in which they had interrogated her was located at, and fear rose inside of Rolanda. What if they were going to question her again?! They had only stopped a few hours ago because of her condition and she had thought that they would wait until the next morning, ensuring that they would keep her able to talk.

She did not understand this, and she just hoped that she would come out of this room alive.

Assuming that they would make her stand still anyway to unlock the room, she stopped, but immediately one of the men grabbed her by the shoulder, growling:"Go on."

Unsure if she should be positively surprised and relieved about not being questioned or if she should fear that there were even worse things to come, she obeyed. They were climbing up more and more staircases, making their way through the castle. Every step did cause her a lot of pain by now, and her lung was feeling as if she had been running for hours. She tried to calm her breath down while she noticed that the castle seemed to be changing.

Everything looked cleaner, and the interior got more luxurious than everything she had ever seen in her life. Thick brocat curtains were hanging by the high windows that flooded the hallways with the golden evening light, oil-paintings in golden frames filled the walls, showing the faces of uncountable kings, queens and heroes of Ulidia. From time to time, servants crossed their path, carrying trays full with food or even clothes that looked more expensive than everything Rolanda had ever owned in her life – silk and velvet, embroidered with gold threads and pearls.

Her eyes wide in awe, even in this frightening situation, Rolanda asked herself who in this castle would wear these gowns – as far as she knew, Princess Fianna and her two brothers were out hunting in the woods during this time of the year. She had always been interested in their princess just as she had been in the female warriors that had been more common in her childhood days. Tales said that Fianna was just as fierce and talented with bow and sword as her brothers, and even though her father had found it inappropriate for a young princess to learn how to ride, fight and hunt like a man, he had eventually given in. Rolanda had always imagined that they must have a lot alike, the princess and her – the princess was only a few years older than her, and they both were not obeying to the normal conventions their society was dictating for women.

Suddenly, they stopped in front of some high, impressive oak doors that obviously marked the entrance to a fairly important room in this castle and Rolanda's heart was beating fast in nervousness and curiousity as they were slowly being opened by the two soldiers that had been standing in front of it.

Thinking closer about her whole surroundings, the rich interior and the army of servants and all the soldiers, dressed in perfectly fitting, stainless clothes, with polished armours and weapons, she assumed that she probably was about to meet this mysterious King Severus who had taken over the reign.

How was she supposed to behave herself towards him?! She did thoroughly disagree with his methods and regards, because, obviously, she and her family were on the wrong side of it, and she wanted him to know this, now as she had the opportunity to meet him. But, why did she get this questionable privilege at all?!

Her father could not be that important to him, couldn't he?!

Anyway, she really wanted to show this so called king that it was not justified to treat Alannah and her like this, but on the other hand, this could mean trouble. Surely the king would not tolerate any rebellious behaviour towards him, especially not from somebody who was completely at his mercy. Telling him that he seemed to have a mad mind and should have a healer looking over his soul probably was not the best idea.

Also, if she was at least respectful towards him, with hints of friendliness, she could have some chances to get some more informations about everything that was going on. Taking a deep breath, she started to walk into the room that seemed to be the throne hall.

oOo

Severus was still fuming inwardly about the incompetence of seemingly nearly everybody who was working in his service. He had believed that there would be some problems, of course, one had to calculate things like that in when formulating a plan, but he would never have thought that things would turn out so wrong that he would be forced to take matters into his own hands.

But well, that was the saying: If you want something to be done properly, you have to do it yourself.

Something a king should not be obliged to do, but now it was too late. Next time he would be smart enough to assign the task to Ronan – being his most loyal servant, he had much more competence and also knew which results would satisfy his master.

As the oak doors opened, Severus straightened his back so he sat upright on his throne, looking expectantly at the persons entering the throne hall.

Surprise struck him like a lightning bolt a tree during a thunderstorm, sudden and with full force as he recognised the woman that was being walked in, surrounded by soldiers.

It was the young woman from the courtyard, the one with the bewitching golden eyes who had not left his head since he had first seen her.

He had to concentrate himself to keep his neutral expression from sliding off his face as he felt his anger about his men fading, being replaced by surprise and something like delight.

Was it a mere coincidence that the woman who he had not been able to forget over the last days was indeed the daughter of the men who was, behind his siblings, number three on the list of the most searched people in his new kingdom.

As she came closer to him, he took in her appearance – like on the day of her arrival, she was only wearing a white nightgown, which was dirty from the time she had spent down in the dungeons, just as her bare feet.

Her long, platinum blonde hair was disheveled and looked as if she had tried to keep it at least a little bit tidy by combing it with her fingers.

Bruises, obviously from the interrogations earlier this day, were just starting to show on her face, only pale, but still visible, and she had a split lip.

She looked way out of place in the throne hall, a pitiable being surrounded by rich furniture, but still he could see her beauty behind all the dirt and untidy hair. Of course her eyes were the biggest hint, but he also found that her lips, though injured slightly, looked compelling in their own way, delicate, full, rosy, softly shaped...

Their eyes met, and he felt this odd feeling again, the same one that he had noticed when they had first looked at each other.

This time, though, he was more than certain about what he was feeling. They were considerably closer today than they had been back then, and now, he could feel it clearly, and also see it in her golden eyes – maybe not entirely obvious, but still visible for the trained eye.

Magic.

It was a familiar, warm feeling that pulsed through the air between them, and he felt his own magic stretching towards hers, embracing it. He could feel it, but he could not evaluate how strong it was, as it was currently in a calm condition, resting inside of the young womans soul, untouched, unused, undiscovered. She obviously was not aware of the skills she possessed, obviously having inherited them from her father, and this was waking his interest – her father's powers already were very strong, and he somehow felt curious about how much of his strength she had inside of her herself.