Disclaimer – I only own my OC, Heza, and nothing else.
Disclaimer – The following chapter contains horror themes some people may find upsetting.
Later that night, the Queen awaited in her Throne Room for her huntsman named Kaito Momota. She was staring out of the window, trying her best to be patient. She came up with a cruel plan to get rid of Chazz so she could regain her title as the fairest in the land.
"Your Highness," Kaito announced himself, entering the Throne Room. "How may I serve you?"
Heza then turned to see Kaito on one knee, dressed in a dull white shirt, covered with purple rags. He had a small purple triangler hat, and a bow and pack of arrows behind his back. He also wore black trousers, and long grey boots.
"Huntsman," Heza turned to Kaito fully, and slowly walked to him explaining her plan: "I would like you to take Prince Chazz out tomorrow. Somewhere surrounding the woods, even the dark areas of the forests. Somewhere where he could sight see, overviewing the mountains if possible."
"Yes, Your Highness," Kaito nodded his head.
"However," Heza sneered down at him. "Once you two are alone...I want you to KILL him!"
"What?!" Kaito raised his head to face the angry Queen. "No, Your Highness, I can't! He's the Prince!"
"DON'T...question...me…" Heza glared, squinting her green eyes as her face was close to Kaito's. "I want this job done, and I want it done tomorrow! That's an order!" Kaito hesitated at the Queen's wrath, slowly going pale in the face. "And if I find out you have disobeyed me…" Heza continued, "...I'll make sure you suffer the consequences...Do I make myself clear?"
"...Yes...Your Highness…" Kaito nervously swallowed.
"Good…" Heza whispered, raising herself up to look down at Kaito. "But there is one more thing...to make sure I am satisfied you have done your part...bring me back his heart...and do NOT return to the Palace until you have it. Do you understand?"
"...Y...Yes...Your Highness…" Kaito hesitated again, with cold sweat dripping down his face with fear.
"Good…" Heza frowned. "Now, run along...I expect you both to be out after sunrise." Kaito nervously gave another bow, and quickly paced himself out of the Throne Room.
Late in the morning, both Kaito and Chazz were each riding on a horse, which were trotting along the high hills. There was a dark deep forest close by, but the horses behaved, following this path. As Chazz looked around his surroundings, he couldn't help but wonder why they were here. He was wearing a different white jumper with a sleeveless black coat, with black trousers and dark grey boots.
"Hey, um…" Chazz broke the silence. "Huntsman? Why are we here?" Kaito jolted, remembering the Queen's request.
"O-Oh! Well…" Kaito tried to think of a lie. "...I asked the Queen to take you with me today. Because...I've been given a special request...to hunt a certain animal...and I wanted to teach you...that's all."
"Oh...Okay…" Chazz blinked, buying it. Kaito almost hunched over, trying to calm his nerves. The Queen's words kept repeating in his mind on how this job must be done or else.
Chazz on the other hand looked at the river that was next to them. It reflected brightly against the sun, almost looking crystal clear. It seemed tempting for Chazz to dip his fingers in.
"Sorry, Huntsman?" Chazz ordered. "May we stop here? I'd like to drink some water."
"Yes, Your Highness," Kaito pulled the reigns of his horse, and Chazz did the same to make the horses stop. Chazz then got off his horse, went to a certain area of the river, and knelt down to clasp his hands in the river, and have a drink from them.
Kaito then got off his horse, and anxiously looked around. It was just them two alone by the river. Now was the time to do the job. He looked down at Chazz as he decided to wash his face whilst he was there. With a nervous swallow, Kaito reached for his dagger that he kept by his belt, and took it out of its holding cast. He slowly crept up to Chazz, and slowly raised his hand. After Chazz shook his head to get any access water off his face, he looked up, and screamed at the sight of Kaito holding a dagger over him.
Chazz stumbled back, too frozen with fear to even move. Kaito stayed posed, trying to convince himself he had to kill Chazz as it was an order by the Queen. Kaito turned pale with a frown, and struggled to hold the dagger above him. Chazz looked up at Kaito anxious to see how Kaito would react next. Kaito pulled a strained face the more the thought of the Queen's request, but seeing Chazz's scared face made him hesitant. His hand shook as he tried to move it with the dagger in hand.
"...Damnit!" Kaito cursed, furiously tossing the dagger away. Chazz stared at the dagger confused, but looked up at Kaito as he stood there, trying to catch his breath. "...I...I'm so sorry, Your Highness," Kaito gasped with fear in his eyes. "I was ordered…"
"...Ordered?" Chazz asked. "...But I don't understand? Who would order you to do that?"
"The Queen did," Kaito knelt down with regret. "I don't know why, but she ordered me to kill you." Chazz gasped in shock and fright. "And I can't return to the Palace empty handed...if I do, I'll be punished…"
"So, then…" Chazz hesitated. "...What do we do?" Kaito managed to catch his breath, and took a good look around as to where they were. One side of the river had a huge field, and some trees, whereas the other side was a huge forest of them. Kaito blinked getting an idea.
"...Run."
"Huh?"
"Run into the woods," Kaito suggested. "She'll never find you there. Find somewhere safe you can go. Just don't come back to the Palace!"
"But what about you?" Chazz asked.
"I-I'll be fine," Kaito nervously smiled. "I'll think of something to fool the Queen. But please go! Your safety is a priority!" Although Chazz was hesitant, he nodded and took off into the woods. He quickly turned back to give a little wave, and vanished into the dark forest.
Seeing Chazz was out of sight, Kaito took a huge sigh of relief. Chazz was going to be safe and sound from the Queen...but Kaito needed to show her proof that Chazz was dead. Whilst thinking about what to do, he heard a noise.
On the other side of the river, a wild boar had come over to sniff the grass, and take a drink from the river. Kaito stared at it, but it gave him an idea. He took out his bow and an arrow from behind his back, and pulled the arrow against the bow string. He aimed at the boar, and let go of the string. The arrow shot past him and striking the boar, killing it instantly. Kaito then went to pick up his dagger, and got to work.
A few hours later, Heza was sitting on her throne, waiting for the return of the Huntsman. Each minute that passed made her slightly more impatient. However, the doors opened, and Kaito entered the Throne Room, with a small brown bag in his hand. Heza grinned as she could see the small sack was stained with blood.
"Your Highness," Kaito bowed. "I have the heart of Chazz Princeton."
"Excellent work, Huntsman," Heza grinned evilly, taking the bag from Kaito. She looked at it with a chuckle, smelling the raw blood as it tried to drip from the bag. Almost immediately, she took it to the kitchen, and demanded the cooks used the heart for her next meal, as she intended to eat it herself.
Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Chazz was running for his life. The woods were big, dark, and pretty terrifying. Random birds would swoop past as though they wanted to attack Chazz, the branches caught his clothes like someone was trying to grab him. Everything in this wood looked the same, but Chazz kept on running.
Unfortunately, he tripped over a large root, and fell over down a small ditch. He was perfectly alright, but he left a small cut on his hand. Chazz looked as there was a red scratch there, with a tiny drop of blood trying to escape the wound. Did I mention his blood was as red as a red rose?
Chazz tried to get up, and carried on running. Another wild boar came out of nowhere, and frightened the life out of Chazz. He ran in another direction, trying to pass twigs and bushes. He even jumped at the sight of small animals running past, and the sound critters calling in the night.
Eventually, Chazz could see a different light beyond a large tree, so he ran towards it, and stopped to catch his breath. For a moment, he thought he was literally out of the woods, but he couldn't have been, right? Chazz looked what the light was showing, and he blinked in surprise.
Just in front of him, there was a small odd looking house, with a bridge in front of it to get across. It looked as though someone lived there was there was some firewood reserved in another area. Curious, Chazz walked across the bridge, and stood before the house.
Chazz had to look down at the front door as it reached up to his shoulders. Nonetheless, as he needed somewhere to stay the night, Chazz knocked on the door three times. But on the third knock, Chazz became surprised that the door was open, so it creaked ajar slightly.
"Hello?" Chazz called from the door. "...Is anyone at home?"
Hearing no response, Chazz entered the small house, but blinked in surprise: Everything in this was was like a small dolls house for children. There were five small seats, five small cups and plates, even the five hats stored to one side were small.
But on the small table, Chazz noticed there was some food: on the plates, there was a selection of bread, cheese, and small cakes. Chazz was hungry after that running, so he decided to have a small portion of each food from each plate. It wasn't much, but Chazz found it satisfying. He even used one of the small cups to get some water from the sink, which he drank.
Once he was done, he had a little look around the home. Everything was slightly smaller for a regular person, Chazz found himself bending over so he didn't hit his head on the low beams. There was a small sofa next to a small fireplace, where there was even a small cauldron to make some food. There were some small cupboards, loaded with vegetables, bread and spices. He saw a small wardrobe on the other side, where some of the clothes have been lazily dumped. He opened one of the small drawers to find a bandage for his hand, so whilst sitting down on one of the chairs, he tended to his scratch.
But Chazz noticed a staircase he could easily access. He got up from the chair, and carefully walked up the stairs, and saw two different doors. He presumed the door at the end was the bathroom, so this one in front had to be the bedroom, right? Chazz opened the door, and entered.
It was a large bedroom, with a rug in the centre and another messy wardrobe at the end. But just before him, there were five small beds, all perfectly lined up together. Chazz did feel rather tired after all that running, so he thought he could rest on all five of them. He walked over to the beds, carefully lay on top of all five of them, and relaxed. He closed his eyes to have a doze, but he ended up falling asleep instead.