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3. Stained Hearts
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I ran and jumped with the sword aimed at the creatures back. It went in as easily as before down to the hilt and the beast let out a screech in pain. Then, using the hilt like a wall rock mount, I pulled myself upward onto it's back to get closer to the head. The jabberwock began jostling around trying to shake me off, but I held tight to the beast’s neck as I pulled the sword back out.
For a moment I had to let go, because it was the only time to strike before I got flung off. I jumped up in place and thrusted the blade straight down, driving it through the jabberwock’s head. I saw the eyes roll back as it ceased to move and stumbled over, falling to the ground in a giant thud. As I rolled over off of it, Alicent rose and grabbed her sword.
As she approached, I saw the steam coming from the beast’s eyes again, “Wait!”
I jumped upward, pushing her out of the jabberwock's line of sight as another fire beam shot from it's eyes, burning more trees behind us. The attack fizzled out as the beast's eyes melted from it's head.
*Phew. That was a close one! Hope she's okay.*
I had ended up on top of the queen in the attack, covering her with my own body. Laying on top of her. I looked back from the beast after the attack had stopped. She was starring at me, blushing.
“Oh, uh, I'm sorry. I could see it was gonna let out another attack. Must have crossed some wires in it's brain with the sword,” I said, feinting a laugh and rolling over and standing up.
Alicent cleared her throat and snapped back to the moment as I reached out my hand to help her up. She went to receive my hand, but hesitated. Instead, she helped herself back up and walked over to the sprawled out corpse of the creature.
“The only way to make sure,” she said, as she beheaded the jabberwock with her sword.
I stood there trying to catch my breath, huffing from exhaustion, when she came over to me and reached out her hand, “Well done Knight. Seems you live up to your name.”
*Even if it's a fake name… And just dumb luck.*
Alicent winced, grabbing her shoulder.
“Oh no, you've been hurt!” I ushered in, moving a piece of the broken armor to see her shoulder. No blood, only bruised. Then I noticed the red queen had turned, well, red. It was as if she forgot herself in that moment.
“I'm fine! Get your hands off of me. You shouldn't touch a woman, def-definitely not a queen without consent! Saving me was one thing but…”
“I'm sorry… I didn't think. Just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I interrupted, taking a step back trying to be respectful.
She sheathed her sword, took mine, and grabbed her helmet, “I suppose I can overlook it this time. Come on.”
She placed the helm back on and grabbed the jabberwock's head, dragging it behind her as I followed.
“Uh, Why are you taking that?”
“The people need to know they don't have to live in fear of the jabberwock anymore. Seeing it is better than my word… Especially, when I said I'd stop it for years now,” Alicent explained.
“Years…? Damn. I'm sorry.”
“Yes. But this truly is a happy occasion. Now the healing of the land can begin. Things can be set right once more.”
*It must have gotten pretty bad if she's saying that. I really wonder what kind of land this will be after all. Can't be much like the stories anymore.*
—૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა—
Following Alicent, I finally got out of those woods as we arrived at the entrance to her kingdom. We stepped onto the uneven cobblestone road, as we approached the worn down looking village at the base of castle.
There were lines of houses that looked abandoned or hardly livable. The building’s wooden walls were sagging with age and streaked with the remnants of red paint. The whole place looked like it had been forgotten by time.
As we walked on, I looked around, even noticing the small details. A low stone fence flanked the road, it’s stone posts weathered. They had hearts carved into them. Neat looking once, I’m sure, but now the hearts were scratched out and defaced.
*What the hell happened? Do they hate her that much? The one out there to take it on by herself for her people? This is bullshit.*
Ahead of me, Alicent dragged the jaberwock's head, scraping the cobblestones and leaving a slick trail behind her, as the village center came into view. It looked to be where the village had a small trade market. The setup was a cracked circle of stone, ringed by uneven stalls and wary stares. At first, people simply stopped to watch her pass. Then the murmurs started.
"Is that...?"
"Can’t be..."
"The Queen? Here?"
“She never comes out.”
“Can't keep her word. Can't protect us.”
As all the different voices pitched up their opinion, she didn’t look to any of them. Didn’t even flinch. Just kept dragging her trophy across the square and up to an empty stand. She hoisted the head up and slammed it onto the pedestal. A wet slap and final sound as it dropped, echoed through the village. The small crowd let out gasps. Then silence.
A wiry old man stepped forward, his voice quaking, “It can't be. Is... is that really the jabberwock?”
She nodded once, “Yes,” as the whole square seemed to lean in.
“I killed it,” she said. Then turned, hand outstretched toward me, “With the help of my new white knight.”
Every eye in the village shifted to me. I probably wasn't helping my case by standing there in my sweat drenched work shirt. Nothing about me said knight. The silence from the crowd was deafening.
*Do I do something? What…*
Then a single clap. Another. Then more, swelling into cheers and shouts. The people praised the death of the jabberwock and Alicent smiled as she saw her people overjoyed.
The queen lifted her chin and smiled, “Thank you,” she called out, her voice clear over the crowd, “This is just the beginning. A time of change is on its way.”
The people cheered again as she turned and descended the stone platform, brushing past me with a nod for me to follow. I trailed behind as we walked to the edge of the square and up a winding path that curled around the village, the stones underfoot older and more cracked the farther we went. The cheers faded behind us. Above, perched like a crown on the brow of the hill, sat the castle.
From a distance, it looked proud, almost untouched, but as we got closer, the truth peeled away the illusion. Ivy strangled the sides. Windows were dark, glass cracked or missing entirely. And parts of the upper stonework had crumbled, leaving behind scars of collapse.
I slowed as we neared the bottom of the staircase leading to the gates. Each step was chipped, worn down to a smooth curve in the middle by years of footfalls that had long since stopped.
“No guards? No soldiers? No knights?” I asked as I looked around for any sign of life.
She didn’t look back, just kept walking up the steps, “No. Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
“They died,” she said simply, “Or they left. Took what they could, ran when it got too hard. Too ugly,” she paused, brushing her hair from her face, “In the end, it was just… me.”
*That landed heavier than I expected. Should I really go along with this? Sure I got lucky and slayed the beast, but am I up for whatever challenges she's going to lay out. Plus… Do I even want to stay here? Home, well, whatever that life was, didn'tmean much to me. Doubt anyone would miss me anyways. So, yeah, I guess I'll try and help her. If not for our meeting, I might be dead right now.*
We reached the large oak door that was the entrance, reinforced with iron bands, and a heart carved into it. Alicent pushed it open, the creak of the metal hinge echoing through the barren entry hall as dust swirled in the shaft of light that followed us inside.
She turned to me once we were through, “First things first,” she said, already tugging off one gauntlet with her teeth, “I get out of this armor before it fuses to my skin.”
I raised a brow curiously, “And then?”
“Then,” she said, turning back and finally meeting my eyes, “Well we uh, talk about rebuilding. Soldiers. Order. Justice. All that… nonsense.”
A small grin seemed to tug at her mouth, “You didn't think slaying the jabberwock was the end of your duties, did you, Knight? You should be so lucky to serve the queen, me."
I shrugged, “I didn’t think that far ahead to be honest. I'm not even sure that this is where I belong.”
Alicent paused and stared for a moment as if she had a thought, but didn't want it to come out quite yet. She turned and began walking away, pulling at other armor pieces. I followed her deeper into the castle, ready to hear what she had to say at least.
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End Part 3
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⋆༺𓆩The.Fellow𓆪༻⋆
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