The Banquet
1039 Words
Two weeks passed by quickly as Chloe learnt all the rules of the royal family, from how to hold the cup, to the basic opening dance. Meanwhile Crimson became her most trusted confidant and castle became her boundary, where Alba was supposed to be hidden as the new perfect Chloe was being created. A night before the banquet, Chloe kept pacing in her room as Crimson was sitting on the bed.
"Royal Highness, what is wrong?" Crimson finally asked. unable to take it anymore.
"Colden's father is coming tomorrow. What if something goes wrong? And stop with that highness already, nobody is here." Chloe said, agitated.
"He is your father too, he won't kill you."
"By the way Crimmy, Blaze said my royal family wanted to kill me, do you know about it?"
"I have no idea about it." Crimson said, biting her lips. Chloe noticed it but chose not to probe it.
"Okay. I need to sleep. Good night!" Chloe left to go to the
A grand banquet was organized to welcome her the next day. Chloe wore a azure coloured light weight fabric gown. As she walked out of her room, Colden was waiting at the end of it in order to escort her to their father who was in his chamber.
“Colden Krystallos greets father!” Colden said, bowing.
“Chloe Krystallos greets father!” Chloe bowed.
“You may rise.” Emperor replied in a tone of authority.
“It is time for the banquet. Chloe, I would like to meet you after that. It’s good to have you back.” Emperor smiled, before leaving for the banquet.
Colden and Chloe had the opening dance and the banquet went very well. After meeting a lot of people, Chloe went out to have some fresh air. At a distance, Chloe could see an old man feeding the dogs. It was the part of the castle she had been instructed to not go. There was rumour that the old man was a demon.
Been bored of the banquet, she slipped through the other door and went to see the old man.
“Good evening sir!” Chloe greeted him, but he jumped at the voice.
“Who are you?” the man pointed his stick towards her, looking frightened.
“Sir, my name is Chloe. I live in the castle.”
“Chloe, my grand- daughter!” the man was overwhelmed with happiness as he hugged her.
“You are emperor’s father?” Chloe asked, confused.
“Yes! But run away from here. He will kill you. He killed everybody. You are very special, Chloe!” he said, looking sad about it.
“Chloe, What are you doing here?” it was Colden’s voice.
“Nothing, I wanted to feed the dogs.” Chloe replied, feeling anxious.
“Then we will get you dogs, but you are not allowed to sneak out of the castle.” Colden said in a cold tone.
“Chloe Krystallos greets father!” Chloe bowed to the emperor upon entering his chamber.
“How have you been in these years?” Emperor greeted her with a smile.
“I have been fine father. My other family treated me well.”
“Who were they? If we get a chance we would like to thank them.”
“They are mortals, father. My father is a banker while my mother is a cashier.”
“You have been here for a while, won’t they be worried?”
“I asked brother to let me go back for a few days, he promised to allow me to go after this month.” Chloe couldn’t help smiling at the thought of reuniting with her parents.
“Chloe, this is a palace. Remember, just because you believe something, doesn’t mean it is the only truth. Even what you see and hear may all be a lie. It is late already. Let’s talk another time. Have a pleasant night.” he whispered half of the sentence while saying the other half loudly.
“Okay father. Good night.” Chloe bowed again before excusing herself.
When Chloe left the room she noticed a shadow at the end of the corridor. Somebody was eavesdropping and father was trying to warn her, just like that old grandfather. Were both of them warning her against Colden? Is Crimson also on his side? Has he been lying all this while? Maybe she was thinking too much into it, they are both people who love her.
With so many thoughts, sleep was the last thing on her mind. She sneaked out of her room, hiding from the night guards and somehow managed to reach the old man’s cottage. It was guarded by two men. She used the tree nearby, to get to the roof of the cottage. All the walls she had climbed to bunk school was finally coming in handy. She removed the layers one by one, finally succeeding in making a hole.
“Old man, if you dare contact her again I will make sure you wish for your worthless life to end.”
“She is my grand-daughter.”
“You think I don’t know what you want to do.” Colden held the man by his neck.
“You killed every member of the family.”
“You are still alive, so I am being too lenient to you! Do you wish to accompany all of them?”
The Colden right now didn’t seem like someone Chloe even knew. Colden would kill her if he realized she heard. The person whom she had started to accept as her brother wanted to kill her. The realization made her feel weak in her knees.
As she tried to get down, she lost her footing, falling on the ground. But before the guards could appear, a hand pulled her to the backside of the cottage, throwing a rabbit to cover for her. It was Crimson. They tiptoed back to the room, hiding from the guards.
“Did you want to die?” Crimson seemed angry.
“No Crimmy, but tell me who wanted to kill me when I was a kid? Was it Colden?” Chloe slightly shook her. Crimson hesitated a while before nodding her head.
“At least, that is what we heard!” Crimson said in a low voice.
“Why didn’t you say it earlier?”
“I couldn’t. I was afraid you would do something impulsive. But if you would like to run away I can help you. You are a childhood friend that King Blaze values a lot. You can go to Conleth. Even when everyone believed you were dead, he always kept searching for you.”
“But won’t that increase the enmity between both the kingdoms?”
“They were never friends.” Crimson said firmly.
“Okay, either way it seems like the only way to survive. Let’s leave tomorrow night.”
They discussed the plan in detail, until daybreak came. Then she left for her chamber, so as to not raise suspicion.
- Writer
