The Princess Broken Wolf

3

The ballroom was in absolute chaos. It seemed like there was a lady from among the guests who heard the news Gilbert had bought. What an i***t, Rosamund thought as she tried to settle the people down.

“WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN? OH MY GOD!!” Veleria screeched. She was Demir’s younger sister, one of the most troublesome girls Rosamund had the most unfortunate luck of meeting.

“Please be calm. The matter will be handled shortly enough.” she knew her words would do no good, but she had to give it a shot.

“How would you know? You are here instead of being in the Throne room, Princess.” Veleria and her friends snickered. Truthfully, she should be at the meeting being held in the Throne room right now. But it was as per her father’s command to remove her from it. It has always been this way. Although she was the first commander of the best battalion in the Kingdom, she was the last to ever get any news. It was a way of the King and Queen to keep her in check. It also reminded her she was nothing but a dog that was taught to obey.

“Kindly go to the South Ballroom. The Grand Dinner will commence in a bit.” she kept her face emotionless. There was no denying what Veleria had just said. It was true, everything they pointed out to belittle her. Seeing her not reacting to the mockery, with a tch, Veleria and her friends left for the South Ballroom.

A knight came running towards her, requesting her of her presence in the Throne room. There was something she probably needed for or else she would still be tending to the guests, she thought. As she made her way to the throne room, the maids gave her odd looks and whispered among themselves. It was nothing new but there was something that wasn’t right. Something was amiss in the air, a certain feeling of dread washed over her. Something was very wrong, she mumbled to herself.

“The Commander of the Silver Battalion wishes to enter, Your Majesty.” the guard announced her presence behind the closed door. She would always be regarded as the Commander, not a daughter or even a princess. Rosamund silently snickered at their tactics of making her feel unworthy.

“She may enter.” with the permission granted by the King, she entered the Throne room, her head bowed. She felt the presence of all the Elders, the commanders, and the Advisors. There were a total of four Elders; Aries Arawn, the cunning man in his fifties with the same green eyes Demir has, Sebastian Malik; the man that was a pervert and tried to even get the King to get her to marry him. Rosamund shuddered at the thought. Demetri Horrow and Rowana Mann were a couple with no child of their own. They were the least greedy and cruel among all the Elders. Every one of them had the role of judging the divine powers of the people all around the Kingdom. They place people according to their divine fragments. It was Aries Arawn who first declared that she, Rosamund, should be used as a sacrifice as she had no divine power whatsoever. He was also the one who declared her divine-less.

“Rise.” King Thomas replied, emotionless.

Rosamund raised her head to regard the people in front of her. Everyone was seated at the long table. On the left side where the Elders and Advisors were seated. On her right were the three commanders. The King and Queen were seated at the head of the table. She could feel the uneasiness among everyone. Even though she had no divine power, she could clearly sense the emotions of everyone in wafts of air frequency. This ability of hers was hidden among everyone besides Grandmother Thea and Esmeralda. Assuming her seat was at the end of the table, she sat down without saying a word. Everyone was looking at her, the Elders were whispering among themselves, their emotions came to her as satisfaction and disgust. The Commanders were restless, especially Edward. She could feel his rage and frustration. It was Maxim, the First Advisor, who first talked.

“I believe you have heard of what happened,” he sneered. She knew he wanted to embarrass her in front of her subordinates.

“Yes.” his expression was laughable. The loathsome look was obvious.

“It has been decided that you will be traveling to Karkonz in two days' time.” Perhaps Rowana felt bad for her. The news struck her a few moments later. So they decided to speed up the process. It was only yesterday that she came to know about her sacrificial time and now they even want to make it happen sooner. She remained silent, looking directly towards her so-called parents. The room was filled with tension so thick it could be cut by a knife. For a moment, no one spoke. Rosamund could care less about what was going to happen if the mission failed. She might willingly fail in order to see this kingdom fall, she thought. A smiling Esmeralda's face flashed through her eyes and the promise she made towards her Grandmother squashed any thoughts of betrayal from her mind in the same instance.

“Understood.” and she did. The gravity of her situation was described in great detail just yesterday.

“But..” Edward spoke.

“Stay quiet child. This is for the best of everyone. She is the First Princess of Marigold. This is her destiny, decided by Goddess Lucina. We mustn’t question the Divine.” Maxim’s condensing words made her want to beat the crap out of him, but she remained seated. Her hands clenched in tight fists.

Her eyes followed towards the other advisors. Besides Maxim was Eirene and Yagiz, the Second and Third Advisors. She had known Eirene since she was little. Eirene was Thea’s best friend, the woman that she once thought would help her. She learned her lesson the hard way. Her eyes landed on Yagiz, the step-father of Lizbeth. During the First war, Yagiz was the person who commanded the army and he was the one who trained her personally. All the hardships and punishment she had gone through under the training of Yagiz would always remain with her, in the form of cruel scars and burned skin. He was as much responsible for her destroyed childhood as the King.

It was the King who broke the silence.

“I hope you know what you have to do.” his voice was as hard as a shovel. It was the second time he had directly spoken to her in all her life. The first time was when he asked Maxim if there was any divine power in her.

Rosamund looked directly at her father’s eyes. All her emotions cut off, her face void of the turbulence she felt inside herself. How could she have ever expected warmth from a stone wall? All her life there wasn’t a single moment when she could have had a conversation like others do with her birth mother and father. Even after all this time, there was this silly hope in her heart.

“Of course, my King. She knows her duty. I have taught her well.” the Queen replied with smugness. It was her mother's trait to take credit for everything she achieved. It doesn’t even matter anymore, Rosamund thought as she sat silently.

They were all plotting and expressing everything among themselves. A burning sensation made her look towards her right. All the commanders were silent, watching her with an intense gaze. She could basically feel the irritation and resentment from all three of them in waves. A small smile lifted at the side of her face. At least her comrade made her feel a bit less murderous.

After some tiresome hours, they were all dismissed. It was now 6 in the morning. They were to be summoned again at 8 o clock. Rosamund and the other commanders were the last to leave the Throne room. With each step, she could feel the hesitation and the burning gaze of everyone. She really was too worn out to deal with anything anymore.

“First Commander.” It was Demir that first spoke.

“Yes?” Rosamund asked.

“We believe everything that is happening is unfair.” it was Lizbeth who spoke next. Her brown eyes were warm yet sharp. Her odd red hair braided neatly to her side. Lizbeth had lost her father, who was a common swordsmith. Her mother had been of royal blood, and later married Yagiz under political arrangements. Before she could settle down, Lizbeth's mother had died of an unknown disease, leaving her behind with Yagiz.

“I too believe so,” she said while shrugging her shoulders in disdain. As she neared her resting wing, she was stopped by their voices.

“We are willing to fight for you.” all three of them spoke together. Though she felt grateful for their will to fight for her, she knew it was useless.

“I thank you all but I believe the water is under the bridge.” she regarded them individually. All of them flinch at her words.

“Let us help you, Rosamund. We would surely be able to stop this disgusting plan.” Edward tried, he truly wanted to get Rosamund out of this ridiculous arrangement. He would not sit still. He knew what Rosamund was thinking but he couldn’t allow that to happen. He will do something to stop all this.

“I am thankful, but do not concern yourselves anymore,” she said with authority. She did not want any more problems.

“But…” Lizbeth wanted to refuse, but she was cut off by Rosamund.

“Let this matter go. It is a Royal Command. Do not do anything reckless that may cause any trouble. I bid you goodbye.” without a last glance, Rosamund made her way towards her room and closed the door behind her.

The hallway was silent. Everyone knew what was going to happen if Rosamund went to Karkonz and they dreaded the result.

“We have to stop them.” It was Demir who spoke.

“Agreed,” Lizbeth added.

“We will stop her from going to Karkonz.” Edward promised with all the conviction he had to himself and his fellow Commanders. He was indeed going to stop this stupid idea of sending Rosamund to Karkonz. Everyone knew once the prince finds out that Rosamund had no divine power, she would be killed in the cruelest way possible.

They were trying to hit two targets with one arrow. Killing the Karkonz Prince so that they could surprise attack on the Kingdom of Karkonz and sacrificing Rosamund as her power and hold on the Kingdom was threatening them. It was a smooth plan, one can even call it a perfect plan. But it will not commence under the watch of 3 of the strongest commanders in the realm.

It will not happen.