The Princess Broken Wolf

4

After the tiresome night, Rosamund felt restless. Her body dragged behind her as she strode towards the Sword Field. It was the training ground for all the knights, on the upper east side of the castle. The field itself can be seen from the Queen's quarters. It was a famous rumor among the nobles that the Queen, even though she was an old woman, was lecherous and would often be found gazing over the young knights who were training. All of her knights were uncomfortable knowing The Queen Mother was watching them with lustful eyes. Many believed the Queen would grant some knights to spend a few weeks with her in the Queen’s Chamber. It was no secret that both her parents were unsatisfied with their martial lives and would often indulge themselves in the embrace of young maidens and men who were always waiting for the chance to become someone more important than they already were. Many maidens and maids tried seducing the King, in hopes of becoming the Queen Mother. Their heads would always be found in the Gallows in a week's time. The king never said anything and the Queen did as she wished. Some opportunistic men tried the same tactic with the Queen, in hopes of making her pregnant with their seeds and birthing a prince or a princess of their lineage. Little did they know that the Queen was barren after her last child. The perfect example of such men was this man, Eric Malik, son of Sebastian Malik, who was trying to get a rise out of Rosamund as she tried to train. It was too early in the morning for her to deal with this s**t.

“When will you start calling me daddy, Commander?” Eric mocked in a high-pitched voice. He was a handsome man with golden hair and hazel eyes. Everyone knew the Queen chose him as her latest toy because he was easy on the eyes. Sebastian was the one who planted him in the knight's squad, being ambitious as he was, thinking at least if his son got the Queen pregnant, he would hold more power than he already held. Everyone in the court was corrupted but cowards.

She didn’t reply to his insult. Instead, she took her sword out of its scabbard. Her sword was truly magnificent. Gifted to her by her grandmother. Her grandmother had wielded the sword during the First World War. Her grandmother, Theadora Marigold, was the first female commander of the Silver Battalion that fought and won during the First War. The sword was a knight’s sword, straight, thin, and double-edged. The blade itself was dark red, almost black, the handle was made of platinum, embedded in it was a single black opal stone. It was marvelous and one of a kind in the realm.

Rosamund tested the sword, swinging it left to right while Eric was babbling stupid things and mocking the princess. She never felt the need to stop him, he was just a leech, the same as his father. People would talk nonsense because their life was miserable. Rosamund learned that, so she kept quiet against all the bullies.

The Sword Field was silent, only Eric was talking. As Rosamund made her way towards the wooden statue, erected on the field for the knights to practice, she heard Eric say something hideous.

“What would you say if I went for Princess Esmeralda instead of the Queen? It would be good to have fun with both of them at the same time.” Eric barked his ugly laugh.

Rosamund stopped, her back facing away from Eric. The Sword Field turned eerily silent. There was no sound, only endless silence. Eric’s laugh resonated in the area. Everyone in the field knew they were about to witness the rage of their high commander. The air turned denser, the more nonsense came from Eric’s foul mouth, the more tense everyone got. A whoosh disturbed the deadly calm and in an instant, Eric's head rolled on the ground with a thud. The ground turned crimson, the crows now circling the sky, in hopes of getting their meal. No one spoke, everyone could feel the immense tension in their bodies. It was as if they were hiking on a mountain with so much pressure it was difficult for them to even breathe. Rosamund flicked her sword, cleaning it in an instant off of Eric’s blood, and strode towards the blacksmith. A moment passed and the guards took care of Eric’s body without uttering a single word. The ground now had a big patch of fresh blood. Everyone present on the ground shuddered at the thought of ever offending Rosamund. She was truly the High Commander, one of the most powerful knights in Wasiz.

“You shouldn’t have killed the boy, sire,” Pandora said. A tall woman with a lean body and tanned skin. Her hair was as dark as night and her eyes were opaque, almost white. No one knew much about Pandora, only that the swords she forged had the power to defeat the Gods. The people gave her the name Pandora, as she was the gift sent to them by the Goddess Lucina during the First War. She was a woman of few words, blinded since the day Rosamund met her. No one knew how she forged the swords or how she traveled for the materials she needed. Each sword she forged was different than the other. She forged every sword in the kingdom but Rosamund's. She always refused to do so. Never had she given a metal trinket to Rosamund ever in her life. Rosamund had tried more times than she could count for Pandora to forge a sword for her, but Pandora always refused with a simple shake of her head and a mysterious smile on her face and would always say, no sword was good enough for her. The same thing was said by her Grandmother.

“He was irritating.” Rosamund shrugged her shoulders.

“The Queen is quite fond of him as of recently.” Pandora quirked her eyebrows towards Rosamund, her hands still forging another sword.

“Don’t worry,” Rosamund responded, her hands reaching for an apple on the basket beside her.

Pandora only laughed in response. Their time would always pass like this. Pandora would tell Rosamund the stories of her grandmother. They would each laugh but most of the time, there was this comfortable silence embracing them in a hum. The sounds of Pandora forging a sword and the crackling of the fire would make the silence complete. Rosamund knew she would miss Pandora with all her heart. There were few she could call her own and say goodbye without saying the words that made her heart heavy with a sadness she had only now experienced. She would have to leave all this behind, death awaits her in a day’s time. She would be granted no ease, only a harsh future awaits her when the dawn breaks. Her past was darker than black and her future seemed empty of any light. How befitting, she thought.

“I made you something,” Pandora said, breaking the silence. Rosamund jerked her head in surprise. Never in all her life had Pandora ever made her anything. This was the first time Pandora did something specifically for her.

With a small knowing smile, Pandora walked to the cupboards on her right. Even though blind, she navigated through the area swiftly and elegantly without ever bumping into anything. She held a small box towards Rosamund. Upon opening the box, Rosamund found a ring. It was a plain-looking ring with a silver-ish stone in its center. Rosamund was skeptical about it yet she took it out and tried it on. It could only fit on her pinky.

“It is a token from me,” Pandora said, her hands tightly holding Rosamund’s fingers.

“For what?” Rosamund asked, confused. The apparent confusion made Pandora smile ruefully. Pandora knew she could only smile in return, all the questions swamping in Rosamund's mind couldn't yet be answered. Everything has a time set for things to happen and it was certainly not now for Rosamund’s questions to be answered.

“Azmorgham Iaso,” Pandora said, her words foreign to Rosamund.

“Begone, little Queen. The day awaits you.” secretly brushing off a tear on her face, Pandora turned her back away from a confused Rosamund.

Rosamund walked towards the back of the Castle, dumbfounded. She couldn’t understand the meaning behind everything that Pandora did today. It was indeed a surprise for her to see the woman who never once cried, holding back the tears from her white eyes. As she walked, a messenger came, saying the Second Commander was asking for her at the Gallows, saying there was something wrong with the corpses and the crows eating them.

With Pandora still lingering in her mind, Rosamund made her way towards the Gallows. It was a vast wasteland on a cliff of a mountain where Sea Jimerin ran underneath. Sea Jimerin was the river that connected all the Kingdom in a way no one could ever really understand. A complex sea that ran in places deep within the woods of all the Kingdom, its water as green as new grass. The Gallows was where all the corpses got disposed of. An incinerator was built that would burn off the bodies. The Gallows had a vast stretch of woods behind it, said to be home to magical creatures who fed on evil spirits. These creatures were the hidden defenders of the Marigold Kingdom. They had the ability to tell who was a Marigoldian and who wasn’t. She could see Edward standing still on the edge of the cliff. Making her way towards him, she felt herself being alert. There was no corpse in her sight as far as she could see, nor was there any other person around them. The air was surprisingly clean from any foul smell. The woods were silent, the waves crashed violently beneath the cliff, and the sky was so dark it turned almost black. A storm was brewing.

“What is going on?” she asked, her posture defensive instinctively.

“I had something to say,” in a monotone voice, Edward replied.

“Why did you lie?” Rosamund knew he was going to say something yet bothersome. She settled for getting her curiosity answered.

“We are sorry that we weren’t able to protect you against the Elders and Advisors. We are sorry we have to retort to such measure for your safety and I am sorry for betraying your trust.” Edward stepped back from the cliff and in less than a second, he pushed her from the cliff, catching her completely off guard. One more person was pushing with all their might towards Edward. The last words she heard before falling from the cliff and into the water were, “We are not sorry for trying to help you because we are your friends.”

These idiots were gonna get the beating of their lives once I woke up. It was the last thought Rosamund had when she drowned in the vast sea and her senses left her at once in a deep sleep.