The King's Bride

The Unrequited Invitation

The thunderous clouds in the sullen sky outside roared with might, as the battle came down to an end.  Ashes of those swept by the raging fire of the war spread on the already sodden land which was painted red with the blood of those great warriors that lost their lives protecting their home, their kingdom. Families were scattered here and there, looking for people that survived, looking for hopes to continue living in this land which had become nothing but a vast mast of graveyard. Once a flourishing kingdom of Suriptica, was now in the brink of ruin, and only one person can be blamed for it, King Zachary Aisle of Azalea.

We remained on our knees in the middle of the throne room, with chains wrapped around our necks, as the gates to the main hall opened and in came a battalion of soldiers, all dressed in red, which told us that they were the troops of the enemy. One by one they lined themselves at the entrance forming two lines on either side of the gate, saluting their hands as a person entered behind them.

That was the first time, my eyes met his. I drooped on my knees even further, getting tired of the weight of these chains on my body, but somehow, I managed to keep my head up. He entered with long and strong strides, walking with heavy steps as he passed all of us and went to sit on my father’s throne. His thick-black hair covered with the sweat and dirt of the battlefield pushed in front of his forehead hiding the view of his eyes from me. His black armor, which was red with the blood and tears of my people made him look like the monster he was. He sat on the throne, relaxed his head back on the edge and closed his eyes.

King Zack took a deep breath and said, “People of Suriptica,” he paused then turned his head back straight and opened his eyes. With one hand he pointed to the door and let out, “Your King.”

Four men came in carrying my father, who was bound in chains and was badly hurt. He was still hanging onto his life, but barely.

From all corners of the room came cries and shouts, as the ladies of my father’s court feared for his life and theirs.

Then men dragged my father, King George to the great hall and threw him in the center of the room.

“My lord,” my father spoke out, joining both his hands and bowing his head in front of that beast.

“You can kill me but please let my family go.” I had never seen my father cry, but today he was wailing in agony, calling out to the victorious king for any form of mercy.

It broke my heart seeing him like this, but I couldn’t do much about it. I was bound in chains myself.

“Tut- tut,” King Zack bolted from his seat and slowly came over to where my father lay. “I warned you before King George, didn’t I?” his eyes raised from the ground and met each one of us as he addressed the whole of Suriptica.

“I gave you a chance to come under my rule, but no. You were so arrogant.” His husky voice reached my ears.

I kept my eyes focused on him, as he laughed in the face of our misery.

“You thought you could beat me, you thought you could kill me.” His face changed from laughter to that of anger, as he shouted on top of his voice, “Well, look at you now. You are under my feet begging for mercy.”

“No,” The queen shouted from the other end of the corner when the monster drew out his sword and kept it at my father’s neck. My eyes widened in shock as uncontrollable tears started flowing out of them, thinking about hundred ways this could go from bad to worse.

My father was speechless at this point, he was too badly hurt to speak, so he kept on joining his hands and begging for mercy.

“You can have the kingdom please, my lord.” King George spoke in broken breaths.

Zack looked at him in amusement and tipped his head back in laughter. “I already have your kingdom, George.” His venomous voice reached my ears as he continued speaking, “If you don’t want to die then you have to give me something else.

I wanted to say so much at this point. I wanted to curse at him, throw my legs around, I wanted to grab his throat and kill him, but I couldn’t. He was stronger than me, he was stronger than all of us.

“Give me your daughter and I will let each and everyone of you live.” He spoke out casually and turned to look at me.

“My lord please, we cannot give you our princess, she is so little, only a child right now.” The queen spoke out in a frenzy as she fought against the chains to get to her little girl.

King Zack folded his arms across his chest and took a sigh of anguish. He walked over with firm steps to where my little sister was bound and bent down to touch her cheek.

“Yes, she is very cute and a princess, but merely a child.” He then stood up and looked at me. “I don’t want anything to do with this child, instead I want her.” He pointed at me.

“No, father...” I shouted out to my king, who looked helplessly at me but I knew he was determined that he would never let me go with this monster.

King George tried to stand up on his two feet, mustering up all courage as he spoke out, “You can take my life sir but not my daughter….” But before he could finish, the queen stood up from her place and yelled out to the king.

“Yes, yes please take her my lord and please spare us.” She pleaded to this monster. I couldn’t believe what she had said.

I knew that she was not my birth mother and she didn’t like me very much because I was the product of my father’s insincerity towards her, but she would give me up like this as bait, I never expected that.

I cried, for I was rendered speechless. I knew my father loved me a lot and that he would also fight for me, but he wasn’t in a state to rage another battle. I knew that if I take a wrong decision today, it would cost a lot of people their lives, including my father’s.

My eyes were red with remains of tears now, as I looked at my father and shook my head. With a stone on my chest and a mission to protect my family, I made a decision.

“I will go with you.” I managed to speak out with shaky breath but couldn’t control my tears.

“But promise my family’s safety first.”

“Zarina no…how could you …. I will never let you,” My father kept shouting out for me to stop but all of a sudden his voice just became a background noise to me.

Zack waved his hand towards his guard in a gesture to silence my dad and then made his way over to me. My head was down, so I could only see his feet, but then I felt him bent down on his knees and lift my head up to meet his.

I saw him, his deep blue monstrous eyes, that crinkled with a sign of happiness. I saw dirt and blood caked on his face, as he tilted his head to get a good look at me. He looked even frightening and dangerous up closely.

His hand rose up to touch my head as I flinched back instinctively, but he grabbed hold on to my hair tightly, and brought my face dangerously closer to his.

“This is going to be interesting,” I saw an evil smirk forming on his face as his spat out these words.

“My sweet,”