~The next day~ CLAUDIA I woke up feeling much better, I slept all through the night, so I didn’t expect less. I dragged my body up and sat on the bed. My eyes ran through the chamber real quick and fell on my baby’s cradle. Beside the cradle was Nellie. She had her hand in the cradle, and she was smiling widely. “Nellie,” I called calmly, and she raised her head and looked at me. “My Queen, you are up.” Sue stood up and walked up to me. “Yes, I am,” I responded with a bright face. “I’m happy you look better, my queen. How are you feeling? Do you have aches?” She asked, and I shook my head. “I’m not feeling anyone. Am I supposed to feel any pain?” I asked, and she chuckled. “I have no idea. I haven’t given birth before,” She responded, and I giggled. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that kind of question,” I said, and she shook her head. “It is fine, my queen. Your baby is still sleeping soundly. Have you found a name for him?” I shook my head and looked at the cradle again. “I
ANNETTE I stood in front of my full mirror and stared at myself. I looked so ugly and sick, and I hated everyone for that. No one cared when I was in that dungeon, and this made me see no reason why I should care for anyone too. If someone told me Everett would change drastically to the extent of throwing me into the dungeon, I’d argue with that person. This time, it was worse. He locked me in there for about nine months, and he didn’t bother to check up on me for once. He was busy with his wife. I rolled my eyes and tears dropped from them. I lowered my head and began to play with my finger. “Annette, you are not a woman they accept defeats. You can’t let this pass as if nothing happened. You are more powerful than that, baby girl.” I said to myself and looked in the mirror again. “Annette.” I heard Volker’s voice in front of my door. I looked at the door and saw him open it. He walked in with a tray in his hands. “There you are. I brought you some food.” He walked to the tab
CLAUDIAI got to the front of the palace and threw Annette forward, making her fall to the ground. I could feel how fragile she had become because of the torture she went through in the dungeon, but she wasn’t ready to change, and I was done giving her chances to be a better person. “You are still alive till now, thanks to me!” I poked my chest and moved closer to her slowly. “It was so easy to tell Everett to get rid of you when you were in that dungeon, but I felt it would be so wicked of me, and I didn’t want anyone’s blood on my hands. But now, I don’t care if your filthy blood stains my hand.” “You think you can do whatever pleases you now, hun? You can order others around, but I’ll never let you order me around! I rather die than accept you as my queen!” She yelled back, and I scoffed. I wasn’t surprised she could still talk back at me like that. Everett had always said she is a fierce woman and won’t give up easily. “You rather die? Well, I’ll help you die.” I got to her
CLAUDIA Everett and I sat in the living room with an awkward silence in the air. My head was full of many things. After witnessing Annette’s death, I wished I was never pushed to request her death. ‘What will my don think of me now?’ “Claudia, can you please tell me what is going on in your mind?” Everett asked, and I adjusted my eyes to look at him. “What will our son think of me now, Everett? I’m a murderer.” He shook his head and reached for my hand. He lifted my hand to his lips and planted a soft kiss on it. “You are no murderer, okay? I was the one that killed her, not you. She deserved to die, okay? Don’t feel so bad. You are a good person, Claudia, but sometimes, the good people are always pushed to the wall.” “About our son…” “Our son will be fine, Claudia. This would be written down, but you should know he would understand that she needed to be killed. She messed with the king, and the king killed her. You won’t be painted as evil because you aren’t. So be calm, okay
~After eighteen years~Maximillian I gazed at the archery targets carefully, my left hand slowly lifted up, holding the heavy recurved bow firmly. My right hand reached for my quiver, and I pulled out one arrow. I positioned it in the bow and pointed it at the targets. I closed my left eye so that I could get the appropriate angle and degree to release my arrow. After being satisfied with my positioning, I dragged the bowstring and arrow real quick and let go of the arrow. The arrow travelled from where I stood to the archery target, and I nervously watched it move. The King, my father, was at the other end, and as soon as the arrow pierced the target, he ran to it to check. “Yes! You did it!” He yelled, and I jumped up and punched the air in excitement. “I told you I’d be able to do it!” I yelled back boastfully. *Since I turned ten, I grew a great passion for shooting arrows. No one in Jamba Kingdom was an arrow shooter, and I wanted to break that record. My mother, Que
~1860~ CLAUDIA I hopped happily, turning in circles and giggling periodically as I moved closer to the Wagner Packhouse. I had a great time with Thorsten, my very good friend outside Wagner’s gigantic walls again. We have been friends since we were very young, and since I had him, I never thought of having another friend. He was more than enough. His father and mother, Dirk and Bettina Schulz happen to be part of the Wagner werewolf clan. His father is the Alpha of the Schulz pack. A werewolf clan is a local community made up of individual werewolf packs that come together for a common cause. It is often named after the Alpha that brings the packs together in a particular kingdom. Going down to Packs, we are members of the Crescent Moon Pack, descendants of the late Alpha Logan Wagner. The Wagner werewolf clan, even though being made up of about five different clans, is ruled by my parents Horst and Krista Wagner, it has never left the Wagner family or Crescent Moon Pack since
EVERETT I pushed her off me after I was done f**king her brains out. She looked at me with sadness written all over her. I sighed and looked away, her sad face couldn’t change anything. “Don’t look at me like that.” I stood up and reached for my boxers. “Why do you keep treating me like this Everett? What exactly do you want?” She approached and I turned to look at her. “What do you mean by what do I want? We made this clear before now, all we can do is f**k. I am not putting any marks on you, Annette.” She stood up and walked up to me, she held my hands and moved them to her mouth, and planted a soft kiss on them. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel the excitement I feel when I am with you. Everett my heart yearns for you and you alone. I have never felt this kind of way for any person. You are doing something to me Everett and you know it.” She muttered and I yanked my hands away from hers. “I’m sorry, but this can’t work. I wish it could, but it can’t.” Why couldn’t she un
CLAUDIA The sun rays entered my room through the window and were directly on my face. “Ma’am Petra! The curtains!” I cried out and covered my head with my bedspread. I heard my room door open, I knew it was Ma’am Petra. She walked to the window and I heard her pull the curtains. “Good morning Claudia.” She greeted and I yanked the bedspread off my head still closing my eyes. I opened my eyes and heaved out a sigh. I couldn’t sleep, what Mom and Dad told me kept tormenting me. “Oh, God… Claudia your eyes are swollen. Did you sleep at all?” Ma’am Petra became worried. She sat next to me on the bed and I looked at her. “The night was horrible,” I sat up and she passed the pillow to me. I placed the pillow behind me so I could rest my back on it. “Why was the night horrible my child? You had a nightmare?” She was so worried. It was written all over her. “I would prefer a nightmare to what happened last night,” I became sad again. I bent my head and began to fondle my fingers.