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Chapter ~ 24
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Adrian's POV
Olga.
The woman who helped bring my half sister into this world. The woman who brought news of her existence to us, stepped forward, claiming to be responsible for my father's daily meals. The meals that contained poison.
"You evil witch!" Mother appeared in front of Olga, planting a dirty slap onto her face. "I knew it! I knew you were up to no good the moment you arrived in this castle!"
Olga cradled her burning cheek, tears welling up in her eyes. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
Grabbing a fist full of her dark hair, Mother pushed her onto the floor. "You ki
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Rakia's POV"Marion?"Silence came as a response.I called louder, "Marion, c'mon, we're waiting for you.""Yeah, we're ready to leave!" Richard added whilst strapping the last bag on Hope's side.When we didn't hear a reply or the sound of boots thumping down the stairs, Clifford scoffed, mumbling something about Marion being a pain in the ass.I sighed, "I'll go get her." Turning on my heel, I moved back into the inn we'd spent the night in. It didn't escape my notice that Clifford chose to share a room with Richard instead of Marion. These past two days, things had gotten worse between them. They wouldn't even look at each other, yet alone talk. Another sigh left my lips as I climbed up the stairs, head
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Rakia's POV My mouth felt too dry. Even conjuring saliva had become a problem.Slowly I lifted my head up, wondering why I couldn't move my arms and legs. Fear and panic seeped into my heart, making it pound faster than before.My arms and legs were outstretched on both sides, each one being held by incredibly tight shackles that had been attached to solid boulders. Crap. "S-someone help!" I tried moving my arms but the shackles just bit harshly into my skin. "Ouch."My eyes darted round the room in search of the boys. That was when I realised that both of them weren't here. Apart from a few crystals that lighted up the room, a shelf of vials and scrolls, and a black pot sitting atop a stack of firewood, the room was completely bare. But I still decid
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Clifford's POVThe sound of a distant scream woke me up and I quickly lifted my head off the pile of hay I was on.My eyes darted around. Where the heck are we? I scrambled up.It was a old shack that looked a lot like an abandoned stable, and instead of the wooden doors, they'd swapped them for metal bars. An old rusted keyhole sat on the right and I frowned. Getting onto my feet, I grabbed the metal bars and gave it a hard shake. Even though the structure was old, it wouldn't even budge. Shit.The sound of unintelligible mumbling touched my ear drums and I turned to find Richard strewn across the floor. Looking at the red bump forming on his head, I could tell that he had woken up at some point, but the filthy old lady who brought us here must've knocked him
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Clifford's POV The next dayDespite the sun's full presence in the sky, a chilly breeze wafted round the trees, making me tug my sleeves lower. Pulling on Hero's reins, he brought us to a careful stop in a serene area coupled with a few jasmine trees. Their fresh pink petals littered the ground, along with some dead ones.My companions came to a halt behind me, taking a look at our new environment."Ooo a hot spring!" Richard yelled, pointing at the small pool of steamy water sitting at a close distance from us. "Can we take a dip?""Yeah," I replied, the same time Rakia said, "No."She shot me a glare. "Really Clifford?""What?" I jumped off Hero
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Rakia's POV"A few years back, Granark used to live and work in the village as a maize farmer," Hammond started. "But one day, a group of men discovered that he was an imposter; a powerful wizard who had escaped from Hartland during the Quietus war. Once the news got out, the King sent guards to arrest Granark, but he fled into the Forbidden Forest. He was never seen or heard from again.""That doesn't mean he's dead!" I snapped, inadvertently startling Hammond. I gave out a sigh, "I'm-I'm sorry, ok. It's just...he...he could still be alive."Hammond slowly shook her head. "I highly doubt that. The forest is literally a representation of death, nothing grows in there. Some people even say that the area is swarmed with demons."I pushed my fingers through my dark hair, trying not to thin
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Rakia's POV"Sit, sit," the elderly woman urged. "You must be absolutely famished from your long journey." Mother Arielle eagerly went round the table, dishing hearty laddels of thick gumbo into everyone's bowls. The hungry children cheered after receiving their share."You're going to love Mother Arielle's gumbo," Hammond piped up, all traces of sorrow gone from her eyes. "She makes the best gumbo in the entire Midlands.""Oh stop, Hammond," the elderly nun chuckled, finally dishing my bowl with soup. I sat next to Clifford at the table, whilst Richard and Hammond sat across from us. The rest of the seats were occupied by the many children.Mother Arielle settled down at the head of the table and requested that we say the grace. Once we all rattled out the prayer, spoons found their wa
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Rakia's POV"Mmm! This, without a single shred of doubt, is one of the best swiss rolls I've ever had in my life!" Richard stuffed two more of the puffy pastry in his mouth, prompting Lula to bring out a second tray of baked treats.The boys and I occupied the sofa in Granark's small but cozy living room. I picked up a pastry from the tray in front of us and took a hearty bite. The vanilla cream filling gently oozed onto my tongue. "Wow, this is really good, Lula."Her pointy ears perked up at the compliment. "I told you you'd love them," she beamed.Taking a bite of my second roll, my eyes suddenly flickered up to meet Granark's intense stare. I swallowed the pastry in my mouth. "Is something wrong?"He hesitated a bit. "No. It's just... you loo
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Two months later Rakia's POV"Rakia." Someone nudged me from my beauty sleep. "Wake up!"I just groaned and turned to the side, hoping she'd get the hint to go away and leave me in peace. But she didn't because she pulled the duvet off me. "C'mon Rakia, Get up. You have to get ready for the coronation."I blew a raspberry into the pillow. Over the past months, Granark and the council members had cramped my head with a lot of stuff I should and shouldn't do as queen. Everyday, I had something to do or learn. Yesterday's coronation rehearsal was the most stressful. Now I had to do the whole thing in front of the entire kingdom."But I'm soooo tired," I groaned, pushing myself sideways to
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Clifford's POVThe doors were blown wide apart, granting us access to the courtyard."Yes!" Richard and I turned, but the archers took that as cue to release their arrows. Thankfully, Granark hadn't worn himself out. The wizard blasted out three huge balls of fire, turning the arrows into ashes and setting the guards on fire.Ignoring their shouts of pain, my companions and I ran through water and clouds of steam, into a chaotic and messed up courtyard. I felt cold all of a sudden."Wooah," Granark and Richard exclaimed in unison as we all beheld the scene in complete shock.Ice blocks lay everywhere in awkward shapes, sitting in puddles of water. The different topiaries and hedges the gardeners must've spent weeks trimming, had all become wrangl
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Clifford's POV I couldn't stop thinking about Rakia. After she disappeared behind those double doors, I never saw her again. That uncomfortable feeling that something bad had happened to her kept knawing at my brain. But I couldn't jump up to go find her. The number of guards had increased these past few hours, plus my arm muscles were now sore from constantly swinging my sword. Richard and I had found refuge in an old, dusty storeroom and decided to catch our breath there."Sheesh! I can literally hear your heart threatening to jump out of your chest," Richard remarked in a snarky tone. "Calm down, bro. She's fine." I sat on the floor and swiped sweat off my for
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Adrian's POV I can't feel her pulse anymore.My eyes widened.I can't feel her pulse anymore!"Holy shit!" I pulled my hands away and the lifeless corpse dropped into a puddle of water. She's dead... she's finally dead!My heart leaped with joy. "Yes! It's mine!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, stretching my arms out wide. "Hartland is finally mine! Mine and mine alone!" I twirled around and a loud cackle left my mouth. I swear I'd never been this happy my entire life. Everything had finally fallen into place and there was absolutely nothing standing in my way now. I could finally enjoy being king."Oh thank you, sweet sweet Creator!" I dropped
