8 The Attack

Anna was rushed away with her mother by the guards. They hid away in the safety room built just for moments like this. The King was already there with his own set of guards. He didn't look as worried as Anna thought he would be. He was the most important person here and no doubt he would be the first target for an attack. Though there was a scowl on his face, everything else about his posture told her that he was more annoyed at the interruption than he was afraid of being killed.

Perhaps it was years of getting what he wanted and not being in danger that had made him more than sure nothing could touch him. His mind was probably diluted with a firm belief that he'd been chosen by God to rule this Kingdom.

The King Nathanial III was a tall and built man that wore a soft shadow of a beard that made his face slimmer in a certain light. Anna had inherited her father's bright blue eyes and his red hair, but their facial features were so different that she couldn't tell if she actually was his daughter. She would sometimes lay in her bed, gazing at the painted ceiling that was covered in inklings of speckled gold and images of flying angels, and thought about what she would do if she found out the King wasn't her father. There was no question that she would be thrown out if it was found out to be true. Her mother might be hung if she'd lied.

That thought should have made her sad. Her mother's death however would have been a great thing if it didn't mean she would be dead as well. Some things in this Kingdom were never meant to be revealed and that included Anna's dark thoughts.

It wasn't until the door to the guarded room closed that Anna snapped out of her deep daydream. The alarms continued to blare, but the sharp sound was dampened as they were locked inside the room. It would be hard for anyone to break in to the room now. Though it didn't stop her mind from wandering there. She imagined the door being blown down or one of the guards turning out to be part of the large scheme. They might be working on the inside and the people looking to kill them had gotten a key to this very room.

Maybe whoever designed the safety room should have thought about that before they put a keyhole on the other side.

Anna snickered and her mother smacked her arm. Her mother made a face that made her look twice her age. Anna gave a glance towards the King. He was watching them with dark eyes. It didn't deter Anna. She wanted to bust out laughing when her mother tried to smile but it turned out looking more like a grimace.

She won't be getting fucked tonight.

It couldn't have been five minutes later that the alarms stopped. A knock game to the metal door. It was a simple knock that alerted the guards that the threat was no longer there.

"Sire," one of the guards said as he stepped in from of the King. The guards closed them in as the other by the door began to unlock the door.

Anna would have liked to see the King's face if he was attacked.

She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were shaking, twitching as she tried to calm down her racing heart. She didn't know where those kinds of thoughts had come from. She'd never crossed that line before. Even when she'd thought about jumping from the highest window in the castle, she hadn't thought about harming another person. It had always been about ending her own suffering. Never about inflicting suffering on another being.

She took a deep breath and tried to distance herself from what she'd been thinking. It was harder than she thought it would be. The thoughts kept poking back at the front of her mind every few seconds as if they knew she was trying to rid herself of them.

The guard nodded towards the other two.

"Get me out of here," the King said. He didn't spare Anna or her mother a glance before he left the room.

Anna was about to follow her father when her arm was grabbed.

She turned to her look at her mother. The frown on the older woman's face deepened.

"You look like a harlot," she spat out, tugging Anna closer. She grabbed one of the pearls sewn into Anna's hair. "Disgusting."

Anna jerked her arm back, moving away so that her mother couldn't reach her head.

Queen Rena narrowed her eyes. Anna could tell she was at her pushing point. She didn't know why she was under her mother's scrutiny when they hadn't even talked to each other all day.

"I hope you know how much a disappointment you are to him."

Rena flicked the pearl from her hand. It landed in the corner of the dark room. Anna didn't flinch as it make a clinking sound. That piece of jewelry could have fed a family for months. It was a waste to see it destroyed by the hands of a woman who was losing her touch to the outside world. Anna hadn't ever loved her mother as she should. Though there were more things to get upset from her childhood, her mother's harsh words and beatings overshadowed most of it.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of." Anna didn't know what this fight was going to be about. Rena was always finding something that she didn't like. Whether it be the way Anna walked, dressed, ate, or just looked at someone important, she always found something to punish her for.

She should have been used to the abuse, but the hurt was that of a sharp blade stuck in her back. Every turn she make it pushed deeper inside of her.

Rena opened her mouth to no doubt scold Anna once more when there was a shout of voices down the hall. Before they had a chance to find out what was going on, two guards burst through the room and grabbed them both.