9 Darkness.

ON seeing Briceus, Elizabeth was stunned, as her feet instantly went numb. Utterly helpless, she took in his charmingly attractive features as he walked with as much gait to assume his Royal seat before the maidens.

Elizabeth observed as Briceus walked with tiger-like tread wearing an unmistakable ethereal scent which swirled around him. To Beth, he was self-prejudiced by nature being the most beautiful human her eyes had ever beheld.

His facials exuded the feature of a czaristic nose—one he carried well, along with angular cheekbones perfectly carved down towards a steely jaw, in the most artistic manner.

His white hair was woven alongside a very mild tint of black which was barely noticeable. His flaming locks extended far below his shoulders. Also, his Spartan shoulders could not be thoroughly hidden beneath his Royal regalia, and Elizabeth swore in her heart that she had not seen a man like him.

'Is he from a different world? Verily, my dear Bessie shall not believe my tales about the King of Aegremonth,' thought Elizabeth.

At that moment, Briceus who had assumed his Lordly seat took in the reflection of the maiden as his limbal rings glinted with the sight of her.

'What have we now? If it be not another shameless creature desperate for my attention,' snarled Briceus.

He could not believe that the maiden in question had thought up that lame approach to capture his attention. He found her desperation worthy of mockery, but who was she to remain upstanding while the others acknowledged his presence?

To him, she was nothing, not of beauty nor of character, but he feigned ignorance of the fact that she had not paid obeisance to honour his entry, and wore a curt smirk on his face.

"What is the matter with you, Elizabeth? Take a bow, will you?"

Giselle's words nudged Beth back to her senses and she became aware of the situation and did the needful in hopes that Briceus had not taken note of her foolish behaviour.

With the approval of the King which he gave by a simple nod of his head, the spokesperson demanded of the maidens to lift their heads.

"Rise, fair maidens! The king will behold you now!"

Briceus was not in the right frame for the activity of the moment.

He turned to Zeke, who stood next to him and whispered solely to his hearing, "Why should I be burdened by this foolish act? I have sat here two minutes long to know that none of these desperate maidens impress me in any way."

"Milord, you have not yet let your eyes explore them all. They have the finest of skin, and among them are the fairest. Shall you not take your time to carefully observe them, Milord?" said Zeke.

Briceus knew that Zeke would come up with a witty approach to convince him to stay much longer. His speech was not unexpected. But who did he have to answer to? Was he not already made king?

The king knew who would be glad to turn the situation around for him, negatively if he refused to hearken to Zeke's words.

He knew his uncle, the Duke could easily convince the aristocrats that he was unfit to be king stating that he was not in proper alignment with traditions with his actions.

Hence, Briceus declared in his heart that he would endure the discomfort of the maiden selection ceremony in hopes that a mishap of some sort crept in, to alleviate him of the whole process.

"What happened to you awhile ago? Do you not dread the king's presence? What if you got due punishment, what happens to you then, Elizabeth?" Giselle was still in shock as she recollected the silly stunt Beth had pulled up a few minutes ago, and for what reason would she risk her head like that? Had she not ever read in her 'Books' of how brutal the punishment for commonizing a King always turned out to be?

"I seek forgiveness, Giselle and I have no meaning to cause any trouble. My mind drifted from the present, and I was no longer mindful of where I was," declared Beth.

She didn't want to reveal to Giselle that the charming appearance of the Lord Briceus was what caused her senses to divorce her.

"You should be thankful for not drawing the King's attention your way. Be more careful next time," said Giselle.

"Indeed it is good that I was not found out. The universe is on my side. I shall not portray such foolishness a second time," said Beth.

"But even if you must... Wait! What if that person you said you wanted to hide from had seen you while you were upstanding. Or have you forgotten?"

"No, I have not forgotten, my dear," said Beth, truly appreciative of Giselle's concerns.

"And shall you not tell me of this person you are desperate to avoid?"

"Oh, Giselle you are truly kind to me, and I hate to keep the matter from you. But pardon me for this one secret. Just this one time. I promise to reveal it to you in the not-too-distant future," said Elizabeth.

She could not tell her companion that she was avoiding being seen by her sister, Louisa.

She could not afford it. But luckily the Royal hall was a swarm of beauties at that time. Thus, Elizabeth figured that she would not get noticed for any sort, by and by.

"Alright, Elizabeth. I will not burden you about it any more until you feel the need to tell me about it." said Giselle and she smiled a smile of warmth that caused Beth to feel relieved and safe beside her.

As Elizabeth resigned her thoughts to all she'd have to discuss with Bessie on her return home that same day in the company of the kind Lady Osborn, Louisa had managed to pave her way through the crowd to get herself close enough to be seen and admired by the king.

With her Kerchief placed ladily to cover her mouth, she put up a mischievous innocence, subtle enough to be waved aside by the Lord Briceus but causing her to be conspicuous enough to the liking of the King.

"Mother said this approach will work. I have no doubt that the King would take me to be maiden. Oh! How happy Beth would be when I return home to inform her of my luck. She should be happy for me. She knows my beauty is worthy of the King's approval." This, Louisa muttered beneath her breath, her Kerchief permitting her the luxury to do so, easily.

Back at the open arena, Mrs Blythe was impatient as her once cheerful countenance now reeked of deep-rooted anxiety, one that didn't go unnoticed to her husband.

"My dear, even if you want Louisa to get picked by the King, I shall have no party to it because something is not right about him, and we have only now just got our ears acquainted with the fact that he is the product of a certain demon goddess," said Mr Blythe to his wife.

"Nonsense, my dear. When did you start apportioning your precious ears to meaningless gossip? Their words hold no life in them," said Mrs Blythe.

"Even so, I will not have it happen! Perhaps, Prince Aldrich would have been better for her. But now that I think of it, Prince Aldrich may have his own maiden already, and I believe she would be a princess of noble dwellings," said Mr Blythe.

"Not so, my dear. I will not have you infuse your negative thoughts in my memory. Lord Briceus is a good man for our dear Louisa."

"I knew I could never convince you otherwise." Said Mr Blythe.

Suddenly, Mr Blythe noticed the change in the sky as it began to lose its colour, as well as everyone else. The greyishness of the cloudy bubbles above them brought along the fierceness of a turbulent sepia wind that sent panic across the hearts of those who had never seen anything like it.

"Oh my God! What manner of darkness befalls us?"