Chapter 7
As evening drew nearer, the crimson sky became dim. It was about this period that nocturnal creatures began crawling out of their hiding places. The watchmen of the Kingdom were being watchful, and the security of the Palace was tightened. The time for Walter's second hearing drew closer. He was still chained, and on his knees in the cage, preventing any trial to escape due to the pain he felt. He began reminiscing about all his steps prior to that time.
What could've gone wrong? Is this a dream? Am I really dead? Who is Nariah?
Right then, He saw a shadow from someone standing outside the cage.
"Hey," the voice whispered.
Walter slowly looked up to see who it was. It was Nicole. She was dressed in a very long, beautiful yellow dress that trailed behind her as she moved. She was adorned in lots of glistering jewelry; glistering from her hair, her wrists and her ankles. She glowed like liquid sunlight, and for the first time ever, he saw the true colour of her eyes. They were just as blue as the others.
Those black eyes I fell in love with were contact lenses? He wondered within.
"I am sorry for everything, Walter," she said as she grabbed onto the bars of the cage. "I didn't do it for the status, I only…we need you." She spoke with a voice carrying the weight of her emotions.
"What do you call a bad driver from the underworld?" he asked in a very low tone, his head hung low as he knelt.
"What was that?" Nicole asked curiously, coming closer to the bars by kneeling.
"What do you call a bad driver from the underworld?" He repeated, this time, in an audible tone.
"Walter," she called as tears began gathering in her eyes.
"A girl on a mission." He answered as he chuckled at his own joke. His chuckles slowly turned into painful coughs.
"Okay that's a bad one." he said, still coughing as tears began rolling down Nicole's eyes.
"So why'd you do it?" Walter asked, his jovial mode suddenly switched to a sad countenance as he raised his head and looked at Nicole.
"How could you?" He asked, trying to suppress his rage.
"This Father you speak of, I have never even met him. Why am I being punished for his crimes?" Walter asked amidst his labored breaths as blood kept dripping down.
"I know it's been under a year since I got here with my family, but Nicole, I truly thought you loved me. How could you do this to me? I had dreams, you know? I wanted to play football in a professional league, I wanted to take care of mom and Jane. I promised to make you my queen, turns out I didn't even know your name this whole time. How could you do this to me? You stole my life without second thoughts, how could you?"
Streams of tears kept running down her face, her hands still holding onto the bars of the cage.
"I would never kill you Walter, I would never hurt you " she urged with a calm voice, shutting her eyes tight as the tears continued flowing.
"You would never hurt me?" He asked, laughing sarcastically which eventually turned into painful coughs as he was hurt.
"Nicole, I can't feel my hands anymore, I can barely see, and I've never been this dehydrated in my life. I assure you I'm also not hurt at all by these metallic chains that pierce right down to my bones with the slightest of movements." He said sarcastically.
"As soon as this is over, I am getting you out of here, I promise," Nicole said as she stretched her hands through the spaces between the bars, trying to touch Walter's face.
"Don't touch me Nicole," he answered as he resisted the urge to look at her, "You've done enough,"
Nicole withdrew her hand slowly with a nod, respecting his request. "Sorry," she said once more as she rose up from her kneeling position. "I swear to get you out of here," she said, wiping away the tears, ruining her makeup in the process. With a very heavy heart, she turned and made her way out. On her way out, she met Jamie at the entrance.
"The Queen demands your presence," he said, paying close attention to her marred makeup, "Are you okay?" He inquired.
She responded with a nod as she impatiently walked away in an attempt to dodge his questions. As she walked towards the stairs, Jamie followed closely behind her.
The stairs spiraled all the way to the top floor, where the Queen awaited Nicole. Nicole's gown, however, posed cumbersome, as it made climbing the stairs difficult due to its snug embrace on her body.
"Meet me there," Jamie said, frustrated at her sluggish climb, overtaking the struggling Nicole to meet the Queen.
On entrance into the presence of the Queen, she payed her respects by bowing her head. The Queen, in response gestured towards Nicole with her palm, giving her the permission to approach. Nicole looked around to see that she and Jamie were alone with the Queen. The room gave an unobstructed view of the Kingdom and the villages that surrounded it.
"Nariah, what do you see? Look closely at the villages outside Nether's gates, what do you see?" The Queen asked, looking out the window.
"Your Highness, I see smoke" Nicole replied.
"Very good." she responded as she stood upright. "Do you know why these villages are wrecked?" She continued, "Do you know why people can't rest there?"
"We're at war, Your Majesty" Nicole responded, clenching her fists tightly, a somber reminder of the weight of the situation.
The Queen slowly turned away from the view and faced Nicole whose head was facing down.
"Why then, are you sad? He is the key to ending the war." The Queen said as she made majestic steps towards Nicole.
"Clean your tears, my child." she said as she wiped the tears from Nicole's eye's. "Your mother would be proud," the Queen continued as she wrapped her hands around Nicole.
"What happened between you and my mom that day? I want to know." Nicole's voice rang out, carrying a frustrated tone.
The Queen unwrapped herself from Nicole, walking back to the balcony. She released a heavy sigh and as she slowly lifted her face to the sky,
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. You may leave." She said.
"Let's leave," Jamie said as he extended his hand to take Nicole's hand but she swatted it away.
"Your Highness, I believe I have the right to know what transpired between you and my mother. Why did you banish her?" Nicole argued, her voice gaining intensity but She caught herself, lowering her head along with her voice and added, "With all due respect."
"We're done here." The Queen said, ignoring her all together.
Just then, a soldier barged in, "Your Highness, we have an issue!"
"What's going on?"
"A number of prisoners were set free." He responded with his head still bowed.
"What?!" She exclaimed as she lifted her gown to better maneuver her steps towards the stairs. She looked from the top floor to see what was going on. She saw all the guards on that floor where the Prince was, laying motionless.
"But we just left there" Jamie yelled as he descended the stairs, pulling out his sword on his way. With cautious steps, he assessed his surroundings for any sign of the enemy as he advanced towards the chamber where Walter was kept.
With all these bodies, there's no way one person could've done this, he deduced to himself.
"We're under attack! Nariah, protect the Queen!" He exclaimed as he continued moving towards the chamber.
"Your Highness, come with me," Nicole said as they both hurriedly passed through a secret path.
Jamie on the other hand, got to the front of the door where Walter was and pushed it open slowly. There was no one there, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. He saw that the cage the Prince was in was bent open. As Jamie left the room, more soldiers trooped in, backup was sent to protect the Queen.
"The Queen isn't here, she's safe," Jamie asserted, " We have to find Walter, search the entire Kingdom! Do not let him escape!" Jamie roared, his anger prompting the soldiers to get moving.
"Capture anything you feel is suspicious, be it a man, woman, child, even animals, and every hooded figure should be captured as wel!"
The soldiers spread out like a swarm of ants, apprehending every hooded person in sight. Hundreds of soldiers blocked the gate and prevented anyone from coming or going out.