0.2

It took them eight minutes to reach their destination. And Damien knew that location by heart. He’d been here every night for the past three years. He’d been coming here ever since he first had his mind set on marrying her.

He knows this place by heart because this is the house of his betrothed.

He could feel his face drain of color as the guard on his left stepped forward to open the door. It was unlocked. Robert never left the front door unlocked. They followed the guard until they reached the modest sitting room. It was the same as ever. The same light green paint covered the walls. The same love seat was at the far wall and the same two couches sat facing it. The same grandfather clock was ticking on his right.

Except that, nothing was the same. The room felt smaller. The walls seemed painted of the darkest green, only found in the depths of the deadliest of forests. The clock’s ticking was almost mocking in its repetitive rhythm. Because in that loveseat, sitting comfortably and smiling at him, was the dark king of Sinsecria.

Mina and Robert stood to the side of the room along with more guards. Robert’s face was paler than he’d ever seen it before, Mina’s eyes were glassy, her lip quivering, and her hands kneading each other in the fashion they always do when she’s worried about something. He was sure he heard a whimper coming out of her when she saw him and her hands tightened even more.

The guard still holding him pushed him forward and he fell to his knees.

“What’s your name boy?” Were the first words the king uttered as he looked down at him.

“Damien Fate, your majesty.”

“Damien…” the king inspected him without so much as shifting his position. “What type of weaver are you, Damien?” He said his name as if it was a joke. An insult on its own.

“I- I’m not, your majesty.”

“You’re not a weaver?” The king lifted his brows.

“No.” he repeated.

The king let out a harsh short laugh.

“Then I assume you have a large fortune?”

“No, your majesty. I’m just a fixer, I’m even renting the house I occupy.”

“Fascinating.” The king laughed. He turned to the two guards that dragged Damien there and asked, “Did he give you any trouble when you went to fetch him?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle, your majesty.” The brunet smirked.

“So let me rephrase this correctly.” The king stood to his full height, he turned to look and Mina, a cold amused smile playing on his lips. “You refused my offer to be my queen so you could marry this poor, weak, non-weaving peasant?”

Damien’s eyes widened. This cannot be happening.

“Fixer.” Mina stepped forward.

“What?” The king spat, daring her to answer.

“He is a fixer, your majesty. Not a peasant. He works for himself and he works hard. He was not born with weaving abilities and that is just a way to show how fate is sometimes far from fair. But he is not weak and I am certain that he will get even stronger with time.” She stood proudly in front of the king, head high and a look that could melt ice was placed elegantly on her beautiful face. Damien wasn’t sure he could breathe.

The king’s face contorted in anger before he lifted his hand and slapped her across her cheek. Mina fell to the ground and her father was immediately beside her. Damien wanted to be too but the brunet stopped him with a grip on his shoulder.

“I’ve had enough of this.” The king declared. He looked at Mina who glared at him from her position on the floor. “You are coming with me. You didn’t accept the position of my wife now you will have to settle for less.” Before Mina could so much as utter a word, two guards were at her side. One already chaining her hands.

“No!” Robert yelled. He was torn between looking at his only daughter being dragged away and begging the man who ordered it. He ran after the king. “Your majesty, please have pity on this old man. This girl is all I have left in this world. Without her, I will have no reason to live. Please, your majesty, she is but a child. She doesn’t know what she is saying. Forgive her ignorance.”

“Guards.” The king merely said without sparing the old man a glance.

Barely a second passed before a guard shoved Robert to the ground.

“No!” Mina cried, struggling to get to her father.

He hit his head on the edge of the wooden armrest. Now the man lay on the ground, a puddle of blood forming under his head. He wasn’t moving.

“Father!” Mina kept crying. “No,” She sobbed. “No…”

“Gentlemen,” When he reached the door, the king turned to the two guards who held Damien. He glanced at him and smiled. “Enjoy.”

The two men grinned. “We will, your majesty.”

The king nodded and stepped out. “Damien!” He could still hear Mina call him over and over again, her voice weaker and weaker, her sobs louder and louder as she was pushed out the front door and to the awaiting troop.

No. No no no no no. this wasn’t happening. The king hasn’t just been here. Robert wasn’t dead. Mina wasn’t being taken away. The carriage wasn’t leaving with his love mourning her loss in it. And these two men weren’t dragging him outside to kill him.

No, he couldn’t let that happen. He just couldn’t. They pushed him outside and this time he regained his balance almost instantly. He looked around and there it was. His only weapon. A small rusty shovel. He grabbed it with both hands and faced the two grinning men. They looked at each other and their smiles widened.

“This should be fun.” The brunet said as he unbuttoned his coat.

“Oh I can tell that it will.” Promised the other guard.

They both stepped forward slowly. Two wolves closing in on their prey.

But Damien was not a prey. He wouldn’t go down without a fight. Not when his Mina was being dragged away against her will. Weaver or not, he would not be an easy victim.