Weekly Expression #14 ~ MC

WE #14

“Ah, finally! After eleven years!” I shout out loud with triumph. I jump off my horse and take a few steps, admiring the castle before me – that of which took me eleven years to find.

                It is a huge castle with towers poking up all around it and a bridge leading from the world to the entrance. Never before have I seen a castle so big and majestic. But something else catches my interest about it.

                Racing toward it, as if ready to engulf it, is an enormous gray cloud. It sends a chill down my spine, making me shiver and my armor to clang. How sinister…

                “So this is it…” I mutter to myself. This is the castle, the home, of the wicked queen.

I had heard stories as a boy about this queen. She is said to have terrorized the entire land and its people, forcing them into poverty and sickness. She cares nothing of others, just herself and her precious castle. So, as a firm believer in justice, I have vowed to find this castle and queen and take them down. If you can kill a queen, you can kill her rule.

I jump onto my horse and ride to the entrance. There, sitting alone on a bench, is the most beautiful maiden I have ever seen. She wears an elegant golden dress and her hair is pinned up in an elegant manner. As I get closer, I see that she is weeping.

I dismount my horse and make my way to her. She looks up at me with a tear-stained face.

“My dear girl, whatever is the matter?” I ask in a soothing tone. I do not know her, but for whatever reason, my heart breaks for her.

“It’s the queen,” she sobs. “I was the princess of this kingdom until she forcibly took over and made it hers. I have tried to overthrow her, but nothing has worked thus far.” She covers her face with her hands in despair.

I smile gently. “Well, my dear princess, this is the day you reclaim your kingdom!”

She uncovers her face and looks up at me once more, her face alighted with the rays of hope. She melts my heart and for a moment, I consider stealing a kiss. No, I think, I shall save that for later.

I take her hand and help her onto my horse, hopping on after her. We ride into the castle, knocking 2 guards aside. An army of about 15 soldiers come running at us and I jump off the horse and charge into battle.

I have killed 7 of the soldiers when I feel a cold blade on my neck from behind. I parry the blade with my sword and quickly spin around to face my opponent. My eyes open wide with shock.

The princess!

She takes advantage of my momentary hesitance and knocks my sword out of my hand, sending it skittering across the marble floor. Before I can recover to retrieve it, she pushes me onto the ground and pins me beneath her with her knees, resting the edge of her sword against my throat.

The princess laughs, an evil cackling laugh that does not suit her appearance at all. “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

I give her a confused look.

“I know who you are! You are Jonathan Pearson and my sworn enemy. You have vowed for the past eleven years to find me and kill me.”

Once again, I am taken aback with shock. “Th-the queen?”

She cackles again. “Queen Boadicea, at your service. Or is it you at mine?”

“But you’re…young,” I manage to say.

“Ah, how observant of you! Do you like it? I had the help of a magic potion, you see. In this form, I can make anyone pity me, and therefore trick them into anything I wish.”

“Is there a princess? A rightful ruler for this kingdom?” I raise my voice defiantly.

“Oh yes, and she is safe and sound…in her grave!” The queen cackles again and I take this opportunity to throw her off me, disarm her, and pin her underneath me, resting her blade against her own throat.

The soldiers rush forward to make an attempt to save her. “Don’t move!” I shout. “Or your precious queen will never again see the light of day!”

They stop in their tracks and watch helplessly.

I turn to the queen. “Now tell me, where is the princess?”

“I told you already,” the queen snarls.

“You’re bluffing!” Of course, I don’t know this, but what do I have to lose? “Tell me!” I press the blade harder against her throat.

She cackles, but it sounds a bit strangled. “You’re not going to kill me.”

“Sorry, Your Majesty, but you’re wrong. I don’t have mercy for people like you.” I swing the blade and chop her head clean off.

I quickly rise to my feet, bloody blade raised, ready to face the soldiers, but they all look dazed, as if awakened from a dream.

One of the soldiers, a rather elderly chap, quickly recovers and bows to me. “Oliver, at your service! You have broken the spell! Bless you!”

“Spell?” I hesitantly lower my sword.

“The queen had us placed under a spell that made us follow her orders. Like robots, we were! By killing her, you have saved us all!”

The other soldiers bow to me in gratitude.

I figure introductions can wait and get to the more important matter at hand. “Is there a princess here, a rightful ruler of this kingdom?”

“Yes,” Oliver answers. “She was placed under a spell, too.”

“What kind of spell?”

“A sleeping spell. She will only awaken by the kiss of ‘The One’.”

“’The One’?”

“The man who kills the queen and saves the kingdom. He will awaken the princess and they will become King and Queen.”

Well, well, well, I think to myself, killing an evil queen, saving a kingdom, getting married, and becoming king all in one day! Definitely more than I bargained for!

“Where is she?” I demand.

Oliver points to a nearby staircase. Without hesitation, I make my way up the staircase and come to a big oak door at the top. I push it open and find a beautiful sleeping girl upon a white linen bed. The black velvet material of her dress flows around her, giving her an eerie, but beautiful appearance. Her brown hair has been carefully arranged around her, little flowers placed in the curls here and there.

I walk over to her, sit on the side of the bed, and lean over to kiss her lips.

Immediately, her dress changes from black to white and her eyelids flutter and open, revealing big, beautiful blue eyes. She smiles softly at me and opens her mouth to speak.

“Welcome home, my husband and king.”