I lay in the metal tub, the water bubbling around my body. My fingers run across the bubbles. I've never had a bath in my life, the only ways of washing ourselves were by a bucket. The warmth seeps the coldness out of me and I should be relaxed, I should be calm. I've been Chosen. I'm safe, with my family having a lifelong grantee of food. A nice place to live. With servants to fill their every needs, cooks to suffocate their hunger. My family is safe and I live in a palace. A palace full of secrets.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQbvC7kv9p
Instead my mind replays what happened only an hour ago. I try not to think if his head becoming a mine as my finger pulled the trigger. His family will find out about this. They will hate the Queen. They will hate me more. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RTrrdf8Yv
I imagine the people of the villages calling for my blood, hoping I too will die. Maybe it will be an accident. A new guard with a murderous mission. Maybe they will just wait for my execution. Wait for me to enrage the Queen or for her to just tire of me. Either way doesn't sound so bad. I hope death doesn't hurt. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVPrIRFTMD
I lay myself against the bath, my eyes flitting across the room. It's bigger than my home, filled with this metal tub. A shower stands across from the bath, tall as a giant. My mind flashes back to him. He towered over me, his body broad. I should've been afraid, yet he was the first kill. His choking screams fill my head. I don't know why I think about him. I didn't kill him. Maybe because I watched it. I clench my fists, the water suddenly leeching the warmth out of me. Then the others. Blood fills my vision, the screams the only thing I hear. Then Arthur. His body lays before me, his remains splattered across my body. I should've saved him. I should've killed him. Told him that I loved him. That I will avenge us for him. A lump in my throat forms. I squeeze my eyes shut as I feel the salty substance leaking through my eyes. I wipe the tears away, my nose sniffling.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvm3i2j6C8
Buttons line the bath but I don't know what they do. Different shapes decorate the buttons, which I'm sure are words. My finger traces along them. We never were able to afford school, to learn how to read or write. We were taught to work, to break our bodies for the Kingdom, to work until we die. If we don't, it's either death by execution or starvation. I don't prefer the latter. I bent the rules though. I kept my family alive without slaving away for the Kingdom, without coming home everyday with my back bent and a few measly coins clinking away in my pockets.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr8hnmVBk6
A fist collides with the door, the knocking ringing across the room. I jump, the water leaping up with me, splashing the crystal clear tiles. I stand, my feet slipping along the wet bath, my fingers grasping on the side. The cold leeches onto my body, sending me for my towel. Shivering, I crack open the door and peer through the gap. A man stands outside, his hands stuffed into his pockets. The black sleeves are rolled up his arms, his pants hanging at his hips. My eyes reach his face. Closely shaven, stubble sprouting from his cheeks. His hair is closely shaven to his head. He runs a hand through, messing up the uniform buzz.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHy1ZxCcb8
"Who are you?" I ask, my hand tightening around the towel that covers me.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPYlppqRkD
He tips his head to the side, the corners of his mouth tilting up into a smile as he reaches a hand out to me in a greeting. "Don't you remember me? We met at your home." My eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I helped you come here," he says, his hands motioning to the walls, the chandelier that dangles from the ceiling, the light bouncing off the crystals. It sparkles, glittering like stars. My fingers clench onto the door, my nails biting into the wood. My other hand clamps itself around my towel. My eyes lift to his, my head cranking towards his towering figure. His brown pools of eyes look into mine as I throw as much disgust as I possibly can into them. He lives a perfect life while people like me starve in the streets, watch our families die, watch our friends die of starvation. I try to read what secrets lie inside his eyes, what he dares show to the world through them. Nothing. It's like he's put a blanket over his emotions. Aadya springs into my mind. Swallowing, I flit my eyes away from his. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpGn8SsUAS
"Your Majesty wishes to see you in an hour so I'd suggest for you to put on these-" he hands me a pair of folded black pants and a shirt. My hands wrap around it before I snatch it from him, my face set in a snarl. "Then I'll help you put on your gear."714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH136Zyvn2a
"I can help myself," I spit. He may stand over me, but I still look down my nose at him. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdafjENF1f
His mouth twitches into a smirk. "Majesty's orders I'm afraid." I send him a vulgar gesture his way, my face still in it's scowl. I don't miss his laugh ringing out as I slam the door in his face.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oInEiiDag
***714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOiBYlGqCV
The guard, who I find out is named Raaz, tightens the straps of my holster onto my waist. A brown vest is added. I run my hands along it, my fingers squeezing the padded protection that covers me. I raise my eyebrows at him. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrJEvTP3Id
"Her Majesty doesn't like her bodyguards wearing metal protection. She thinks it looks...tacky," he says as his fingers clasp the two clips on my vest together. I clench my fists at my side. Metal protection is too tacky. But hearing the screams of the dying ringing out across her throne room, watching them fall to the ground as their lives were ended by a pull of a trigger is fine. I take a shuddering breath.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SdZEIHpNU
Silence engulfs us as his fingers finish off some touches, the clicking of clips ringing out in the room. He picks up two swords, the metal shining as he sheaths them into the two scabbards on my back. My knees bend and my hand clamps around his shoulder. It's like I've burnt my hand, my hand flying off of him. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8oyAqul0D
"Done." I step away from him, maybe too eagerly, towards the door. "Wait," he says. I rest a hand on the door, my fingers spread across the wooden panel. An unfamiliar weight suddenly hangs off of my hip. I look down, the metal polished, free from blood and gore that was splattered across it only a couple of hours ago. Shakily, my finger scrapes the gun. I turn to him, my eyes wide. "Why? -"714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu48Do7jT5L
"It's not the same one," he says, his voice surprisingly soft. Tears bite at my eyes, threatening to spill. My shaking hand pushes the door open. It heaves with a groan like an old man rising from his bed. I step out, towards the Queen, towards my doom.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGH2tRI9cEv
***714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD2XqJkUs2
She sits before me, the jewels that decorate her long fingers shine like stars as they wrap around a crystal clear glass, the wine shining in the light. She lifts it up to take a sip, her red lips staining the cup. It reminds me of blood. Blood that stained her throne room. It looms behind me, the door smartly shut, the bolt had already been slid into it's lock. The smell of sprays and spirits fill my nose. I close my eyes. I hope those maids are okay. To have to clean the remains of the fallen. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CixWBRr4d
Her annoyingly soft voice brings me back to reality. "You seem upset."714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTI8rY5NZv
My eyes open up to the Queen, her teeth like perfect, white pearls against the redness of her lips. "I'm fine," I say through grittered teeth. 714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFBwzJHHxi
"Lovely," she says, that smile still plastered on her face. "Have some wine." She offers a glass to me, along with the bottle. Swallowing, I shake my head. I try not to crinkle my nose as she pushes it closer to me. It reminds me of Mama, the stench of alcohol always filling our home, never drenched out by anything. She stunk of it. It's like it consumed her. But she drank until her heart's content. The Queen always has to be perfect though. Though her eyes linger to the liquid, her fingers twitching to fill her cup with more, she always has an audience.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0vi85NXpa
"Come," the Queen says, startling me. "I must show you around."714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WAeOaIA5o
"Don't you have that people to do that for you?" I say before I can clamp my mouth shut. She turns to me. I swallow, my heart hammering in my chest. She can end my life in an instant.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTM5OwGOO24
Her smile startles me. "You are my bodyguard. We learn to trust each other." I nod and somehow my legs move, following her down the hallways. Further into my prison.714Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPdZCOcPzW
