The Marked Phoenix: Little Red Bird - Chapter 10

Wandering toward the source of the noise, Emerine tried her best to keep quiet and hurry on. But the closer she got, the louder the noise grew. Her footsteps halted midway when she realized the crashing sound was not a signal that Kalesin had given her. She nervously bit her lips. What could be the cause of such an irking commotion? A feeling of uneasiness approached her as she glanced around her surroundings. The moon was high and rising in the sky as dusk rapidly approached. Rolling clouds of grey ominously lingered close to the moon, slowly but surely, hindering its light.

Despite the time, the hallways were brightly lit. White walls with gold, silver, and royal purple trimmings lined the wall. With the amount of light here, you’d think it was still morning. It was only due to the moon outside of the tall-ceiling length windows that reminded Emerine it was still night time.

The logical part of her brain urged her to run back to her room, but she had already ventured halfway down the hallway. Curiosity was gobbling away at her rationality. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of bickering with the angel and devil on her shoulders, she decided to explore the noise while disregarding the motto “Curiosity killed the cat.” Oh well. The cat has seven lives anyway.

Emerine brushed off the conscience on her shoulder and boldly walked down the hallways as the noise became more and more distinguishable. By the time she realized what the sound was, it was too late to turn back. Swords. Clashes. Screams. Her heart dropped at how faint they were, but how close they seemed. Not daring to turn the corner and wander further toward the chaos, she decided to only take a glance. Immediately, she wished she didn’t. Deep down the other hallway was a bloodbath. The white walls were soaked with so much blood, you’d think that was the original color. The worst part was not the gruesome scene, but the approaching group of soldiers dressed in full armor, as if they were ready for war. She couldn’t believe it. Soldiers. Not bandits or thieves. Soldiers. Her own countrymen. She could see their golden crest shining so brightly upon their chest.

Her knees wobbled and trembled, but she forced herself to immediately turn back. Her heart drummed against her chest, so loudly that it was the only thing she could hear. She fled into her room, closing the door behind her. She turned around and her knees nearly gave out from under her.

“No…” she breathed out, violently shaking in her shoes. Immediately, she covered her mouth to prevent a scream from escaping.

Dead. The maid was dead. Her body was slumped on the ground in a folded position, head leaning upon the ground while the rest of the body was on the bed. Emerine could see what killed the maid.

An arrow.

From the position of it, it flew straight from the window, straight from the direction of the archer’s tower. The archer, who was employed to keep the princess safe, had just killed the princess’s decoy. The archer tried to kill the Princess.

“We’ve ravaged the entire palace! All that’s left is the Princess!”

Emerine’s head snapped towards the door and without wasting another second, she scrambled toward the enormous painting on top of her bed. She didn’t care that she was stepping over a dead body. All she cared about was about herself and her safety. She could not flee out the door, for the soldiers would catch her. She could not escape out of the window, for she would fall to her death. The only thing she could do was immediately crawl into a safe room, the one that only she and her father knew about.

For once, Emerine was grateful for her large canopy bed. Muslim curtains draped over the top of the bed was enough to hide her from the window’s view. She was also grateful for being only 5’5, for her body easily maneuvered into the small space that the large painting hid. She slid the painting back into position and nearly screamed her heart out when the door slammed open a second later.

Like a rat hiding from its predator, Emerine scrambled to the back of the small space. She held back a small yelp of pain when she bumped into something round, but unexpected. She tried to see through the darkness, but could not. The only form of light seeped in through a small hole in the painting that allowed for breathing. Her hand felt around in the dark until her fingers closed around a familiar shape. A knob. And before she could turn it, a voice spoke up, “Princess Emerine.”

Emerine’s head snapped in front of her. She was so shocked, thinking the soldiers had seen her. But in reality, they must be addressing the dead maid outside. Yet again, curiosity got the best of Emerine as she leaned towards the small air hole. Her heart was pounding loudly against her chest, threatening to claw its way out of her, but she could not keep calm. She had to know who came into her room.

“Princess Emerine?” a voice coldly spoke, almost as if he was waiting for the dead body to respond. Emerine squinted and couldn’t see properly, but a second later she realized staring through the hole would reveal her position. What if they looked up and saw an eyeball instead of a random black spot?

“She’s dead, you buffoon. Do you think calling out her name will bring her back from the dead?” another voice piqued up, snickering in amusement.

“I had to make sure the bitching whore was dead for good,” the first voice retorted just as a thud could be heard. “No wonder the brat wears a veil. Look at how ugly she is.”

‘They must’ve turned the maid over to examine her,’ Emerine thought to herself.

“I’d feel bad for the fat duke she was going to originally marry. But now I don’t feel sorry for that sore loser. What an ugly couple they’d make.”

“I heard rumors that she was beautiful, even beneath the veil. But who would’ve guessed only her eyes stood out?”

“Speaking of her eyes, let’s open it and see if it’s violet. We have to make sure it’s really the Princess—”

“I can hear you fools from down the hallway. Quit your yapping.” A voice snarled, filled with so much aggravation, you’d think someone murdered his wife, children, and family.

Emerine couldn’t help but sigh in relief that she did not recognize the voice.

“We apologize, Commander. We didn’t mean to make such a ruckus.”

Commander?! Emerine’s eyes widened as Kalesin popped into her mind. Where was he? Was he alright? Didn’t he investigate the noise? Her heart plummeted down to the ground. What if… What if he had been caught up in the mess? The blood drained from her face at the unsettling image of him lying somewhere in this castle, bleeding out.

“None of you touched the bitch right?”

“No, of course not—”

“Good. The higher-up instructed we can’t do anything to her,” the Commander nodded his head and motioned for the soldier to pick up the body. “Careful. He doesn’t want a single strand of hair to be missing.”

“S-sir…” another voice spoke up, cautious and tiny.

“What is it, needle boy?” The Commander scowled, shaking his head at his lanky soldier. Of course, this boy would be so thin. The kingdom’s budget towards the military was the lowest out of everything. The damn King of the West did not believe in violence, thus, he believed the military did not need that much funding. Stupid son of a bitch. This was precisely why his people, his own soldiers, turned against him like this.

“S-should we search the room? For instance, there could be someone hiding in here.”

“Who would dare to hide in the Princess’ room?” the Commander scoffed, “Our leader observed that the maidservants always leave when the Princess has finished bathing.”

“B-but—”

“Pah! Fine. Go sniff out a nonexistent maid in this room.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Emerine’s eyes widened. She decided it was either now or never. Turning the knob, she expected the wall behind her to slide open. It didn’t. The only thing that slid was the floor beneath her. And before she could even react, her body began falling as a scream threatened to rip her throat apart if she did not utter it.

‘That’s it. I’m going to die today. This is a ten-floor plummet!’ Emerine screamed inside of her head as she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable blow of the cement floor swiftly approaching her.