Love on the Queen; The Quest for Freedom

As Amelie opens her eyes, the blurry ceiling welcomes her into the somewhat dark room, with faint whispers sounding in her ears. For minutes, she stares up at the ceiling with her head blank and unconscious of where she is. 

Trying to finally move her body, waves of pain shoot through her bones and she winces in pain. 

"You're awake," A faint female voice whispers beside her, and she slowly tilts her head to see a blurry v-shaped face of a lady staring down at her with a blank expression on her face. 

"Where am I?" She manages to ask, as she closes her eyes again. With all the strength left in her, she manages to sit up on the cold and dirty floor, but the sight that welcomes her makes her almost freeze on the spot. She's in the midst of many people, and they're all familiar. They are the people of Devontae kingdom, her father's kingdom. Memories of days ago floods her head as she stares at them. Just a few days ago, she was in the palace with the king, her father, when it was said that that kingdom was under attack. She can still remember vividly how king Sebastian Ellie murdered her parents before her eyes, and as if that was not enough, he killed many of the people, and many other were taken here, which she was among them. 

Looking from one person to the other, she can see the pain in their eyes. Their faces look pale and sick, they look like they haven't had anything to eat for days, and the sight is already frightening her. 

Finally, she tilts her head to look at the young lady that's staring back at her with a worried expression on her face. Of course, she recognizes her to be her best friend and maid back in the palace. She has always been the only one she's close with back at the palace after her parents. They grew up together, and are fond of each other. 

"Where are we?" She asks after she stares down at her bruised body for seconds, as tears slid down the corner of her cheek. It's not like she has no idea where they are, but she just wants to be sure, since she was unconscious as they brought them here. Hoping to get good news, her face suddenly drops sadly when Leila finally replies to her. 

"We're in Knight kingdom," Her heart wrenches in pain, and she slowly clenches her fists as more tears stream down her cheeks. Recalling how her parents were murdered in front of her, she can't help but cry. 

"Knight kingdom..." She whispers to herself, as she slowly nods her head to nothing. What have they done to this ruthless king to have deserved this from him? For many years, the Devontae kingdom has always lived peacefully amongst other kingdoms in Europe. They have always maintained nothing, but peace, how could this calamity have befallen them? 

"Mother... Father..." She whispers as she hugs her legs to herself, crying her eyes out. Her body shakes visibly as the image of king Sebastian pops up in her head. The smirk on his face as he stabbed her father multiple times is what she can never forget, and the evil grin on his lips is what will forever be buried in her heart as he slit her mother's throat before her eyes. The blood of the innocent people of Devontae kingdom that he spilled, just what have they done to deserve this? 

"Are they really dead?" Her lips shake as she holds Leila's hands with her hands trembling in fear. She wants someone to tap her and tell her that she has been dreaming, she just needs someone to tell her that her parents are still alive. 

"My princess..." Tears pour down Leila's cheeks as she pulls her into her arms, hugging her tightly. 

"Let me go, Leila. I need to find my parents. King Sebastian didn't truly kill them, right? Everything was a dream, right? I was just hallucinating, right?" Holding on tightly to Leila's cloth, more tears stream down her cheeks as she questions her. 

"My princess, please calm down... Please don't be like this," Leila cries helplessly as she hugs her tightly to herself. 

"That monster killed my parents before me. He killed so many innocent people for no reason. How dare he? How dare he take the lives that he can't give? How dare he make little children fatherless and motherless all in the name of whatever shitty reasons he had to do that?" Amelie snaps, not minding the consequences of what she's doing now. 

"My princess, they're going to kill us if you continue like this," One of the people finally speaks up for the first time. 

"You're going to get yourself into trouble. King..." Leila was saying, but the sound of the bar gate opening interrupts her, and she quickly snaps her head to look at the two guards that just walked in. 

Seeing the guards looking at them one after the other, Amelie feels her heart wrenches in pain, and waves of anger spark through her as she slowly clenches her sweaty fists. 

Her eyes finally meet with one of the guards, and her blood boils in rage. As much as she wants to teach these two bastards a lesson, knowing that it'll get them into trouble, she can only control her anger. 

"Hey, come here," Slowly, she raises her gaze to look at the guard who just uttered the command. 

"M...me?" Her voice quivers angrily as she stares around before turning her attention to them again. Her heart thumps heavily against her chest, and she gulps down the sudden lump that formed in her throat. 

"Follow us," One of the guards says to her before he turns around and leaves with the other one. 

Leila gives her a pleading look and sighs as she stands up to her feet. 

Finally standing up to her feet, she glances back at Leila one more time, before dragging herself out of the prison.

After walking down the veranda for five minutes, the guards finally stop in front of a beautiful door. 

"Greetings, Your Highness. She's here," She stares at the floor as she hears the guard announces their presence. 

"Go inside," The guard's cold voice snaps her out of her deep thought, and she raises her head to see that one of them is already holding the door open for her. She glances at the two of them and gulps down nothing. 

Taking a deep breath, she finally walks into the large beautiful room. The floor is tiled with beautiful ceramic tiles. Hearing the door slam close behind her, she slowly tilts her head back to check what happened, and she confirms that the door has been closed. 

Waiting patiently for the devil to show himself, his voice suddenly sounds from nowhere. 

"Princess Amelie, am I right?" Hearing the most annoying voice speaks from nowhere, the realization dawns on her that she's not the only one in the large room. Her heart tightens painfully and tears well up in her eyes as she stares down at her feet, her fists clenched beside her. This was the same man that took away her parents days ago, the same man that took many innocent lives for no reason. How did he manage to still survive until now, knowing that somewhere out there, people are not happy with him? How is he managing his conscience after everything he has done? 

She finally raises her gaze as king Sebastian's pair of icy blue eyes welcomes her. Her blood boils in rage...