The Blood King's Bride

Somewhere in another land...

Hidden deep inside the covering of a forest existed a cave. Inside stood a gathering of men, all covered in white garb and white hood. There were about a thousand of them. They exuded danger, and their appearance explained their power. They were all humming, chanting in a strange language. The drum hitting could be heard at a three-second interval, and the men all swayed to its rhythm.

Suddenly, they all started stomping their feet on the ground, shouting a familiar chant at

the same time. Their voices grew higher and higher, and when they heard the sound of a horn, they all went silent. The environment was mysterious and suspicious. Even with their faces covered, one could feel the blood thirst and devious happiness they exuded. A powerful voice broke the silence in the cave.

"Brothers," he called out. His voice could be heard in every area of the cave.

"The time has come for us to finally come out. As guided by our Ruler and father, it has come for us to show our true strength and power. The time has come, when we would not be hiding any longer. The time has come, to take over the world!"

"Hya! Hya! Hya!" They all responded, stomping their feet on the ground as they called out.

Their leader walked out, also garbed in a white tunic and white hood. His was longer and more exquisite, showcasing his higher status. He adorned on his left hand a red ring which sat proudly on his index finger, illuminating bizarrely. It had an evil presence surrounding it, causing one to fear the man wearing it unconsciously. Raising both his hands towards the men, he continued his powerful speech.

"The time has come, for the Allikans!"

The sound of their cries enveloped the whole forest, carrying with it a promise of destruction.

*****

Forest woke up, finding himself surrounded by people. He shook his head, trying to take

in his surroundings, when immediately, everything came rushing back to him.

He quickly stood, running to the place he last saw Elena. There was nothing there except

blood, and Forest could feel his heart thud heavily in his chest. He didn't know who the blood

was for, but he couldn't stop his mind from imagining things.

"Did any of you see a lady?" He asked the crowd behind him. They all looked at him curiously. First, he was found unconscious on the ground, and now, despite his haggard appearance, he was asking for someone else.

"Did any of you see a young lady? With white hair?" He screamed, the urgency

overtaking his voice. The crowd murmured amongst themselves, but he could understand what they were saying. They hadn't seen any lady. Some were even starting to wonder if he was crazy. Forest, not willing to waste his time anymore, pushed his way through the crowd and ran towards the Red Queen's restaurant as fast as possible. He had to get help. He didn't know what was going on or why they were attacked. But one thing he was sure of was that Elena was kidnapped, and if they didn't get here fast enough, she might end up dead.

*****

Elena woke up and found herself in darkness. She could hear the sound of water dripping, but that was the only thing she could recognize in the void she was in. Her hands and feet were bound, and a cloth was put in her mouth to prevent her speaking.

She wondered how long she had been there. She could only remember Forest falling before her head was hit. She thought of Joustin. She wondered who he was working for. One cannot go through all that trouble just to attack a cook. He didn't even do half of what he did to her when he stole from Mac originally.

Maybe he was working for her father. Her heart thumped harder at that thought. She

couldn't go back to Pres. She still had a lot to accomplish. She had only started paving away towards her journey for revenge. She had barely even crossed a bar. She wasn't strong enough yet.

She looked around her environment, forcing herself to try and see in the dark, though her effort proved futile. She vowed to herself that she would do all she could to escape her confinement, and if she ended up back in the Kingdom of Pres, she would kill the King herself, with no regard to her life.

She stayed there for what felt like hours, and at some point, she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally, when she thought that she could only wait for days before she saw an opportunity to escape, a door opened, causing light to pour into the darkened space and blinding her. She shut her eyes immediately, protecting her eyes from the harsh brightness of the light. When she felt tolerable, she opened her eyes slowly, only to see a figure walking towards her. The person stood in front of the light, making it difficult to see the features. She could only wait till the person arrived in front of her. When that happened, she recognized the person immediately.

"How are you, Elena?" Joustin said, a devious smirk on his face. Elena frowned, and though she couldn't talk, she made sure her dislike for him could be felt immediately. "Don't give me that look, girl. All these wouldn't have happened had you come to work

for me." He said. She couldn't help but wonder how someone could be as obnoxious as him. She didn't want to work for him, so he kidnapped her?

"But don't worry, all these can be remedied. I just need you to give me your secret ingredient, and all would be well. You could go back to where you came from and it will be like this never happened at all." He said, shrugging nonchalantly. Elena looked at him, her eyes portraying nothing.

"I'm going to remove the cloth from your mouth, and you're going to be a good girl, alright?" He stretched his hands towards her mouth and pulled out the cloth stuck in it.

"You can keep dreaming. If you think that I would help you in any way, you are even

more stupid than I thought." Elena spat out immediately she could talk. Enraged, Joüstin slapped her, causing her to fall. He pointed his hands towards her and said,

"If you want to live, you better shut that desert hole of yours. I have your life in my

hands. I'm doing you a favour, creating an escape route for you. If you know what is good for you, you would mind the way you address me!"

Elena remained on the ground, breathing softly. Her cheeks throbbed from pain, and she squeezed her hands tightly, almost cutting herself. This harassment brought back so many unclean memories for her. She thought back to how she was abused even more in her father's palace. This was why she wanted more strength. She couldn't believe that she still couldn't defend herself from being harassed despite how hard she worked.

"Now, where were we?" Joustin said with a calm voice.

"Are you going to tell me what it is or- "

"Joüstin." A voice called out. As Elena was still on the floor, she couldn't see the new

person who had entered the place. She knew that he was male for his voice and steps as he walked towards them screamed power.

"Joüstin, I don't remember our deal including any kind of physical harassment." The voice declared.

"I'm sorry sir." Joustin stuttered. "I was impatient and couldn't help myself." The environment remained strangely quiet, and she could feel the man close to her. "Would you give us some privacy? I have some things I need to tell the lady." "O-Of course. You can take all the time you want. Please excuse me." Joustin said, scurrying out of there. Elena could not help but wonder just who the man was, being able to make Joüstin stutter as he did. When she felt that only the stranger remained in the room with her, she took in a deep breath, about to ask the man his reason for kidnapping her, but he beat her to it.

"Miss Elena," the man said, his voice harsh and powerful.

"I have been ordered by the King of Pres to bring you back home in preparation for your marriage to the Blood king. We would live soon." He said, then left immediately, not saying another word left.

Elena could feel her heart thump heavily in her chest. She had never heard or seen this man back in her kingdom, but she knew he was very powerful just from being close to his presence. He could kill her without as much as a blink, and she wouldn't know. That was power. That was what she craved. She thought back to her father. She doubted if he would care about her physical state. Squeezing her hands tightly, she vowed that she would get her revenge if it was the last thing she would ever do.

*****

Svetlana ran as fast as she could towards the King's library. Her mind was in turmoil at

the news she had just heard and was about to report to the King. She only hoped that the King would be able to take it in calmly. Too many bad things had affected him, and no doubt this would also have its effect. She quickened her steps and finally arrived at the door. Knocking three times on the King's huge library door, she stood there patiently waiting for his response.

"Enter." A loud voice called from inside. Not hesitating, Svetlana quickly entered,

shutting the door quietly behind her.

"My Lord," she called out, bowing her head to him. The King looked up from the document he was reading and gave her a curious look.

"Elena has been kidnapped." She said, cutting the chase. The King stood up immediately, frowning.

"What do you mean 'kidnapped'? Weren't you charged to keep watch over her"?

"Forgive me, my Lord. I was carrying out an assignment after concluding that she was in

safe hands in the company she kept."

The King walked out of his desk and started pacing. His hands were on his chin, and his

face was scrunched up in thoughtfulness. He suspected that her kidnapped had something to do with her father.

"What has she been doing recently?" The King asked, facing Svetlana.

"Apart from working at the restaurant, she has been training in secret my Lord."

"Training?"

"Yes my Lord," Svetlana replied, head still bowed. "She took it upon herself to master the

art of the sword."

"And just who is her teacher?"

"Wazir, my Lord."

"Wazir?" The King exclaimed, his eyes widened in shock.

"How come I am just hearing of this?"

"I apologize for not reporting it sooner my Lord. But I felt that you already knew of it."

Svetlana replied. The King scowled, silently furious.

"Who else are her companions?"

"Apart from the owner of the restaurant, there is a new waiter called 'Forest'. He and Elena seem very close."

"Very close you say?" The kind repeated, raising his brows. Svetlana remained silent. "Had she come in contact with anyone who might have anything against her?" Svetlana remained silent for a while, going through her thoughts. "There is My Lord." She finally answered. "There is a man who goes by the name Joustin. He visited her the week before, trying to poach her to his restaurant."

"I assume that didn't go well." The King said. Svetlana remained quiet, confirming his thought.

"Check out this Joustin. He may have something to do with her kidnapping. Although I doubt someone would go through all this trouble just to poach a chef, I conclude that he must be working for someone. This incident is possibly be related to her father." The King declared, sighing. Walking towards Svetlana with his eyes filled with hope and fatigue, he said, "Svetlana, safely bring back my grandchild, I implore you."