(13x Featured, Award Winner)
She is ruthless. She is scorned. And her blood? The darkest shade of blue.
***
When Queen Aravena basically life-threatens Gunderson, an evil merchant, to find the best warrior candidate in just a day, she doesn't know h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Aravena
Screams and cries filled the air as I rushed through the hallways.
One of the maids stumbled upon her feet on her way and eventually collided with me.
I barely suppressed a hiss as I bounced back at the impact. However, I managed to balance my feet in time.
"Watch out!"
The petite maid who was now sprawled on the floor scrambled to stand up.
Her tear-stricken golden eyes lowered as she offered a shaky bow.
"F-Forgive me," She hiccuped as her whole body trembled before me. "Your Majesty."
But I had no time to waste on her antics.
"Listen, gather all servants—especially children, women, and elders—in the underground chambers. Store as much food and other necessities as you can and don't leave the palace. Not under any circumstances, understand?" my eyes did a quick sweep of the running public in the hallway as I spoke in a rushed manner.
I had just enough time to notice her nodding head as I slid past her and rushed through the hallways.
It took a long while when I found the armory chamber on the third floor.
Thank goodness it was empty!
I closed the dark wooden door shut with my body and rushed past the weaponry section on my right.
My heels clicked faster on the white tile as I searched for the armor section among the maze of various black shelves. They were mostly empty since warriors had supposedly collected their weapons by now.
I just crossed the archery and shield sections when I finally stumbled upon my desired row of shelves.
I rushed to the floor-to-ceiling black shelves which displayed various glossy armors behind the transparent glass locks.
My eyes stopped on a white armor on one of the shelves in the middle row.
With intricate golden and blue patterns on those platinum edges, this full-body armor looked as impenetrable as it was.
It also had Father's golden chainmail and his favored double-edged spiky sword, Rezz.
For a brief moment, it seemed as though the transparent blue shadow of a stern-faced King Beverdon standing before me.
That illusion vanished soon with the next blink of an eye.
A sad smirk gradually graced my lips as I allowed my fingers to flick.
Time to get ready for a war.
***
By the time Lotus and I reached the southeast border, the war was already in full swing.
