A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS #ONCEUPONNOW

04 | COMES THE DUSK

04| COMES THE DUSK
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"YOU DO KNOW NO ONE HAS EVER WALKED OUT ALIVE." 

Those are the cheerful words the ambassador utters to me when I show up at the doors of the castle the next week. It had taken me a few hours for the train to bring me from my home to the center of our small country. 

I had watched the view change, from a quiet country side to a blustering city. But despite everything, there had been one thing in common with the whole country that united it all: the people were hopeless. 

"Then, I suppose, I shall have to be the first." I replied. 

The ambassador sighed, he probably wasn't expecting to be the accomplice of the mass murders of a bunch of girls when he applied for the position. 

I almost feel sorry for him, to watch each of the girls walk in, all hopeful and such, and to come out, dead. How he must feel to not be able to do anything about it. 

Except he could have. He could have done something, but he chose not to. Everyone can do something, it's just sometimes they don't want to. 

"The king will enter into the bedroom where you will be waiting for him at approximately 10:02 P.M, at which time is dusk. You will not attempt to take your own life or the king's." The ambassador said stiffly, "Please follow all instructions the royal guard gives you and obey the king's commands. These are the rules you must follow." 

"And the rules for if I survive?" 

The ambassador gave me a weary smile, "No one has ever survived. I suppose we will come to it then if you do. " 

I nod, letting the guards escort me into the palace. The bottom of the palace was the original limestone castle, but the top was a new glass addition. 

The new wing was to be for the new queen, but none of Shaza's brides had ever survived till dawn. None of Shaza's brides had ever been made queen. 

I was led to my suite, the room luxurious with a flat screen television and a lush bed. I had only been out of the country once, and I remembered the hotel there. 

It was like this room, cold and empty, but comfortable in an extravagant way. I wonder if that is how my life would be if I did survive. I firmly pushed the thought down.

If I survived, the country would be much different. It would not be ruled by the king. 

It would be ruled by a queen. 

I continued to admire my suite. I wondered if the last occupant had died in the same spot I was sitting on. I wondered if they had even bothered to change the sheets afterwards. 

I wondered how she had died, with hope in her eyes or alone in this room, surrounded by nothing and no one that mattered. 

I decided I was better off not knowing. 

I lingered around for a few moments, familiarizing myself with the room. I made note of things that could be made as weapons to defend myself, if worst came to worst. Even then, I was a girl outnumbered by guards with guns and weapons. I wouldn't stand a chance. 

I waited for hours, the hours seeming like days until the infamous gong of the clock tower rang. 

Here it was, the signal it was dusk. 

At the same exact moment, my door flew open, the king in the doorway flanked by two of his royal guards. 

The king had arrived. 

And the dusk had come. 

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