Meeting the Queen

Kingdom of the Plains

Nighttime

"The Queen is going to want to meet you," Lukas said, "now start walking!"

The two guards that Freddie shot with the arrows were beginning to come out of the effects of the sleeping potion. The other two guards assisting them continued to help them. They were still dizzy and drowsy.

As the guards escorted Romeo, Julian, Hayley, Freddie, and Amelia to the Throne room, Lukas began questioning their actions. Why they did what they did, what their intentions were for the Queen, and so on.

"Did you honestly think you would succeed with your plan, Romeo?" Lukas asked. He was holding Romeo's arm righty so that he wouldn't get away.

"Maybe failing was all part of our plan?" Romeo responded.

"Well if that's the case, then I don't know what to say," Lukas said, "I thought we were friends, Romeo?"

"Our friendship ended when you joined the Queen's Guard," Romeo responded.

Lukas frowned. He didn't appreciate that answer. All Lukas was doing was following orders from the Queen. He didn't really enjoy working for Scarlet, but he had to. When Lukas joined the guard two days ago, he had no idea how hard it would be.

Arresting his friend Romeo upset him. Long before the Kingdom came to be, Lukas and Romeo were very close friends in SkyWorld. They would always go on mysterious and fun adventures a-lot. Their favorite thing to do together was go hunting for food. They enjoyed doing that.

Back in SkyWorld, Lukas was a writer. He had written many books. Some of which were titled: The Once Savage Lands of the OverWorld, The Scary Tales of the Brine Family to name a few. But the list continued on. Lukas truly has a passion for writing.

"You should know Romeo," Lukas said, "I don't take pride in doing this, but you infiltrated the castle. Who knows what your true plans were."

"My true plans were to kill Scarlet," Romeo answered. "Ever since she's arrived, there's been nothing but trouble. Everything was peaceful until she arrived."

"You don't think she can handle leading a Kingdom on her own?" Lukas questioned, "is it because she's a woman? Not a man?"

Romeo pulled his arm free from Lukas's tight grip. He stopped walking. Everyone else, including the guards all stopped too. Lukas allowed Romeo to talk.

"No, of course not. Anyone can lead a Kingdom," Romeo said, "have you not noticed what she's been doing to the Kingdom? Heck, she even executed my friend. She shouldn't be Queen."

"The Queen can do whatever she so pleases," Lukas stated, "she doesn't need assistance from anyone else."

Romeo rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He was starting to become frustrated. In his mind, Romeo thought he was doing the right thing. Turns out, he only made things worse. By infiltrating the Castle, Scarlet was bound to raise the safety margin quite a bit.

"You do realize that by saying that, I have the authority to charge you with treason," Lukas mentioned.

"Do whatever you so please, Lukas," Romeo said, "but just remember this...you will never be my friend again. Ever!"

"If that's what you want," Lukas said, "then fine. I'm not going to stop you."

As they were talking, the Queen came walking down the hallway. Of course, she was being followed by two guards. One of those guards being Victor. Romeo, Lukas, and everyone else all looked down the hallway at Scarlet.

Lukas immediately corrected his posture while also fixing his sour attitude. Once Scarlet was closer, she walked right on over to Romeo. She examined his body from head-to-toe.

"Are these the people who invited themselves into the Castle?" Scarlet asked Lukas. Lukas bowed before her, as did the other guards.

"Yes, your majesty," Lukas answered as he stopped bowing before Scarlet. She was still wearing her crown. She had a red coat on, with fox fire wrapped around her neck.

"State your names," Scarlet said, "all of you!"

"Hayley," Hayley said.

"Julian," Julian said.

"Freddie," Freddie answered.

"Amelia," Amelia said.

Now that Scarlet knew everyone's names, she now wanted answers. She put her hands behind her back.

"Tell me Romeo," Scarlet began to say, "why is it that you weren't at my Crowning Ceremony yesterday? Everyone was invited to attend. Almost the entire Kingdom did, except for all of you. Why is that?"

"You tell me, Scarlet," Romeo said as he realized something else. He knew something was odd about Scarlet. Does he even dare ask this question?

"Speaking of which," he said, "where are my friends, Daniel and Petra? Don't lie to me either. I'll know if you do!"

Scarlet gulped. She had a weird feeling that this would happen. From the day she arrived at the Kingdom and up until now.

"They're sage and sound, I assure you," Scarlet said.

"So you're the one behind their disappearance then?" Romeo asked, "how could you? After all they did for you. This is how you repay their generosity?"

"The only reason I came to this Kingdom in the first place was to take it over. From the very moment my horse and I ran through the gates, it was always my intention to take over," Scarlet lectured.

Julian, Freddie, Hayley, and Amelia were still being held by their arms. They didn't dare to attempt to get away. Unless they wanted their lives to end sooner rather than later, their best chance was to just stay put.

"Why did you do that to them? What did they ever do to you?" Julian said, breaking his silence.

Scarlet looked over at Julian. She walked up to him and stared right into his eyes, not blinking once while doing so. Examining him from head-to-toe, she decided on what she should do to him.

"Take them all to the dungeon," Scarlet said, "and keep them there. Tomorrow, their punishments will be delivered to them. In the meantime, I must begin preparing for a fight. A fight that's looming on the horizon."

"What are you going to do to us?" Freddie asked in a concerned and nervous tone. Scarlet faintly smiled at him before answering his question.

"Hmm, good question," she said as she began thinking of a way to answer him. Then she stopped thinking and came up with a solution, "I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

Lukas grabbed Romeo's arm once more, holding it tightly once more. Lukas waited for another order from Scarlet.

"I'd really hoped you wouldn't have done this," Scarlet said, "I only desire what is right for this Kingdom."

"So by banishing my friends, taking over their Kingdom, and executing Carlily are all good intentions for the kingdom? Daniel and Petra would never do something like this," Romeo said, giving examples of "good intentions."

"Like I said, all good intentions. Executing Carlily was showing everyone what will happen if they don't follow the rules set in place," Scarlet stated.

"So killing people is a way of showing everyone what will happen to them?" Romeo asked, "all you're doing is building fear amongst everyone."

"That's my plan," Scarlet said as she glanced over at Lukas. She slightly nodded her head. "Take them away. Executions are set for two days from now. Until then, keep these traitors locked away."

"Yes your majesty," Lukas said as he tugged on Romeo's arm, forcing him to begin walking again. The other guards began walking, taking their person along with them.

As Lukas and the other guards began escorting everyone down to the dungeon, Scarlet turned around and watched the guards take Romeo, Freddie, Julian, Hayley and Amelia away to the dungeon below.

Once they were out of sight, Scarlet turned around. She began walking down the hallway. As she continued walking, a person came running down the hallway and up to Scarlet.

"Your majesty," the man said as he bowed down before her, "I'm afraid I've returned with bad news in regards to Daniel and Petra's whereabouts."

The man piqued Scarlet's interest. She was, after all, curious as to how they were surviving. Hopefully the news isn't too severe and damaging. But never say never.

"You may speak," Scarlet said.

"It's about Daniel and Petra," Donovan, a scouter assigned to keep an eye on Daniel and Petra, said.

"What's the bad news, Donovan?" Scarlet said, growing more curious by the second, "just tell me!"

"It appears they've befriended some people from a town in the desert Biome, your majesty," Donovan answered, "and their memory restored. I have a feeling that they know who was behind their disappearance."

"What other news do you have?" Scarlet asked, "that can't be all there is. There's more. Tell me everything."

"By the looks of it, they're preparing themselves for a fight," he said, "I have a feeling they're going to have an army of their own soon. We need to prepare ourselves for what's coming. It won't be much longer before they're barging into the Kingdom. We need to act now, your majesty," Donovan suggested.

Besides hearing the bad news, Scarlet wasn't intimidated or scared about Daniel and Petra returning to the Kingdom. If it's true that they're building an army of their own, then she shall prepare herself for a fight as well.

"What shall we do now, your majesty?" Donovan asked.

"Nothing as of now," Scarlet said, "but I have a plan. Don't worry. They won't be getting back into the Kingdom that easily. Let them come. When they arrive, we'll be ready."