MOONLIGHT KINGDOM
Two small figures sneaked into the palace. They hid whenever anyone was coming and soon managed to enter the palace. One was about to open the door when a voice suddenly stopped her. It was the king.
"Where are you coming from, Arizona?" the king asked. The girl looked startled for a moment but quickly covered it with a smile.
"Dad, I was at the garden with my maid," she said. The king looked at the girl beside her and she nodded in confirmation.
"Arizona, we checked the garden. I hope you did not sneak out again," the king said.
"No, I didn't. We were really at the garden. She was telling me a story," Arizona smiled.
"Yes, your highness," the maid said, though she was a little afraid.
"You have to rest now. You know tomorrow will be eventful," he said and patted her hair.
"Goodnight dad," she said and went into the room with her maid.
"You know she wasn't in the palace. Why did you take her lie?" the king's personal guard said.
"I just want her to enjoy her life since she will lose it soon," the king smiled.
"What if the plan didn't work?" his guard asked.
"Why don't you stop being negative," the king yelled.
"I am sorry," he quickly apologized. The king ignored him and stormed into his room. He went to a room and opened the door gently. A body was lying on the bed. It was the queen's body. She hadn't woken up since she gave birth to Arizona and it had been twenty years.
"Bear with me. Soon, just soon, you will be awake," he said and held her hand.
"My princess, I almost lost my mind thinking the king we suspected was lying," the maid said.
"Come on, he didn't know. You can go to your room," Arizona said. The maid bowed before going. The princess jumped on the bed and brought out the book she had been hiding. She found it in the library and hid it.
The Cursed Prince was written on it. The man on the cover picture was wearing a scary mask that she was even afraid of looking at. And truly, Emperor Raven only showed his face in his kingdom. Other kingdoms described him with his scary mask. Even the people in his kingdom could not look at his face because they were afraid of going blind. So a lot of people did not know his face. They just knew he had white hair.
Arizona opened the first page and started reading. She found it interesting and smiled. She read the story throughout the night.
"He is such a great king, but so scary and creepy," she managed to say before her head fell on the bed. She was done reading the book though, but it was almost morning.
CRYSTAL KINGDOM
Over fifty guards waited outside for their king. They were all on horses. Their shields were made of gold, even their armor and the horses' armor too were made of gold. Just looking at them, one would know they were full of riches.
The emperor wore his armor and a hand wrapped around him from the back. Without turning he knew the person.
"My emperor, please can I go with you?" the woman asked. Her hand moved up and down Raven's chest.
"No, Samara. You should stay here. You can't offer anything over there," Emperor Raven said.
"But my king, I can stay by your side and..." she was cut short when the emperor stared at her.
"I am sorry. You should go safely," she said. The king wore his mask and walked out of the palace. All the guards bowed when he got there. He climbed his horse and they started going.
"So you are planning to visit my kingdom without me?" Alicia asked. She had dressed up as a man and was also on a horse.
"My princess, you can't follow us. It could get messy," Jimmy said.
"That should be my business. Can I come, brother?" she asked cutely. The emperor did not respond and just hit his horse and rode quickly.
"See, he wants me to come," she smiled as they rode out of the big kingdom. The people cheered and greeted their king, though with their heads bowed.
Samara was pacing around her room when a maid came in.
"Your highness, the emperor has left already," she said with her head bowed.
"What about that witch?" she asked.
"She went with the king too," the maid said.
"So the king did not let me but allowed his sister," she muttered in jealousy.
"My lady, you shouldn't think much. It was because they haven't visited their kingdom for a while," the maid said.
"But he is cheating me, always acting cold and all," Samara complained.
"You shouldn't worry about that. Everything will fall into place when you become the queen," the maid said.
"That is actually true. I should do everything to become a queen," she smiled prettily.
"Your bath is ready, my lady," the maid announced. They took off her clothes and helped her to the shower. The water smelled glorious because of the flowers in it. She rested gently inside and smiled.
"Just how great would it be to become the first queen of this great kingdom," she thought with a smile.
NIGHT TIME – MOONLIGHT KINGDOM
Emperor Raven and his guards finally entered the kingdom. People could not stop watching them. Seeing the mask that the leader wore, they knew it was the cursed prince. They all bowed their heads in respect. Some of the guards poured gold coins on the floor and the people fought over them as they picked. Emperor Raven smirked while watching them fighting over the coins. He loved the way he saw the kingdom. Everything looked plain. Just looking at it, one would know the people of the kingdom were not enjoying. Too bad he was here to make their problems even worse.
"Long live the emperor!" they all greeted in appreciation as he walked straight to the palace with his guards behind him.
"Brother, please, can I tour the city?" Alicia asked. She had moved her horse closer to him.
"No," he said.
"This isn't fair," she groaned and continued following him. Someone chuckled behind her and she rolled her eyes. She knew it was Jimmy, the annoying guard.
The three princesses were in the dressing room getting dressed up for the big event. A lot of accessories were attached to their hair, making them look so beautiful.
Their big beautiful dresses were worn for them and everything was fixed.
"How do I look?" Arizona asked her maid.
"You are looking so beautiful as usual, your highness," the maid said while bowing her head.
"How am I supposed to believe that when you didn't even raise your head to look at me? I will ask my sisters instead," she said and ran after her sisters who were already out of the place.
She has two sisters. The eldest is Amara, while the other one is Amira. Arizona is the last born.
Amara is calm and nice to everyone while Amira is arrogant and rude to everyone. Arizona is a playful girl who wants to befriend everyone. She doesn't know the difference between maids and princesses. She is everyone's favorite, even their father's.
"Sisters, how do I look?" she asked while turning around dramatically. The mark on her forehead stood out and made her beautiful. After the mark was looked into when she was born, they realized it was the mark of heaven, the mark that brings peace. She had been really special to her dad since then.
"You are looking beautiful, little sister," Amara said and stroked her head. She smiled and turned to Amira.
"You haven't said anything," she pouted.
"What do you want me to say? She said you are pretty. Stop acting like a baby. You are grown up," Amira yelled at her.
"You are so mean," Arizona scoffed and left. Amara dragged her sister into a room.
"You are making it so obvious that you don't like her. Soon the maids will know," Amara said.
"Do I look like I care? I can't pretend to like her like you. The way dad only sees her like she is special makes me so angry. She even put our mum in a coma," Amira said and rolled her eyes.
"You have to calm down. If dad notices this, he wouldn't like it. Why can't you just tolerate for now?" Amara said.
"I can't. The way she runs around like a kid is so annoying," Amira rolled her eyes.
"Amira, calm down and let's go to the party. I am just happy because I will be seated beside dad today," Amara smiled.
A maid entered and bowed her head.
"My princesses, the chair beside the king is for princess Arizona. He announced it and sent the maid to call her," the maid said.
"See? She is slowly taking your position. Isn't it the first daughter that is supposed to sit beside the king?" Amira scoffed. Amara didn't say anything. She just folded her fist angrily.
Arizona ran toward the big hall. The party had started and she knew she was late already. She suddenly bumped into someone as she was about to enter the hall. Her head hit the person's chest.
"Sorry," she said without looking at the person before running into the hall. Everyone focused on her because she was very beautiful. Her two sisters glared at her angrily as she made her way beside the king and sat down. The king patted her head gently.
"That is the youngest princess," Jimmy introduced to the emperor. She was the one she actually bumped into.
"I didn't ask you," he muttered before they entered the big hall. Everywhere went silent immediately as they focused on him.
"It's the cursed prince," the people whispered among each other. Everyone could recognize him just by his face mask. A lot of people had read his story.
The king stared at him in deep shock, wondering what he was doing here.
"Bow down and greet the emperor," the king's guard announced and everyone bowed their heads in respect.
"Long live the emperor!" they greeted. He ignored them and walked straight to the king. The king's body was shaking but he still had a calm face.
"What do you want...?" he asked fearfully.
"Relax. I am not planning to kill you, not today. I actually wanted to celebrate with you or can't I?" Emperor Raven asked with a smirk before sitting on a chair. Jimmy and princess Alicia also sat down beside him. The remaining guards waited outside.
"Thanks for attending," the king said, though he was glaring at him.
"I brought a little gift for you," Emperor Raven said with a smirk under his mask. Ten guards came in immediately, each carrying a box. They dropped the boxes in front of the king and opened them. They were filled with gold and the people gasped. They hadn't seen that amount of gold in their life. They could notice that the guards' armor was also made of gold.
"Wasn't expecting that from you. Thank you, emperor," the king bowed.
"You shouldn't thank me over such a little gift," the emperor said. He was served a drink and he drank it slowly. He studied the king and smirked when he saw him shaking. Just what he wanted. He was not even ready to kill him yet. He was just here to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Soon some dancers started performing. The king whispered to his daughter as they smiled together. Emperor Raven stared at them with a smirk on his lips though they couldn't see it because of his mask. Arizona looked toward his direction and caught him staring at her. She got nervous and shifted uncomfortably.
"Rumour said he loves and cherishes her more than the rest of his daughters," Jimmy whispered to him when he saw him looking at the girl.
"She is beautiful though. I am jealous," princess Alicia said while looking at her too. Emperor Raven looked away and focused on the dancers.
Finally the party was over. The party finished at two in the morning. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the king appreciated them.
"Emperor Raven, I am ashamed to say I wasn't informed of your coming so I haven't prepared any gift for you. So now I am giving you the grace to choose whatever you want in this kingdom and it will be given to you," the king said and looked at the smile that showed on his lips. He almost felt like killing the boy just like he killed his parents.
"I am honored, your highness. I will gladly choose what I want now," Emperor Raven said and stood up majestically. He walked toward Arizona and stared at her. She stared at her hands nervously, not bold enough to stare at the scary mask.
"I want her," Emperor Raven declared while pointing at Arizona and everyone's eyes widened in shock.