As Samantha slowly pushed open the creaky door, the anticipation of what lay beyond made her heart race with excitement and fear.
She knew the Royal Chevalier Palace was no ordinary Palace, it was an alarming feeling she got the moment she stepped foot into the Palace, as if it was some secret war zone she had unknowingly entered.
The dangers that lurked within the Palace itself could be compared to the ones outside. And places like this were meant to be heavily guarded, but when she's given a free tour, who is she to say no?
When she stepped in and went down the stone stairs, the tapping of her shoe against the floor was the only sound that echoed around the still space, and for a second, she forgot how to breathe.
The barely lit courtyard before her was deserted, shrouded in an eerie mist that emanated from the cracks of the ancient stone walls. The air was palpable with a sense of secrecy and foreboding that sent chills down her spine, but she kept moving, as though there was a strange calling that demanded her attention.
Right there, something stood in the center of the courtyard, bathed in a soft ethereal glow that flickered like flame, and out of all the things in the courtyard, it was the only object that produced a strange unnatural light. As she approached the pedestal, a flower shaped object that was carved into the form of a water Lily rested atop the pedestal.
No, it was permanently fixed to the pedestal, and the edges looked as sharp as a blade, but the intricate carving didn't stop there. The roots of the water Lily were also carved to the point it reached the bottom of the pedestal that was attached to the ground, and Samantha was by far intrigued. Her prying gaze landed on a hole at the center of the Lily, and it looked empty, as if waiting for something to be placed upon it.
"Wow."
Her curiosity was piqued, ignoring the strange dread that came with it, and like an impulse she failed to control, she was tempted to touch it.
When she looked around the secret courtyard that was shrouded in mist, it was empty, there was no one in sight. When she returned her gaze to the empty flower-shaped sculpture that had turned rust with years of being abandoned, her right hand reached forward to touch it, and as if timed, the sharp edges instantly pricked her finger, drawing out her blood that stained the object down to the pedestal.
"Ouch!" Samantha yanked her hand away when the sudden sting snapped her out of her dazed trance. Unaware of what she had done, her eyes widened in alarm when she saw her blood had stained the edges of the sculpture, and a drop of it fell right into the hole.
"No no!" Samantha couldn't hide her panic as she tried to use the hem of her dress to wipe off the bloodstain on the flower-shaped metal carving, but it turned out to be difficult. In a Palace filled with Vampires, they'll be sure to detect her blood once they step in here, and they'll immediately figure out someone had been here.
She'll be in a lot of trouble if that ever happens.
"What to do??" She pondered silently, fearing for her life.
The silence in the courtyard was broken only by the rustling of the wind through the dead leaves that littered the ground. At the sight of those leaves, Samantha slowly backed away, and her gaze shifted to the pillars that were wrapped in dead vines, and when it became clear to her that the courtyard was filled with vines and leaves, something in her head clicked.
This leaves, they weren't here before!
The stillness was unsettling as Samantha continued to back away, as if she had stumbled upon something she was not meant to find. A feeling of unease washed over her, she shivered despite the warm evening air.
This couldn't be the place where the King was murdered right? Everything about this place gave a sensation of magic, drawing her in like a moth to a flame, but Samantha resisted. She knew there was more to this place than what meets the eye, and if this is really the secret place where the mystic orb was held, then she made a big mistake coming here.
Before Samantha could turn to leave, she felt a slight change in her surroundings, and her feet automatically stopped moving.
Returning her attention to the pedestal, Samantha's heart dropped cold when a figure laid on the ground where she had once stood, unmoving, surrounded by the pool of his own blood. A scream of panic nearly left her lungs at the sight, her pupils dilated, but she covered her mouth with her palm to avoid drawing any attention.
Suddenly, she could hear running footsteps from outside the door, and a quick gasp left her lips when she heard the guards shouting about something on the outside, but no one came in. When she looked at the human figure that laid dead on the ground, another figure appeared from nowhere and was crouching on one knee before the dead body.
She could tell it was a man who had hidden his identity under a cloak, but her heart sped frantically when the figure in front of her reached out to the dead body. With his hand stretched forward, he took a beautiful glowing crystal green orb from the deceased grip, and Samantha, who was watching, shook her head in disbelief when the hoodie of the cloak came off, and the face that was revealed to her left her immobile.
Her breathing paused, and her eyes snapped wide in horror.
In front of the deceased, her Father - a younger version of him - was kneeling before the dead King, and a strange looking dagger that dripped with the King's blood was placed beside him. There were tears rolling down her Father's eyes, but his expression barely changed as he stared at the late king's body.
Samantha shook her head, refusing to believe the sight in front of her.
"This… this can't possibly be the truth… my Father… he wouldn't kill someone." tears immediately welled up in her eyes, and her heart felt like it was carrying the heaviest weight.
"No," she shook her head, backing away from the scene, her voice cracking, "he can't be right, Lord Ivan can't be right about this, there has to be some kind of mistake. This… this is a lie!"
She screamed out to the scene she was forced to see, her tears rolling down her cheeks, and then slowly, the images before her began to fade until she was standing alone in the courtyard. Her knees buckled and sank to the ground, her teary eyes were fixed on the pedestal, but she quickly wiped her tears away and got to her feet.
"I have to leave before someone finds out I…" her heart picked up speed as she recalled she wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, it felt like she had been pierced deeply from her heart to her bone, and she immediately turned to leave the courtyard, heading for the door.
She rushed out of the secret room, closing the door quickly behind her and ignoring its call. Samantha wanted to cry, but she couldn't do it in a place where she would be spotted.
Fortunately for her, no one has shown up in this path yet, and this was her cue to leave.
Quickly wiping off the tears in her eyes, her body still shook and trembled from what she had seen, but she tried to compose herself regardless.
As she was about to take a turn, in her moment of hurry, she bumped into someone who stepped out of the corner she was just about to take.
"Pardon." A word of apology naturally left her lips before she knew who she had bumped into, but Samantha wasn't given the chance to lift her head and see who it was. Looking at the fancy hem of the dress alone, she knew she had run into a princess, and that alone signaled trouble.
"Goodness gracious! I wonder why people have eyes at the front of their heads but are still unable to use it." She heard the princess say in irritation.
"Forgive my unawareness, Your Highness!" Samantha immediately lowered her head, but it was clear her apology won't be enough.
"A peasant as yourself walking freely in these quarters…. Where are you coming from? And who are you? I'm sure I haven't seen your face in the Palace before?" The princess questioned strictly, and from her icy tone, it was clear she was already in a bad mood, and her encounter with Samantha already made it worse.
"Samantha." She responded weakly without raising her head to look at the princess, hiding away her expression.
"Samantha? What a dull name fitted for a lowly kind, who do you serve?" The princess demanded, "don't you know this part of the Palace is forbidden for slaves or servants?" She looked behind Samantha to see the door that led to the mystic orb not too far away.
"If you do not have a master or princess that you serve, you will be punished for trespassing."
"I serve Lord Ivan, your Highness." Samantha quickly responded in an attempt to save her head, and as usual, mentioning Lord Ivan's name must have left the princess speechless, cause she said nothing else after.
"My brother? When did he get a new servant?"
"If it isn't the one and only princess Claire" Prince Alistair suddenly showed up, interrupting Claire who had plans on venting her anger on the servant in front of her. "I see you've met Ivan's new blood servant, but I'm afraid you can't touch this one, she's pretty special, and you must know what I mean by that."
The princess named Claire looked at Alistair who offered her a proffered smile, but her gaze wasn't the least friendly.
"What is she doing here? Servants aren't allowed to walk down this path at this time of the day."
"I simply sent her on an errand, she must have lost her way since she's new." Alistair covered up for Samantha who nearly raised her head up to look at him in surprise. "I will handle her myself, but aren't you running late for something?"
Alistair reminded his cousin who rolled her eyes, and she returned her gaze to the servant, obviously stunned that the maid was speaking the truth.
"If she's new, that explains a bit." The princess remarked, but the annoyance in her tone was still intact, and she coldly said, "be sure to use your eyes properly, else, I see no reason for you to keep them, you are lucky I have somewhere important to be. Come with me!"
She had already begun walking and called to her maid who had paused. Samantha's racing heart eased when she discovered it wasn't her the princess was talking to.
With Alistair remaining behind, Samantha offered a thankful bow to the prince and wanted to walk away when she heard him say.
"If you want to live longer, my little advice will be to stay away from that crazy bitch. She holds the record for the princess with the most dead servants." Alistair's face twisted into one of annoyance as he watched the princess's back disappear from the corridor.
When he looked at Samantha, she had her head bowed, and she quickly thanked him again. "I shall heed to your advice."
"Another piece of advice since you intend to heed to them." Alistair added, making Samantha stop in her tracks. "Keep a low profile in Ivan's absence, it's dangerous with him around, but with him gone, you're more prone to the predators lurking here. That includes entering into secret places that have nothing to do with you."