The Shadow Of The Ice Kingdom
Part 3: The Third Assassination
Queen Marianne woke up and looked to her left as Wallace stepped out of bed. “Wallace, where are you going?” He replied, “To cook you some food and see if there is any news on your daughter’s whereabouts.” He walked out of the room, headed downstairs, and entered the military corridor. Wallace approached a taller man. “General Darren, have you gathered any news about Amillia? The queen has been having difficulties with the loss of her husband and the disappearance of her daughter. She won’t eat much, screams at night, and won’t concentrate on her tasks.” The general replied, “Sir Wallace, we have not heard anything yet. I understand her worries. I have soldiers delivering messages to kingdoms far outside the continent and to the kingdoms around and in the Southern Sea. I know it has been a few weeks now, but have Her Majesty be patient. It will take a long time for me to receive news back from the other kingdoms, especially those outside the continent, at least four to seven days, give or take a few. So far, we have heard about the recent death of King Henry, who died the week after Robert was murdered. As far as we can tell, it could be a coincidence. You might have been right all along about the culprit. If Sam was actually there, you might have been right. If he was not, then we should prepare for political blowback.” Wallace asked, “You don’t think that I had anything to do with it, do you?” The general responded, “No, I don’t. It is just, well, possible that both kings died by coincidence, with Sam also being gone. I never mentioned you at all. What you and the queen do is your business.” Wallace squinted his eyes and walked out of the room. Wallace walked into the kitchen, sat down, and ordered, “Chefs! I want my breakfast ready! The queen will be down here soon, too! So, please hurry up before she arrives!” The chefs began cooking and setting up the dining room. Wallace walked out, entered the liquor cellar, walked down the pathway, and turned left. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey and entered the throne room. He sat down next to the queen. She kissed him as a priest approached Wallace. Wallace said, “Here is the crown. We will be in there after breakfast.” He handed the king’s crown to the priest.
Three hours passed. Wallace and the queen walked into the dining room, sat down, and ate their breakfast. After an hour, the two of them walked down to the throne room and entered the ballroom. A guard held the queen’s gown as she walked down the aisle with her arm around Wallace’s arm. As they both walked toward the priest, they stopped, and Wallace removed the veil from the queen’s face. The priest rambled on, “Do you, Sir Wallace, take Queen Marianne as your wife? Will you protect her, support her, and live as one until death do you part?” He replied with a smile, “Yes, of course I will, and always will.” The priest turned toward Marianne. “Do you, Queen Marianne, take Wallace as your husband? Will you protect him, support him, and live as one until death do you part?” She replied, “Yes, I do.” The priest said, “Sir Wallace, you can kiss the bride.” They kissed, and the priest said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The room cheered as they walked down the aisle. They headed into the bedroom upstairs, took off their wedding attire, and dressed in their royal attire. Wallace smiled, lifted Marianne, and threw her onto the bed. She yelled, “Not yet!” He said, “I am king, and we did it last night and have been doing this for years now! So, what’s different now?” She said, “Political reasons. Pretty much my typical daily job as queen! You even said it yourself! We do this already, practically every night. Now that you are king, you too have to deal with the daily job. You were my Royal Knight. Well, you know this shit already. Though now you have to do the real job instead of watching.” Wallace moaned, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know. Let’s go downstairs.” They both sat on their thrones as several members of royalty and wealthy individuals discussed their issues with King Wallace. Wallace complained in his head, “Damn it all. I wanted to be king, but I completely forgot about dealing with the matters of the dukes, duchesses, and merchants. Too many people are having problems with their lives. I liked it better being the guard. Now I am having to govern the land. Well, I guess I can just learn from the queen. I should be able to figure this out. I mean, how hard can it really be to govern the land?” The queen and king headed upstairs to go to bed, but Wallace said, “Honey, I need to go somewhere outside of the castle for a few days. I need to take care of some of the tasks I have been given.” She acknowledged it. Wallace left the castle on a horse with dark fur, heading toward the south. Three days later, he arrived at the coastline of the mainland. He stared at an island in the distance. “I believe that she probably ran away there!”
A dining table was adorned with a feast for twenty. A king sat at the end of the table next to his son and daughter-in-law. The young lady spoke up. “King Kahan, sir, thank you for the meal.” The king spoke up. “Lady Amillia, you don’t need to be so formal. Just call me Father; we are a family now.” She looked at her husband. “Costas, I will head upstairs and take a bath before you come upstairs.” He replied, “Okay, Amillia. I will be up there in an hour. I have to go take care of some documents in my office.” They kissed and then went their separate ways. Amillia stepped into the bathroom. She walked over to a few female servants. They took off her clothes and escorted her to the large bathing pool. A waterfall fell from a gap in the middle of the pool. She stepped underneath the waterfall, and the servants began to bathe her. Thirty minutes passed. She got out of the bathroom and entered the bedroom, then walked into her closet. She stared at a set of clothes, put them on, and walked out of the bedroom. She walked down the hallway, stopped at a door, then turned the doorknob to the study. The room was completely dark. Costas was sitting in his chair while his head lay on the table. Amillia approached him. Blood dripped onto the floor. She stepped in a puddle of blood and was about to scream when a hand covered her mouth. She was dragged to a window and thrown out of the castle, landing on a pile of hay. The dark figure jumped out of the window, landed next to Amillia, tied her up, then threw her onto the back of the black horse. The dark figure rode off on his horse, heading into the forest, then hopped onto a boat. They disappeared from the shore of the mainland
