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I remember the shouting, the begging, the pleasing, and the horrid look in their eyes, my parents' eyes.
My older brother Julius and I secretly watched our parents being killed by King Griffin as I was four and Julius was seven. I only recall certain events since I was a small child, and so was Julius, but he recalls more of the events than me. I recall that my mother defended me because I took some food from King Griffin's castle. After all, I was hungry, and I felt like I was going to be physically ill if I didn't get something in my system. So, being the kind, big brother he is, Julius helped out even though it could result in trouble. We were young kids and didn't understand the full aspect of things, more likely me, as Julius only knew that his little sister needed something to eat. Julius is my older brother and always looks out for me; he knew he couldn't let me starve, knowing it would be some time before we ate again. Julius was old enough to know better, of course, than to steal, but he did the right thing for me.
The ride from our home in Frolosire to where King Griffin's castle was a few hours away, so it would take most of a day to travel throughout the land. As our home resides just outside of the village, we had to travel on foot with the horses through the village and start riding once we got outside. It was beautiful land as far out as you can see, long green grass that swayed in the wind as the sun beat down on the wildflowers that grew within; diverse types of trees, like pine, oak, or maple, were scattered throughout, and it created shadows from the bright sun. Every once in a while you would see a butterfly fluttering by or a bird or hear a chirp of a bird in the distance from one of the trees. I always enjoyed the land as it was peaceful and glorious, it captured me as a little girl. After traveling through the land, we walked on foot through the Locpoiary village to King Griffin's castle.
Since me and Julius were just kids, we don't know why our parents were summoned to King Griffin's castle. All they told us was that King Griffin wanted to speak to them about something personal and invited us to his castle, which is why we traveled there, and that's all me and Julius knew of. My mom is a shorter woman with long, straight blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and loves to wear corsets and dresses, while my Dad is a tall, broad man with black hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Our parents told Julius and me to explore the castle, and hopefully, it wouldn't be long so we could find something afterward to buy and eat from their village. While my parents were talking to King Griffin in his layer where he sat on his throne, Julius and I chose to sneak down the huge castle into their kitchen just outside of their feast room to steal whatever we could find to eat, like a piece of fruit or some bread.
I absorbed the inside of the castle as I noted it was built just as the outside: huge and filled with stone from the walls to the floors. Almost every room I peaked in had a huge stone fireplace with dark wooden floors and tapestries covering the walls. There was only minimal light throughout the castle that would give you a spooky feeling. The walkways of the castle were filled with carpets or rugs, most of them appearing to be a dark red color within them. None of the guards were visibly around, and we didn't know where they were unless they had a separate room. We didn't explore every area; we glanced around the castle and rooms until we found the kitchen. I watched as my seven-year-old brother, with black hair and freckles along his nose and cheeks, ate as he saw me, his little sister, with blonde hair, gorgeous sky blue eyes and freckles, while wearing a dress eating underneath the table.
Even though this search for food for hunger was for me, it wasn't until I watched Julius eating a piece of bread he broke off for each of us that he was hungry, too. He must've tried to brave through to wait it out but gave in to eat with me and satisfy his hunger. Then, out of nowhere, me and Julius felt a pair of large hands on our shoulders as we saw a soldier caught us stealing and eating without permission. The soldier roughly grabbed us by the arm, pulled us out from underneath the kitchen table, and dragged us both through the castle in the hallways into the throne room where King Griffin and my parents were speaking. The throne room door slammed open as Julius and I saw my parents watch in worried horror as the soldier held us by our arms.
We were visibly scared as I had tears in my eyes, and the soldier said to King Griffin, who was dressed in dark attire, "Sir, these children were caught stealing and eating food from the kitchen without permission."
"Is that so? Let them go; I'll deal with this," King Griffin responds in a huff.
After a bit of constant discussion between my parents, us, and King Griffin, he understood why Julius and I did what we did, but unfortunately for us, he looked at us in disappointment, "However, stealing is still stealing, and there's going to be a punishment for this. No one secretly steals from me or in my castle."
"But, Your Highness, sir, our children were hungry-," my father stated but got interrupted by the King.
"Silence," the King yelled in a deep voice that made me jump.
"Please spare them, your Highness; they're just young kids. They are our children," my mother pleaded.
"That may be the case, Mrs. Whitehouse, but they did steal, and someone has to pay the price for stealing."
Julius and I watched as King Griffin stood up from his throne, and the soldier handed him a special sword, making our parents go down to their knees and their heads held back by their hair. I watched the tall, slim, black hair and black eye middle-aged King being high and mighty with a complete change in attitude. I didn't know or understand much, but I think me and Julius soon realized that there were other ways of dealing with the situation other than just plain hurting someone. That wasn't the way King Griffin ruled, or at least that I knew of as a small child; our King, King Cyprus, would've been more reasonable, but apparently, now King Griffin just kills others for the simplest reasons. From this situation, that's all me and Julius both knew.
For an unknown cruel reason, King Griffin shouted out loud, "I'll kill the kids for stealing food from me, my castle!"
In an instant, our parents fought and stood up for us, begging and pleading to let us be. Julius and I knew something else was going on because none of this situation was making sense to either of us. But because we didn't understand everything, there wasn't anything we could do. I looked at Julius, and I could see he felt horrible for not being able to say or do anything to help get all of us out of his situation that may result in death. I don't want to die; I barely lived; I'm only four! But at the same time, we are just kids!
"Please, sir, spare our children, let them be," my father begged.
"We'll do anything; please, sir, take us instead," my mother implored.
In return for their pleading and begging to spare us, a trade was made to kill themselves instead of us.
As soon as this was said by King Griffin, Julius and I shouted in sync, "Mama, Papa, NO!"
I recall my Mom and Dad speaking to us in tears, "Julius, Amara, go, please run! Run anywhere, run to safety and never return."
"We can't leave you here; you'll die," Julius responds in tears.
Our Dad says, "Please, kids, take the horses and escape until you're safe and sound."
My Mom states softly, "We both love you two very much, and we always will. Please be safe and live happy lives-"
Our father cut in, "Always remember to stay close. That's important for you both."
My parents made Julius promise that he would look out for me. After Julius and I said our painful 'I love you too' in tears, we ran out of the Throne room but stayed hidden outside the door where no one would see us. We witnessed our parents' final moments before King Griffin murdered them; we saw everything. Julius held me tightly as we silently cried, watching the horrifying events unfold. Soon, Julius took me by the hand and ran out of the castle with our parents' horses through the kingdom and the village on the long journey to our king's castle, not knowing where else to go. I immediately woke up in bed screaming, opening my eyes to see the dawn light shining through the white curtain. I felt my stain-covered cheeks on my skin as I was crying in my sleep from remembering it again.
I heard footsteps as Julius quickly came to my side with concern, "Sister, what is it?! What's wrong?! What happened?!"
I didn't say anything as I sat up and wiped the tears from my now puffy, still sleepy eyes.
He came and sat on the edge of the bed as he stared at me for a moment before saying, "Bad dream?"
I nodded my head, still not saying a word as he asked, "Did you dream about the day our parents were killed by King Griffin again?"
"Yeah, I did," I finally muttered.
"Amara-," he started, but I cut him off.
"I'm sorry, Julius, I know it's been some time since that day or last dreamed of it, but-"
He cut me off to say, "Don't worry, Amara, it's all right. You were so young when that happened to Mom and Dad."
"But it was many years ago, brother; I should be over it by now, you are," I responded in despair as I looked at my older brother, who still had the same features as my Dad but grew tall with broad shoulders and appeared more muscle, especially within his arms. His muscular appearance attracts some young, beautiful women, that's certain.
He grabbed my hand, "I'm not over it, Amara; I never was. I just hide it well because we each have to go on with our lives. However, neither of us ever received an answer or truth of how or why that all happened."
I tightened the grip of the hold of his hand, "I wish we knew; I think it would help moving forward. It's only that some days are still hard even now."
He sighed, "We may be much older, Amara, but that doesn't mean we aren't over it."
He looked at me as I looked back at him, and he finally stated, "I think, sister, knowing what truly happened will help us move on."
"Do ever think we'll ever find out, Julius?"
"The only one who knows Amara is King Griffin, and he's never revealed why. Our King doesn't even know the full truth. Only King Griffin, Mom, and Dad know, and two of the three are dead."
"Maybe someday, Julius, we can finally find out," I said with hope in my voice.
"Maybe sister, maybe. Now, dry up those tears on your beautiful face and rise from this bed so the day can start."
I smiled as I started to get out of bed, and Julius left my bedroom. I neatly made up the bed as I walked to open up my curtains to fully let in the morning light. I sat on the wooden bench connected to my window sill and grabbed my journal, ink, and fountain pen lying on the side of the bench. I began writing on an empty page; it's more of a diary than a journal, but it's a clever way to write down my thoughts. "I dreamed about Mom and Dad again last night and woke up screaming. Dreaming of the same event over and over. It's still painful, and I miss them a lot. Hopefully, soon, things will be different and get better." I sighed and stared out my window as I became lost in my train of thought. The Kingdom of Frolosire is within the country of England in the United Kingdom. England is one of the places besides Scotland, Wales, and Italy that's like how we are. I love it here, though it's beautiful, but maybe it's also because I do enjoy nature and the outdoors. We went on with our lives, but we've never forgotten about what happened to our parents.
Our horses, Ghabriella and Penelope, were a gift since my parents' horses were taken away. Our king, King Cyprus, gifted Ghabriella and Penelope to us not too long after the situation of our parents occurred; he's also the one who offered our parents' horses to someone else. King Cyprus is a short, older man with short white hair and green eyes and usually dresses in red attire, compared to King Griffin, who was younger. Moreover, unlike King Griffin, King Cyprus has a kind nature with a soft-hearted smile and doesn't appear scary and evil. King Cyrus explained to me and Julius as kids that we could freely take Penelope and Ghabriella as our own and have been raising them since. After some time, Ghabriella liked me, and Penelope liked Julius. We didn't raise ourselves after the day when my parents were killed; in fact, King Cyprus took it upon himself to take us into his Kingdom to raise us. King Cyprus made sure my parents' home was well looked after throughout the years by soldiers and villagers, too, until we were old enough to be on our own; Julius looked after me.
When Julius came of age, he found a job as a welder in our town village, and he used what he made to help out financially. Now, I'm eighteen, but I haven't figured out much of my life; Julius tells me it's fine, and it'll take time. Julius and I decided together to continue to live in our parents' wooden home since it's now ours. Pulling out of my inner thoughts, I shook my head as I took some time to finish writing my thoughts. Once I was finished, I stood up, set everything down, took off my long white nightgown, and laid it on the chair that was in my bedroom. I picked up my black dress from the side of the chair and my corset and slipped both on, feeling how they fit well on my body. My body fitted out well as an eighteen-year-old; I still have a baby face but now have breasts and curves within my hips and bum that would turn male heads. I want to find a man that loves me for me and not how I look.
