Arslan Senki: The Witch

The Audience of Royalty

While the handmaidens tried their best to put makeup on Zofia, they could not get the muzzle off. So they settled with brushing her thick, unruly brown hair and doused her in perfume. They also changed her into a much nicer gown, which looked silly on her. Or at least she felt ridiculous wearing it.

She felt nervous -for obvious reasons- going to see the King and Queen. While walking towards the throne room, she started fidgeting with the ruffles on her dress, until a handmaiden slapped her hand and told her to stop.

So instead she snatched a slice of buttered bread as one of the cooks ran by with multiple trays in their hand.

I don't really trust the Royal family. It might be better to stay alert and get some energy incase I have to use my magic.

Kharlan was waiting for her by the door, spear in hand. He'd taken off his helmet, and now Zofia could see his mustache and his hair, which was tied up into a ponytail.

"The King and Queen will see you now." He stated. Both doors opened and inside was a beautiful throne room. It was decorated with blood-red curtains and expensive furniture from all around Pars.

The King was a big man, with extremely big muscles. He had dark skin with dark brown hair. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked so scary, Zofia shivered as he lay his gaze on her.

The Queen was the most beautiful one in the room. Her long blonde hair reached her waist and was styled to perfection. She wore long, elegant white robes. But like her husband, she did not look happy. She looked almost emotionless.

Zofia was happiest to see Prince Arslan, who was standing behind his father's throne with Marzban Daryun and an old man, who Zofia assumed was apart of the court.

"Bow down to your King, girl." Kharlan spat. She had almost forgotten to breathe. She was so nervous she was shaking. Zofia dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

"Keep your head down." The King said. He had a deep voice, which went well with his terrifying aura. In the corner of her eye, she saw the old man come towards her gripping his sword.

Before she could react, he lifted his sword in the air and swung it down at her head. She thought, I am so dead this time.

But, like many other times today, she avoided death. Wow. I honestly love keeping the Grim Reaper on his toes. Not.
She honestly didn't think she could handle one more near death situation. She felt like she was having a heart attack.

The old man had swung and hit the lock on her muzzle, breaking it into small pieces. It hurt the back of her head, but she was finally free of that muzzle.

She rubbed her jaw, and tried speaking again. "Thank you." She said, but her voice cracked and sounded raspy, and her throat was so dry. The old man nodded in response and went back to stand beside the prince.

"For saving Arslan, you will be given 300 gold coins." The Queen said. Her voice held no emotion, almost like she was bored and this was a daily occurrence. "This amount has already been deducted for assisting a Lusitanian."

Zofia slowly nodded, not knowing if this was a trap of some kind. "Won't I go back to being in a cell?"

The Queen sighed. "Fortunately for you, Arslan has been persistent that you shouldn't be caged. He describes your 'magic' as...well, magical. We would like you to show us."

Am I just here to entertain them? What if I don't do well and they kill me??

She took a big deep breathe in. Nothing too big should impress them right? Magic is impressive on its own.

She breathed out, and all the candles in the room went out. Then she suddenly felt uneasy.

From behind her, Kharlan threw his spear, and Soph quickly shifted the air to her right, but not quick enough. "OW!" She yelled, clutching her ear.
Kharlan's spear had just barely missed it.

The servant's lit the room up again, and this time Zofia could see the damage done. Her hands were covered in blood, like she'd killed someone, and her ear was throbbing like hell. Kharlan's spear was stuck in the wall.

Tears formed in Zofia eyes, but she kept her glare. "What was that for?"

"That was a decent act. It was a test. And you barely passed." The King said, disappointingly. The Queen put her hand up and the handmaidens came running to her. The Queen said, "You may leave. Clean your ear, and someone will come to fetch you later."

———

Zofia left the throne room with angry tears down her face. My ear hurts like hell. What is wrong with them?

"Miss, wait!" Arslan said, jogging towards her. "Is your ear alright?"
Zofia looked at him, tears still running. "Obviously not!"
"I apologize for my parents. It was wrong of them to do that-"
"Wrong? It's simply insane! What- why..! Ow!" She said as a handmaiden grabbed her arm.

"You must not speak of the royal family in such way! Come now, before the King hears and removes your tongue."

Great, because that's something that could happen to me.

Zofia was dragged into one of the palace's spare rooms, and left Arslan standing alone in the hall.

While a handmaiden sewed her ear back into one piece, she could help but think about what the Queen said.

She wondered, what did she mean about someone coming to fetch me? If they make me do more tricks and treat me like a dancing monkey, I think I'd rather take Kharlan's spear to the head.

But she would find out soon enough.