[BOOK TWO]
"Anniversaries to some are like counting the years spent doing something great, years spent together, or years spent alive." I started slowly, voice dropping to a drawl as I peeked cautiously out of my bedroom blinds, scanning the road to...
IT SEEMED TO be a habit of mine now to wake up in the dead of the night to explore the area. Having gone to bed early and with an overly active mind, sleep had decided to elude my grasp when the clock chimed a solid 4 am in the morning.
With routine-like movements, I slipped on the silk robe that hung from the armchair in my bedroom before tying a knot to ensure it wouldn't slip off. Fingers encased across the golden door knob, I gently twisted it, careful not to make a single creak that might alert Minnie before slipping out of my room.
For the whole of yesterday, Minnie had been somewhere off gallivanting through castle with the soldiers. According to whispers made by servants that littered over the castle generously, she had been under intensive training by one of the four kings (just like me) in preparation for the war.
Hearing about how Minnie would have to fight in a war that was not her's to fight churned my stomach painfully. I wasn't about to lose her again when I had just found her safe and sound.
The castle had a lingering eery silence hung over the walls, draping over each and every area like a curtain that blocked out joy. Though the land seemed jovial and bubbly during day, the night still brought in a sense of sinister darkness that never quite escaped the corners of every person's heart.
Crickets chirped loudly in the background, creating a melodious harmony of notes as I slowly threaded my way around the halls aimlessly. I wasn't going anywhere in particular, and yet it seemed as though I had a map in my head with directions sent accordingly. My feet were on auto-pilot, going around and about with their own whim and will. When I finally entered a large room with a huge table set in the middle, one of the first rooms I had seen in this castle, my pace slowed to a stop as I examined the interior of the room.
It was just as I had remembered. A large round table was set in the middle of the room with four thrones to go with it. A small sliver of light edged in from the glass of the window, streaming the moonlight delicately into the area like a string of silk as I walked closer towards the table. Ever so lightly, I allowed my hands to glide against the smooth surface of the marble, allowing the cold to seep into my skin before I withdrew my hand with a shiver.
"What are you doing here?" A voice so cold rang loud and clear, making me snap my head back in attention before stepping as far back from the speaker as possible.
In the darkness, I could make out the eyes of what seemed like onyxes, glimmering brightly with a reflection but was otherwise void of anything, empty. The man had sharp cut cheekbones and a strong jawline, eyebrows set to a sneering frown and hair that was usually sculpted to perfection was tousled up wildly as if he had just climbed out of bed. He took a step closer and I could feel my energy slowly draining out of me before returning, as if each step he took adversely affected my own health.
"I..I couldn't sleep." Stuttering made me sound weak and like a fool, and yet the events of last year still haunted me. Though through the hours I had gotten used to Dimitri's presence, I was still a little rusty around the other boys. Fabian especially.
There was a flash of disbelief in his eyes, lips set into a stern scowl that sent shivers down the back of my spine. I had never interacted with Fabian particularly. The only one encounter in my memory would be the time in which he had offered me a nod back at the boathouse party, to which he was looking for Wilhelm in the first place. Other than that, the man was a complete mystery.
Knowing that they were the four horsemen made identifying things much easier. We all know that Dimitri was Death himself, of course, and now I've managed to dig up a little history about the other boys. Wilhelm being the personification of war and Calvin being the personification of Conquest. That leaves Fabian with Famine.
He did look the part. Out of all the boys, Fabian had sharper features and eyes that just glared into the soul. He seemed like a dark man with even darker intentions, and yet his personality just made me frown in confusion. Death had always been the one that was foretold to be fearsome, cunning and ruthless. Though the first two proved itself true, Dimitri did not seem ruthless at all. In fact, the more time I had spent with the guy made me see the more heartening side of him.
His twin brother was not the same, though.
From the beginning, Fabian had been cruel and cold, especially distant and unfriendly. He acted high and mighty, as if the world was nothing but the dirt in which the soles of his shoes stepped on and the people that dwelled in our mother planet were just bugs and insects that buzz about noisily.
Being encased in the same room as him will definitely prove to be a problem. Especially since the guy showed clear and obvious dislike for me.
"You're not allowed in this room."
I don't know if it was the high from lack of sleep or a sudden surge of newfound courage, but my retort was immediate.
"Dimitri brought me in here before."
All at once his expression darkened into the storms of a raging sky, his eyes glaring mighty and deadly as he pointed a single index finger towards the door. "Get out," he growled, words a complete menace that was laced heavily with threat.
I needed no extra convincing. Within seconds, I had dashed myself straight out of the room before he could decide that ending me there and then would be much easier to solve whatever problem he had with me.
Then again, it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to put an end to my life. I guess Wilhelm was right from a long time ago.
Death was common in the family.
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