Deep inside the caves, he found this enormous cathedral. It was just astounding that it can stand underneath the weight of all the rock, soil, and other things above it. Carved on the doors in front of him was a seal. It had some sort of twisting symbol in the middle of a circle that had smaller symbols carved around it.
Curiosity finally caught up to him and he began to reach out. His extended hand slowly approached the carvings and his fingertip touched the middle seal. There was a boom from the inside of the cathedral, causing the boy to retract his hand and step back a few steps. There was the sound of gears turning, metal clanking, and it ended with another boom. He stood there in place as the doors slowly opened, creaking from age. Past the doors was darkness and a pair of large green eyes shined out.
Kaiser woke up with a start, covered in a cold sweat. He took short, deep breathes as he looked around with his heart beating at an alarming rate. The only things he saw were his bedroom and the sunlight shining through. Kaiser threw his legs over the side of his head and rested his head in his hands, his arms resting on his legs. Though the dream was over, the green eyes were still vivid in his mind. He got up and began to get dressed.
* * * * * * *
As Kaiser entered the dining hall for breakfast, he didn’t realize that Esmedella was looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. He silently sat down in the chair to her right and a servant came over to place a plate of food in front of him. Kaiser grabbed his fork and knife and began to eat, not ever realizing that Esmedella didn’t take her eyes off of him for a second.
Kaiser felt as if time were just passing him by. Just a second ago, he felt as if he were just sitting down to eat and now he was getting up from the table with the queen. The two began walking towards the courtyard of the palace, located at the rear of the building. This would’ve seemed like a long walk, seeing as how the courtyard was on the other side of the palace. Kaiser thought that it felt like a two minute walk when he stepped through the wide doors to the outside.
“Kaiser! Are you listening?!” yelled an angry feminine voice. He looked over the angry queen and simply responded, “Huh?” Esmedella sighed and shook her head, hands on her hips. She looked up at him and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You seem so unfocused today.”
Kaiser took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. As the two walked along the cobble stone path among the various flowers and other flora, he said, “I’ve been having nightmares lately. To be exact, only a few days after I arrived in the city.” Esmedella looked at Kaiser with a shocked and concerned look on her face. “You’ve been here for a few weeks now. Why didn’t you tell me?” she responded.
He looked at the queen and shrugged. “I suppose I just didn’t want you to worry, seeing as how you have so many other things going on at the moment,” the blonde man said to her. Esmedella shook his head from side to side a little, almost disbelieving that her childhood friend would even think this. “Everything else doesn’t matter as much as those closest to me! I could have put them off for a few minutes so that we could talk,” she said to him, taking a hold of his metal guarded hands. Kaiser turned his head a bit and looked at the ground. He said, “My problems aren’t important enough to bother you with.”
Esmedella stopped, reached out, and touched Kaiser’s cheek. She moving his head to face her, and held his other cheek with her free hand. The young royal smiled softly and lovingly said, “I’ll always have time for you. You’re too important to me to allow things like these to go unnoticed.”
Kaiser reached up and took gently grabbed Esmedella’s hands, lowering them. He smiled to her and bowed his head. Kaiser turned a bit and saw a bush, bare of any flowers except for the single bright red rose that seemed to be looking at him. He walked over to it, picked the flower, and removed the thorns before handing it to Esmedella. “It’s not much, but I hope this is enough to say thank you,” the guard say with the flower held out to her.
The queen reached out and took held the rose as if it were the most fragile thing in the world. She stood there with the flower in hand, staring at it in amazement. A grin came across her face when she looked up again. Esmedella got up on the tips of her toes and kissed Kaiser on the cheek. She blushed a bit and smiled as she said, “I love it. Thank you.”
He smiled a bit and nodded again. Kaiser coughed a bit and then asked, “How about we keep walking?” The queen nodded and began walking. As the two were going through the garden, Esmedella reached out and laced her hand with Kaiser’s. He smiled again when he was holding her gentle, small hand in his own. They didn’t speak a single word as they walked through the quiet courtyard, simply enjoying one another’s company in this miniature Eden.
* * * * * * *
The sunlight shone through the curtains of Kaiser’s window the next morning. He yawned and stretched, trying to eliminate the sense of initial exhaustion. Kaiser got up out of bed and smiled a bit, grabbing his clothes to put on. For once in the past few weeks, he had a perfect night’s sleep.
On his way down to breakfast, Kaiser stopped in the middle of the staircase. The torches that were hanging on the wall by a type of metal caddy began to flicker. The flames seemed to grow weaker and then stronger at odd intervals. He began to descend the stairs once again, this time a little slower.
As he went down a hallway, the torches continued to flicker. This time, the flames were weaker more often than they were strong. The oil paintings on the walls of the various rulers who once walked those very halls began to almost come to life in the waning light. Their eyes became fiercer and seemed to be glaring down at him with spite.
Kaiser rushed down the hall and descended another flight of stairs. He reached the entrance hall with a slight pant in his breathing. The lights of the torches disappeared and the blinds covered every window, leaving him in an almost complete darkness. Kaiser looked towards the front doors of the palace. There was a gentle knocking at the doors, but he dared not go near it.
He felt his heart beating at an incredible rate, the sound of it echoing through the air. His eyes widened at the sight before him. A green fog began to seep under the door and enter the hall. It accumulated in the air in front of him and took an almost serpentine form. From within the fog creature’s head, appeared a pair of green eyes that were glowing intensely.
Kaiser felt himself freeze in his place. Right in front of him were the same green eyes that have been haunting him, but now they had a body to go along with it. The green mist slowly slithered its way through the air and towards him. It stopped in front of him and just stared into his eyes, almost hypnotizing the knight.
“Kaiser!” yelled out a voice behind him. The mist monster dispersed immediately at the sound of Esmedella’s voice, but left its victim in his hypnotized state. The queen came forward and gently shook the blonde man saying, “Kaiser, did you hear me?” He closed his eyes as he shook his head, then looking at Esmedella he said, “Forgive me. My mind was elsewhere. Could you please repeat yourself?” She nodded and repeated, “I was asking if you were going to come eat or not.” Kaiser nodded and followed Esmedella into the dining hall.
Even knowing that the beast was gone for time being, he couldn’t help but feel a presence always watching him. As the two sat down at the table to dine, the eyes reappeared in the shadows. They did not glow brightly, trying not to attract attention at the moment, but they were looking around the room.
Soon, their gaze stopped on the rose that Kaiser had picked for Esmedella before. The flower was fashioned with other plants in order to make a crown with the rose as the largest and the one stationed above the queen’s forehead.
The eyes then disappeared, turned into the green mist and swerving along the floor behind Esmedella. The mist crept up her back and slowly along the green stems, blending in and attracting no attention. The eerie green fog seeped into the rose until it had fully found refuge inside of its blossom. The eyes, now unable to be seen by any, stared at Kaiser with the sole intent of watching and waiting for its opportunity to strike.
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