[KURAYAMI]
"Your majesty, it is time," a royal maidservant spoke as she knocked on the door to the royal chambers. Her hands were shaking, while her body trembled at the possibility that there was a horrible creature behind the closed doors.
Perhaps there was, because the other servants who had been with her, had all taken three steps back, like that was a rule. The servant who had knocked had a long black robe in her hands while the other three behind her had different things at hand.
One had a tray of food, while the other had a white gown, and the third one had a set of blades that had just come from the blacksmith.
They were horrified and it was obvious from their faces. It seemed as if the person behind the door was a force to be reckoned with, but was that the truth, or were they just feeding their fear of the unknown here?
"She will kill us this time," one of the servants three feet away whispered defeatedly as there were no footsteps toward the door.
Normally, the royal behind the door would go up after the third knock and on better days, after the first knock, and yet by the first knock, there wasn't a response, making the servants stare at each other.
For a moment they contemplated what to do. It was an important day and the woman behind the door couldn't be left to sleep in longer than she had.
Granted, she had had an accident earlier, something that she would probably make them all pay for eventually, but this was a risk that had to be taken, otherwise, the consequences would be harsher than what they had to deal with at the moment.
"What if we call the high guard to come and help us wake her up?" another servant suggested and they all paled, almost like they had similar flashbacks of what repercussions they had all had to deal with because of the royal behind the door.
Was the woman behind that door really that scary or was this just them being people who couldn't be understood simply?
Perhaps they were overreacting, but with the way their shoulders were slumped and their submissive postures so worked up, there was no denying that whoever they were headed to was the devil herself.
"No… don't do that. We can't have someone else die because of us. Anyway, I'll open the door. If I die, please tell my mother I died in service to the Kurayami crown. Let her know I was serving Queen Kuramitsu, alright?" the servant who was at the door said sadly.
The others just nodded equally as sad.
They knew what this meant.
They all understood it so well to the point that it was horrifying, to say the least. This was what they had had to deal with for years on end and yet if they were asked to take on service to the other people in the royal sect, they wouldn't let go.
Maybe it was because of the fact that this mad woman behind the doors would probably have their heads for betrayal or just because she wanted to. They just had to hope, right?
"Are you sure about this?" another maidservant asked, knowing so well that the stakes were a little too high for them all.
They couldn't run away, and they couldn't walk away. Wherever they would choose to hide, the woman would find them and execute them, seeing as execution was Queen Kuramitsu's favorite sport.
She was the mad woman who gave orders and expected them to be followed without so much as a second thought. She was crazy, but they were not complaining… or maybe they were behind closed doors? Would it ever matter though?
"It is the only way. If she misses this meeting, she will lock us up in the dungeons for months again. I don't want to go back there… I'll just take my chances," the woman said before she looked back at the door, knowing so well that her fate was in shit right at that moment.
But surely the moon goddess wouldn't be as harsh on her for doing her job. She had to hope. Oh, but it was truly the easiest and sole way out for them all.
"Your majesty, I shall come in to check on you," the woman said and then she pushed the door. It was resistant at first, and she sighed in relief, ready to leave and tell the councilmen that the queen was not seeking an audience.
Well, it was all good until the door suddenly creaked open. It opened so freely you would think there was a goddess behind that door, and not the woman that scared the living hell out of them.
Perhaps It was an illusion, right? Perhaps this was just something they were not used to and had to try and make do with, but what were the odds that life would change that drastically this time too?
The maid-servant knew that her life was literally hanging in the balance at the moment. So with a short prayer, she walked in.
'Dear goddess, please help me,' the servant said as the door gently closed behind her, leaving her in the same space as the woman she would give everything not to be on the wrong side of. But then fate had other plans for her.
Maybe this would be the end of her life but what else was she supposed to do? It wasn't like the odds were any better for her or the people behind the door.
They also were on the same boat, bound by the same unintelligible fate and one that could ruin them and mend them at the same time.
This was hell, and they all were painstakingly aware of it.
"Your majesty," the woman called out again as she walked into the room, only for a blade to whirr past her in an instant, making her shriek in horror.
It was all so sudden that the servant tripped on her feet, her balance leaving her as she stared at the shadow that was behind the curtains.
The blade that had been sent in her direction was currently lodged in the wall behind her, and she had to try her best to keep her posture because otherwise, she was doomed. And so was everyone else.
"You have three seconds to introduce yourself before the next one clears your head off your neck," the crazy queen spoke, her voice filled with so much rage, and venom, that could bring down the entire wing.