Betrayal | Teen Ink

Betrayal

June 15, 2021
By Haileyminus75, Nyc, New York
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Haileyminus75, Nyc, New York
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Author's note:

This piece is mainly fantasy.


I walked on a grass pathway, making sure not to step too harshly, or I could damage the flowers that surrounded my every step. I could see the castle from afar, the white bricks placed perfectly, as a snake of flowers made its way up the brick wall every day. The moss grew in the cracks while the vines hung off the windows. I lived here my whole life, yet I couldn’t help but always admire the castle. 

 

As I got closer to the castle I couldn’t help but smile. The thought of seeing my father brought joy to me. He'd taken off to a faraway kingdom to make peace with the ruler who had sent pests to damage our crops. There was little food for days, many of the villagers began to starve before we could hunt for enough food. It was a miracle that all those young children had survived that devastating time. My father is an incredible man to be able to help so many people. I hope to be an amazing ruler like him one day.


Once the Guards allowed me in the gateway. I quietly walked up the wooden stairs that creaked with the slightest amount of pressure. They had told me that my father was in an important meeting, disturbing him might upset him. I could hear mumblings from the office door. The doorway was left slightly open allowing me to hear their conversation.


“Are you telling me they’re trying to break down the wall because of Victoria?” He scoffed.  I knew eavesdropping was disrespectful, but I couldn’t help but listen in after hearing my sister’s name. Standing next to the door I heard my father’s frustrated voice. This tone was unfamiliar to me. His cheerful attitude seemed nowhere to be found.


“They can barely keep their kingdom together and now they’re trying to ruin the wall we spent decades building?” He yelled, slamming his injured hand on the wooden table. “What foolish people. It seems like they’ve forgotten their place, I suppose we’ll just have to show them again. Send troops to the east of the border.”


“Yes, Sir!” One of the commanders responded as they swallowed a large gulp.


I couldn’t help but wonder if this man was my father. His tone was unrecognizable, if you told me that was his clone I wouldn’t hesitate to believe you. I had already known the kingdom he was talking about. It was our rival kingdom Brudia, they seemed to always be causing trouble in our kingdom. It was no news that they were trying to break the border. I pitied those who lived there, living under such a horrible kingdom must make life miserable. 


As I got lost in my thoughts, I accidentally pushed the door slightly open, which made a large creaking sound.

 

“Who’s there?” My father asked calmly.

 

I couldn’t allow my father to know I had been eavesdropping, so rather than showing myself I ran not even thinking of the possible consequences. I immediately opened the nearest door to me. As I slowly closed the door, I found that I was in my sister's room. Ever since my sister ran away nobody bothered going into her room. I could see the dust beginning to build on her perfectly well-made bed. I have no clue where she went. My father suspects that she went to Brudia. I still can’t understand why. We never had a close relationship, but envisioning the close moment we did have made me miss her presence. I couldn’t think of that right now though, I was curious about what my father had said. As much as I wanted to give him a warm welcome, I wanted to see what was happening for myself. My 16th birthday was coming up soon and I no longer wanted to be seen as a child. The wall was deep in the forest, if I wanted to get there I would have to change into something more appropriate for the thick forest. I was aware that my sister had many outfits that she used for training. I never quite understood why she trained so much, but right now all I knew was that her outfits would come in handy. 


As I made my way out of the castle, I ran to the forest once I was out of sight. The forest was nothing new to me, it was only the fact that the border was so deep in the forest that bothered me. I’ve only been there with my friend once. After that, I’ve never bothered returning. The trees packed tightly together prevented much sunlight from coming through, so it was quite dark. When I seemed to be getting deeper into the forest it got darker. Every step I took I could hear the sound of the fallen branches cracking. It didn’t take long to hear men yelling. I assumed it was coming from the border. Without even realizing it, I began to run a bit. 


After half an hour I could see the gray concrete wall from a couple of yards away. I spotted soldiers running left. Immediately I hid behind a tree and waited until I no longer heard their footsteps. Now that I had made it to the border I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I looked around, nothing seemed unusual. That was until I saw a rope coming down from the wall. A lady wearing a similar outfit to mine climbed down, except hers was camouflaged. She had black straight hair and a small black box from what I could see. I had no clue what to do, I stood there in shock. When her feet meet the ground she immediately looked around. It didn't take long for her to spot me.


“Hey, you!” I could hear her yell.


I began stepping back, I could see her saying something into the small black box. I ran as quickly as I could. I was beginning to regret not training with my sister. When I looked back the lady was almost a yard away. Why does she have to be a fast runner? I thought to myself frustrated. She grabbed my arm with a tight grip.


“I wouldn’t suggest running,” she said, gripping onto her sword.


I stood still not knowing what to do, I tried not to show any signs of fear. 


“You’re princess Celeste,” she said, looking me up and down. “Wouldn’t have expected you out of all people to be here.”


On her shoulder, I could see Brudias flag.


“You shouldn’t be here,” I blurted out.

 

“And why’s that,” she scoffed.

 

“My father can put you in prison!”

 

“I think your father has ruined enough people's lives,” She replied.

 

“I'm not sure what you mean,” I said confused.


“Are you serious right now?”


“Why wouldn’t I be? My fathers a good man, the only reason you’re saying that is because you’re from the Brudia!”


“Are you that naive? I guess your father has a lot of explaining to do.” She said, beginning to turn around.


So many thoughts began to fill my head. What did she mean? My father ruined enough people's lives? What is he not telling me? I didn’t quite believe her yet, but I still felt somewhat betrayed by my father.


“Wait!” I yelled before she could leave. “What do you mean? Please just tell me more.”


She turned around, tilting her head. 

 

“I expected you to already know this, but guess not.” She said slightly annoyed. “When your father first became king my king offered peace immediately. But your kingdom didn’t seem to be enough for your father. So instead of making peace, he decided to take most of our land. Killing many people in the process. Right, when we thought it was over he began sending troops to kill our people, for absolutely no reason, and even took some to become servants. All he wants is power!”

 

My skin became pale, and my eyes began to widen after what I just heard. This couldn’t be true! She’s lying! My fathers a good man! It seemed unbelievable that my father would do such a thing.


“He killed my mother as well,” The lady continued as her voice began to crack.

 

This man she was describing was not my father.

 

“You’re lying!” I yelled pointing at her.

 

“If you don't believe me, look around his office if he even lets you in there.” She replied calmly. “If you do believe me after a look through his office then you should meet me here at 8:30 pm and start working with me. Somebody like you could be valuable.” She ran off into the woods, disappearing before I could even reply. I hadn’t even gotten her name.

While I walked back to Castle my stomach twisted. I still couldn’t take in what just happened. I had walked in the forest curious to know more, and now I wished I had never entered.


When the gateway to the castle opened I ran to the staircase not even thinking about the mud trail I was leaving behind. I slowly opened the door to his office and saw that he wasn’t there. I began opening drawers, looking at the bookshelves, checking the papers on his desk, before I found two letters crumbled on the floor.


“Commander Phillip, our crops have been poisoned and I’m currently at Leta kingdom. I’ve finished what I came here for and I’ve killed the king. There is no possible way to feed all the starving children and families, some will need to be killed. Send troops as soon as possible and give this letter back to me when I return after you’ve done so.


-King Fedrick.”

 

In response to that letter Commander Phillip wrote:

 

“Dear King Fedrick,

 I will be sending troops to do the job. Return Safely.


-Commander Phillip.”


After reading those letters I felt betrayed. The father that I had known my whole life seemed to be a different person. I’d truly believe he saved those children. I was naive enough to believe that. When looking at the fireplace, I could see that he had recently burned some things. I could assume that he has been burning any evidence of him being evil. Why else would he want his Letter to be returned? I looked at the clock on the wall, it was only seven pm. I could meet up with the lady in the forest soon. As I began putting the papers away I could hear footsteps coming towards the office. Immediately I hid in the closet making sure to step as lightly as possible. 


“Where's my daughter!” I heard a familiar voice yell, the voice that seemed to be my father. “I haven't seen her since I arrived! There’s a trail of dirt in the castle. It’s clear that she was here! So instead of standing around, find her!” He yelled at the four soldiers that followed him there.”

“Yes sir!” They all said as they scurried out of the door.


“I hope she’s not beginning to become like her sister, it would be such a shame.” He shook his head and began writing a letter.


It seemed to be an hour before my father left to see if the guards found me. As soon as I got out I began stretching, letting out a big yawn. It was 8 pm, so I needed to get there quickly. Instead of leaving through the gateway, I left through the garden to prevent any guards from seeing me. When I arrived at the same spot I could see the lady.


“Seems like you believe me now, huh?” She said, staring at me with her brown eyes that almost seemed to be black. They reminded me of my own.


“Yeah, I do…” I said looking down, ashamed to be related to my father.

 

“Well, you can be extremely valuable. I’m here to find a way to kill your father, but with you being his daughter and all it’ll be easier for you to get close to him.”


“Wa-Wait, are you suggesting that I kill him?”


“Yeah basically? It shouldn’t be too hard, you can poison him if you’re too scared to use a sword.”


I’d never even touched a sword before. Yesterday I was excited to see my father, and now I was coming up with a plan to kill him. Things were moving way too fast, I had only discovered the horrible things he had done an hour ago.


“Why can’t we just imprison him?''I asked desperately, trying to develop a new plan.


“How are we supposed to imprison him in his kingdom? Everybody here sees him as a marvelous person. The only way to do that is if we took him to my kingdom and that would be impossible!” She responded frustrated.


I looked down, I felt guilty trying to keep my father alive knowing all the things he’s done. But he’s been there my whole life when my mother wasn’t, it was difficult to just forget the role he played in my life. 


“I didn’t get your name,” I said, trying to change the subject.


“Just call me Vicky for now. But that’s not important, at midnight I need to go back, so you need to decide if you want to be part of this plan or not. You’d be saving many people's lives.”


I looked at her, I could see that she was desperate for help. She looked almost my age, in some way she reminded me of my sister. She handed me her sword.


“Just say yes, if you do all you have to do is get close to him I’ve already handled everything else.” She stared at me waiting for me to answer. She passed me a leaf from her pocket that seemed in oddly good condition. “If it makes it easier you can put him to sleep, just put this in his drink. I’ll be in a castle, use this if you need help.” She passed me the tiny black box. 

I nodded my head looking at the tiny black box.


“What is this?” I asked curiously.


“Do you not use walkie-talkies here?” She asked curling her eyebrows.


I shook my head. “Just press this button here to talk, and this button to listen. Hide it in your pocket.” She said pointing to each button.


“Ok, got it!” I responded.


“Now go back to the castle, I trust that you can do this,” She said, running into the forest.


Now that I thought about it I had no idea where I was supposed to put this sword. For a sword, it was oddly small. I decided I would just put it on one of the straps on my back. If I wore a sweater it could be easily covered.

 

When I arrived back at the castle at 9 pm, I knew my father would be upset that I didn't welcome him the whole day, so I thought bringing him tea would be a good idea. I could put the leaf in there, I would just have to crush it. As I walked down the hallway, I immediately grabbed a sweater from the coat hanger in front of the ballroom then I made my way to the kitchen. Tea was common to make in the castle because it showed you had a higher status, so we already had herbs set up to make the tea right away. My father and I liked two different kinds of tea, so I used different herbs for each tea. I put on some boiling water making sure to crush the leaf Vicky had handed me. If something unexpected happened, she said she would be in the castle, which made me slightly less worried.


I brought one tea for myself and one tea that had a leaf in it. As I made my way up to my father’s office, I could hear his frustrated voice. Slowly I knocked on the door.


“Who?” He asked immediately, turning calm.


“It’s me, Celeste,” I responded, opening the door.


“Where have you been! I’ve had guards searching everywhere for you!”


“I’m sorry, I was just exploring the woods like usual." he let out a long sigh. “I brought tea,” I said.


He looked at me and smiled a bit. I knew that he loved tea. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed after seeing the warm smile on his face. The feeling of guilt kept returning and I was beginning to feel regretful. I passed his tea, and I began drinking some of mine.

 

“I think I'm feeling a bit...tired,” he said before fainting onto the floor.


Now that I did it I could feel myself beginning to panic, sweat began to drip off me as I just stared at his body. When I looked closely I could see foam coming out. I don't think that was supposed to happen. Immediately I went to check his pulse, I could see he wasn’t breathing. My eyes widened, I hadn’t even done anything. I only gave him the leave that was only supposed to put him to sleep. I began to talk into the walkie-talkie.


“What’s going on? I've only given him the tea but he stopped breathing,” I said after clicking the button she showed me repeatedly. I then clicked on the other button that allowed me to listen to her. There was no response. My eyes widened as the closet door opened revealing Vicky. 


“I didn’t expect you to do it, so I had to give you a little push. Instead of sleeping, I gave you poison. I couldn’t allow you to ruin this for me.” She said with a smirk plastered on her face. “I knew we were naive, but I didn’t think it would be this easy.”


I could feel my head beginning to hurt and my eyes beginning to droop. My throat began to dry up and it became harder to breathe. 


“What do you mean?” I asked with a raspy voice.


“You’re father didn’t do half the things I said. Of course, a lot was true, but my kingdom never wanted peace. We were no better than your father of course, but we’ve been trying to conquer his kingdom for years. I’ve been training  years for this!” As she said that she revealed a necklace that I recognized. It was the necklace Victoria used to wear.


“Victoria?” I asked as my eyes began to widen.


“Correct, surprised you finally figured that out!” She said, “Brudia has much more advanced technology. It wasn't hard to change my face with a little makeup. After finding out the truth about my mother, I immediately ran to Brudia. Our mother was born in Brudia, she was sent here as a spy but ended up falling in love with our father. After our father found out about that, he had her executed and showed her no remorse. But he never killed those children, I just put those letters there so you could believe me. Neither of these kingdoms is good, so I'm planning on defeating both of them.”


I could no longer talk and I could feel myself falling on the ground. I could still hear my sister's voice.

“I poisoned your herb while you were in father’s office. It wasn’t necessary to have you dead, but I guess I never really liked you that much.” She said with no remorse. 


When I looked at her face she began to resemble my father, my vision began to blur. I couldn’t feel anything but a burning feeling in my throat. I had been foolish enough to allow myself to be tricked twice. Neither of them had been good in the end, yet I still felt for both their lies. Everything was over, all the moments I spent with my family were lies, but when I looked at my sister's face again I could see the sorrow in her eyes. Maybe she was feeling the regret I once had. I began remembering the times where my father would bring a sunflower every time he came back from a long trip. When my sister and I would sneak to the kitchen at night for food, the stray cat would hide behind the castle at times. When I tried gasping for air my throat tightened like somebody was choking me. I guess this was the end. I guess everything was finally over. I guess there was no way of saying goodbye. I guess it was all for nothing.


 



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