Time for the Villainess

Chapter 3

Hearing about her son's death, Wish Thornton fell sick and didn't leave her room for days. Vorkalth was just as shaken but didn't have any other choice than sending their second son next. They were in need of men and he preferred sending his own son than himself. He thought his wife would die when she heard the news but against all odds, she got better right before they received word of their last son's death. Wish didn't look alive anymore and just sat next to her son's body with empty eyes. At least what was left of their bodies.

"How did they turn out like this?

-I don't know, your majesty. The Crown Prince was found in a cave and the second Prince was found at the border of a river. Everyone else was dead too so we don't know what happened to them. They must have been ambushed."

Vorkalth looked at the bodies with a frown:

"It doesn't make any sense. Why didn't they take them as prisoners? They would be way more useful to them alive."

Hearing this, Wish finally woke up and opened wide eyes:

"Did you send them to war knowing that they couldn't win?"

Vorkalth sighed:

"Calm down. There are people listening.

-I don't care who is listening! Did you send my babies to die?

-I didn't! I thought that they would be taken hostage.

-And would you have saved them if they did?"

Vorkalth hesitated and that was too much:

"You monster! You would have left them to die!

-Monster? They wouldn't have killed them! I would have saved them! What did you do for your children?

-I wasn't the one who sent Angeline to them!

-Don't you dare say her name!

-Avoiding her name doesn't mean she doesn't exist! It was your idea to send her as a fiance!

-You were the one who didn't want to send your sons! How dare you put the blame on me? You are the one who abandoned your children."

Wish stopped talking and she went even paler than before. No one thought that was possible:

"You are right. I killed them... All of them. God is punishing me because of what I've done."

She suddenly started crying:

"I was a horrible mother. I never hugged her. I abused her. She only wanted love but I never gave it to her. When she brought me flowers I..."

Vorkalth didn't have patience for this and gestured for someone to take the Queen away. Now that his sons were dead he could only ask for help. At first the idea had revolted Vorkalth but he wouldn't hesitate anymore. His children gone, he couldn't pass on the Thornton name anymore and that was the most important at the end. He quickly sent messengers to all his brothers and sisters, waiting for their answer patiently. But surprisingly nothing came even after two months.

"What do you mean nothing? What about the messengers?

-They never came back, your Highness...

-How could they not come back? Did something happen on the way?

-We do not know, your Highness..."

No one wanted to bring bad news to the King and that messenger learned his lesson. He would never bring any kind of news ever. Vorkalth started panicking again. What would he do if no one came to help him? What was his family doing? They needed to protect the Thornton name. At the beginning of the war they had expressed their willingness to stand by his side. So why were they silent now? Did something happen to them? All of them?

Vorkalth had to find out what happened and sent his men to find out but they didn't bring back good news and they played rock, paper, scissors to know who would tell the news to the King.

"Speak.

-They are all dead, Your Highness."

Vorkalth almost fell, thinking that he misunderstood.

"What are you saying?

-When we arrived, most of them had been murdered.

-Murdered? By who?

-We do not know.

-What do you mean you don't know? Did you come back here not knowing what happened to them?

-We couldn't find anything, Your Majesty. By the time we arrived everyone was dead. There was no clue of who did this."

Volkalth sighed. What now? He really needed help. He couldn't keep up much longer and now that he didn't have a plan B he had no idea what to do.

"But we still left a few men behind who are investigating. They should be back any day now. And we are still looking for some of them. Maybe there are survivors."

Vorkalth had to hold on to that hope. There had to be people left. His whole family tree couldn't be erased suddenly like that. That was impossible. However when the men came back two weeks later, they didn't know much more compared to the others:

"Most of the bodies had their throats cut.

-What about the survivors?

-There are none. We thought that a few could have survived but we found their bodies later on. Those who we couldn't find had other marks on their bodies.

-Do I need to ask you for every detail? What kind of marks?

-Torture."

Everyone froze.

"Who could have done that?"

No one dared answer but everyone thought the same. It could have been anyone. People hated the royal family and the situation had gotten out of hand those past six years. People were angry and they couldn't take it anymore. There were so many suspects that they had no idea where to start. All they knew was that if the population heard about the murders, they would revolt. They had to keep this a secret at all costs.

"Do you mean that my wife and I are the last members of the Thornton branch?

-And Lady Angeline.

-Don't say that name!

-Your Highness, maybe... Just maybe, she is the one behind all of this.

-Don't speak nonsense. How could a girl do all of this?

-But she is the only one still alive, we...

-We don't know if she is alive, do we? I pray to God every night that she is dead.

-God is punishing us."

Everyone turned to the source of the sentence. The Queen had been sitting there in silence and everyone forgot her existence at this point. People didn't even remember that she could talk:

"We have sinned, Vorkalth. Now God is punishing us for what we did."

Vorkalth shook his head with a sigh:

"Bring her back to her room. She needs to rest."

The Queen got escorted out and no one dared talk about the Princess anymore. But Vorkalth didn't forget about her. It was impossible. It was ridiculous. He didn't want to think about it but he couldn't forget about those words:

"Maybe Angeline did it."

Vorkalth completely forgot about the young girl. He didn't see her a lot even when she was still there. She was a quiet and discreet kid. That was all Vorkalth remembered. What was the color of her hair? Was it blond? Or was it brown? Vorkalth had no idea and he couldn't check because they didn't have any paintings of her. He didn't even have to get rid of them because they never painted her in the first place. It was as if she never existed and Vorkalth never thought that she would be the one to start all of this. He thought that having her here or there would be the same but if he could go back to time he would have killed her. He would never have let her come out of her mother's belly.

What could he do now? His whole family was dead and he was losing this war. He couldn't ask anyone for help because other countries hated them and he couldn't fight much longer. Should he end it all? Has his time come? But the King was too big a coward to end anything. He just continued on living as well as he could but his nights got shorter and shorter. His daughter whose face he didn't even remember couldn't stop coming to him in his nightmares. Vorkalth couldn't even sleep anymore and he started losing his head. People said that they sometimes saw him screaming at a chair in the middle of the night or giving commands to paintings.