Time for the Villainess

Chapter 4

One night the King finally managed to fall asleep. He didn't get woken up by nightmares but what woke him up was an unbearable cough. When he opened his eyes he was surrounded by flames and even his pants caught on flames. He quickly took them off and turned to his wife:

"Wish, Wish! Wake up!"

He started shaking her but Wish wasn't answering and Vorkalth couldn't stay there much longer. He gave up on his wife and tried his best to get out of bed. The second he jumped off the bed collapsed and Vorkalth got projected forward. He didn't even look back and made a run for the door. The handle was burning hot and Vorkalth had to try three times before he could open the door. The hallway wasn't in a better shape than the room and Vorkalth felt his lungs burn. He couldn't even see anymore and his eyes started tearing up. He forced himself to walk and protected his nose with his clothes.

He was sweating profusely and his head started spinning. At this point Vorkalth was coughing up blood and he had to crawl to continue. The ground was burning his hands and knees but he didn't feel them anymore and could only think of one thing:

"Keep going. You have to keep going."

Vorkalth had complained a lot about how small the Palace was but for the first time in his life he regretted ever extending it. He should have left everything as it was. If so by now he would already be out and safe.

At the top of the stairs Vorkalth didn't have the strength to stand up anymore and wanted to roll down but that was when the stairs collapsed in front of him. The hole was way too deep for Vorkalth to survive the fall and he stayed there for a few seconds, not having any idea what to do. He didn't have any choice so he stood up and jumped off the railing. He hit the ground in a loud crash and needed long seconds to get his breathing back on track. He had to move. He couldn't stop moving.

Vorkalth rolled on his back and tried his best to ignore the blinding pain in his legs. He crawled to the entrance and was finally free.

"Your Majesty!"

Knights ran up to Vorkalth and helped him up but suddenly froze:

"Doctor! Call a doctor!"

Vorkalth couldn't feel anything because of the adrenaline and was just relieved that he was alive. He closed his eyes and smiled but when he opened them again he saw a figure. It was a slender and short woman whose face he couldn't see. She was standing at the top of a hill and was staring down at Vorkalth. He couldn't see her face but he knew she was smiling. He could feel it right to his bones and he started shaking:

"No!"

It was impossible!

"Your Majesty? What is wrong? Where does it hurt?"

But Vorkalth couldn't hear anything they were saying anymore. He was terrified and he needed to run. He had to get away from here. Quick. He didn't want to die. He couldn't die. Not like this. Not now.

"Don't let her approach me! Please save me! No!

-Your Majesty! What are you talking about? Quick, where is the doctor?"

Vorkalth fainted soon after and the last thing he saw was the terrifying smile. That smile followed him to his dreams and Vorkalth woke up in cold sweats:

"No!"

Seeing that he was awake, the doctor ran to him:

"You shouldn't move, Your Majesty. It is a miracle that you survived."

Vorkalth looked at the doctor with terrified eyes:

"She is alive."

Thinking that he was talking about the Queen, the doctor lowered his head:

"I am sorry, Your Majesty. We haven't found the Queen's body yet but it seems she didn't survive the fire."

Vorkalth quickly shook his head:

"Not her, Angeline."

The doctor frowned:

"The Princess?

-She is no princess. She is the devil. She is alive and she came to kill me. You have to find her and kill her. She can't come here.

-Calm down, Your Highness.

-I can't calm down. She is already here. I can't run anymore. She was the one who started the fire. I should have known as soon as I saw the flames."

Seeing that he was getting more and more worked up, the doctor gave Vorkalth an injection and he slowly went back to sleep. But that sleep was everything but restorative. Everywhere he looked there was fire and everywhere he turned there was her. He couldn't see her face because she was standing in the shadows but he could hear her laugh. She was making fun of him. She was making fun of all his failures. She was laughing because he lost the war, she was laughing because he wiped out the Thornton name, she was laughing because he didn't have anything left. She was laughing because he was a laughing stock.

The circles under Vorkalth's eyes were bigger than his face and people were scared that the King would die any second. He didn't even look alive anymore and had the same empty eyes as his wife. But even at the brink of despair, Vorkalth couldn't end it. He just let himself be carried by the events and he didn't even seem connected to reality anymore. He didn't seem to understand that he would lose the war. He didn't understand anything anymore and only lived in fear of when his daughter would show up. He was seeing her everywhere and at some point Vorkalth was impatient for her to come. If she came he could finally stop being scared. He could finally stop being on edge and would finally feel lighter.

But Angeline wasn't coming. Vorkalth waited for so long that he didn't know if she would come anymore. While his daughter wasn't showing up, Shadowend's army was at the doors of the capital and Vorkalth kneeled down in front of his father's portrait:

"I am sorry, father. I couldn't protect our name until the end. But I won't leave as a traitor. I will end everything here. I will take Queen Leora with me in my fall and I won't be ashamed to look you in the eyes."

Someone laughed in the darkness and Vorkalth jumped. He thought he had imagined it again but there was a silhouette at the door. He stared at it for long seconds not knowing if he was dreaming again.

"You are not going to kill anyone."

He wasn't dreaming! That voice...

"You won't be able to move your hands in a matter of seconds.

-What?"

Vorkalth felt really sick lately but he was so preoccupied that not once did he think he had been poisoned. Did she poison him? Was he finally going to die? As if she had guessed is thoughts, the voice laughed again:

"Oh you are not going to die yet. That would be way too easy, wouldn't it."

Just as she said that, Vorkalth felt his hand grow heavy and he let go of the sword he was holding. He stared at his hand with a petrified look and felt his eyes tear up:

"W-Who are you?"

More laughs:

"Your worst nightmare?"

The silhouette sighed before straightening up and uncrossing her arms:

"How could I be scared of such a pitiful being? It is funny if we think about it."

Vorkalth couldn't take her laughs anymore but slowly he also had a hard time speaking:

"Oh, don't be scared. It's not going to hurt that bad. You will just lose control of your body but you will stay alive. We will see what Queen Leora will do with your body. I really hope that our ancestors are watching right now. The almighty King Thornton stripped of his country and his title. Such a shame.

-No...

-Oh, don't be emotional. You are making too big a deal out of this."

A huge crash was heard outside of the Palace and the two of them looked out the window:

"Finally. That took them long enough. Well, then. I think it's time for me to go. I had a lot of things to tell you but now that I am here I realized that it doesn't matter anymore."

The silhouette turned around, ready to leave. Seeing her walk away, Vorkalth took all his left strength and whispered:

"You are not my daughter. You are the Devil..."

He didn't know if she heard him but only laughter answered.