Time for the Villainess

Chapter 5

Leora Shadowend finally won the war that had been ongoing for the last seven years. At the doors of the capital she found an empty Palace. At least what was left of it because it seemed that most of it burned down. The state of the Palace was a huge secret for the outside world and seeing a Palace stripped of all decoration and even furniture was surprising. Leora thought that maybe the royal family ran away but she quickly found an immobile King Vorkalth. His eyes were wide open and he looked alive but for some reason he couldn't move. All of this was way too confusing and Leora called for a doctor:

"He is still alive but cannot move his arms or legs.

-Is it poison?

-We can't tell yet what caused this state but it is most likely poisoning."

Leora frowned. What happened here? She couldn't shake off a strange feeling. Was it her? Leora had been looking for Angeline for years but could never find her trace anywhere. She felt that she must have changed her name but why couldn't she stop feeling that she played a role in this? Leora had to be clear in her mind:

"Where are the other family members?

-It seems they are all... Dead.

-What did you say?

-We found two graves in the central garden. Those graves survived the fire and seem to be erected for Crown Prince Ross Thornton and Second Prince Isaac Thornton. It seems they have died in battle.

-In battle? If one of our troops killed them we would have known.

-I do not know, your Highness. That is what was written on their graves.

-I see, thank you."

The knight bowed before walking away and left Queen Leora with her right hand man, Mazus Addington.

"What do you think happened here, Your Highness?

-I don't know... The two Princes secretly killed in battle, the King poisoned, the Queen missing... None of this makes sense.

-Maybe others took advantage of our war to launch their own attack."

Leora thought about it for a bit. There were too many questions at the tip of her tongue and she didn't know which one to focus on first. And soon a new question arrived to her:

"We found the Queen's body!"

Leora frowned:

"Body?

-Queen Wish is dead. She seems to have died of asphyxiation.

-Could she have been poisoned too?"

The doctor shook his head:

"She seems to have died of external causes."

Mazus smiled:

"Great!"

But seeing that Leora wasn't smiling, Mazus taped her in the back:

"Why the long face? We won the war! The Thornton's are no more! We have so many things to celebrate. Our people are going to be overjoyed. And seeing the state of the capital, these people will be relieved too. It won't be hard to get them on our side.

-Don't count chicken before they hatch.

-Come on, Your Highness. You could relax from time to time. Let's go home and tell everyone the good news. We can worry tomorrow."

Leora wasn't convinced. She felt that something big was hiding behind this story but seeing how tired her troops were, she couldn't disagree.

"Let's go home.

-Yes! Did you hear that guys? We are finally going back to our families!"

They decided to depart as soon as possible. They should have celebrated in Thornton Castle but it was in ruins so they had to push back the celebration to later. As soon as they arrived they got welcomed as heroes and a feast was already waiting for them. Leora didn't feel like eating or partying. She couldn't forget about everything she had seen but she couldn't take this away from her knights. They had fought by her side for seven years and could finally relax. She could put her worries aside for one more day.

"Let's raise our glasses to our Queen! She wiped out the Thornton name from the face of this earth. She is the best Queen of all generations! To our Queen!"

Everyone followed the movement and Leora did her best to smile. She really didn't do anything and despite the length of the war, it all seemed too easy. One second they were having a hard time and the next second her soldiers couldn't stop progressing. It all happened just too suddenly.

"Who would have thought that we would beat those rats?

-Finally! Our ancestors must be celebrating too."

Leora listened to the conversations without wanting to. She didn't want to leave to show her people that she was there for them but she really didn't care about what was being said.

"Technically we haven't wiped them out yet.

-What the hell are you talking about?

-About Angeline Thornton.

-What are you saying? She died too?

-Do you have proof of that? Her body was never found.

-But she disappeared such a long time ago.

-Too long a time ago. And our Queen still didn't sign the divorce papers. I wonder what all of this is about."

Leora felt people looking at her and she rolled her eyes. They just won a war and people were still complaining. She couldn't never make them happy.

"Why would she stay married to her after everything she did to us?"

Leora didn't have the patience to listen to people badmouthing Angeline again and she was ready to stand up but that was when she heard a loud noise outside the ballroom. Only a few people noticed because of how noisy people were inside and those who heard sharpened their ears, waiting to hear it again. The noise did come again and this time everyone heard and jumped up.

"What's happening? Was that an explosion?"

People started running to the other side of the ballroom and some of them started crying:

"The war just ended! Who is it again?"

They soon got an answer to their questions because the next noise was the door being kicked in and the ballroom got invaded by bandits. Everything went very fast. People couldn't stop rushing in and subdued the soldiers present without difficulty. Seeing all these scary faces, those who had been eating happily a few minutes prior were now screaming:

"Help! Help us!"

Leora regretted listening to Mazus. She should have kept her sword no matter what. There were way too many people for her to do something with her bare fists. She was caught. The bandits seemed to find this whole situation very funny and they had the time of their life terrorizing people and eating their meal.

"Who are you? screamed Leora."

But the Queen got royally ignored. The bandits all were wearing dark and ragged clothes and their faces were covered in scars for most. Despite that it was a very heterogen crowd. Some of them looked like pirates, others like knights. No one could understand how so many different people could run in together. And they didn't stop coming. Soon they couldn't fit in the ballroom anymore and had to take people out.

When they came to Leora, Mazus tried interposing himself but got soon dragged away too. Once Mazus out of sight, the bandits looked at Leora with understanding smiles:

"Boss is going to be very happy."

Hearing them, Leora asked:

"Who is your boss?

-Oh, you are going to meet her soon, don't worry. She is on her way."

They started laughing and hearing them, other bandits came around Leora. She ignored their remarks and waited in a dignified manner. She felt that something big was coming and until she could do something, she wouldn't lose her composure. She didn't give up but until she found a plan she needed to stay calm. They were way too many.

"Hey everyone!"

Leora froze. It couldn't be. What was she doing here? She couldn't see the person who just walked in because of the bandits standing around her but she could have recognized the voice anywhere. It was her. It all made sense now. Leora tried standing up to have a better view but a hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing so.

The bandits suddenly went silent and stared at a figure which was walking closer and closer to Leora. The silence was torment and Leora didn't know if she wanted time to stop or if she wanted these bandits to stop blocking her view. She didn't have time to decide because the two bandits in front of her suddenly stepped away and Leora found herself face to face with her.

It really was her. She looked way different but at the same time looked exactly the same. It was the same blond hair, it was the same gray eyes, it was the same white smile. But her eyes were shining, no they were burning with a strange light. Her smile was amused and haughty. There was something more in her aura too. It was as if she was surrounded by gold. She looked imposing and terrifying at the same time and Leora thought that she had grown 20 cm but in reality she was still the same height. How could this be the Angeline she married? She looked like she could kill her with a finger and Leora forgot to breathe for a second.

Seeing her in this state, the lost Princess laughed before turning around to face her people:

"We won!"

Her statement was followed by victory roars and Leora thought the ballroom would collapse under such force. The ran away Princess started jumping up and down with a smile:

"We made it, guys! Now it's time for celebration!"

This got followed by way more cheering and Leora's arms got grabbed by two bandits before forcing her to stand up. They pulled her away from the throne and Angeline sat down under crushing celebration. Leora finally got back her voice and the only thing she could say was:

"Angeline..."

She had no idea how Angeline heard her but she turned to Leora with an amused smile:

"Angeline is dead, darling. I am Queen Imperia."