Queen's Reign

Chapter 5

Aeviria was in mourning black for the next week. The people gloomily hung up black banners to the front of their homes, mourning the loss of Queen Myranda. The men and women wore black for the week and no music was allowed to be played. 

On the day of burial, Adelyn wore a black silk gown with a wreath of white gardenias on her head. She walked behind the cherry wood casket bearing the body of Myranda alongside Desiric as they progressed down the road through the town leading to the royal burial garden.  The citizens of Aeviria lined the road, laying down bouquets for the queen, their eyes following the procession. 

As the guards bearing the coffin laid it into the earth, Adelyn who watched from behind felt a gentle tug on her skirt. Surprised, she looked down. A little girl, probably 5, looked up at her with big eyes that welled up with tears. She held a little white lily in her hand.

“Milady, please give this to the queen. I plucked it from my mother’s garden.” The simple gesture made Adelyn think back to the countless times she did the same thing to her mentor. Wiping the tears from her face, she smiled sadly at the girl and knelt to pick her up. She walked to the grave as it was being earthed, kneeling down and the girl placed her flower on the grass in front of the grave. 

Adelyn stood with the girl in her arms, both silently watching the guards fill the grave with soil. Sudden rain poured down from the sky and Desiric held up a black umbrella to shield them both from getting wet. He led them to the girl’s parents and Adelyn put the girl down, seeing her run towards her parents. They bowed and thanked her, which was returned with a smile that did not reach her eyes. 

A carriage arrived before Adelyn, where Desiric escorted her in and joined her inside. With a signal from him, the coachman drove the horses back to the palace.  

**********

Ethelina arrived at the Thatis Empire palace 3 days after she departed. Prince Khan dozed off beside her, leaning his head on her shoulder. She gently pushed him off as the guard opened the carriage door to let her out. Her trunks were being unloaded from the other carriages, the servants carefully carried them up the steps of the palace.

The rustling sound of paper from her dress pocket reminded her of her plans to escape. She patted it down, walking up the steps of the palace elegantly. A butler met her at the top of the stairs, bowing in greeting. He wordlessly handed her a scroll sealed with the national emblem of Aeviria, printed in blood-red wax. She opened it and briefly read it’s contents.

Your Royal Highness, Princess Ethelina of Aeviria,

We are deeply saddened to inform you of the death of the late Queen Myranda of Aeviria. Lady Adelyn will now take over as Queen Regent until her coronation two days after, in which we wish you would be present with Their Majesties of the Thatis Empire.

The princess waved a hand to dismiss the butler and smirked at the scroll. Although her sister’s death wasn’t planned, it felt good to get her revenge. She entered the huge doors of the palace while the servants continued piling her belongings and bringing them into her room.

The hall isn’t as beautiful as Aeviria’s palace, but it was nonetheless breathtaking. The glass windows were stained with beautiful images depicting angels with white and gold robes shrouded in heavenly light. The fireplace placed farther into the hall blazed and burned bright, as if it was sensing her presence. The lush, red carpet with golden tassels covered the white statuario marble floor. 

Prince Khan saw that she wasn’t paying attention and slid his hand under her arm, making her jump in surprise. “Impressive isn’t it, little flower? I knew you would love the palace,” he twirled her around in his arms and she nodded. “It is wonderful.” Ethelina faked a smile.

“Come, my parents want to meet you.” He escorted her into a sitting room just up the stairs, overlooking the entrance below with glass walls. The king and queen stood up when she entered and embraced her, leaving the princess surprised at her future in-law's affection.

"Forgive us, Ethelina. Back in Aeviria, we didn't want to be snobbish, but there was an air of insecurity there. We didn't want to let our guard down." The king invited her to sit on the chairs facing the king and queen and the prince immediately sat beside her.

The queen smiled warmly at her. "Do you enjoy the palace, my dear? It is beautiful, but definitely not as beautiful as yours." Ethelina gave a nervous smile, laughing a bit. "No, Your Majesties. It's wonderful."

Taking a sip of tea, Queen Rania continued. “Well Ethelina, do you know one of our marriage traditions? I have one that you might find interesting.” The princess slightly shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Your Majesty.”

She turned away from Ethelina to face the king and her son. “I’m not really sure you two should stay…” King George’s face brightened up at his wife’s request. “Of course, we’ll leave you to it. Come, son. Let’s go and grab some of that apple pie in the kitchen.” They left, closing the door behind them.

“So, as I was speaking. It was customary for the groom to provide a beautiful tapestry for the bride to hang it up on their wedding night and the rest of the following week,” the queen said, as she poured another cup of tea for herself. “Really, Your Highness?” Ethelina asked.

“Of course. My favourite bit is that the groom must include the bride’s four favourite colours and use her favourite type of thread. It is very sweet when somebody does that for you.” The princess faked a smile, pretending to enjoy her time with the queen.

“Well, it does seem late already. You’ll need your rest,” she called to a servant standing in a corner beside a potted plant. “Dave, please escort Princess Ethelina to her rooms.” He bowed and politely waited for her to exit before following a respectful distance beside.

Up a flight of stairs and into a hallway lighted with scones, they stopped in front of a door decorated with little gems and crystals. “Your Royal Highness, this will be your room until after the wedding. She nodded and reached for the golden handles, pushing the doors open. The chambers were massive. Window drapes the colour of the setting sun were hung up on all the floor-to-ceiling windows, a large rosewood table with a matching sitting lounge sat in front of the fireplace. A huge canopy bed with matching golden hues was centred in the room on a slightly raised platform, where further inside was her desk, two adjoining shelves of books and her vanity.

Ethelina entered and closed the door behind her, ignoring the servant outside. She slowly walked through the rooms and in the sitting area she found a crystal decanter sitting innocently on the table. Opening it up, she caught a whiff of the liquid inside it. It seemed to be whiskey. After staring at it for some time, Ethelina had the sudden urge to drink her troubles away. Here she was, away from all she knew and about to be married to a man she didn’t even love. She took one of the glasses that were near the bottle and poured a generous amount into it before flopping down on the very plush settee. With one swig she drank nearly half the contents of the glass and grimaced at the burning sensation in her throat but the warmth of the liquor soon replaced it and she gave a happy hum as she finished her first glass.

The palace is too heavily guarded. I can't escape without killing myself. Guards were posted down the palace's royal wing, and there would be more guards patrolling the hallways at night. Even the servants are trained to fight, given the dagger they had beside them. The princess thought, drinking another two glasses. Her brain started to fog as the alcohol took effect, making her slump on the couch and close her eyes slightly. She was starting to doze when a knock on the door startled her. Looking up with bleary eyes. Squinting slightly, she saw the faint silhouette of Prince Khan walking towards her. "My lord," she tried standing up, only to stumble and fall back on the couch. 

"I've taken that you've drunk a little too much," he said, eyeing the glass in her hand still and the half-finished bottle of whiskey. Ethelina didn't respond.

The prince was insistent as he tried to carry her to her bed. The first time she growled at him to keep his hands off, the second time he succeeded in picking her up. The glass was still clutched in her hand and the prince pried it away and deposited it on the nightstand before he gently laid her down and started to undress, taking off his embroidered coat and throwing it on the floor without a care. He then clambered into bed as well, staring at her while trying to take off her dress, unhooking the little hooks behind her back.

He climbed on top of her, still trying to fiddle with the hooks. Ethelina realised all of a sudden what he was trying to do, but she couldn't move. He pinned her down with both hands on the pillows and started to kiss her.

Her hand found the glass she used earlier and tried to grab it from the nightstand. It was hard, given that she was still swayed by the whiskey with the prince bearing on her, blocking her escape, but she managed to smash the vase on his face, shattering it.

The prince let go of her for a moment, touching his forehead to find blood on his palm. His eyes widened, giving Ethelina time to scramble down from the edge of the bed. She winced as her bare feet cut on the glass shattered around.

Prince Khan got off his position on the bed and pushed Ethelina down on the ground, making her cut her forearm on the glass again. "You dare hit me? Let's see if you'll do it again." He pinned her down, trying to kiss her again.

She tried pushing him away, flailing for a shard of glass beside her. Grabbing it, she slashed his cheek and wrestled herself free. Before the princess could get far, Prince Khan grabbed her from behind and strangled her.

"You will regret this, little flower." He pressed harder on her windpipe. As she slowly lost consciousness, she took out the shard of glass, which was stained with blood and thrust it into the prince's shoulder, turning to push it deeper.

He howled in pain, releasing his grip on her. Ethelina ran to the balcony, stopped and used the shard to cut off the hem of her dress and bind her foot to stall the bleeding, then jumped off the balcony into the grass below. 

Slowly getting to her feet, she ran to the stables in search of a horse. She instantly pushed open the wooden doors, grabbing the first horse she could find. A groom tried pushing her away from the horse, but she sliced his throat, making him slide to the ground. Ethelina flung herself on the horse and kicked it on the rump. The stallion took off flying, knocking down any guards and servants that were in its way. She pulled on the reins, directing it to go for the palace gates and into the dark forest ahead.

*********

Another rainy evening loomed darkly over Aeviria, shrouding the land in shadows. Adelyn sat in the palace library, going through a leather-covered book. She leafed through the pages, not paying attention to reading since Myranda’s death.

Desiric opened the library doors, holding a tray with mint tea and some cookies. “Adelyn? I brought some tea.” She heard his voice, walking to one of the oak tables and sat as he put down the tray. Adelyn wordlessly picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Desiric, setting it down in front of him then a cup for herself. The tea wafted fragrances of fresh mint, emanating a calming effect in the room. 

“Adelyn, I know you are sad. Queen Myranda was a great queen, but you must be strong for her.” Desiric moved to sit beside her, bringing one arm around her shoulders, making her lean on him. She settled comfortably in his embrace, on the verge of tears as she said: “She was like my mother, Desiric. I was homeless, till she brought me in.” 

He gently tilted her chin upwards to face him. “I know that, but now you have to take her place. She wouldn’t want you to be sad.” He gave a reassuring smile, then pressed a kiss on her lips. Pulling away, Adelyn smiled at Desiric. “Enjoy your book. I need to go check on some issues at the port. Be back soon.” He finished his tea and after a last look at her, he walked out of the library. 

*********

Crescentia held her flute as she watched Ravenna's guards bring a villager to the foot of the throne. The villager was chained and cuffed, thrashing in his chains as Aldare pushed him down on his face in front of the duchess.

"My lady, this villager spread rumours of your name. I believe his family has already fled the Hart." Aldare announced, the guards unceremoniously kicked the villager, making him grunt in pain as his face was further pushed into the cobblestone floor.

Ravenna opened her fan and gently fanned herself. "I see. Thank you Aldare, you may step aside." The general bowed and stepped on the dias flanking the two sides of the old throne room. Crescentia nudged her. "Good catch, Al."

Ravenna's commanding voice echoed in the windowless throne room. "Dear villager, did I not provide for the kingdom? Why spread rumours to defame your duchess?" She stood up, slowly walking towards him and gave him a flinty stare.

"You are no duchess. You only plan to trample our already weakened kingdom into nothing but dust." The villager, Thomas spat on the ground. Isanta and Norwine looked at each other helplessly, not sure what to do.

"Am I treating you that bad? I'm sorry, I didn't know," she jeered. Thomas jerked and flailed in his chains, trying to strangle Ravenna, which she pushed him back down effortlessly. "See? You harbour dark magic, filthy witch." He said as Aldare put her boot on his back, crushing him down. 

"Do you know, Thomas? The lady of Aeviria, the future queen, has magic too. Is she a filthy witch then?" The duchess slowly circled him, tapping her closed fan on her waist. 

"You think I care? She is the best queen anyone could ever wish for. Her magic is earned, she deserves it. You only use magic and unruly powers that belong to the underworld."

Aldare shouted. "Don't you dare say such of our queen!" Laila merely blinked, slowly sipping her tea on the dais beside Crescentia.

"Well, if I'm that evil as you say, then are you more befitting to return to the heavens before I do?" Ravenna stopped, motioning to Crescentia, who raised her flute to her lips.

Norwine's eyes widened at what she implied. However, Thomas didn't waver at all. "Kill me if you should, Ravenna. I'm nothing to the kingdom as I am nothing to you. But mark my words, all of your corrupt ladies and servants here, my death will be avenged one day. Be it someone I know, or someone I don't. Remember my words, Ravenna."

The duchess didn't reply, motioning again to Crescentia in the shadows. She blew into her flute, which suddenly went from a silver flute to one that glowed bright purple. 

The villager screamed, writhing on the floor as his ears and eyes bled at the sound of the flute. He tried covering his ears, only to find that his flesh was slowly sizzling, snarling and melting away from his bones. After a moment, he died, his corpse a b****y c*****e on the floor.

Ravenna smiled at Crescentia, who put her flute down and smiled back. The flute returned to its original silver coat, glinting in the candlelight.

"Have your men clean up this mess, Laila." The duchess walked down steps of the dias, her dark green velvet dress dragging behind her. She stopped halfway, directly looking at Isanta, who was trembling in fear. Smiling, she walked out of the throne room.