Her Majesty's revenge..

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬...

Scene: Rajan’s Flashback – 10 years ago, inside the palace

(Approx. 1200 words)

---

The palace’s marble hall was quiet that evening, bathed in the gold light of flickering torches. Outside, the wind hissed against the ancient walls, but inside—silence.

Rajan sat across from Kira in the royal study, a large, half-empty glass of wine in his hand. She lounged lazily on the cushioned window seat, draped in a silk robe, one leg bent, the other stretched, as if the world and its rules did not apply to her.

Her smirk was already there, as if she could hear the questions in his head before he even spoke.

---

Rajan: "Kira… can I ask you something?"

Kira: (tilting her head, eyes glinting) "You always can, Rajan. Whether you want the truth is another matter."

Rajan: "What do you think about… life?"

She chuckled, a low sound that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Kira: "Life? It’s a battlefield where everyone is pretending to be innocent until the moment they need to kill."

Rajan: (frowning) "That’s… dark."

Kira: (smirking wider) "No, that’s honest. People dress life up with pretty words—family, friendship, love—but strip it down and you’ll find survival. Nothing else."

---

Rajan sipped his wine, studying her.

Rajan: "And what about love? Surely… you believe in it?"

She laughed, sharp and sudden, as if he’d told her the most absurd joke.

Kira: "Love is the most effective form of control. People die for it. People kill for it. People surrender their freedom for it."

Rajan: "So you’ve never loved anyone?"

Kira: (her smirk faded for just a second, eyes narrowing) "Love makes you weak. I’ve seen it. I’ve destroyed it. It turns even the strongest into fools."

Rajan: "Then… what about death?"

Kira: (leaning forward, eyes locked on his) "Death is the only promise life keeps. Everything else is a lie."

---

There was a long pause.

Rajan: "If you don’t believe in love… and life is just survival… what’s the point of it all?"

Kira: (grinning) "The point is to win. To outlive, outsmart, and outlast everyone who thinks they can beat you. The point is to make sure that when you finally die… your enemies die first."

---

Rajan shifted in his seat, unsettled.

Rajan: "That’s… a dangerous way to live."

Kira: (shrugging) "Dangerous people survive longer. Safe people are the first to be buried."

Rajan: "What about kindness?"

Kira: (smirk curling back) "Kindness is a luxury for the powerful. For the weak, it’s a death sentence."

---

Her words sliced through the quiet, each one deliberate, heavy.

Rajan: "Do you ever… regret anything?"

Kira leaned back against the wall, her profile catching the firelight.

Kira: "Regret is just an anchor. It keeps you in the past, slows you down. I cut mine loose a long time ago."

Rajan: (softly) "Even if it’s about someone you cared for?"

Her gaze flickered, but her voice stayed cool.

Kira: "Caring is dangerous. It gives people leverage over you. And leverage is a weapon I never allow in someone else’s hands."

---

Rajan: "So… if someone hurt the person you… hypothetically cared about, what would you do?"

Kira’s smile returned—slow, deliberate, and cruel.

Kira: "I’d kill them. And everyone they ever loved. Then I’d burn their memory from the world until it’s as if they never existed."

Rajan swallowed, feeling both fear and awe.

Rajan: "You talk about killing so casually."

Kira: (leaning forward, eyes sharp as blades) "Because it’s casual. Death is just… a shift in the balance of power. Remove one piece, the board changes. Simple."

---

Rajan: "What about you? Are you afraid of dying?"

Kira’s laughter was soft, almost sweet—but it chilled him.

Kira: "I’m not afraid of dying, Rajan. I’m afraid of dying insignificant."

---

He sat there, watching her, wondering if there was ever a girl behind the queen, behind the cruelty.

Rajan: "So no love. No kindness. No regrets. Just survival."

Kira: "Exactly."

Rajan: (leaning forward, voice low) "Then why keep me around?"

Kira tilted her head, that sly smirk returning.

Kira: "Because you’re useful. And because I haven’t decided yet whether you’re a threat or an asset."

Rajan: "And if I became a threat?"

Her eyes locked on his, unblinking.

Kira: "I’d end you before you even realized I’d made the decision."

---

The wind outside howled against the palace walls, but the silence between them felt louder.

Rajan knew, in that moment, that Kira wasn’t like anyone else. She didn’t just survive—she thrived in the shadows, feeding on the fear of others.

And yet… deep down, he couldn’t shake the feeling that all this coldness was a fortress. That somewhere behind those walls, she had buried something—someone—worth protecting.

But she would never admit it.

---

Kira: (rising from the window seat, walking past him with a faint brush of her robe against his arm) "Careful, Rajan. The more questions you ask, the more answers you might not survive hearing."

And then she was gone, leaving only the faint scent of her perfume and the echo of her words.

_______________________________________

𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩

Rajan’s breath hitched as he stood in the doorway of the abandoned room, the coppery stench of blood thick in the air. Fifteen bodies sprawled across the floor—thirteen riddled with clean, precise gunshots, two mangled beyond recognition, killed by sheer, merciless force.

His chest tightened, not from fear, but from recognition.

That style. That precision. That rage.

It had been over a decade, but the memory was burned into him—the way Kira had once spoken of death as nothing more than “a shift in the balance of power.” The way her smirk had lingered after saying she’d erase her enemies from existence.

He knew.

A strange, conflicted warmth spread through him. Relief. She was alive. After all these years, after all the whispers that she was gone—Kira was still out there.

But something else twisted in his gut. She had changed. Back then, she was calculated, methodical. Now… this was brutality. There was no elegance in these corpses—only rage, as if the killings weren’t just strategic but personal.

He glanced at Adrian, who was kneeling beside Maya, unaware of the storm raging in Rajan’s mind.

Kira… what have you become?