Shadow of Death

III

The Oracle came not knowing what to think of the phenomena. The whole palace, seemed to her, was covered in something like a black smoke representing the presence of Death. Even the village has traces of it. What's even more, a puzzle is in the center of that black stormy smoke is the princess herself.

"Oh, dear!" She exclaimed even as she sat down on her special seat beside the king. A table full of grand and exquisite dishes lay in front of them. "Oh dear!" she said again.

The princess sat in the chair from across her, and the oracle turned deathly pale.

The king was laughing at a joke when he noticed something was odd about the oracle by his side. "Whatever is the matter, Madame?" He asked still laughing.

"This is catastrophic." The oracle said half to herself. "Oh, dear."

"Catastrophic?" The king looked as if another joke was cracked. "I say, it's a miracle sent from heaven." He laughed again. "The kingdom was never this lively and happy before! Cheers to that!"

"Cheers!" They all answered in chorus, except for the old oracle.

"No, you've mistaken." She was engulfed in fear as she grabbed the sleeve of the king's cloak. "This is bad."

"I know the definition of bad, and this is not it. Why don't you eat, you're probably hungry." The king felt a bit annoyed by the oracle's demeanor.

"No, my king, we all could be in danger. Death is around us." Her eyes grew bigger as she spoke.

The princess tried to smile at her in the hope of taking her worry away. "Madame, I think you are overwhelmed by the change you've seen, as we had when this miracle happened. You will realize soon that this is the best thing that has happened to the kingdom so far."

"Your highness, you don't understand." She stood from her chair, and the company fell quiet to listen to what she is going to say. "You are in the center of this all. The Shadow of Death hovers upon you!" She pointed to the princess.

"That is enough!" The king roared as he stood. "Clearly, you are not in the right mind to process all this. Guards, escort Madame Clara out of the palace please, she might need to rest."

The oracle composed herself, allowed to be escorted but not touched by the guards. She stopped a step from the doorway, turned around, and looked directly at the king. "My king, was I ever wrong?" She then went on and out of the palace.

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Miles and miles away the former queen sat alone. She looked like an old lady when in reality, she was only a bit past forty. About a decade ago, she settled in this little house sitting beside an oasis, far beyond the city. Contradictory to what the king and the princess had come to know, she is alive. Only, her longingness and loneliness made her look weary.

She picked up a little desert flower and gently caressed it, while she sat by her window. She stared like she can see the city walls, and even through them. But there was nothing to look at but a sea of golden sand. What's more, her eyes are covered in a black cloth tied around her head. This is to protect anyone who would dare try to look at her in the eye.

She didn't like where she is. If only she could trade anything to see her husband, the king, and her precious daughter again, she would gladly give anything, but there was nothing to trade. One look at them, and they would turn to stone. She could be the cause of their demise, and to her, it is unthinkable. The only way to save them is to never see them again.

She was cursed. Brought to her by her own pride. Boasting that she had the most beautiful daughter in the world. Though it could have been true, she recklessly added "even the goddesses would be so envious that they would try to steal her beauty!" She said that often and would let the people stare at the little princess.

The queen was a witch by nature, but even if she had come from a long line of magic-doers, there was something stronger than her that made the wind blow one night and stabbed a breeze into her eyes.

She woke from her sleep, and as she looked at her pet scorpions on a table near her, they each turned into stone. She knew what was happening to her, she knew how strong the curse was and the fact that she could not defeat it. It took all her might to not look at the king sleeping by her side, she ran to the balcony and with an awful scream, she jumped down. The king woke and ran after her.

He rushed to see his queen. He stared down the balcony and saw a glimpse of her, limping forward to the shadows of the bushes. He hurriedly went down, but when he got there, she seemed to have vanished.

That night, the kingdom did not sleep. The king had all the confusion in the world. What could have happened to his queen that made her seem mad? He doesn't know unless he would find her. The whole kingdom tried. Not one corner was left unsearched, but with all those, the queen was never found.

Three months of despair came to pass when an odd woman knocked on the palace gates, requesting an audience with the king. She stated that she came from far-off lands and was acquainted with the queen. She told them that the queen has traveled so far and seemed to be out of her mind. She had wounds and a day after they met, she died from an unknown illness.

The king, of course, called it nonsense. He denied every thought and theory that suggested any misfortunes the queen could have encountered. He refused to listen to the woman too until she took out from her satchel, a bracelet owned and beloved by the queen.

The King had nothing to do then but cry. For every tear that fell, he spoke his queen's name. The woman watched for minutes, then said "There is nothing to worry or grieve about, the queen had a troubled mind, but she is now at peace." She told them that she could talk to her even now and that she is an oracle with many talents. From then on, Madame Clara visits the palace as requested by the king to ease whatever matters there are that should be eased.

But Madame Clara was not an oracle of any kind until she met the king's wife. She owns the little house the queen had decided to take over, a spell was simply cast upon her and from then, she has become a puppet. Going back and forth to the palace and reporting everything to her mistress.

At the moment, Madame Clara hurried to report important matters to the queen. She traveled far to go back to the queen's little house. It had already been two days since her appearance at the palace. She burst open the door and being so tired, knelt beside the sitting queen. She held her hand as she spoke, trembling. "Your child is in grave danger!" Her voice cracked as she fainted.