THE QUEEN'S SERVANT

14

Raja followed discreetly behind the king and his mother. They went further from the crowd, near a tall tree. The young servant had his eyes set on the older woman and he realized he never felt so much hatred for anyone before her. He wanted to launch forward, grab her by the throat and squeeze until he would hear her bones crack. But then, he refrained from doing something so reckless. The satisfaction of killing one useless royal wasn't worth losing his own life. The day would come eventually when he would be able to make her pay for everything she did to him. He had to remain patient. 

Right then, Raja wanted to hear what the queen mother would say to her son. The boy was more and more convinced that this woman didn't despise her for no particular reason except for the fact that his mother was a foreigner. Sadly, he was hiding too far away from them and couldn't understand what they were saying. He could tell that the queen mother was very upset and angry at her son, though. She hit him in the chest numerous times while speaking. The king just stood there, looking frustrated. After a while, the mother left and king Hassan was alone, holding his waist.

Raja frowned, gazing at him. He wondered why the king had taken his defense earlier. All royals were the same. They all looked down on him and treated him like trash. Yet, the king defended him earlier against his own mother, in front of a large audience. Did he do it to impress the queen? It didn't look like it. It seemed like he genuinely hated his mother's words.

Raja didn't like that. He didn't want to have any reason to feel sympathy for king Hassan. He took from him too many things, starting from his parents to Rocky who didn't love him anymore because of this man.

"One day, I will also make you pay for everything you did to me." The young boy whispered as he watched the king go back to the tent.

Raja was now alone and he remembered his purpose. He came to this village for a reason, not only to be around the queen. Raja wanted to know more about his roots and he was sure that he'd get answers in this place.

A few days ago, something happened. It was the night he committed his first deadly crime...Not that he had any regrets about that. Raja knew he would not be able to control the monster inside him for too long. It broke its chains that day when that musician girl called him names in front of the queen. He'd heard those same words countless times before but she was unlucky enough to say them at the wrong time. Raja had to get rid of her. Drawing in the art room was not going to calm him, that time. 

He figured out she would be performing at a local tavern, not too far away from the palace. Raja went there with a veil that would hide his face and watched her play music without knowing that this would be her last performance ever.

She left the tavern very late, in the midst of the night. By that time, most people were gone or too drunk to realize what was happening around them. Raja followed the woman until she reached a darker side of town and attacked her.

No matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn't recall what he'd done to her. He just knew that there was a lot of blood and that she asked him many times why he was doing that. She probably never figured out who he was because of his veil. Yet, it felt good to watch her lifeless body afterward. Raja wished he could save that image inside his brain but he was already starting to forget it. He didn't get to watch her as long as he wanted because he'd been interrupted.

"Who is there? "

Raja could remember his fear when he turned around and saw two men with their oil lamps. They also had veils on so he couldn't make out their faces, yet Raja heard them gasp as they saw the broken body at his feet. He tried running but they grabbed him and pinned him against the wall. He wanted to scream but didn't want to attract more people to his crime scene. One of the men pulled his veil off and gasped again. Raja thought he was done for. People here hardly accepted to let someone like him live among them. Now that he'd committed murder, mixed children would also get executed with their parents, without ever getting a chance to live.