Legend of the Swords

25: Marie

Dimitri returned to the castle with my sister, bloody and passed out in his arms. Everyone went into a flurry to treat her, with doctors being requested left and right to tend to her wounds. I had never seen the palace in such a craze, servants and knights running around like chickens stuffed in a coop with a hungry fox for a living companion. Even the nights were loud as my father tried to figure out exactly what had happened and what was looming on the horizon. 

It took about 3 days for the chaos to slow down and for the nights to return to silence. Dimitri didn't leave my sister's side for a moment, watching over her with such pain and guilt painted on his face you would have thought he had done the damage to her himself. Watching him, I wondered how he would have reacted if he found her dead. I had hoped he would, that she would be forever removed from being a thorn in my side, but in watching him now I pitied that he would have to go through this all over again when I eventually had to be the one to kill her. And then I could swoop in to console him over his loss, becoming his support so that he would eventually fall in love with me. All I needed to do was put the pieces together to make it happen. 

The same tactic I had used with Izen wasn't going to work though. And there was no possible way I was going to get past Dimitri and his guards any time soon. It would be a long haul until I had my opportunity to end this, to put an end to the life this slut had stolen from me. In such a short time she had stolen my throne, my man, and now was being praised like a saint for being so injured while Dimitri was the one in the end that had to clean up her mess. All she ever did was take advantage of his kindness, and barely showed him any appreciation. 

I spent days trying to figure out exactly how I would bring an end to Erilyn's continuous interference with my life. Poisoning would have been easy, if not for the fact that my parents had brought in an apothecary to test all of her fluid transfusions following her previous poisoning. Even with the threat of the king of the Hummingbird Kingdom behind us due to Dimitri's skills in swordsmanship, my parents were all too careful to ensure that Erilyn was protected. There was no way to get my hands on them before they were attached to the needle in Erilyn's arms. And with Dimitri beside her, there was no way of tampering with them after the fact either. 

I had just about given up on trying to plan her death by my own hand when I was approached by Marianne and Matthew on one of my social outings. I had been sipping on my wine at one of my favorite restaurants when Marianne's voice surprised me. "Long time no see Princess Marie! There's been a lot of news from the palace as of late. How are you doing?" I turned to see her, arm in arm with Matthew. They both bowed before joining me at my table. 

"I'm still in my period of mourning following Izen's death, but the palace has been so noisy with Erilyn's return that I had to get some air." Marianne nodded in acknowledgement and Matthew's expression revealed his empathy. 

"Izen was a good man. His loss is definitely a disappointment." I nodded and looked at my wine, trying my best not to smile at how the red in the glass reminded me of how his blood had pooled from his wound. "Some of us are worried Erilyn's arrogance may bring ruin to the kingdom. Especially since she wasn't raised in the royal palace. Her jaded opinions may bring the downfall of the aristocracy." 

"Yes, I've thought about that." Marianne and Matthew looked at each other and then looked back at me, hesitant. "What is it?" 

"We were actually asked to extend an option to you by our higher ups. To see if you would like to partner with Devil's Judgement to bring Erilyn down." Marianne whispered, looking around to make sure no one could overhear us. I was taken aback by her words. I never would have thought that Marianne and Matthew would be involved in the underground, but knowing Marianne's personality and preference to have strings to pull anywhere she could I shouldn't have really been surprised. Matthew on the other hand tended to keep to himself, so I never knew what to expect from him. 

"But the king of the Hummingbird Kingdom and Lord Ryan are dead. Aren't they falling apart?" Having lost their two leaders, I'm sure the lower levels of Devil's Judgement were scrambling. 

"Not falling apart, but they are searching for individuals to take on the roles. Your name was mentioned a few times, and with our friendship being known they requested we offer to arrange a meeting for you," Matthew explained. He spoke in hushed tone, serious as he fiddled with the silverware in front of him. "What is your reply?" 

Having an in with Devil's Judgement would give me some resources to get rid of Erilyn. Especially in her current state and current levels of protection. Plus if I involved other parties, my hands wouldn't be directly dirtied, which would make it easier to feign innocence if anything went south. It also made sense to partner with the underworld so that we would have ties once Erilyn was murdered and out of the running for the throne. All in all it seemed like a decent deal, though I was sure Devil's Judgement would have their own requests as part of this alliance. But that could be negotiated and thought about later. "Alright, I'll meet with them." 

"Perfect! We don't think you'll be disappointed Your Highness." Marianne grinned as she stood, pulling Matthew with her. "We'll send the Messenger to you when we get the time and date secured for your meeting. Until then Princess Marie." They both bowed and went on their way, Marianne pulling Matthew with such force he was almost tripping over his own feet as they left. Meanwhile I took the time to finish my wine and think over the agreement I just made and what I could expect from Devil's Judgement.