The Kingdom built by her father, destroyed by his daughter. The sword that she held, pointed at her. The puppet she played with, cut all its strings. Her ultimate strength becomes her very weakness. The beautiful chamber of the Princess, reduced to...
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^Zayen Hellvin, on the stage of war
*****
My eyes hurt...
The sun shines brightly outside my balcony as I stir and wake up. The birds are peacefully chirping outside in the morning sun, I might even forget that something dire happened the night before.
Wait. Was it a dream?
I quickly get up. My morning mind does not let me think clearly. Everything seems normal, just the way it always was. Nothing seems amiss. Or am I simply imagining it?
My eyes dart around aimlessly as they fall on my hand. My shoulders slump and my eyelids droop, as I form a meaningless grin on my face. "It wasn't a dream after all...," I say as I bring my ringed finger which has lost its stone, before my eyes.
I sit on the edge of my bed, looking at the ring, blankly. I still lack the ability to form any proper opinion regarding however did the stone reach her. This can't go on like this. I am unmotivated to do anything at all right now, but I can't not do anything at the end of the day, especially when the day has just begun.
"I must at least take a bath," I mutter to myself before doing the said deed.
*****
I sit on my couch, watching as my pocket watch ticks away. There are soldiers outside my room door, and I am presently not allowed to leave my room. I can only wait that someone will arrive with a message. While I still have the windows to consider escaping, I don't want to bring trouble upon myself. I'll wait.
Koling enters after a few moments.
I quickly get to my feet and approach him. "What happened?" I ask, though I'm not sure what I actually mean. His eyes are red and swollen, and he looks lost.
"Greetings, Your Royal Highness," he says, though with a heavy heart. Koling...did you say it that way for me to remember who called me that the last? That's it. It's done.
I've lost.
"Dr. Ross examined Her Majesty. He gave us the results early in the morning today. There were no other bruises, hence there was no struggle or force between Her Majeaty and the killer. If that is so, then the letter opener must've been thrown from a distance, since Her Majesty is no less of a fighter herself. The letter opener was conpletely thrusted in her jugular, but Dr. Ross said that the motive of the killer was only to kill. Which means the letter opener was not touched again which was evident from the clean dig of her throat. But then, the whole of the object was burried in her jugular. Hence, whoever threw the object had strength, as well as accuracy."
I remain silent at his pause, and he takes the cue to continue.
"His Majesty was concerned when Her Majesty did not show up for the meal. He sought out to her himself in the following way that I shall hereby specify. He stood before her chambers and knocked for a while. Due to lack of response, he tried to speak through the door. He was confident that she would've answered, given that he kept doing it for some longer while. When he found something was amiss, only then did he try to enter, but at first, he did not enter by himself. He sent a maid in, hoping Her Majesty was only exhausted. The maid came back running, panicking. Her Majesty entered then, without delay, with two soldiers with him. He saw her lying on the floor in the afore-said manner. The maid's earlier screams had awakened the Premeir, who happened to be in the courtyard nearby. It was he who acted quickly to check the surroundings. As per his report, and the soldiers, it is clear that the windows that lead into her chambers were closed and locked on the inside. Her wardrobe and the shelves were pried open, considering the murderer to be present, but the results were negative. Mr. Edward, formerly from the defense unit, was skilled enough to check the surroundings for any misplaced object, but found nothing aside the letter opener."
