A stone flew in through the glass window with lightning speed.
BASH!
It struck her straight in the left eye.
Aislyn stumbled backwards and slumped to her knees, her hands flying up to her face, blood pouring through her fingers.
No..
"Your Majesty!" A deep voice cried out.
General Vael was the first to reach her, dropping beside her, his eyes widening in horror as he caught sight of her face.
"Oh gods—Y-your ey–you've lost an eye, Your Majesty!"
Her eye..
"You're bleeding! Dammit, she's bleeding!" Vael snapped. He spun around, grabbed a nearby knight by the collar and shoved him hard. "Go! Fetch the royal physician—NOW!"
The knight panicked, his body trembling. "T-the physicians.. t-they're gone, s-sir."
Vael blinked. "Gone?!"
"Y-yes, General." The knight said, swallowing hard. "All the workers in the palace.. they've abandoned the Q-Queen."
There was a moment of silence.
Vael's face twisted in fury.
"Even the maids?!"
"Y-yes, sir."
"The cooks? The gardeners? The fucking footmen?!"
"All of them, sir—"
THUD!
Another stone flew in through the broken window, this time slamming against Aislyn's temple.
"Your Majesty!" Vael cried, catching her just before her head hit the marble floor. He tore a strip of cloth from his tunic with shaking hands and wrapped it tightly around her bloodied eye.
"Stay with me!" He begged, ripping another strip and pressing it against the wound at the back of her head.
His hands covered with thick red blood.
Aislyn's breathing slowed.
'Is this how I die?' She wondered. '..From fucking stones?'
"Your Majesty—c-can you hear me?! Look at me!"
Her blurry vision found the General's face, flushed red and filled with worry. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear a word.
Was he scared she'd die?
She looked back up at the ceiling with a faint smile.
She wasn't dying.
She just needed to..
To..
Her eyes fluttered shut.
Sleep.
"Your Majesty!"
~~
The room was dim.
Across, a girl sat.
Barefoot and pale. Hair, the color of faded red paint spilling over her shoulders. She looked nineteen, maybe less. Her eyes were swollen, not from sleep, but from tears she refused to let fall.
Her lips trembled badly.
"I do not wish to carry the sperm of a dying old man in my womb!"
CRACK!
A sharp slap whipped across her face so hard it echoed, making the girl stumbled backwards from the force.
An older woman stood beside her now, tall and terrifying, dressed in all black. Her face contorted with fury.
"You are the King's first wife!" She hissed. "And it is your duty to please him, to give him a son! This Kingdom will not tolerate your childish whining!"
"Why me?!" The girl demanded, shaking her head as she glared up at the woman. "Why must I be the one to bear this burden? Your daughter was the one betrothed to the King, not me. So why must I suffer this fate?"
Her aunt's eyes narrowed like daggers.
"I would never sacrifice my precious angel for power!" Her voice then dropped. "But you.. you are useless! Of no absolute worth! You should be grateful—no escalated! —that you are even allowed to serve the Kingdom. Now, enough of your whining!"
The girl opened her mouth to speak, but a gasp replaced her words as the older woman moved in one swift motion, slamming her against the wall with a hand clutching her by the neck.
"You will fuck the King tonight so good he forgets his own name, do you understand me?!" She growled. "I do not care what infections you catch from his rotting body. This Kingdom needs an heir and I need to remain as the King's royal advisor until my dying breath!"
~~
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty? Is everything alright?"
A man's voice slowly dragged Aislyn's gaze upward. She looked around the long table. They were five faces—some worried, most expressionless.
She creased her brows.
"I… How did I ge.. I remember the stones.. I remember collapsing."
She lifted a trembling hand to her left eye. The second her fingers touched the bandage, she flinched from the pain. When she pulled her hand back, her fingers were smeared with fresh blood.
"There was no physician available.." General Vael, sitted by her right, said grimly. "We sterilized the wound, wrapped it best we could. But if it isn't treated soon, Your Majesty.." He hesitated. "You could bleed to dea—"
"I realize." Aislyn nodded faintly.
Her gaze drifted across the table again. "But.. how am I here? I fainted some seconds ago. I know I did."
A thin-faced councilman, Solas, across the table frowned. "Your Majesty, you've been here over an hour. You woke up moments after you collapsed. You refused rest and demanded the council be summoned."
She blinked. "I did?"
Turning to Vael, she frowned. "General.. is that true?"
He nodded once. "Yes, Your Majesty."
She frowned deeply. Her lips pressed into a tight line. How? It feels like she just opened her eyes.
"As I was saying.." The Commander—Commander Rhess, sharp of tongue and sharper of wit, spoke, dragging them back into the present.
"The situation has escalated beyond anything we've previously managed, Your Majesty."
He paused.
"Riots aren't just riots anymore. The people's fury is spreading like wildfire. This morning, the bloodied corspe of a royal maid was paraded through the streets. They screamed 'whore Queen' as they stomped her into the dirt while they cheered. They want you dead at all cost."
Aislyn massaged her aching temple. "Want me dead? Then it seems they'll have to get in line. There's quite a queue from what I hear."
Silence.
The Commander adjusted.
"You killed your husband, the King." He paused, then continued. "That is why they want you killed, Your Majesty."
Vael stiffened. "Commander—"
"No, no." Aislyn interrupted with a dry smile. "Let him speak. I enjoy a bold accusation."
Commander Rhess didn't hesitate. "We all know what happened, Your Majesty."
"And what exactly happened, Commander?"
"You were the last to see him alive."
"As were his mistress, his chamberlain, and the two guards posted at his door." She raised her gaze to him. "No?"
A few council members shuffled uncomfortably. The General, pursed his lips, Solas coughed into his sleeve and Iridia muttered something underneath her breath that may or may not have translated to idiot.
The Commander's fists clenched. "You're not denying it."
"And I'm not confirming it either." Aislyn replied.
She stood.
And somehow, the room got colder.
"If I wanted him dead, Rhess." She said slowly. "I wouldn't have left the body in my chambers. I wouldn't have summoned the entire court to find me there, seated beside his corpse like some grief stricken widow."
"You—"
Her expression tightened.
"Careful, commander." She gazed at him. "Accuse your Queen of treason without proof, and the next council meeting will be held without your tongue."
The room went pin drop silent,
And the Commander clenched his jaw.
Aislyn sat again. "Now, if we're done finger-pointing like drunk nobles at a harvest fair, can we discuss the actual threat?"
She knew none of them here cared for her safety. The only reason they were still present, in this room, was because they knew if the situation wasn't controlled, being part of the royal house, they would also be killed by the mob.
A voice chimed in, Iridia, the only councilwoman that had been appointed by the King. "The Earl of Caelmoor, a province leader in the Kingdom has been found aiding the rebels. Letting them into the city. His men won't even raise their blades anymore."
Aislyn's lashes lowered. As she suspected.
The Earl never liked her. He was too loyal to the late King, even when the man's body had rotted.
Solas nodded gravely. "And it's not just him. There are rumors that other provinces in the Kingdom are considering their allegiances. The rebellion's forces are growing stronger. Weapons are being smuggled in, and the people—well, they're no longer just angry, Your Majesty. They're organized."
"The east won't offer us any aid." Vael added grimly. "The south has already pulled their banners. If we don't act swiftly, your death may arrive sooner than expected."
Aislyn sighed.
All this,
Because of that damn old man.
The King had driven away every hand stretched in friendship, turned away peace like it was poison and sabotaged every alliance with his paranoia and pride.
Now, with the accusation of she being his murderer, she bore the consequences of his stupid actions.
"You need protection." Iridia spoke. "You need to evacuate, Your Majesty—before they reach the castle."
Aislyn arched a brow at the woman.
"You want me to run? Abandon the throne? Shall I also fetch a sack of potatoes and hide in the woods like some runaway milkmaid?"
"I mean.. it would be safer—" The General began.
But one look from her and he shut up fast.
A chair suddenly creaked across the table and someone stood.
Thorian Vex, Envoy of Veryth, a man in his late forties. He was the King's last appointment.
"I have a solution."
He spoke and all eyes turned.
Aislyn arched an eyebrow, surprised that the man had spoken at all. He rarely said anything in their previous meetings, contributing nothing of worth.
She studied him. "And what is your solution?"
Thorian's eyes scanned the room calmly before they fell back to Aislyn.
"Your solution is the Crown Prince of Veldenar, Your Majesty."
Aislyn leaned back into her chair.
"You think this is a joke, Vex?"
He remained calm.
"Veldenar is the only Kingdom that hasn't dismissed your alliance entirely. Their prince may be willing to make you an offe—"
"You do realize." She cut him off. "That I have the Crown Prince of Veldenar rotting in my dungeon. And his father's head mounted in the eastern gallery?"
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