Chapter Twenty
"Assassins,
normally hard to come by in most areas of Arsinuae,
were extremely common in Sonaro.
This suited Goonads’ way of dealing with problems—
unless she preferred to dispose of them personally …"
—The Pasegean Scrolls
She waited.
She waited, biding her time. Her target was so close, but she knew instinct would tell her when the time was right … no matter how far or close that time may be.
It was coming. She would do almost anything to rush the time by—bringing the intense feeling of sinking the curved silver dagger into Chunia’s velvet stomach closer; to watch her face contort into extreme agony as death closed it’s cold, bony fingers around her heart, wrenching it from her body as she watched him. Then, slice through her soul with his ebony sickle …
She would take such pleasure in the act—it would finally satisfy the blood-lust which had been surging in her veins since Goonads had called upon her to perform such a grand duty for her province. Still, the urge was so great that she found it difficult to bear. Weight hung upon her shoulders, and she knew only death could lift it.
Jenko only hoped that the death to lift it would not be her own.
"What do you mean, Miss. Alderman? Surely you don’t expect me to accept such disrespect for authority! Do you think so highly of yourself that I should bestow extra courtesy on you?!" Mayor Gwaine stared pointedly at Brianne, awaiting her answer. "Well?!"
Shaking her head, Brianne tried her best to apologise. "Please, sir … forgive my ill manners. I am sure that my breeding is not quite as, well, refined—" Brianne forced the words out, thinking to herself: Refined like oil! "—as you and your family, Mayor Gwaine. After all, I am but a humble peasant—"
"Yes, well … what can I expect from an ungrateful drunkard’s bastard daughter?! This town has cared for you and your mother since your father ran away to suffocate on his own vile putrescence outside some cheap Capurnan tavern! And what have you done to repay us?! We’ve shown you nothing but kindness and generosity, Miss. Alderman, and you’ve given us nothing but trouble and shame!"
Brianne looked up at Mayor Gwaine, her eyes wild with fury. "What?! You call reducing our rent by five dumares generosity?! I’ll bet every Vigoan in Tusheba has more sympathy and generosity than you have ever known! Have you any idea what it is like to be shunned by all those you would like to call ‘friend’? You speak of your family as if you are gods, but your own precious daughter, the perfect, the loved—Josephyne! The whole town believes that the ground she walks on is holier than Elanora’s tears! She … she called me such things, those of which you would never believe! Then, she stole from me—I used to wear a bracelet that belonged to my grandmother, made from beautiful blue sapphires … I dropped it on the ground, and when I turned to retrieve it, she had already clasped it onto her own wrist. I wept for months for it, but what was I to do?!"
She was thrown to the floor by Mayor Gwaine, whose face was now flushed with anger. "You dare to accuse my daughter of such a thing?! You say that she stole from you? Your family has stolen from the entire community, shaming us through your actions and your poverty … now you shame us with your words. I shall stand for it no longer, you hear?! I banish you from the town of Airann, Brianne Alderman. I banish your entire family, and any bastard offspring you may produce!" He looked to the staircase leading upstairs, then swung his head back to Brianne, sneering at her. "And, since your mother is too sickly to accompany you …" Trailing off, he let the meaning of his words sink into Brianne’s mind, but she was too dazed from the fall to realise his meaning.
Mayor Gwaine called to his attendants, who grasped Brianne roughly and escorted her to the town gates. They pushed her to the dusty road, and spat on her. Still too confused by the situation to understand, she sat there for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts as the wooden gate was slammed shut.
A scream came from the inn, and she was awakened from her bewilderment. Suddenly, the meaning of his words sunk in. "Mother!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. Brianne banged at the wood for what seemed like hours, the sound of her mother’s anguish too much to bear. She wept, screamed and sobbed until the world became just a blur.
A crown was lowered upon her head, and the Bürian priest proclaimed her Queen of all that was in the name of Tuqsan.
Chunia could not feel anything but pain, for while her body dwelt in the present, her mind still lived the night of death, repeating it over and over. She could not sleep, she could not eat … she could do nothing but sit.
And stare.
They worried about her, staring at the murals which graced the walls, the ceiling, everywhere … they thought she would never forget the images of blood-stained bedding and the contortions of her mother and father’s faces. Such torment was etched into their faces that naught could remove it. Chunia had cremated them, for she knew that to look upon them again would kill her.
But, Chunia knew they would disappear. Eventually, all memories will disappear. Death will destroy such mortal things, replacing them with whatever it wills. Until then, all Chunia could do was wait.
Soon, the staring stopped—it was replaced by rage. The beautiful, well-mannered, good-natured Princess had become a bitter, remorseful, tyrannical Queen.
Declaring war on Menilan was only the beginning. Chunia wished to control the world—all of them. She wanted all the Universe to know who she was, for better or for worse. Whether it was as the Fairytale Princess or the Evil Queen, Chunia cared not.
She wanted power.
"Imbeciles! All of them! I have important information for the Queen, but do they care?! No!" Catrin slammed the door to the room she had chosen … Caer had offered her free accommodation until the Queen was accepting audiences.
A knock came at the door. "Of all the rude, inconsiderate …" Catrin twisted the brass doorknob angrily, then pulled it quickly, making the page outside stumble. "Something you wanted?!"
The page, already flustered, stuttered: "Uh, you, well, um … Hmm, I, well …"
"Maybe you should come back when you finally have some idea what you’re talking about!" Slamming the door in the page’s face, Catrin stomped to the huge bed, then flopped onto it, pleased with her management of the situation. "Why royalty employ such staff is beyond me … why not hire a man who can actually do his job?"
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Catrin stood again. "Who do you think you are, bursting into my room like that?! I’ll have to talk to the Queen about this, then you’ll be in for it!"
"WHO DO I THINK I AM?! HOW DARE YOU?! I am the Queen of all Chail, Tusheba, and Sonaro! And I’m ordering you to leave right now, or I’ll have you executed!"
Catrin’s mouth dropped, as did her knees as she fell to the ground, begging for clemency. "Your highness, I am incredibly sorry! If this is about the page I sent away, excuse me for that, I beg you!"
Her eyes bulged. "You actually have the gall to stand here in my parent’s room, the room in which they were murdered and grovel?! GET OUT! Ignorance such as yours is what poisons this land!"
Grabbing her small pack, Catrin rushed from the palace, leaving Chunia to her misery. The Queen sunk to the floor, sobbing for the mother and father who had left her and the brother whose return would bring upon her own death.
Somehow, Brianne managed to drag herself for miles along the roads. She had no idea which direction she headed in, the names of the towns she wallowed in, until she reached a city bigger than all those before and was grabbed by a man, who led her to a dark room, locking the door behind him.
