Glittering Deception

"My King," shouted Leonard, "I knew it! I knew it!"

King Adrian looked down at Leonard impatiently, "What is it?"

"I just knew those two could not have been trusted!"

"Leonard, have I not warned you about wasting my time like this before? Just because you are of this rank, it does not save you from being decapitated maliciously."

"Sorry, my King, " Leonard muttered, "I just wanted to warn you of two recent deaths within these royal walls of yours."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, my king. Can you recall the ones who claimed to be from an unknown island?"

"Yes, the fools who came here two days ago. Why?"

Leonard raised his hand, and a Knight, filling in on guard's role, walked into the throne room, "This is Johnson, the knight, temporarily demoted to a guard, who requested of your consent to let the two foreigners in."

The King became annoyed easily, "I did not ask for his name—just hurry up and tell me more."

"Okay, " said Leonard, "So. Johnson asked his pirate friends, who were coincidentally embarking on their sixteenth sea voyage for the year, to search for 'Uteru' which was said to be an isle in Rix's vicinity. Well, " he looked at Johnson, "Uteru isn't a place. They searched each island, and we received results today. That island never existed."

"Those bastards, " said the King, "What exactly could they hope to obtain from making up an island and trying to get me to make it known to the world? Why would they do such a thing? Perhaps to become my servants? But that still does not make sense. One would not go through all of this deception to simply become my first male servants. Besides, six other Great Kings of the world hire male servants. So that means that the foreigners only planned to become my servants to be in my castle—near me for whatever reason."

Leonard then added, "There is more, my king. Today after receiving the results, I rushed down the 7th hall, and was petrified by my sight this morning."

"Continue..."

"My king, a woman found the two foreigners dead in this castle this morning."

"What!?"

The King pounded his throne as his eyes widened in shock, "That can not be! Those two were long exiled. Were the guards here sleeping on the job? No, that makes no sense. Even if they were to get passed the guards it'd be impossible for them to get past Gee Ling! All assigned to the 'Exile' category shall not be approved of the entrance to Atridorne by Madam Gee Ling!"

"We know, but this is true, my King."

"Who is the person who found their bodies?"

"A woman called Aver murdered the two foreigners this morning."

"Really? Is murder not too extreme?"

"She claims to be a servant here."

"Bring her to me, " ordered the King.

Leonard then raised his hand, and a knight came into the room with a beautiful woman.

As the King saw her, he fixed himself on his throne, and kept looking at her. "Is she the one?" he asked.

"Correct."

He looked at her again, "Speak. Explain what happened briefly."

The woman started explaining, "I am a servant here. So I woke early to start doing my job—I got up at three in the morning to be precise. And as I mopped the halls, I saw two strangers sneaking from room to room, and I knew they were up to no good–so I stalked them. I watched them poison your food, and search your castle for riches. They stole things like clothing, weapons, and jewelry from the royals here, and they kept these stolen items in a bag. They kept preaching about 'riches' and whispering constantly."

"O, please continue."

"And as I followed them through the sixth hall, I slipped and fell due to the floor still wet after my mopping. Unfortunately, they both figured out my presence, and paranoid, they assaulted me. I cried out for help, and to warn the others, but apparently, they used some sort of spell on me before I could have opened my mouth to do so. No one heard my cry. The older looking one with the brown hair was the first to assault me. They even threatened to steal my virginity and slaughter me after th act. But as they beat me, and tried removing my clothes, I managed to get on my feet and I ran to the seventh floor. On the seventh floor, one of them threatened to take my life with a 'Death' spell, and the other came rushing in. As they did so, I ended up making the younger one get hit with the spell by the older one instead. He fell unconscious immediately, and the other one started fighting me. As I got beaten up, I ended up causing the grieving older one's demise by luring him to the huge flight of stairs, and I caused him to fall straight down to the first floor. As you can tell, God was with me this morning, and it is the only reason I'm alive. It's a miracle!"

"Interesting, " the king smirked, "You are a murderer."

"King?"

"It was not God who saved you. I believe it was luck or maybe even your killer-instinct."

The young woman then retorted, "I feel so bad. I have never killed a living thing before. And I can not help but think about other ways I could have done things. I acted too irrational, and too impulsively. And if you want, you can punish me for my sins. Just know that this was my first fight, and may certainly be my last."

"Your beauty shows innocence, I believe you. What is your name? I have not seen you here before."

"I am Aver, a servant here. But you do not have to worry about remembering my name. I know that you are a busy man, and I intend not to bother you, and cause that to change. Save your time and energy for greater matters. Only great people can fix great problems. And the greater the problem is, proves just how greater the solver is."

The King smiled, "I like your thinking a lot. A woman like you deserves to be a celebrity. What got you into walking among slaves?"

"I believe that your servants are genuine people, and not slaves. And besides, I like this job."

The King smirked again, "What if I tell you now that you can receive ten times your normal pay?"

"I'd be happy. Because I'll know that my mother can live on when I pay for her sicknesses."

"Your mother is sick?"

"She's dying. The sickness is eating away her life like rodents feeding on leaves—bit by bit. And this is the only job that pays for her medication. My king, are you not going to punish me for causing the mens' demise ?"

"Of course not, you did me a huge favor. There is a chance you probably even saved my life this morning, who knows? And that is why I owe you. And to repay this debt, I'll surprise you tomorrow. Those men were nasty men—disgusting people who deceived me. If I were to catch them alive in their act, I'd do what I do to everyone who deceives me. Can you make a guess?"

Aver looked slightly uneasy, "What would you do?"

"I'd keep them alive. For hell isn't a place worthy of the punishment I want them to receive. So I'd let my tormenters torture them, and I'd watch every moment of it—every day."

"But, won't they die from torture? How would you keep them alive in such conditions?"

"I'd do what every other sick person in Archeria does. We break them! Every day we torture them excessively, bringing them near death every time, and before they could die, we let fairies heal them completely, and continue with the torture the next day. No food, no water for them. At this time, their very own droppings slowly become a valid food source. They never get to rest, because we would not let them die on us."

The uneasy look on her face began quite conspicuous, "I suppose that the deceiver deserves such a punishment, after all, who has the guts to oppose a King like you? You're great, any woman would want a rock such as you to cherish."

The King looked down at her blushing a bit, "And any man would treasure a beauty such as you."

"Really? What is it with men? Why do you treat me like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I come to work in this castle—every day, men, even the knights, would speak flirtatiously in my presence. It's like I possess the physique of a theatre, so much attention — though, the difference between the theatre and myself is the fact that the attention I get is unwanted."

The King furrowed his eyebrows, "Aver, when a man speaks to you flirtatiously or even touch you, you must warn me immediately—and I shall have him suffer for his womanizing."

"Understood. Does that include you yourself? I do not mean it disrespectfully—but are you not married?"

"Yes, " said the King, "I am. But, just look at this as a favor from me—because no woman deserves to be womanized by hungry men wishing to satisfy their sexual desires."

"Okay—then thank you, my King."

"You may leave now, " replied the King.

And accordingly, the only beauty in the room had withdrawn.

The King leaned back unto his throne, "She is a beauty, right? Leonard?"

Leonard looked at the King, "Yeah, but—I can not recall seeing her until this day. I do not remember hiring her as a servant, and I think you should be careful around her. After all, she murdered two impos—"

"Silence!" the King shouted, "I do not want to hear it. Instead of being jealous, try taking some credit for hiring her as a servant—it may be the only great thing you've done—for you are a good-for-nothing worthless fool."

Just like that, the King's thoughts were brimming with Aver's beauty—he could not have gotten enough of her. And his plotting began...

'My wife is getting on my nerves. I might as well hire someone to kill her while she voyages to her sister—how long has she been gone anyway? Four weeks? Then, this is perfect. I'd have her assassinated. In this way, I can have Aver as my new Queen, for I plan to rule over the 7 Great Kingdoms, and I can not have someone like my useless wife by my side—No other man shall have Aver—Aver is mine—She is mine, all mine!'