CHAPTER EIGHT

Sandra fell backwards as she cowered before her king. King Lucius’s eyes turned murderous as he eyed the quivering woman before him. Never had she seen the king with blazing anger in his blue eyes. All she wanted was the throne, to be the queen of Illumia. She could almost feel it in her hands. If only she could get rid of the little annoying runt.

She tried again to reason with the king. Her eyes shone with her faked tears.

“My Lord, what you are saying is not true. I would never dream of doing something against the crown, you know that. I devoted my life for you my lord. My outburst a while ago was just mere mumbling.”

“Mere mumbling, you say?!” The king roared, still enraged. He twisted the blade until its point is nearly embedded at her throat. He was so eager to plunge and kill but he must be a king first. He had long waited for her to make a mistake and confirm his suspicions. Now he may have the answer at the blade of his sword.

“You dare to assume that you are the pillar of this kingdom. The foundation that created this land?” The king stated, his eyes looking at the people around him. All bore grim looks as they looked at the woman who dared to anger their king. Caleb shifted. It seems the woman has finally allowed her greed to overcome her façade.

For years, the servants had suffered under this woman’s control. She had shown everyone her good side when Queen Rosalind was still alive. She kept on being the good handmaid and was very mindful of assisting when she can. That is until the queen suddenly became indisposed with an unknown sickness. Since then, she had controlled the kitchen staff and most of the servants. They all thought highly of her as she was always beside the queen but her nature truly shone through. None of the remedies were able to cure the queen which baffled Caleb as he came from Pyndar, the land of the healers. He had mentioned to the king his suspicion that the queen was being poisoned but in his despair and grief, the king did not heed his caution. Soon enough, the king became more aware of Sandra’s nature especially when she attempted to seduce the king. Since then, all work done in the household was subtly shifted onto Caleb and all her minions were sent to far-away lands. Of course, the woman was completely clueless, too drunk in her belief that she will soon be the queen that she didn’t notice Leo and Caleb closely monitoring her movements.

“Tell me, woman. Why should I spare you? You who poisoned my queen.” The king muttered in anger. Sandra’s eyes widened. But it was there. Anyone could see her guilt which she quickly masked.

“I would not harm my queen…” She began but the king had already seen what he wanted to see. His heart bled at the thought of her betrayal and his ignorance. He should have been more circumspect. What was the use crying over spilt milk? His wife is no longer here. He left his most treasured possession in the hands of one who should not have been trusted and whose greed had almost made him lose his last gift. All the ifs in the world could not bring his beloved back.

His hands trembled as he fought the urge to run her through.

“Elder Farrah…”

“Yes, your majesty. It is enough.” The elder gestured for the soldiers to move. They approached Sandra and brought her up by pulling her arms. Sandra struggled out of their grasp.

This was all getting out of hand.

Her only goal is to get the king and become the queen. Was that too much to ask?

She should have done her job right and used the base charms that she had learned. If only she hadn’t been obvious in her attempt to seduce the king. She was a mage of Hildegard, for crying out loud. She could even use her magic to get out of this predicament. She whispered her incantation but then she felt the blockade as soon as she finished the spell.

“Not so fast, Lady Sandra.” Caleb muttered, his hand outstretched as he conjured a negating spell. Sandra looked at him with wide eyes before she glared at him hatefully. The soldiers bound her hands and a binding necklace was placed around her neck. Sandra felt her powers being reduced into a slight tingle. The king turned back to her once they were done.

“For your crimes of treason, Lady Sandra, you are stripped of your title. You are hereby banished from Castle Durin and for your insolence, you will be locked in the dungeons until such time as I deem it fit to release you from your confinement. No one will know who you are and no one will care. You are now nothing.” King Lucius said, his eyes boring into hers as she was being dragged on her feet.

“I am more than what you are saying, Lucius. I know you love me. I know you do. Why don’t you let these people leave so we can have time to ourselves?” Sandra purred, using the last of her magic onto her voice to project it but the king smiled at her attempt.

“Sorry to break it to you but your powers are permanently drained by that necklace that you have under your neck. We made sure of it.” Elder Farrah interrupted smugly. “You will visit with me to Gildan where they will know what to do with a traitor like you before you can face your torment in the dungeons.”

“Be careful on your way, elder. She is a cunning one.” Caleb warned as they left the king in his chambers. He joined them as they pulled the woman inside the carriage that was waiting outside. Leo mounted his horse and called over his other knights as they made their way out. The king saw the small caravan leave the castle grounds and he breathed out a sigh. He didn’t know if it was his destiny to always be betrayed or denied justice but he knew he had the interest of the kingdom to look after. He wanted to kill her so badly that it was surprising that his subjects didn’t even make a move to stop him.

When the door reopened, he addressed Caleb.

“I could have killed her, you know.”

“Why didn’t you? No offense, my king, but you are within your rights to deliver justice for the queen. We would not even take that from you.” Caleb replied, his brown eyes softened as the king ran his hands through his white hair.

“Treachery is something that I usually see in men, Caleb. But some are not even subtle like this. How can I, your king, kill a woman for betraying my trust? Will I need to choose between genders on who to destroy and be lenient with? Will I become a monster for killing a woman and be a hero if I killed a man?”

“She killed the queen. She killed your wife.” Was his reply.

“And will a life replace the loss of another life? My queen can never come back but how I long for her with every breath I take. If I kill the snake, will it bring her back to me?”

“And so you satisfy yourself with passing judgement that may not be fitting of the crime.”

“I am a king but I don’t know if what I’ve done is justified. She deserves to die. I want her to do die. But I cannot.”

“The queen would not want you to stain yourself unnecessarily with the blood of a traitor.” Caleb finalized. “She always believed you will do the right thing and you will always think the best for everyone.”

“Then why do I feel like I disappointed her?” the king asked just as the door opened and his granddaughter came in.

The little girl curtseyed with her handmaids before greeting the king and his valet.

“Please leave us.” King Lucius ordered. His valet and her handmaids exited the room and closed the door behind them. Auria remained kneeling but she watched her grandfather warily.

She had heard what had happened a while ago. Truth be told, she had wanted to barge in and join her grandfather. She felt that he might lose it and attack the woman in question. She had heard about Lady Sandra’s transgression as her grandfather was not the quiet kind of king.

She had been acquainted with the lady in question during the times when she would roam around the castle. Lady Sandra would show up and then she would act all motherly and sweet on the princess especially when Tania or Mildred would be with her. She had felt awkward and wanted to avoid the lady in question for as long as she could but as she was closely following her grandfather it was a difficult feat. Her friends managed to steer her away from the princess but it was sometimes too troublesome.

“You wanted to see me, grandfather?” Auria asked before she stood up and looked at her king.

“I wanted to talk you. About what happened last night.”