One Of Them Did It -part 2

Lady Amanda

The dinner was full of life as everyone was excited to see the King, everyone but the Five who all looked as if they would rather be anywhere but there. The Prince looked like someone who was ready to throw himself off the Tower if only to be free of the chain that was figuratively on his neck and being controlled by his father.

With the King being his normal self, he had invited his daughter and son to the high table with the Minister and High Lords including herself all seated in their best wears. He must have given the Prince the robe of the Crown Prince, because that was what the kid was wearing as well as a crown, something that had never sat on the boy's head in his entire life.

The king had obviously been playing a game and was enjoying himself quite thoroughly because after announcing to the people his daughter's betrothal, he became even more giddy. His joy was reflected in the opposite spectrum of dread on the faces of the Prince and Princess. As if rehearsed, which it probably was, a servant arrived beside the King with a jar of wine and stood patiently and calmly.

Upon seeing the wine, she remembered what the King had said to her the day he sent her to the Tower, apparently he and a group of Saints had been working on a spell that would drastically weaken the healing ability of the Prince; surely it wasn't in the cup.

"Dominic!" He said in his slightly drunken voice. "This drink here will be good for you, here." The king said as he took the jar from the servant and served the wine into a cup. "Drink." He ordered as he gave the cup to his son who simply looked at him in fear. "What, you afraid I am going to kill you with poison?" Chuckling in derision, he dropped the cup on the table before he looked his son in the eyes with a dead seriousness in it that gave everyone a shiver.

Silence descended in the hall as every living being looked at the King awaiting what he would do next or say next. "Son, you know me by now that if I wish to kill you it would not be in a cowardice way like poison, no." He said and approached the boy, ignoring the Princess who held her brother's hand while trying to control herself. "I would do it in a very obvious way; now drink."

The Prince looked at him in fear before he nodded his head and released his hand from his sister who kept looking between her father and her brother, uncertain what move to make next in the present situation. With visibly shaking hands, he took the cup that showed the Prince's frail nerves before looking at his father. "Yes father." He whispered and gulped the wine down.

"That's it boy." He said before he slapped the plate upwards, hitting the Prince on the chest and then on his laps before the items in the plate landed on the floor. "Enjoy your dinner." The King said, pointing to the food on the floor.

Well, the sight was quite embarrassing for the Prince who had recently grown wings in the sense of standing for himself. He looked up to his father who was not joking and seemed to be waiting for his son to eat his dinner off the floor.

"Father, this joke has gotten too far!" Dominica exclaimed as she got off her chair to stand her brother up and lead him out of the hall.

"My dear daughter, I get that your brother has done so much damage to your psyche. Ever since you were both young, I and your mother have been determined to cure you of your brother's influence, but know this my daughter, disobey me and I will have you live the rest of your days in your room with your brother's head on the window." 

"Hey, it's okay, I'm okay." The Prince said and let go of his sister's hand to get on his knees in front of the food on the floor. "Father, can I use a spoon?" He asked in a soft voice devoid of any strength.

"Oh my dear boy, you may not." The King replied and stood back to watch the Prince use his own hands to pick the food from the ground and into his mouth.

Amanda was not very giddy about the whole thing going on before everyone in the hall. This, this was inhumane and was dehumanizing, it was one thing to want to kill him or to torture him for years, but to make him less than an animal? She could not watch but funny enough his sister stood and watched her brother before she looked at her father calmly.

Looking at the other members of the Five, she saw them looking impatient as if waiting for something to happen. With the five of them, something always happened, if not a suicide or a suspected murder, it was self humiliation or public display of an uncommon sibling affection. She could feel the tension in the room as the Prince ate the food from the floor, food meant to be scooped with a spoon, not picked.

Closing her eyes, she looked away in discomfort only to snap them open as she heard a scream followed by a yell and then an entire room full of shouting people. It didn't take long for her to see the source of the commotion, it was the king.

The king was gasping and holding his throat as if looking for air. He kept waving his hands in search of anything to give him relief, his face was contorted in pain while his eyes bulged in obvious pain. He fell on his knees, hitting the table that fell over, emptying itself of the food on it. The doors were shut by the guards as was protocol in an event as abrupt as this while the Princess picked her brother up and used her own clothe to wipe his hand before using her hands to wipe his tears away.

The noise just kept increasing in intensity as the King fell on his back gasping for air as blood flowed from his lips, nostrils and eyes. He kept gasping for air and stretching his hands seeking comfort until at long last he gave a final gasp and then sighed. The silence that followed was the longest she had ever been a participant of, and that was saying something seeing as silence was one of the most effective weapon in the hands if an Inquisitor.

Picking herself up, she got up from her chair and went to the King to inspect his body, placing her fingers on the neck of the king, she felt for his pulse and found none. Feeling dread and panic, she took in a deep breath before she stood up from her knees and turned to face the people all looking at her awaiting very bad news.

Looking at the Five once more, she knew they had done this and not just this one, she knew in her guts that they had killed Edward and Emefiele, now they had killed the King. What was she going to do, who was she going to arrest if she was to make one, and who deserved to hang for all three deaths among them?

She could not just let them go scot-free for this terrible crime, it was one thing to kill the Prime Minister's son or the son of some local judge, but to kill the King; that was unacceptable. Someone had to pay for the crime, but the question was who, who was she going to kill among all five?

"The King is dead." She pronounced before she turned to face the Royal Twins. "Long Live … The King!" She finished and took a bow facing the Prince. 

At her utterance everyone bowed to the new King of Syera, the Prince they had all hated and were about to witness get killed by dawn. What choice did she have anyway, she had no proof whatsoever, to do something as dramatic as arresting the new King of Syera; the Princess by his side would make sure she suffered greatly for that mistake now that her father was dead.

With that realization came a resigned thought; even if she knew without an iota of doubt that one of them killed Edward, Emefiele and the King, there was nothing she could do about it and from the look the Princess gave her, she fucking knew it it too.

In the end even if one of them did it she could never find out who, because in the end someone else could take the fall for the crimes if she went poking around; for the first time in her career as an Inquisitor, she knew that she would have to leave well alone. One of them did it and she could do nothing about it.