The Emperor's Killer Bride

4.

The streets were soon flooded when the Emperor was seen passing through. The news spread quickly, and soon the guards had to press hard before they could make it through the throng of onlookers.

From where Eduardo and his crew now are, The castle could be seen towering above the land, built into the largest pyramid. It’s crafted from a mix of gold, so that each stone and brick is a gleaming expanse of sunlight. The statues scatter on the horizon, and the houses in the lower towns are all painted the same. Streets and cobbles glow yellow, so that when the sun hits the highest of it's peak, it glitters in an unmistakable reflection. It’s only ever during the darkest parts of night that the true beauty of the Empire of Domburton with the lanterns glowing in the dark.

"Perhaps we should call for more guards," Arman whispered to Eduardo. "I don’t like this large crowd."

"Calm down, Arman," Eduardo chuckled at his friend's worried look. "It’s nothing you can’t handle. Or did you not come prepared?"

"Of course I came prepared, My Liege," he had a smug smile on his face as he said, while his eyes shifted from side to side. He could have sworn the baker who ran out of his shop to kneel as the king passed was concealing a knife in his apron. "One never knows with a crowd this big. Anyone of them could easily pull out a knife and run at you."

"Well, they’ll have to get through you first," Eduardo's eyes shifted around for a moment too, before resting far ahead as the Palanquin drove away. "And I don’t see that happening."

Arman smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown as someone got too close to the palanquin.

"Back off!" he called, placing his hand on the hilt of his blade.

The man raised his hand in apology, hurrying backwards. "Please tell his Majesty that we’re starving out here," he pleaded. "We cannot afford to put food on the table when there is no food around for miles."

"His Majesty will be duly informed," Arman said as they walked past, nodding his head. Once they were out of earshot, he leaned in closer to the palanquin.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

Eduardo had indeed heard the man. It seemed funny to him that while his subjects were starving, a greater number of resources were being dedicated to the hunt. Of what use would entertainment be if there was no one to enjoy it because they’d all starved to death?

"We will discuss this back at the palace," he told Arman. "I will have to speak with grandmother and Lord Sylver on the issue. I was made to believe that a regular supply of butter, beans, rice, corn, and all sorts of grains were being brought into the Capital every week."

"You should look into it," Arman said. "Heaven knows it’s a better use of your time than this hunt."

"Of course," Eduardo said, settling back. "It will be resolved soon enough."

"As much as I'm not in full support of the whole hunt idea, I still like it. And if you do remember clearly, I've always been a fan of the hunt ever since I was young. Would it be appropriate if I join the ministers in the hunt and find myself someone to play with for the meantime?"

The loud growl from the Palanquin told Arman that he had over stepped his boundary. He needed no one to tell him how much hatred Eduardo habors towards the hunt. Probably, because of what happened the year he was to become a king intensified the hate.

Whatever the case though, there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it was one of the occasions everyone looks forward to in the kingdom before the bridal selection comes up.

*

Madam Gisella was fuming.

"Are any of you willing to step up and admit what happened here?" she asked, gritting her teeth. They were gathered in the main lounge, and she was sitting on the largest chair while the girls stood in front of her. Fiona’s corpse was placed on a white sheet in front of them, which Regina thought seemed silly that they would place a white cloth instead of something darker.

None of the girls spoke however. They were as silent as rocks, and each one of them was staring at the ground, or at the blank expression in Fiona’s vacant eyes.

They wouldn’t dare to speak. Not when Jade was right next to them, flexing her fingers every few seconds. Those same fingers had strangled Fiona, and those same fingers had wrapped around the object which had been used to stab her multiple times. Regina stared at her out of the corner of her eye. She seemed nonchalant; bored, even. It was obvious that she couldn’t care less about this meeting that Madam Gisella had called. The bracelet which had caused the argument in the first place was now tied around her wrist, and one could almost imagine that she’d hid it just so her argument would be valid later on.

"None of you are willing to speak?" Madam Gisella asked again.

Not a single hair shifted as they all pretended to be deaf.

"I’ve lived in this house for over twenty years," she said, his chest heaving. "Dozens of girls have come and passed through me, to be a part of our sacred tradition. The hunt is too important of a ceremony to be soiled by your stupidity. I will not have such arrogant display of brutishness and immorality under this roof. If you knew the names of those who once stood where you stood, then perhaps some sense might come to you."

She stood up then, which wasn’t an impressive feat given how almost all the girls towered over her.

"I will not have you ruin this tournament before it has even started," she gritted. "Because of you, Merry will have to find a replacement in such short notice. Do you have any idea the repercussions of what you have done?"

Jade sighed audibly, rolling her eyes. Madam Gisella looked up sharply at her, and the lines on her forehead deepened.

"Since none of you are willing to cooperate with me," her voice filled with enough authority to instil fear in the girls heart, "then the punishment for this will fall squarely on each and every one of you. You will not be having lunch or dinner until I feel like you have learned your lesson. Water will be in limited supply, and don’t even expect it hot when you take your baths in the morning. Perhaps this will teach you some manners."

"Aren't we all slaves that would one way or the other end up like her?" One girl finally spoke. Blue eyes. Wild brown hair. "Starving us won't change a thing. We're already used to being objects of mistreatment." She added, biting at her nails.

"Excuse me?" Madam Gisella thundered. "Slaves? And who said anything about that? You girls are like national treasures to us."

"National treasure my flat bottom!" Jade sneered, her eyes focused on her finger, while looking bored at the same time.

"Girls!" Madam Gisella was obviously pissed, and agitated at everything happening before her. First, she had no way of identifying what really happened. And just as soon as another set of girls had arrived, one had been killed. How was she going to explain that to the Emperor?

"I will not hear anymore of this. You all just wait, I'll find out the person responsible for this and make that person pay!" It was a promise they all knew she intend to keep.

She turned around and was about to walk away, but then she turned around and faced Regina, whose heart plummeted as their eyes met.

"Of course this doesn’t apply to you, darling," she said with a smile. "You are recovering, and I will never forgive myself if I starve you along with the rest of them. You will join me for lunch and dinner. And whenever you need a hot bath, just knock on my door."

Regina tried to smile back at her, but a funny feeling was growing in her stomach. She didn’t fail to notice the death glares that were sent in her direction. Plus, what good were all that if it meant her sister was going to suffer?

"Get yourselves cleaned up," she said as she walked away, a guard trailing behind her "His majesty will be arriving soon. And heaven forbid he find you all in this disheveled state."

As soon as Madam Giselle turned to leave, Jade came to stand in front of Regina, folding her arms in front of her.

"Nice going, Princess," she mocked. "But I would advise  you to watch your back. You never know who could be lurking behind you."

She walked away, and the other girls soon dispersed as well. Each of them glared at Regina as they walked past, as though she’d stolen something from them which they’d treasured their entire lives. She was baffled, as to the best of her understanding, she’d done nothing to warrant this hostility. Madam Gisella had exempted her from the punishment solely because of her condition, not because of anything else.

Few minutes later, they were back to their own room.

Silence filled every corner of the room once Regina, Valeria and Skyler had all returned. The disbelief was clear in their eyes. Neither one of them could believe what they’d just witnessed.

Skyler was the first to speak.

"Please tell me that didn’t just happen," she muttered, pointing to the door. "Did we just witness a girl being murdered? And nothing serious is being done about it?"

"I say we go and tell madam Gisella who actually did it," Valeria chocked, caught up with the emotions she had been trying to hold back. "That animal deserves to be locked up for what she did."

"Be my guest," Skyler pointed to the door. "But I will not be a part of that. What happens when Jade decides to make me her next target?"

"She’s dangerous," Valeria shivered at the thought of doing anything that might possibly anger Jade in a way. "So we’re just going to live with her like nothing happened? What happens if we accidentally bump into her in the hallway? Will she slice our throats then? I’m telling madam Gisella."

"You will do no such thing," Regina said, speaking up for the first time. "You will not put yourself on that woman’s target list."

"So we’re just going to let her get away with it?" Valeria threw her hands exasperatedly.

"Of course not," Regina sighed. "But we’re not going to do anything rash. Not yet, at least."

All three of them fell silent then, but finally Valeria returned to her bed.

"I hate her," she muttered.

"The feeling is mutual," Skyler grumbled. Then she turned to look at Regina. "Will you bring your leftovers to us?" she pleaded. "I cannot imagine starving for the next few days over someone else’s mistake."

"I’ll speak to madam Gisella and see if she can pardon you girls," Regina paused for a moment, realizing that the fogginess in her head was still there. She winced as she turned to face the window, the pain in her midriff spreading all the way to her shoulders.

"We should get ready," she added. "The Emperor will be arriving soon."

*

House Farlan was the center of attraction when Eduardo arrived at the front steps. Word had reached madam Gisella that he would be arriving soon, and she’d busied herself making sure everything looked as it should. The scene of the horrific murder had been cleared immediately, and the girl’s body had been disposed of properly.

The servants had busied themselves cleaning every nook and cranny of the building, until it nearly gleamed in the partial sunlight as Eduardo stepped into the main lounge.

"Your Liege" Madam Gisella said, hurrying over and curtsying before him. "What an honor it is to have you here. Please, come in."

The aura with which Eduardo carried himself baffles Madam Gisella. "Rise, Madam Gisella. I suppose everything is fine over here?"

"Splendid, My Liege," she curtsied yet again as she replied. "Absolutely splendid. I trust that you are looking forward to seeing the girls who will be participating this year. This is your first time handling this, for that, I promise to make this the most memorable hunt ever, My Liege."

A cold feeling crept up Eduardo’s spine at the thought, but he kept a straight face as he said, "Of course, I trust you'd do a better job. I was made aware that the girls have all arrived earlier today."

"Yes, My Liege. Ten girls from the four kingdoms are here, making it a total of forty girls to participate in the hunt. Please take a seat, My Liege" she explained, gesturing to the chair before them. "I will summon the girls at once. Perhaps you might have a drink while you wait."

Eduardo simply nodded.

Meanwhile, upstairs, the girls were all arranged in a single line in the hallway. They each wore identical long white gowns and sleeveless tunics. They also covered their hair with wimples. The cloth they wore was made from wool, spun into thread and sewed into their comfort.

Jade, who stood at the head of the pack, had turned around and was facing Regina who was right behind her. The latter was refusing to even look in her direction, knowing that she had nothing good to say to her.

"Maybe now you’ll know how to properly stab someone," she snickered. "You don’t go for the heart. It’s easy to miss it, and frankly a chore to try and find it. Rather go for the other vital organs. If you’d done that, perhaps Sir Merian would never have woken up from his slumber."

Regina ignored her.

"I hope you know it’s the King of Domburton downstairs," she added, not giving a damn that Regina was ignoring her. "You will be smart not to look him in the eye."

With that, she turned around just as Madam Gisella came bustling up the stairs, ordering the girls to come downstairs.

Regina wished she could stab Jade right in the back, but she kept her temper in check. She didn’t much care about the king, but she knew he would t appreciate hearing of a horrific murder while he was sitting downstairs.

Still, Regina didn’t meet his eyes as they filed into the room. She kept her gaze on the floor, refusing to acknowledge the king’s presence.

Eduardo, however, found his eyes lingering on the woman who was refusing to look at him, and a sudden sharpness sliced through him. Could it be? Was she the same woman he’d encountered mere hours ago?

Surely not. His mind was just obsessed with the memory of her that he was beginning to imagine things. He shook his head slowly, turning away from her. Besides, how could he be sure, when he hadn’t even seen her face clearly. It was one thing to be obsessed with a woman. But another thing entirely to be very much Obsessed with a woman he'd seen only for few minutes some hours ago.

His mind must definitely be playing a wild game with him.

As he addressed the girls, his voice sounded strangely familiar to Regina, but she couldn’t place it exactly, and she wasn’t about to look up at him. She listened instead as he told them how pleased he was that they would be participating in the contest.

Regina could tell, from the way his voice sounded that he was trying to assure them everything was okay. But the fogginess in her mind doubled over, and she couldn't bear sitting there listening to why her being forcefully brought here was an honor.

So, instead, she stood up on her shaky legs, and turned towards the door.

Her movement caught Arman's attention, and he nodded quickly towards Madam Gisella before walking up to Regina, who had already pulled the door open and was about to leave.

Her head was pounding terribly. Nothing seems to calm the raging horse she seemed to imagine were having a wild party in her head.

"Miss, are you okay?" She heard a voice above her. "Do you need help?"

"Yes," she slurred, swaying as though she was going to fall. The only thing that saved her from falling was the door she was holding tightly onto. "I want to kill whoever the Emperor is. Would you mind finding me a sword? I'm a little bit trained as a warrior."

At first, Arman was shocked at her words, but slowly, he found them amusing. She was obviously not in her right senses. And while he had seen her some hours ago, he found out that she was interesting.

"The Emperor? Are you suggesting a coup right now, Miss?"

By now, Regina had leaned her body against the door, and large green eyes, full fluffy lips, and thick lashes looked up at Arman.

'She looked so much like her,' he thought, as he felt a painful tug in his chest.

"Is that possible?" She asked, now seeming to control the slur in her voice. She wondered if she felt this way due to her sickness, or due to the potion she had been given to lessen the pains. "I mean, would you help me kill the king and Sir Merian?" She pulled the door open completely now and stepped out of the large room, leaving behind the other girls.

She had thought the man would leave, but he was right behind her, smiling as she sway from side to side.

However, it seemed as though he found her crazy, for he wasted no time in picking her up and asking in a deep voice, "where are you headed?"

Regina could simply point at the door to their room. Funny enough though, before they had reached, she was already asleep.

Arman carefully placed her on the hard bed, then stood above her and stared at her for some minutes before sighing deeply. He wondered how she ended up. And why she had to look just like her.

Staring at her for some more minutes, he tucked a wild lock of ginger hair behind her ears, sighed once more before he turned to leave.

He's definitely joining the hunt. With or without Eduardo's consent. He vowed.