Tales of Death´s Daughter

An empty throne room laid bare in front of me, marble pillars lining a red carpet leading to a heightened throne. To my right, beautiful, large coloured glass windows gave me an overview of what was mine.

Smiling a little I managed to ignore the headaches for the first time in a while. With steady steps, I followed the red carpet, climbed the stairs leading up to the single throne and sat down on it.

Playfully, Clara and Clarice bowed a little while Hannah leaned against the wall near the door, two unconscious guards at her feet.

And then, I snipped my fingers and did something godly, at least from the perspective from all the humans. Just like with the magical apparatus scanning my soul, I eradicated every bit of the system around me in a four kilometre circle.

Immediately, humans got weaker and were unable to perform their oh so loved magic which would come in handy at this point. The three dragons I had at my disposal all landed on the barriers, sending ripples all across it.

The barrier had yet to fall, but I was only a matter of time until it did. Smiling brightly, I nodded towards the unconscious guard who was promptly kicked awake by Hannah.

“I wish to negotiate your surrender. Please, do tell the king these words.” I didn’t even have to answer any questions he had as he stood up in a panic, listened to the loud roar above us and quickly ran through the still open door, unhindered by anyone.

I wasn’t entirely sure he would convey my message, but someone would. It was just a matter of time until it reached the king.

And so, I placed my elbow on the armrest and my hand on my cheek to steady my strangely heavy head. A bit bored, I watched the twins lay down in front of my feet like two dogs loyal to their master and awaited the first person entering this room.

Obviously, we were spied upon by several holes in the ceiling, so the highest aide of the king wasn’t surprised to see us.

“I have asked for the king. I will not negotiate with anyone but himself. And if you try anything funny.” I merely had to point upwards and look out of the window to see the barrier shining in an orange light to know that my threats didn’t fall upon deaf ears.

Immediately he bowed deeply and left without saying any word. Around five minutes later, the king entered the room, alone and sweating a little.

“My dear, it is so nice to see you again.” He didn’t bow at all, even though he must have understood the implication of me sitting on his throne.

“Really? Why didn’t you invite my army in then? Did you know how much of a hassle it was to enter this place?” I complained a little bit bored.

“I … am sorry about that. How can I help?” Well, for starters he may grovel on his knees or just hand over the keys to the palace. But that may be a little bit too much to ask from a prideful ruler.

“You know, this room is something special to me. Around two hundred years ago I forced the king to marry me. It was such a great time I had with him even though it was cut short. And ours wasn’t half bad either, was it?” I asked with a bright smile on my face. He was by no means my best lover, but he was useful and that was all that counted.

“I believe it was mutually beneficial.” Yeah, I did leave his things alone and didn’t try to influence the internal affairs of the kingdom at all, which was honestly a phenomenal achievement from me.

“It sure was … and yet I am here, filing for a divorce in the room where my royal life began.” I told him right away. I didn’t need him anymore. Not with an army and three dragons threatening the life of everyone in this city.

“The gods will not agree to that.” Chuckling a little, I showed him my ring finger devoid of the shackles binding us together.

“The gods already did. I’m just here to notify you.” I told him and nodded towards Hannah who promptly closed the doors with her wind magic and kicked the other guard awake. “In fact I am also here to tell you that your services are no longer needed.”

“The nobles will never accept a lone queen, especially someone with eyes like yours.” The twins growled a little as he said that, but didn’t go into action right away.

“Are my eyes that horrifying? Or is it because most demonic eyes are red? If so, I can assure them that there are no more demons. They are all gone.” I told him and stood up from the throne. “And I can assure you they won’t act up just because I’m a woman. Because soon …” With elegant movement, I walked towards the still standing king and stopped in front of him. “… because soon my little war here will turn into a revolution. And like so often, the ruling class will be replaced by others.”

“You will bring death and despair to this country.” Finally, the barrier around the palace gave in and vanished, turning the room a lot darker instantly.

“On the contrary. I will gift everyone their much needed freedom. Freedom you and your kind took away from the masses.” I told him, went on my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck. He didn’t resist as he knew in what kind of situation he was in. He needed to bargain for his own life by using all cards at his disposal.

“Give them a hand and they will take your arm.” The commoners would try for sure. They always did. A small wave of liberalisation is always followed by a bigger one if one didn’t have the motivation to clamp down on them harder.

“For sure they will try. But there is a difference between them and me.” The whole building shook as one dragon clawed into the wall right next to us and presented the king it’s half destroyed face. “I do have the strength to keep humanity under my thumb alone.” Just to underline my point, the dragon roared loudly while the twins strolled past us and waited behind him.

“Can we have our fun now?” Closing my eyes a little, I let go of the king’s nape and stepped back. The twins were already nibbling on their fingernails impatiently and as talking with the king wouldn’t bear any more fruits, I decided that it was better now then never.

“For sure.” While the king opened his eyes wide in disbelief the twins pounced at him from behind and made him trip over right away. “I always wondered why you were so carefree, but I guess if one comes from a family which ruled this country for generations, one might think of himself as infallible, no matter what.”

His screams filled the air while the twins bit into his nape and ripped his attire apart. The sweet scent of blood filled the air shortly afterwards while I turned away from the gruesome scene towards the remaining guard inside the room. I knelt down in front of him and smiled gently to ease the tension a little bit.

“I can assure you he will be among the few dying tonight as a symbol of the old order.” Reluctantly, I looked back towards the twins gutting the corpse to their heads content while imagining once more that their victim was their father. “I’m still the same saint and pope can confirm that I wasn’t turned into a vampire yesterday … I have nothing against you, nor any of the other guards cowering in fear in front of this room, but I do have something against people who control the whole life of someone else, from their birth to death. I have no such desire, you can trust me on that. I want to create a world where everyone can live freely,  but I need the help of you and all the others out there to make this dream a reality.” The dangerous dragon flapped its wings a little bit and lifted off from the wall once more to accompany his two comrades in the sky.

“No undead will enter this city as long as you accept me as your empress, with all the reforms I plan on passing.” I told him, placing my body right in between him and the twins.

“I don’t … I don’t want to die.”  He muttered while I grabbed his shoulders and pulled his head into my bosom. He tensed up a little before he broke out in tears.

“It’s fine. Tonight will be a horrible one … but tomorrow will be a better day.” I told him and kept patting his back until he stopped sobbing altogether. “Please, relay that message to everyone including the four dukes. I want to speak with them tonight.” I told him and stood up again, pulling him up with me. He looked over my shoulder towards the twins soiled in blood, gulped audibly and then bowed. “I pray you will keep your word.”

“I will.” Disposing of the nobles was massively beneficial for me and I had absolutely no incentive to turn this country into a failed state. I wanted a tool I could use which would preferably work on its own.

As such, they wouldn’t need to fear me at all. Smiling, I watched how the guard left the room, revealed the ten or so other guards standing there with trembling knees and closed the door again.

“Clara, Clarice, clean that up when you are done.” I told them and strolled back to the throne again, only to stop halfway there.

“Yes, mum!” They were still trying it. Turning around, I glared at them as they bit into his heart innocently, covered from head to toe in blood.

“… mam.” Clara rectified her sister’s mistake which was enough for me for the time being. Sighing a little, I finally sat down on the throne again and returned back to my previous position as my brain hammered against my skull.

My soul was wrecked, falling apart at visible speed and I could do nothing to stop it. Closing my eyes, I massaged my scalp which didn’t help at all. Instead, doing so proved to be a mistake as soon as I opened my eyes again. I was standing there again, looking towards me with pity and disapproval.

“You aren’t real … so leave me alone.” That thing didn’t vanish. “I am not hallucinating … I am completely normal. Completely … normal.” I closed my eyes again, this time for a longer period and luckily, the illusion vanished with that. But instead of relief, I only found anger at Aska as Hannah looked at me with concern written all over her face.

He would pay for not telling me that my pregnancy would turn this bad this quickly.