A Royal Assassin

The many weeks after my family's assassination were somber. If I didn't know better I would think all these mourning people actually knew and cared about them. They would not cry so much if they knew the terrible things my family had done. I gracefully wiped away another fake tear. My grandmother caught my eye and narrowed her eyes. 

    "The royal family will be forever respected for their contribution to our country. May they rest in peace." Murmurs filled the silence as the ceremony ended. Lords and ladies greeted each other with fake smiles and flattery as they worked to increase their social status. 

  Sweeping my plain dress to the side I strode towards the servants door, avoiding the flood of fancy political puppets that would be heading to the banquet. I had never had much patience for the fools that bumbled around my parents. 

"Evangeline! Psst Eva!" I glowered at my cousin before grabbing my worn out boots from the storage closet. "Look, I know you weren't on the best terms with your family and you know I'm grateful to be king but was this really necessary? And don't try telling me you weren't involved in their deaths. I could practically see you planning them as we ate dinner last week!" 

  I shoved my glittering heels behind a mop and swept my hair into a tight ponytail. "You think I'm some common assassin, do you? Oh, dear cousin, I feel terrible for you, I really do." I could feel hysterical laughter bubbling as I looked into his sad eyes. "You're lucky I am in a good mood or I wouldn't leave you alive as a witness." 

    After knocking him out with the hilt of my knife, I dragged him into the closet, where he joined my shoes behind the mop. He would wake in a few minutes and keep quiet about our encounter. Edward was a smart boy, and he knew I would have no remorse if I had to sneak into this stone labyrinth and rid my country of another king. 

                  *        *       *

     Propping my feet near the fireplace, I sipped on my tea and reminisced on the bittersweet revenge I had dealt my family. Every time my mother slapped me and told me I was hidden from the world because I was worthless rattled in my head. 

     My father had chosen to ignore my existence and ordered me to be confined to my quarters and the servants halls when it was announced his new baby was a girl, seventeen years ago. Only my personal maids and closest relatives had even heard of me, and they were too terrified to speak to me most of the time. 

   Everyone had always underestimated me. My brothers had never attempted to help me. They constantly fought over the throne and had long ago turned their backs from my torture . So, I turned my backs to them as they died. 

   "Evangeline, do stop smirking. You may be a psychopath but you don't need to act like one!" My grandmother folded her gloved hands over her knitting. "I take it your responsible for the poison traces they found?"

   The poison had worked fast. Almost too painless. I nodded, "Edward will be a good king. If you have no need for me, I will retire to my new quarters." 

    Soon, Edward will be caught in the web of blackmail and politics. His youthfulness will be stripped away and he will come to hate me for putting him in this position. His puppet strings will be attached and he will play his part as king. 

    There was no need for me to hide, as the public didn't know of my existence, much less my affiliation with the royal family and their abrupt deaths. I would be living in my grandmother's summer house for the time being. I could pretend that it was a vacation, but I knew the darkness of my past and the reality of my newfound status as a murderer would never let me rest.

                    *       *       *

    I woke gasping in the cold night air. "Mother!" I struggled against my nightmare. It had been weeks and the woman still couldn't leave me alone, even after I had put double the dose of poison in her drink. Even now that she was gone. 

   "No, cousin dearest." As Edward stepped forward, moonlight reflected in his now cold eyes. "I'm afraid she is gone. As you know." 

    I froze. Before I could comprehend his appearance he began to speak again. "You really think I got away from the deranged dynamic of this family. That I haven't been as tied into this mess just as you have. I have spoken much to grandmother. Did you know she thinks you are insane? I wish I could risk letting you stay hidden in this cottage. But no, you see, now I am the king. I must make decisions for the good of my country and you are just too unreliable to be on the loose. That is what she tells me."

    "What? What are you doing?" I scooted farther from his looming presence. 

    "Our Grandmother has asked me to get rid of you. What was it Auntie Victoria always used to call you? A waste of space?" Images of my mother crashed through my pounding head. 

   "Poor poppet. You thought you finally had people who cared about you. I did order one of my servants to have Grandmother disposed of after our conversation. I don't take orders from anyone, even her." He pulled out a glinting piece of metal and smiled eerily. "However, she has gotten to me, I can't have you appearing like some gutter rat and claiming my throne now can I?" 

    I almost pitied him as I stared down at him. It had taken less than a month of being king to corrupt him. That must be a record. Little did he know, insulting me was the last thing he would do. Slipping my knife out from under my pillow, I eyed the one in his shaky hands and laughed. 

                      *      *      * 

   "These royals will be missed. Their contributions to our country will be remembered always." 

    I covered a smile with my handkerchief before I slipped out of the room and away from the crying women in black dresses. Pulling off my work boots, I exchanged them for the heels I had left in the supply closet after the last funeral. I let my hair down and waltzed out of the castle to begin a new life.