Dark Truth

 “No Your Majesty, I didn’t do it!” A screaming figure draped in such a mystical shade of red you could never find anywhere else exclaimed.

“All evidences have proven that you ARE GUILTY! GUARDS! TAKE HER AWAY!” The shadow of a tall person ordered.

“Please, your Majesty, you have to listen to me, no PLEASE!!! DON’T TAKE ME AW—” The howling character and fell to the ground, unconscious

“Thank you, Zymer.” The shadow spoke again, cold voice raised even more.

“Thank you Your Majesty.” A smirk appeared on Zymer’s face, as he examined the sprawled body of the guilty person he had just put a sleeping spell on. “Your Majesty, can I have the permission to lock up Aurélie in the Grond Tower?”, he asked.

“Of course, my minister, I am glad that this problem is solved. You can take some guards along with you.”

“Thank you, Queen Nephthellia.” Zymer replied.

The minister ordered the guards to take the prisoner away. “Oh and, Your Majesty, what about the blace?” He asked.

“Give it to the Fronde Elves – ask them to keep it in the Bahnschrift Theatre.”

“Yes, you Majesty. I am leaving your honourable presence.” Zymer left the room, with a cunning grin on his face. The talking shadow stepped out. She looked beautiful for a queen. That beautiful young lady was the owner of the cold steely voice. Ah, how better Queen Nephthellia would look, with a smile. She looked as though in deep thoughts.

Suddenly, the chimney ashes rose. Blue sparks hit everywhere, and soon, a person in a cloak stood on the fireplace. The blazing sound of the appearance of the stranger broke the Queen’s glazed eyes. “Lost in thoughts sister?” The unwanted visitor spoke.

Nephthellia turned to see who had spoken, as the stranger wearing a hooded cloak sat up from where the fireplace was and started walking to the front. As she came forward she removed her cloak to reveal a long mane of flaming blue hair, green eyes and cherry red lips. She looked exact same as Nephthellia. You could mistake the stranger for the Queen. “Camilla! What are you doing here? You were banished from Krystilla and therefore are no longer permitted to enter this great palace!” yelled Nephthellia, flames flicking in her eyes.

“Nice to see you too, dear sister! Did you think that would stop me?” asked Camilla laughing.

“I am still just as powerful as you my dear Nephthellia!” she continued as she paced up and down like a lioness looking directly Nephthellia as she did.

“Too bad… people thought you are better than me! And look now, injustice served everywhere! Ah, and how is Aurélie? Are you punishing her too much, huh?” Camilla asked as she stopped right in front of Nephthellia, looking straight at her.

“It is not any of YOUR business about the prisoners here, and I will repeat what I said earlier, I am the head of this place, and I am a good person! You, even if you are my twin, will never have the same character as me!!” Nephthellia retorted, her anger flaring.

“Ooh…” Camilla mocked. “So I can still get under the nerves of my sister, can’t I?”, she said, jeering.

“GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!!!” Nephthellia ordered.

“Hmm… you are a great person to test my newest power on, shall I do it?”, Camilla asked, a sly grin planted on her face.

“No. Now get out, or else I call the guards.” Nephthellia’s voice went dangerously soft.

Camilla danced around Nephthellia playfully. “No no, dear sister, that is not needed. And anyways, my question was an statement. Not a choice.” Camilla said, looking gleeful. Nephthellia suddenly looked pale and frozen. When her sister uses her powers, it could turn disastrous.

Camilla smiled, looking at the worried face of Nephthellia. She knew what was going on in her sister’s mind. Camilla leaned forward and whispered something in Nephthellia’s ears. She turned more pale, if that was possible. “I absolutely FORBID YOU CAMILLA FROM DOING THAT! YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR NOW!! GUARDS? GUARDS!!”, Nephthellia shouted.

“Ah, my dear sister. Wish you could learn more. Can’t you see, those stupid guards cannot stop me?” Camilla asked.

“Well, sister, I wished you could learn something about the word ‘good’.” Nephthellia retorted. “The guards are on their way, so you cannot do anything.”, she said.

Camilla roared with laughter. Her green eyes flickered dangerously. Her hair started to glow. And she pointed towards Nephthellia with her long index finger.

Nephthellia suddenly fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Camilla twisted her finger more and more, and Nephthellia’s twitching and cries of pain increased. Nephthellia could only hear Camilla’s maniacal laughs, which became more further and further away, the scene became blurry and she could only make out her evil twin’s flaming hair, which turned from blue to red. Suddenly, she could hear soft voices of her chieftain, Thworn, and the minister, Zymer. She could no longer see the flaming red hair, and in place of her twin sister there was only wisps of smoke. The pain increased. Screaming with torture, she could no longer hold it. She heard Zymer shouting for a stretcher. Everything started spinning. The Queen’s head felt heavy and dizzy, and soon, all became pitch black, and the world fell on her.

***

Zymer looked over Queen Nephthellia, shooting a worried glance at his Queen. Thoughts were buzzing around his head, annoying him like flies.He suddenly heard mumbling beside him. He woke up unexpectedly and turned sharply towards his left. The Queen had woken up. Nephthellia slowly lifted her head up, looking beautiful as ever. She held her head in her hands, as though it was almost as heavy as a kettlebell. With an ‘Ah!’ of pain, she somehow sat up on the bed. Weakly looking at Zymer, who had his mouth open to start asking questions, Nephthellia interrupted.

“I know Zymer. Don’t think of asking any questions until I finish my bit of the story.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Is Thworn available?”

Zymer gasped. He didn’t know his Queen was sharper than he had thought.

“That er… You Majesty… yes, he is at the door.” Zymer stuttered, and called out to one of the maids to open the door.

“Ah… good… I would like to have him listen to the tale as well…”

Zymer sighed happily. Queen Nephthellia wasn’t as sharp as he thought.

“Also, is Aurélie in the Tower now?” She asked.

Oh no. The minister was wrong again. The Queen was very sharp and observant.

“Oh… that Your Majesty… er…” , he stammered.

Zymer was desperately pouncing for words that he did not notice Thworn standing behind him. “Ah hum, how are you Your Majesty?” He asked in his thick deep voice.

“Fine now, thank you! Please sit down.” Nephthellia ordered.

“A-and y-your Majesty… sorry to inform you but the prisoner has escaped, while we heard the commotion in the Great Hall… and the blace has disappeared too…” Thworn confessed, looking once and again at Zymer, almost with sorry looks in his eyes. Zymer didn’t return them back. He stared at the shiny floor.

“It’s fine Thworn. Anyways, I somehow knew about it.” She said and managed a weak grin while casting looks at Zymer, who had guilty written on his face. Thworn looked even more dumbfounded.

“Yes Your Majesty, and what is the reason you called me?” He asked.

“Aah, you might be wondering who the other person was and how she attacked me. There is a piece of dark truth behind it, dark, bitter truth. And who is to blame it all? Me.” She started off.

“Her name is Camilla, and she is my sister. Yes Zymer, I have a sister. More like, twin. However alike we looked, there was no common character in both of us.

Me? I liked to run around in the woods when we were young, and look at the beauty of everything around me. I liked to use my magic to heal people. I was the person of the natural forces, you could say.

My sister? Well, she spent most of her time in her mysterious shed. Casting dark spells, trying to be powerful, gain control of people and animals, make them do what she said. She called me a fool, because I wasn’t pushing my powers beyond the limit. I tried changing her, console her into being good, but all in vain.

Our parents weren’t alive - they passed away, as they gave birth to both of us. You could say I was older - being seconds alive in this universe than my sister. That is another reason why she hates me - she thinks she should have been picked first, to be the elder out of us.

Fast forwarding to our years when the two Amethyst Eagles were born, my sister became more and more ambitious, taking everything and using it to the fullest; mercilessly killing small things which were of no use to her, and soon, I noticed many changes in her. She talked less, boasted more, smiled eerily, and, sometimes, I saw her eye pupils change colour from green, to red. The strange thing was that whenever that happened, everybody seemed to agree to her, and everything usually went according to her decisions. I was foolish; I was imprudent; and I wasn’t ready to believe that a person as young as 15 could perform a Mind Control Jinx. I was right, she didn’t use that weak jinx.

I soon discovered that she created potions of herself in her shed, which either made her more powerful, or more confident, and each time something worked, she turned more evil, more dark. One of those potions, was dedicated to strengthening her pheromones. It made people believe that she was right, she was correct, and with that potion, she could twist innocent minds into dark ones.

I wasn’t standing like a puppet there - my job was to lead her in her right path - in the good way. I consulted the warlock of a local place right here in Krystilla, and somehow, Camilla got to know about it. She looked furious. I was afraid of her, and that she would realize that abusing her powers would just make her more invincible. When she saw the warlock, she marched to her dark shed, locked herself in, and stayed there all night. I gave the warlock a place to sleep - our house was a huge one - and soon, I slept, without a trace of warning of what was going to happen the next day.

When the sun shone the succeeding day, I could not find the warlock. I searched possibly everywhere - even in our neighbour’s house - whether he went somewhere, or got back at his small business. Yes, I even visited the place he was from - and he was not there either.

There was only one way now, to how he disappeared, and as I marched to my sister’s shady playground, I suddenly found myself, sprouting fear in myself because of my sister.

My sister knew what happened to him - by the look on her cunning and sly smile, I could make it out. She was outside her hovel - yes, in the anger and temper that I had, I dared to call it a hovel - waiting for me. Her quick and sharp eyes spotted me raging towards her, and she clambered down from the rock she was sitting on.

“CAMILLA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE WARLOCK?” I screamed.

“Oh, what dear sister? Which warlock?” She asked, jeering.

“Dear sister, what have you done to the warlock who visited here yesterday? " I asked, feeling a tingling sensation spreading through my body.For the first time, fury and red rage took over me.

Camilla, too, for once, looked scared. All colour drained from her already pale and thin face. I realized what was happening to me. My eyes turned garnet red. My teeth scrawled above, and the turquoise shade of my hair turned merlot. I didn’t feel like myself anymore, I felt more… evil… and, darker as each moment passed, my sister finally stopped gasping at my transformation. With a twisted, attempted, weak smile, she said, “Have you checked the Fluvius River sister?”

I almost overtook the wind, as I reached the spot, where I saw the Warlock under a cherry tree. He seemed to be sleeping. No. This was not the style of my sister. She would try something more vicious. I tried waking him up. After a few moments, he opened his eyes.

“Hi daughter, how are you? Where are we now? Have we reached Heaven yet?” He giggled. “Your mother said she would bring more picnic snacks. This is a nice place. Is this heaven?” He asked.

My head felt dizzy. No, this wasn’t happening. She used a pain curse on him. She tortured him, and by torturing him that much, the limit line broke, and he lost his memory. Now he was asking me, “This is a nice place to swim. I am going in. Bye!” He threw off his clothes, and jumped into the river. I couldn’t warn him. I felt more heavier than ever. He would never come back. No, the Fluvius River was merciless, like my sister.

I didn’t have the energy to go to my sister. I wept in the corner, as I thought to myself, an innocent life lost. Now I knew, that my sister was capable of murder.

And that was the time when the two Amethyst Eagles were born. From my tears of sadness, these two loyal creatures were born. I didn’t know that till I woke up the next morning. It must have been magic, of course, because when I looked into their eyes, it said everything. Yes, I was the only one who could stare in their eyes, and not be cursed. From that day onwards, these birds protected the Keys of Life.

You might be wondering how I became Queen, and that was by the announcement that the previous Queen said. In case you haven’t read the History of Krystilla, King and Queen Belfast announced that she would choose the heir who would feel the prickle of the Divine Spike.

Of course, I went there, because I couldn’t sleep in my lonely house - those nightmares kept haunting me. After I felt the prickle of the Divine Object, was when I knew that I was related to the grandfather of Queen and King Belfast. I was welcomed warmly, and for a person like me, these riches were almost everything. I became greedy. But that vanished when Camilla rose again out of the blue. Yes, she viewed everything, and made a commotion about it. The way she talked, about how stupid the decision was to make me heiress, it was as though she had missed her chance. I asked her whether she had taken a chance for the Prickle of the Spike, but she looked more angry. By that time the guards arrived, and she had to flee.

I am the only one who can live through her powers, but she is becoming more invincible every second.

Since then, I didn’t see her, till now.” Queen Nephthellia looked sad, and rather thankful that she could pour her troubles into someone else.

Zymer and Thworn didn’t speak.

That night, Nephthellia could sleep and dream.

***

Queen Nephthellia walked into the darkness of the woods. The same place, where she and her sister used to carry out their tasks, when they were young. How beautiful Fresbrook looked, even in the dark, she thought. Footsteps broke her thoughts. It was James, the son of the unfortunate warlock.

“Ah, I expected you. Don’t you have anything against me?” She asked, looking amused.

“No. Though I can’t believe that evil Camilla would do anything to you! " He exclaimed.

“Her fears don’t stop her, James. I thought you already had experience?” She asked.

James’s face turned dark. “I won’t forgive her. Thank god you brought me back my memory when she wiped that out from me. I will never forget that.” He said, gritting his teeth.

“It’s what I do. How handsomely did Camilla pay you?” Nephthellia asked intrigued.

“Handsomely enough” he replied cheekily.

“So what did you do with the money?” Nephthellia probed.

“Oh, that, I dropped it in the Grond Tower” replied James.

“Please don’t tell me you climbed it?” exclaimed Nephthellia.

“Believe me, I just found out I can fly.” He said waving a small leather bag.

“What’s in the bag?” she inquired.

“A deer’s heart!” James declared winking.

“Why did you cut its heart out?” Nephthellia asked.

“Because Camilla wanted your heart as a price.”

“Sigh… I guess it is a killing potion now, made for me?” She said, smiling.

“Tell me something. How did you know that Camilla was planning to have you killed? James asked confused.

“My apprentice, Amara, had a dream a few nights ago. She dreamt that some dark shadow stabs me in the chest with a knife.” Nephthellia replied.

She moved a towards a thin tree and planted her hand over it. The dry, withered, tree bloomed, as she continued, “but, what no one knows is that I have had the same dream. In my dream, it’s not me who gets stabbed. It’s Camilla!”

“Is that right? So, you are out here to make the dream a reality?” he asked amused.

“Yes, and on behalf of my citizens, I thank you, James, for looking out for us. For seeking me out and warning me,” she said.

She made a sudden movement and said, “you better go now before the guards come looking for me.”

“Will be seeing you my highness!”James said, bowing slightly.

“That’s a thank you, James.” She said, smiling slightly, and left the place.

The End.