Lysandra felt her world shatter as the King himself raised his sword to her mother's neck, separating it from her body.
Earlier;
Lady Victoria was ready to leave her room to meet her daughter who was holding the sack of little clothes and the jewelry they collected from her chests. Just as she opened her door, the king's guards immediately flocked inside, grabbed her by the neck and pulled her outside. She screamed, yelling but the guards were faster. One of them elbowed her on the stomach, making air cut from her lungs.
They pulled her towards the corridor leading to the girls' room before the king came into view. Lady Victoria knew that the plan had been breached.
"Victoria, I wouldn't have thought that you'd betray my trust in you. All these–" the king paused as he felt the warm mucus on his face.
Lady Victoria had spit phlegm on him. "You monster! How dare you do such a thing to your daughter without my or her consent!" She yelled and cried. This time, a small crowd was already forming.
Queen Remi was awoken by the screams and rushed out too.
"You speak about trust yet you did this to us. Why Owen! WHY!" Lady Victoria cried.
Cleaning his face, King Owen reached for his sword. At that moment, Lysandra came into view at the end of the corridor, holding a sack and dressed in a tunic. Anger washed over him at the betrayal of his hand. In one swing of the sword, Victoria's head separated from her body.
"MOTHER!!!"
Lysandra yelled as her mother's lifeless body fell to the ground. Her world came crashing down on her as her mother's soulless eyes stared at her.
Queen Remi stood aghast, pale as a ghost and trembling like a leaf. Riona felt the world tilt as she fell unconscious. Lady Catelyn couldn't move a muscle as she stared at the sight before her in shock. Riona's mother, Lady Amelia rushed towards her daughter in fright.
"Bring me the girl!!" The king ordered his guards.
"TINA!!"
"Lysandra, let's go! Come, the king's guards are coming for you and you'll meet the same fate as your mother." Albertina tried to warn Lysandra but it seems that Lysandra's mother's death has rendered Lysandra immobile.
Albertina, not knowing what to do, pulled Lysandra towards the other corridor leading to the kitchen. The front exit was blocked so the back exit was the only way.
"My mother. She's dead," Lysandra whispered as Albertina whisked her away.
"Our father killed her. We have to escape before the king's guard reaches us.
Lysandra tried to run faster but her legs refused to carry her more than she was already running. Tears stream down her face like a broken damn. Her mother was everything she wanted in this life. Now, she is gone. What is now left for her?
"There's the gate," Albertina shouted as she kept pulling Lysandra.
Just as Caspian had said, two horses were tied to a tree with supplies.
"Horses!" Albertina nudged Lysandra towards it and helped her sister mount the horse. Although she loves her family, Albertina had always wanted to be free. She had yearned to see outside of the castle and beyond. It seems that the gods have given her that chance.
Just as she was about to mount her horse, someone grabbed her from behind. "You slut princess," Cyprian growled as he squeezed Albertina's neck.
Feeling air leaving her lungs, the princess kept struggling with a red face but the guard was stronger.
When Lysandra regained her senses and found the guard name Cyprian strangling her sister, her vision turned red. She pounced on the man, landing a solid blow on the right side of his face.
Before Cyprian could recover from the blow, a wooden plank came down on his head, rendering him unconscious.
Hayden dropped the plank with a small blush on his face. Caspian had told him to hide while watching the horses. He didn't expect to see Albertina with Lysandra instead of Lady Victoria.
"You aren't supposed to be here," Albertina said hoarsely. She needed water.
"You too. Where's Lady Victoria? What are you doing here?" Hayden asked in confusion. Lord Caspian hadn't told him about Albertina joining Lysandra.
"My mother is dead. The king killed her." Lysandra replied before walking towards the horses.
"You're leaving too," he said to Albertina who was now tearing up.
"Yes. I can't stay. You know that," she whispered while cleaning the snort from her face. "Take care Hayden, I love you." She replied and rushed towards the horses. Mounting it, she took one last look at the chestnut haired boy she had fallen in love with.
"Lysandra, let's go before the king's guards are hot on our tail." With that said, both princesses rode away from the castle as fast as the horses could carry them.
***
Lady Catelyn pulled one of the King's guards with a sullen scared face. "Where's my daughter? Where's she!" she screamed like a maniac.
Queen Remi immediately grabbed her daughter and dragged her into the room before shutting it.
"Where are they?" King Owen asked coldly. His anger rose in octaves. Those wenches he called daughters. He growled.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace , they knocked out Cyprian with a plank and fled with two horses."
"Noooooooo" Lady Catelyn fell on her knees as she wailed.
King Owen walked towards where Catelyn was crying. He squatted to reach her level and ran his finger through her smooth skin. Albertina was the least person he would think of escaping.
"Let me calm the pain," he whispered to her and the sound of a twisted neck filled their air. Palpable shock filled Lady Catelyn's eyes before she fell dead on the floor.
Gasps filled the air as all the servants made for their room in haste. Two deaths of the king's wives. It was uncommon in Asta and even in their untainted history.
Lady Amelia froze in her daughter's embrace as she saw Catelyn's body drop to the ceramic floor. "Ca–cat," she stammered. The words couldn't leave her mouth out of disbelief. She was soon overcomed by anguish as she sobbed quietly at the loss of her friends.
***
The King's heavy feet marched towards his throne room. He was yet to retire for the day when Cyprian had told him about the traitors. Still wearing his royal white tunic and pants, topped with a long brown coat and tied with a belt in the middle.
Caspian had betrayed him and he would surely pay with his life. Bloodthirst lurked around him like a shadow as he stepped into the throne room. There, the five councilmen sat, which included Caspian.
"Your Grace ," they all stood from their seats to bow at him.
Cyprian then marched towards the king. A big bump was noticeable on his forehead and a dark bruise on his left cheek. "Your Grace , I failed you. The girls got away. The Dawson's Manor was completely empty before we arrived. It seems that Caspian knew this would happen and had taken his family to safety."
Caspian, who was hearing what the head guard said, wasn't moved by the recent outcome. Now that his family and the girls had escaped, there's nothing to worry about. He stepped out from his seat and came to stand in front of the throne.
"Well well, Caspian. The hand and protector of the king. Is this how you protect your king?" Owen Flynn asked as he made himself comfortable on the throne.
The throne room was bigger and wider than all the rooms in the castle. The floors were made of Teak wood and so was the ceiling. Huge chandeliers hung from it, lighting up the room in a bright yet faint glow. At the right edge close to the throne was the council table and the other councilmen seating.
Caspian shook his head and burst into laughter. This threw the king off guard and made him nervous.
"Protector of the king?" Caspian mocked. "I've served you for twenty years yet there has been no war during your reign. It is a blessing. At first, I thought you were a good man and would make a good king but I was wrong," he replied coldly.
Cyprian drew his sword at the old man for condemning the king but Owen raised his hand to stop him.
"You made a deal with the Eastern prince twenty years ago to prevent any war from happening. You swore an oath that your third daughter would be given as a bride to the Eastern prince in exchange for peace."
"The Eastern prince?" One of the councilmen asked.
"That's exactly what we heard, Councilman Willow. Did the king really do that?" Another councilman asked in awe and shock.
"The Eastern prince was a man no one spoke about and he has been ruling the East for hundreds of years. They say he doesn't die," Councilman Willow said in a frenzy.
"I heard those are just fairytales," someone else said from the table.
"They are not fairytales, Edmund Fitzgerald. The Eastern prince is real and so are the tales." Caspian replied to the councilman whose face now looked white as a paper.
King Owen Flynn gritted his teeth in rage as he watched his councilmen query about the Eastern prince. This was a secret no one knew. "How did you know so much, Caspian?"
"Where I get information doesn't matter, Owen. What I find more important is protecting the realm from the likes of you," Caspian backfired without hesitation.
"Your Grace , why would you promise your daughter to a man as such?" Councilman Edmund asked. He found it hard to believe but a man like Caspian Dawson would not lie. Especially at the face of his king.
"Cyprian, fetch me the head librarian." The king ordered.
"Yes, Your Grace ," Cyprian bowed before throwing a nasty glare at the king's hand. He couldn't wait to end the man.
Caspian frowned at the king's order. Did he miss something? He began to panic. The librarian was a scribe and they keep records of hundreds of years ago.
An old man with long gray hair entered with Cyprian behind him.
"Your Grace ," the man bowed a little. His back was stiff and his voice, hoarse.
"Jeremy, thank you for answering my call tonight. Caspian here thinks the Eastern prince is real. That I've given out one of my daughters to him. What do you say?"
The old man looked towards Caspian in question. Few months ago, the king's hand had come asking questions about the Eastern prince. "They are stories which seem real in the mind of a child. The absolute truth is that there was no Eastern prince and neither was it recorded anywhere. It's a fairytale, Your Grace ," Jeremy replied and turned to leave.
Caspian clenched his fist so tight that his fingers dug into his flesh.
"He's a beast," Jeremy had told him a few months ago.
King Owen Flynn felt fulfilled and happy after hearing the old man's short speech.
Caspian on the other hand knew why the King was unconcerned about all he had been saying. It was because everyone will believe the word of a scribe. An old one at that.
The king leaned forward, joining his hands in anticipation. "Any last words Caspian? If not, then say the word and let's get done with this, traitor."
Caspian swallowed a heavy lump on his throat but he was glad that the girls and his family were somewhere safe. Somewhere the Easter prince won't tread.
"I, Caspian Dawson, the king's hand and protector of the realm hereby confirm that I've committed treason, implicating the king's household and also helping them escape. I hereby stand before the king to receive my punishment of death from King Owen Flynn, himself."
Cyprian frowned hard. Cunning old bastard.
"Cyprian, I order you to melt out punishment on Caspian Dawson and–"
"Your Grace , it's a dishonor to bypass the wish of the traitor," Councilman Edmund interrupted the king's order. This earned him a glare from the king.
It was a custom that whosoever was called during the pledge of the guilty will carry out the death sentence.
King Owen hesitated for a while before standing up from his throne.
"As you wish."