~~~~
Serena had faith in Lady Aphros’s plan, it was layered in deception and complexity, but it had a solid enough foundation. She’d play along with the assassins, whom Aphros had lied to about Serena’s true loyalties. She accepted the invitation to a dark corner of the palace to be given her “orders” and followed them to the letter. Aphros was already aware of the general shape the plot would take; Serena would just have to be the spanner in the works.
The assassination plot was insidiously simple, albeit very reliant on everything going exactly right. Serena would lead the third princess away from her guards to the center of the gardens, where a pair of assassins lay in wait. One would attempt to snipe the princess, Serena would save the girl, then the other assassin would charge them from the shadows with a dagger. The princess would be slain, while Serena was roughed up by the second assassin to affirm her innocence. Then the two killers would escape, shouting about the glory of the first princess.
Serena didn’t know the full details on the rest of the plot, but from what Lady Aphros described, it involved linking a paper trail back to the first princess. Serena assumed this is where she would be thrown under the bus by the assassins, probably by forging correspondence between her and Atlanta. Of course, Serena wouldn’t be careless enough to play along with this whole scheme.
Lady Aphros’s counter plan was far more straightforward. A special squad of royal guards, led by Lady Ze, would discretely follow Serena and Irene. Then once the assassins exposed themselves, Ze and the guards would descend upon the garden. The conspirators would think they were leading the third princess into a trap when they were the ones in danger all along. Then Orion had to come charging in.
Serena knew he probably followed her that morning, but she had hoped he’d given up. Even then, he still shouldn’t have pieced together what was happening so quickly. Regardless, there he was, running right into the middle of this whole mess. If it weren’t for the strange instinct that alerted her to danger whenever the third princess was involved, then Serena might not have dodged the assassin’s bullet. However, the instinctual dodge did manage to preserve her cover, hence the second assassin joining the fray.
Orion’s presence likely prompted the assassins to spring into action sooner. If he hadn’t appeared, maybe the guards could have spotted the assailants and subdued them without any need for open conflict. Alas, there was no way to know for sure, and that opportunity had come and gone. As the second assassin charged Orion from behind, Serena’s concern for her friend overtook her loyalty to the mission. She threw her hidden dagger as hard as she could into the attacker. She expected to do nothing more but stun or impair him, but instead, he fell flat on his back. Serena pondered that she didn’t know her own strength.
“You idiot,” Serena said as she clutched the princess close to her chest, knowing she had completely blown her cover. Orion had turned to look at the downed assassin before swinging his head towards the sniper in the distance. With no time to waste, he leaped towards Serena and the princess. The look of concern on his face said it all, and he likely intended to shield them with his own body. They formed a tight lock around the princess, protecting her from the outside world.
‘This is good for the moment, but it also assumes there’s only one assassin left,’ Serena realized. Again, recalling Victoria’s warnings about being lied to and manipulated, she spotted several more menacing figures emerging from every dark corner of the garden. It seemed like every cloaked figure she encountered in the underground, minus one or two was here. At a glance, her instincts alerted her to at least two more snipers and three more assassins armed with knives or swords.
“I’m sorry, Serena, I don’t know what’s happening, but I’ll distract them, you run!” Orion apologized.
“Forget it, there’s more of them, and I can’t outrun a bullet,” Serena replied. “I can sense when they’re about to shoot, on three, fall to the ground.” The world slowed as Serena could feel the danger approach. “One, two,” Serena counted until she knew, just knew that the bullet was coming, “three!” The trio fell to the ground as another bullet whizzed over their heads.
“Now, run!” Orion shouted as the two stood up, Serena carrying the princess in her arms, and they sprinted away. Irene was practically catatonic; the sudden danger froze the small child in place. Thankfully, despite the fact the girl still wore her long flowing dress, it didn’t get in the way of Serena’s escape. In fact, the fabric felt strange in Serena’s hands, as though it was there, but not at all hindered nor affected by the world around it. This was demonstrated as one assassin jumped from the bushes and tried to snatch Irene by the dress. However, the fabric slipped through his fingers as though he had grabbed air.
‘That explains a lot,’ Serena noted as Orion elbowed the surprised assailant right in the nose. “Just a little further, Lady Ze should already be in position,” Serena explained. “Bullet!” She threw herself, the princess, and Orion to the ground. Another bullet whizzed past, clipping her in the left shoulder as another grazed Orion’s right leg.
“Damn,” Serena swore. It actually took her a moment to notice she had been hit, but that was probably the adrenaline. Unfortunately, the reason she did notice was that her left arm had gone numb, making it harder to carry the princess. With Orion’s leg also injured, it looked like this was as far as they go.
“I’ll take the next one. Just keep running,” Orion declared as he put himself between Serena and the remaining assassins approaching them.
“Can’t, my left arm is going numb, I won’t be able to carry the princess far,” Serena admitted. “All we can do is hope Lady Ze gets here in time.”
“O-okay,” Orion tried to stand tall, despite the pain in his leg. The two remaining melee assassins approached with malicious intent, while the three snipers were likely arming themselves for another shot.
The first of the two sword-wielding assailants slashed at the young man, but Orion stood his ground. The butler managed to deflect the blade with his arm. The razor edge slid right off whatever strange material his clothing was composed of, giving Orion the opening he needed. The young man socked the assassin right in the face, sending the cloaked figure reeling. Alas, the second followed immediately at cut Orion in the side with his blade. The young man fell to the ground as the assailant raised his sword to finish the job.
Serena shut her eyes, unable to watch Orion’s grisly end, but after almost a minute, nothing happened. The garden had grown dead quiet, and a palpable static filled the air. Like a flash of lightning, Lady Ze had finally appeared. The last melee assassin dropped his weapons in panic. At the same time, the snipers tried to take aim, only to be accosted by a swarm of guards that flooded into the garden.
“Thank the lord,” Serena declared in relief. The blinding pain set in as the adrenaline wore off, and the maid tried hardest not to pass out.
~--~
The whirlwind of a day that followed was even worse than the previous assassination attempt. After a quick trip to a medical wing to get her and Orion’s injury treated, Serena found herself taken along as all the assassins were arrested and imprisoned for their crimes. She recognized one of them at least, as one of the two she met in dark depths of the palace that morning, but the other was nowhere to be seen.
They had gathered the assassins in some kind of meeting room on one of the palace’s upper floors. Some of the captured attackers were corrupt guards, one was a servant, and two were politicians in Lady Aphros’s camp. Serena, Orion, Lady Ze, Lady Aphros, Princess Atlanta, and two squads of royal guards were all present. Serena silently wondered why they were here and not in some dungeon, but in between death glares towards the assassins, Aphros had shot her a few reassuring looks.
Suddenly, Lord Adonis burst into the room, an untold fury in his eyes. “Is it true, Lady Aphros, two of our own involved in a conspiracy against the crown?” Having only seen him before in a more polite and relaxed setting, seeing Adonis so furious scared Serena a bit. It practically made her skin crawl, or was that something else?
“It seems so,” Aphros gestured to the two bound politicians.
“I say we take them to the gallows at once. Have these traitors hung before the public to show them what happens to such conspirators,” Adonis declared.
“Patience,” Lady Aphros replied. “They still have the right to some kind of trial. At least let us hear their reasoning, no matter how flimsy it may be.”
“Well, I am a trained judge, allow me to do it,” Lord Adonis offered.
“Who said anything about a judge?” Aphros giggled. “We have a much higher authority present,” she gestured to a grand set of double doors.
“You don’t mean to say that the Queen is-?” Adonis began to ask.
“She wants to speak to the would-be killer of her youngest daughter personally,” Aphros explained. “Everyone, to the throne room, be on your best behavior.” The blonde directed everyone to the grand double doors, making one last glance over to Serena and Orion, and beckoned them to follow.
Proceeding into the throne room, Serena felt the entire environment shift. It was almost ethereal walking through the hall. The place certainly lived up to its name, being a grand structure, lined with marble pillars and tile, crystal statures in every corner, and the throne itself. Five seats sat at the far end of the room, three smaller ones, likely for the princesses, and two larger for the king and queen.
Each throne was surrounded by a mahogany box, with partially transparent ivory curtains hung in each. Three boxes were empty, with the curtains pulled to the side, but two were occupied, with the curtains half drawn. In one sat a young girl, a few years younger than Princess Atlanta, who, by process of elimination, must be the second princess. She had long lilac hair that turned a deep red at the tips and wore the same dress as Irene and Atlanta. On her face was the warmest smile Serena had seen in her life. It practically made her heart melt. No wonder Aphros and Adonis favored her as the heir.
In the other throne sat a woman unlike any Serena had seen before. The curtain obscured her face a little, but despite everything else being in plain view, it was almost like it wasn’t. The woman had long hair, so long it seemed to touch the floor. In one light, it looked a vibrant purple, in the other a soft lilac, sometimes it appeared almost silver, and others it was all three. She wore a dress that was a more intricate and detailed version of the princess’s, it was far longer, yet it seemed to disappear into the floor. While she couldn’t see the woman’s eyes, Serena could tell on instinct they contained the moon, the stars, and everything else.
This woman was the queen, there could be no doubt. She was breathtaking, ethereal, and majestic. Her very presence shook Serena to her core and made her question whether or not this person before her was even human. She was beautiful, amazing, and absolutely terrifying. Serena didn’t even believe she should look at her, half out of reverence and half out of concern for her own sanity. Should she throw herself to the floor and pledge eternal allegiance, or run away as fast as she could and never look back? Serena couldn’t tell.
Then, the queen took one glance at Serena, and the maid felt like she was staring right through her, down to her very soul. It was almost violating how deeply a single glance from the queen seemed to peer into her, but the tension was diffused somewhat as the queen let out a small giggle. The thought, “how flattering of you,” was communicated to Serena wordlessly, and suddenly she snapped back to reality.
Serena wondered why nobody had started bowing until she realized they hadn’t even finished walking across the room. That single glance at the queen felt like it had lasted for hours, but no more than a second had passed. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Aphros stopped a good few meters away from the queen and gestured to everyone to bow. Even their prisoners bowed as if on instinct.
“Queen Celene, I have brought the conspirators before you, as requested,” Aphros spoke with a level of reverence Serena had never heard before.
“Thank you, Lady Aphros, my dear friend,” the Queen’s voice echoed through the room. It was light and airy, like a voice on the wind. “Lord Adonis, step forward,” her now commanding tone thundered through the room.
“M-my Queen,” Adonis stepped forward.
“Just one question, why?” The Queen asked, her concern and worry carried on each syllable. It almost brought Serena to tears, as though a dear friend had committed horrid atrocities before her eyes.
“I-I do not understand what you mean?” Adonis’s lie could not be more obvious.
“Do not play coy with me,” the Queen’s tone shifted to that of a displeased mother times a thousand. Adonis tried to maintain a stoic visage, but the Queen’s words pierced through his veil of deceit and the man cracked almost immediately.
“Yes, it was me. It was my plan,” Lord Adonis admitted. “I believed the first princess unfit to rule the kingdom, so I did what needed to be done so the second could take her place. Lady Aphros agrees.”
“Did you honestly believe Lady Aphros would freely join in your conspiracy?” The Queen inquired. She spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Serena found herself hanging on every word, pitying Adonis for being so foolish.
“Lord Adonis,” Lady Aphros spoke up, “my loyalties lay to the whole crown, not a single jewel. I have deceived you this whole time.”
“She is not the only one,” the Queen proclaimed.
“Of course, the maid, I should have known better,” Adonis shot a nasty look at Serena. Until a beam of something crossed before his vision. Serena could just barely make out a clean-cut forming across his right shoulder. As though the tip of a fine blade had been run across him.
“Do not project your frustration towards the servants,” the Queen warned. “Regardless, she is not whom I spoke of. You are.”
“My Queen, I’m not sure I understand,” Adonis was confused.
“What is the real truth behind your motives? What is your true reason for favoring the second princess?” The Queen inquired, her question piercing right through Adonis.
“It is not…I do not,” Adonis began to sweat.
“Speak the truth, and do not fail to answer,” Queen Celene commanded as the tension in the room began to crescendo.
“It is…because…I…I,” Adonis choked up and desperately searched for a convenient half-truth but failed to produce one.
“Is it because you believe her to be foolish? Easily manipulated? A perfect puppet so you may become the true power behind the throne?” The Queen accused her words like spears, puncturing Adonis’s very soul.
“Yes, damn it!” The nobleman screamed. “That invalid waste of skin was no better for the throne than those two brats who dared to call themselves your children. Alas, the first was far too clever to be manipulated, and the third’s unfettered nature makes her impossible to control. The second though, she would be like clay in my hands!” With his rant complete, horror spread across Adonis’s face, as though he only just realized he had shouted his darkest secrets for all the world to hear.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” the Queen closed her eyes and pondered. “Having admitted your crime, your punishment is now decided.” Celene waved her hand. A flash of light washed over the throne room and just as quickly vanished. Once the light was gone, so was Adonis, and in his place was a clay statue of him in his raving mad state. “To the dungeon with the rest until a more formal trial can be arranged. As for Adonis, I want him out of my sight.”
All the royal guards, plus Lady Ze, led out the remaining assassins in somber silence. The last guard carried out the clay statue, with his exit, the grand double door shut behind him, and suddenly the room felt so much lighter. The almost oppressive ethereal atmosphere left in an instant and was replaced by a tangible whimsy.
“Politics are so exhausting,” the Queen leaned back in her chair and sighed. The illusion of her absolute grace and majesty was shattered as she let out a loud yawn and stretched. “At least the counterplot was altogether successful. Do you think I went a little too hard on Adonis?”
“Nah, he was a crazy nut,” Aphros stood up and spoke casually to the queen. “It’s too bad though, he had excellent taste in wine. If only he wasn’t such a crazy, power-hungry bigot.”
“Uh,” Serena and Orion both gaped.
“Oh, you two can stand up now,” Aphros smiled. “It’s okay.”
“Okay,” Serena nodded as she and Orion stood up. “Um, what?”
“Oh right, that was just a show to scare the conspirators,” Lady Aphros explained. “Although I have to admit, you overdid it on the glamour, Celly. For a minute, I thought Serena was going to faint.”
“Celly?” Serena blurted.
“Just an old nickname,” Queen Celene giggled before turning to the first princess. “How’s my eldest doing?”
“A little annoyed you didn’t tell her about the slander campaign,” Princess Atlanta grumbled. “Or the rest of this little scheme you and Aphros cooked up behind my back. Was Irene supposed to be in the firing line?”
“No, it’s just a certain somebody ran into the middle things before Ze could get in position,” Aphros glanced at Orion, who tensed up. “But I planned around that too, so don’t worry, Orion. I had intended to get a body double for Irene, but it all moved too fast.”
“Lovely, you’re like a bunch of children playing spy,” Princess Atlanta scoffed.
“Or like you when you play pretty soldier dress-up,” the Queen said with a motherly tone.
“Mother, don’t talk about that!” The first princess screamed.
“But you’re so precious when you do it,” Celene beamed.
“I haven’t done that since I was nine!” Atlanta yelled back.
“Dear lord,” Serena and Orion looked on in horror at the little family spat, realizing what exactly they had sworn their lives and loyalties to.
“You get used to it,” Aphros laughed.
“Right, wait, where’s the second princess in all this?” Serena looked back at the throne to see the princess fast asleep. The young woman was snoring away, seemingly oblivious to all the events of the past few minutes.
“Yeah, she gets bored really easily,” Aphros explained.
“You know, after all this time, I still don’t know her name,” Serena admitted as she looked at the second princess.
“Yeah, there’s a reason for that,” Aphros leaned closer to her, “that’s because it’s…” She whispered the princess’s name in Serena’s ear.
“That’s not funny,” Serena replied.
“I’m serious. That’s her name,” Aphros assured.
“Oh my god,” Serena shoved her face into her hands.
“Wait, what’s her name? I didn’t hear,” Orion asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Serena informed.
~--~
Serena, Orion, and Aphros left the Queen and the first Princess to their little comedy routine and returned to the meeting room from before. Serena felt a wave of exhaustion overwhelm her, the whiplash from the Queen’s personality shift doing her no favors. Aphros rested her hand on both their shoulders and looked at them with pride.
“I’m very proud of you two. Our training paid off, and then some,” Aphros beamed.
“All it took was putting myself and the third princess in mortal danger,” Serena muttered.
“I understand your frustrations, Serena, and you’re right,” Aphros admitted as she stepped away. “I thank you both graciously for an exceptional display valor in the line of duty,” Lady Aphros bowed deeply.
“You don’t need to…” Serena didn’t know how to react.
“I apologize for manipulating you two, but I needed to play my cards close to my chest to keep up the double agent act,” the blonde explained. “It was all a matter of opportunity. You see, Orion can’t keep a secret to save his life-”
“Hey,” Orion was offended.
“-and Victoria suddenly quitting opened up an opportunity to bring in a complete outsider. What happened with Victoria was still…” Aphros trailed off, “anyway, you two will be greatly honored for your help in exposing and foiling this plot. Before that, I hope that, despite everything, you two at least consider me as a friend.”
“Would it really be proper for two servants to be friends with a noblewoman?” Serena asked.
“Technically, no, but I don’t care,” Aphros giggled. “The Queen and I make the rules, not those stuck-up fools like Adonis.”
“What’s this about greatly honored?” Orion inquired. “I know what that means for nobles and soldiers, but what’s it means for us?”
“You’ll see,” Aphros smiled widely.
“It can’t be too big. We’re just servants,” Serena commented.
~--~
A few days later, Serena and Orion found themselves at the center of a grand ceremony. The two of them, Lady Aphros and Lady Ze, were being awarded medals for their service to the crown. It was a truly massive event, held in a grand public theater. There must have been tens of thousands in attendance. Confetti flew freely, trumpets blared to the heavens, and a half dozen speeches were made in their honor.
Serena and Orion were in complete shock throughout the whole event. Even as the first princess hand-delivered their medals, all the two could do was go through the motions. The entire day was a massive blur after that. They vaguely remembered being asked questions by the media and that their faces were now plastered across every surface in the city, if not the entire kingdom.
At the end of the whirlwind, nay hurricane of a day, the still stunned Serena and Orion found themselves back at the servant’s quarters in the palace. Lady Aphros had given them the rest of the day off, yet the two could only lay about in Orion’s room stunned. It was Serena that broke through the haze first.
“Well, there goes any chance of going back to my old life,” Serena mutters. “It’ll probably be a few years before I’m not recognized by every single person on the street.”
“Oh right, you were hired only a few months ago,” Orion remembered. “Have you kept in touch with your mother?”
“Not recently,” Serena admitted, “haven’t had the time between the conspiracies and keeping the princess still.”
“Do you want to go back? To your old life, I mean?” Orion asked. Serena looked at the blonde and saw that genuine curiosity only he was capable of. Just like he forgot her circumstances, sometimes Serena forgets that Orion had been training since he was a small child. He never really had a “normal” life.
“Well, it certainly wasn’t this exciting,” Serena joked. “But, there’s such thing as too much excitement. Personally, I don’t know anymore,” the raven-haired girl admitted. “Going back to normal sounds so appealing now, but can I actually go back?”
“Why couldn’t you?” Orion asked.
“It’s like a switch was flipped in my head,” Serena admitted. “My perception is different, and all these assassination attempts have left me more than a little paranoid. But beyond that, it doesn’t feel right to go back, not yet at least.”
“So, you want to, or you don’t?” Orion pressed further.
“Not yet, not now,” Serena admitted, “but one day…I hope.” She stood up and began walking towards her own room.
“Serena, are you okay?” Orion went to stop her.
“Of course, I am,” she smiled and half-lied. “We should get to bed; we both have duties to attend to tomorrow morning. Perhaps tomorrow is the day I get the princess to attend her etiquette lesson. Goodnight,” Serena curtsied and stepped out.
“Goodnight,” Orion replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Serena returned to her room and collapsed on the bed. Her pillow muffled any un-maid-like sounds she made for the next few minutes before she reached into a bag and pulled out a phone. She dialed a familiar number and clicked the talk button.
“Hello, mother, you wouldn’t believe the month I’ve had,” she said into the receiver.
The End…
~~~~
Exceptional performance of one's duties should always be recognized and rewarded appropriately in order to encourage a healthier work environment.
Edit: Oh my god, I can't believe it took me five months to realize I had a really major typo in this one. Changed the description of the Second Princess from "A few years younger than Irene" to "A few years young than Atlanta."
It's official, I'm going to rewrite these early chapters entirely. Maybe soon, maybe next year, but I will rewrite them.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
No comments:
Post a Comment