The two groups stood in the throne room, watching each other warily from opposite sides of the large room. The Widow paced slowly across the carpeted floor, and her guards stood at attention behind her. On the far side of the room, the knights in black armor huddled around the body, examining it and speaking quietly among themselves.

"I don't know what else I can say, Lady," said the soldier in the red armor. "They knew exactly where to hit you and how to get away."

"I don't think it was that good an ambush," said the Widow. "Not if they didn't have anyone else on call."

"I couldn't agree more, my lady." He looked up at her. "What do you plan on doing next?"

"Well, first I'm going to kill you." She nodded toward the corpse. "This has been the fourth attempt on my life since I moved into the palace, including the last two from the same set of orders. So, if I'm not mistaken, it looks like they've already had the chance to try to kill me several times before, only to fail."

The knight shook his head. "Sorry, my lady, but I don't believe in coincidences like that."

"Then maybe you should start thinking in terms of conspiracies instead of coincidences," she said. "I want all the knights and nobles in House Vyenn dead. Every one. And I'm not going to stop until every last member of House Vyenn is dead."

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The knight's eyes grew wide. "But…why?"

"Because they're part of this conspiracy against me," said the Widow. She pointed at the body lying on the ground. "And, if I'm not wrong, the man who stabbed him used to be a knight under your command. Which means he probably gave his oath to you."

"No, I…"

"I don't care why you did it, and I don't even care if you did it because you thought it was a good idea or because you wanted to kill your brother," said the Widow. "I don't care about all the reasons, I just want you to know that I want you dead."

The knight looked away. "I don't know what to say."

"Well, then you shouldn't have done it," said the Widow. "Because I want everyone involved with this to be dead. Because if I didn't kill you, someone else would soon enough."

The knight looked up at her again, his face showing fear and shame. "I know what I did was wrong. But I swear I didn't know what he was planning."

"Then why did you let him stay?" asked the Widow. "Or, even better, why did you keep him alive?"

The knight swallowed hard. "He swore he wouldn't hurt you, my lady," he said. "And I believed him."

"I'm sure you did, because that oath probably came from some noble, just like the ones who are trying to kill me," said the Widow. "That oath means nothing now. You should have put him out of the way before this, before it got worse. Now I am going to kill you. And everyone else who was involved."

She held up her hands and closed her eyes. "You still have one chance to redeem yourself," she said. "Tell me where the people in House Vyenn are hiding. Where the rest of them are."

The knight shook his head. "Please, my lady, I don't know."

"Then I'll just have to kill you instead. And then the rest of you."