“What was the cause of death?”
“Unfortunately, a stab wound caused by the medics.” An attending doctor replied. “His lungs had started to fill with blood when the maid called for a doctor. Seeing how late into the affliction his lungs were, we decided the best chance to resuscitate him was by inserting a tube to release the blood in there.”
“As you can see,” the physician gestured to the bloodstained floor around them, “even after we drained the blood that was in his lungs, it didn’t allow us enough time to perform surgery and even identify what had caused the bleeding in the first place. I’m sorry Conrad, we did all we could.”
The doctor exited the room and Conrad’s mind raced as he loomed over the body of Pola Azeur, at one time the man’s best friend, lying in the ornate gold coffin. Only he, Brago, and with his interference, Bella had been allowed inside. The man had been her grandfather after all, although that was a secret shared between the three of them in this room.
“You’ve really done some damage, haven’t you Brago?” The man in question winced, but said nothing at his accusation. While the two of them were having this discussion, Bella had been staring at the king’s face with a concentrated look.
“What are you planning to do now? No one has outed you as making the decision that possibly ended the king’s life, although if you like, we can change that one quickly.” Contrary to Conrad’s expectations, Brago said nothing and continued to hang his head.
Finally, after a long silence, Brago finally spoke up. “All this… all the suffering that King Pola went through was only due to my desire to see him recover. I would have never invested in that blade if I knew what a curse it would bring to the King.”
To Conrad’s shock, tears began to form in the journeyman’s eyes, and his fists clenched tightly. With a sigh, Conrad put his arm around the man, making him jump.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it too much. Sure, the blade may have been the final nail in the coffin, but we all know the King was fighting a losing battle before that. He was never truly the same after his son and daughter-in-law died, and due to the risk his mental condition posed, Jane didn’t feel safe having Bella spend time with him.”
“In his hatred, he created legislation meant to target Jane specifically, with the unintended consequence that it played right into the hands of the conservatives, who made sure the decrepit king remained on the throne long past his prime.”
Conrad shook his head sadly. “In truth, this may have been a blessing in disguise.” Brago trembled in pure sadness, and his breathing became increasingly shaky.
“I want to make things right. I… I have already strayed from my path by putting Leon in harm's way. Please jail me and hold a trial, I will cleanse my consciousness even if it is the last thing I do.”
“Well said.” Conrad patted the man’s back once more. Eventually, Brago broke down and clung to the king’s coffin, his sadness drowning out all other noises in the room.
---
“Ugh, so dramatic.” Hazeel’s ears twitched in displeasure at the sound of Brago’s shrill cries. “The king had been a dead man walking since before I left the city. No amount of magical myths was going to change that.”
I sat in silence, my ears not even picking up on what Hazeel’s had. “Sometimes it’s necessary for us to mourn. Being unable to channel negative thoughts or energy in some productive way is unhealthy, both mentally and physically.”
I instinctively thought of Dantae’s broken blade, and took a deep breath. Had I actually ever mourned for her? Not that she was dead, but rather all that happened around us. From Dantae herself being sent into a coma, to the betrayal of our two teammates in America, and the unspeakable evil that Christian Armando, my once general, had committed to Dantae.
“Yeah,” Hazeel said, snapping me out of my trip through memory lane, “but crying about it seems the least productive way to go about it.” I smirked and shook my head.
“That’s probably the best way to go about it. To let yourself cry is to block out all other emotions and just focus on the bad. Sometimes, that’s what people need the most to get back on track.”
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She simply scoffed as the door to the royal morgue opened, revealing a somber Brago, Conrad, and a bubbly and humming Bella. Hazeel shook her head, “That airhead can’t read the mood.”
“Calling the new Queen of Songrande an airhead is rude, you know!” I face-palmed and Hazeel’s jaw dropped.
She closed and reopened her jaw, in too much shock to properly form a sentence. The first thing that came out of her mouth when she recovered was, “What!?”
“It’s true.” Brago said in a dejected tone. “It was Conrad’s idea, but honestly her lineage cannot be used to deny her the throne. In fact, it is the reason I believe she will take it without a hassle.”
I eyed the man warily, and he sighed and shook his head. “I am sorry Leon. I lost control of myself when I realized what I had done to his majesty. To atone for my sins, I will confess to making the king’s health worse and eventually leading to his ruin with the cursed sword.”
Despite my best efforts, by eyebrows twitched when he called Dantae cursed, but I said nothing and let him continue. “I will be jailed and most likely sentenced to death. I just wanted to apologize before that. Can you forgive me?”
I stared at him in silence, one which dragged out for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, he relented, and Conrad’s guards took him off to what I presumed had to be a holding cell. The Military commander looked at me in disbelief, “You couldn’t find it in yourself to forgive the man?”
I looked at Conrad with disgust. “He tried to move an army to capture me and my teammates. Is your trust cheap to buy back, Conrad? Because mine isn’t. I’d given him an opportunity to be a companion, and all he had to do was make sure I wasn’t on the losing side of any circumstance he might’ve had, and he blew it. So no, Conrad, I couldn’t find it in myself to forgive him.”
A brief silence crept between us before Bella popped it like a balloon. “Well, first things first, I need to abolish the anti demi-human law.”
---
Things had moved pretty fast since our time at the morgue. Every citizen in the city had come out of their homes to pay respects to their once king, as his coffin was taken out of the city to be laid to rest on the isle of kings; a small island off the shore of the north of Songrande where previous kings had been buried.
I had taken Bella back to Jane’s house, and she had a conversation concerning her future as the legitimate heir to King Pola’s throne. I assumed that Jane would be against it, but she just smirked and told us that the prophecy had been completed.
She thanked me for my part, even though I did nothing. However, she told me that it was my presence that got the wheels of fate to turn, for better or worse. Even though she was very happy with how Bella had ended up, her primary source of happiness was the fact that she no longer had to worry about any impending prophecy, at least, none that she knew of.
After King Pola’s funeral had gone off without a hitch, we all returned to the throne room, where various people had gathered, all to gawk at the small demoness sitting on the throne of the former King. Most of them approved after hearing about her lineage. Some nobles from various factions had come out to voice their concerns over Conrad’s new plan, but his approval alone was enough to dissuade most of them.
On the other hand, Hazeel’s presence had been what it took for the rest of them to grudgingly accept. They feared her because she had killed the nobleman who masterminded the prince’s death 15 years ago, and would not dare cross her for fear of losing their own life.
In the middle of that crowd of nobles, Brago was dragged out in handcuffs and made to kneel before Queen Belladonna Clairborne, and his face was stoic as he awaited his punishment.
Breaking the silence, Bella spoke. “Brago Shields, you are hereby accused of speeding up the disease of King Pola, effectively killing him. How do you plead?” There were quiet murmurs as this information came to light for most of the general public, but Brago himself was still and silent.
“I plead guilty, your majesty. My life is forfeit to whatever punishment you may choose.” Bella giggled at being called “majesty,” but for what it was worth, she quickly hid that happiness behind a stern mask.
“Good, I would expect no less from you, Brago. As punishment, you shall sacrifice your left arm to the gods.” There were murmurs and horrified expressions from the crowd, but Bella carried on.
“In addition, you will become my advisor. With your wealth of knowledge and expertise in many fields related to ruling a country, I will be leaning heavily on you in the future.” Several gasps escaped the nobility, while Hazeel rubbed her temples and I shook my head, remembering that it was Jane who gave Bella that particular order.
Brago’s eyes widened, and, arms still cuffed behind his back, he pressed his head to the floor in a sign of absolute fealty. “Thank you your highness! My family and I will repay this debt, no matter how many generations it takes!”
---
“Well that was interesting.” Hours later, Hazeel and I were standing alone on the balcony of a large and expensive hotel room she had rented. With the news spreading of the anti demi-human mandate ceasing to be, many commoners who had disliked the bill due to the loss in business rejoiced, and were eager to start getting demi-humans to visit the Azure continent again.
Needless to say, that fact helped the wood elf procure a hotel all on her own. She turned to me and flashed a cunning smile. “Let’s talk about our future, shall we?”