—
This part of the story is my favorite, to say the least. My life seemed great, even if it was partly a lie. The only issue was that my parents never came to visit me. I asked to meet up with them, but every time I asked to do so nothing ever came of it. This only showed the cruelness of the world, how they all pitied me for the tusks on my face and green skin. The sheer amount of whispered slurs was enough to make me lock myself away. I would get revenge.
—
I was beginning to get adapted to life in court. My favorite part was the food, though the copious amount of lessons truly drained me by the end of the day. I wanted a break, though it was never given. For months life was the same; wake up, change into a stuffy formal dress, eat breakfast as quickly as I could, and then lessons. My revenge plans were going nowhere. Who was going to die first? My first thought was the Duke of Winshire’s wife, a woman who needed to be dealt with due to her attitude. She was the first one to scoff at us, at the pain and hunger that consumed my parents. One of the perks of being a courtier was the amount of attention I got. Servants would bask in my presence, most of them being orcs. I even gained trust with some of them, giving me connections that might be useful in the future.
One afternoon, I was sitting on the terrace drinking tea. I planned to kill Duke Winshire’s wife, whose name I had just found out was Avanise. The servants had told me her husband often drank late, entering the room most of the time at 12 PM. I knew that there would be a hunting party and that the women would be drinking tons of port wine and scoffing down sweet tarts. At night, I’d enter her room and kill her, stealing some objects if needed. After all, she deserved it.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know why I continued to go through the plan. It would work from the beginning, everything being so predictable. Oftentimes, I thought that the Duke would have something of importance. Oh, how wrong I was.
The hunting party would soon leave, and I was preparing for the deep. I’d stolen a knife from the kitchen in the middle of last night. No one had seen me, nor heard me. The castle was ice cold, every hearth having a fire.
When the time came, I would strike. After midnight, she walked into the hall where her room was located. I hid behind a high wall of tapestry. No guards were nearby as they were shifting rotations, so I would have to act soon. I put the knife in its sheath, covering it behind my tunic and puffed coat.
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I knocked on the door yet no one came. After a minute or two I entered. Sprawled on the bed, her eyes were full of tears and a bottle of wine broken against the wall. She didn’t see me then as her eyes were half open. I unsheathed the knife and prepared to strike.
“Hello, Avanise.” She let out a loud groan. “Well, let’s get to business.” I smiled, placing the knife on her neck. “You have mocked me the entire time I’ve been in court, called me slurs. Here’s my restitution.” I let the knife arch down, digging deep into her chest. She let out a rushed breath before closing her eyes completely.
It was then that I saw what objects filled the room. Rings, and dozens of them. Some glinted while others shimmered in the candlelight. I picked one up and felt a magic course within me. The only possible explanation was…impossible. She was a mage, but… I put a chair to the door handle and began to take whatever magical items lay about. The amount of power the rings had could change entire nations. With the rings, I would bring change.
-
I returned to my room in a rushed fashion. Heavy rain began. Soon the Duke would come and find his wife in bed with a knife in her chest. It was supposed to be restitution, for her disrespect. I felt somewhat guilty as the Duke entered the main hall. The rings glared at me. If I put them on, what would happen?
Without any thought, I walked towards them. Putting one on wasn’t enough. All 10 of them were enough. My heart palpitated. Wonder filled me. How did I do this again? From the books, you just put your arm out and imagined what ring you wanted to activate. It seemed easy enough, though it wasn’t. For the next 10 minutes, I stuck my hand out in the air, imagining fire or water or at least something to come out. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. That was until I dropped my hand down in anger. The room went alight as a mix of fire, water, lighting, and the rest of the rings were activated. I swirled around in the air mesmerized as the elements began to gain momentum. The funnel became small, and I felt everything come near me.
“STOP!” I yelled, the world turning black.
-
I awoke on the floor of my room. No one found me there, which was the best outcome of my recklessness. The room smelled of smoke, my carpet scorched and my clothes covered in ash. Immediately as I saw this, I changed into something more reasonable. The feast was still going, I was assuming. It couldn’t have been long before I passed out. Oh how wrong I was. The hallway was empty, and the sun was rising. The main hall had the smell of cold meat and cherry wine. The tables were full of half-eaten food and spilled drinks as if a group of peasants had ravaged the place. No one must’ve heard me, I assumed then. The king reached the corner and rushed to me.
“I was wondering where you were.” The king looked genuine this time, not full of pity or doing a publicity stunt. “One of the dukes’ wife was killed. Part of her ring collection was stolen. Poor thing.” King Elrop looked at me and then left muttering something. Was he delirious? The king didn’t see that the rings were still on my hand. After that realization, I rushed back to the room.
Once inside, I put them under my bed, wrapping them in a wash towel. No one would find them.