The heat made her numb.
It was a stange feeling of overwhelming emptiness that struck her at first. The day was strange, neither too warm nor too cold, definitely unusual for that time of year. She was lying facing the window, so she couldn’t open her eyes at first. Then, as she slowly regained consciousness, she laid on her back. Her eyelids were still heavy, and she was in a state of half-dreaming, seeing prolongations of her dream every five seconds. It took about ten minutes for her to recover control over her muscles and sit up. There was something stange in the air, something inexplicable, somethin not human. Her vision was still hazy. She took a deep breath. It seemed like every person in Cystalia that was of any importance was gathered in her room. They all looked at her intensely, each movement of her eyeballs causing a series of whispers.
“What is going on?” she asked with a hoarse voice. She hadn’t seen some of those people in years. And she couldn’t understand why they were there now. Did something happen? And why did she feel so foreign in her own body?
They consulted each other quickly. “Your Majesty,” the round man she had met yesterday started, “are you feeling well?”
“Yes,” Diane replied. “Thank you for asking, general. But… why…”
Ah, yes. That.
He almost sneered. “We were afraid you wouldn’t wake up.”
She looked out the window; now that she was fully conscious, she could see that it was more gloomy than she had originally thought. She hated such indecisive days. “I am sure you were the most concerned one, general.” The temporary deviation of Diane’s voice made her comeback seem somewhat ridiculous, so she forcefully cleared her throat and continued, “Seeing as you have always been so fond of me.”
The general smiled. “Why, of course, Your Majesty. I have always been a most loyal subject of yours.” A man in a black uniform tapped him on the shoulder slightly. The general bettered his posture and said, “Well, now that we have made sure Your Majesty is all right, we shall take our leave.”
Never had Diane seen a room empty so quickly and with so loud a babble. Yet not a single person looked in her direction. She sat alone for some time. She couldn’t teel why her muscles felt so lethargic.
I must have dreamt a horrible dream. And that… let’s not think about that for now.
She called for Kyla. Once the maid had returned with the news of Kyla being too busy at tend to her needs, Diane narrowed her eyebrows. “Busy with what?”
The maid stayed silent.
“I asked you a question.”
The maid smiled. “Let us get you dressed, Your Majesty.”
The first thing Diane realized while her maid was helping her get yet another bundle of puffy fabric onto her royal body was that she had been asleep for a week, and that that same greasy general bet his liver on her never waking up. The second was that nothing more could be said on the issue.
“Why is that?” Diane asked as the maid wrapped a ribbon with diamond flowers around her waist.
“Your father has ordered so, Your Majesty.”
Strange.
“The king gave you an order?”
“How about this necklace?”
Strange. I have to look into this. I think about that then.
“Is Thomas Hammer here?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The princess quickly noticed how unusually slowly and carefully the maid moved, and how gentle her voice was. She almost turned to check if it was her maid and not someone else.
“Is everything…as I have left it?” Diane inquired carefully. The mirror in front of her allowed her to discreetly eye the maid.
But she remained calm. “I am sorry, Your Majesty, but I mustn’t say a word more than what I have already told you.”
“Are you certain?”
The maid slowly placed a crown on Diane’s head and quietly left the room. As the princess was not in the mood for stirring up trouble, she allowed her to make such a silly mistake. The castle was all too quiet for Diane’s liking, especially considering that. A week was too short a time to forget about a bloody royal chamber, even for Crystalians.
Everything has changed. I must uncover what is happening. I will think about that later.
She would have made her way out of her room to find out what was going on had her father not walked into her room. Diane froze. His unfocused eyes and crocked orders brought in a devastating, ominous feeling.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
She was bewildered. “Uh, yes.”
He nodded. “That’s good.”
She saw it all once again as he looked into her eyes; every single detail was there, so red, so cold, so true. She put her hand on her mouth and ran into her bathroom. She spilled liquid allover her bathtub, on the rug, and on the wall. She spilled so much liquid her throat was completely dry.
“I… don’t…want…to…” she said quietly. More water came out of her mouth, none out of her eyes. She was so horrified by all those colors that her eyes couldn’t focus on the wall before her.
A week ago, she saw Timidus.
A week ago, she saw her mother.
A week ago, she was Timidus’s head before her mother.
A week ago, she saw Him.
She felt Him.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Diane,” her father called out. He was leaning against the doorframe looking at her dress that matched the rug. “Diane.”
“What?” she let out.
“It’s time.”
“For what?”
Silence.
“For what, I asked!” she yelled like a true monarch.
Brandon pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket. As creased as it was, Diane could still make out her father’s handwriting from the back side.
“New ink,” Diane remarked, trying to hide her nervousness.
“No,” he replied.
He silently read the contents of his letter a few times, as disillusioned as he was when he stepped inside his daughter’s room. He then put it next to her and rushed out. Diane sat still, watching the door in hope he would return and wait for her to read the letter like he had done when she was young. But he didn’t want to read its contents ever again. She hesitated. The ink that broke through the thick beige paper colored her fingers as she griped it too strongly. Then she decided not to read it just yet. Postponing the revelation, she was certain, would bring her nothing but good. She stood up and washed herself; she didn’t know, nor care, how long it took. Then she sat back on her bed; it was still nauseatingly warm in the room. Then the curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the letter with such hastiness she almost ripped it to shreds; maybe it would have been better that way. It made her think of the Will. The same anxiety, perplexity, and grief struck her back then; the same curse upon the stars itched her lips, and the same helplessness blurred her vision. What use was there of being the Dove if she could never save?
She had known for quite some time that her mother was spying on her. She deismissed it all, thinking it was the Judge who told Maria to keep Diane in check; and Diane managed to completely convince herself that they were right, that she should be kept on a tight leash after what she had done. But she never imagined it Void she was in contact with, even less without the Judge’s knowledge. Was that why they let her be found out so gruesomely? To humiliate her? To show Diane they could? To let Diane see all that red like she wasn’t seeing in every other night? Was it that dangerous to have a will?
She called for Thomas. He showed up in record time, as surprised at her sudden willingness to see his face as she was at the state he was in. His hair was all over the place and his clothes creased.
He must have been sleeping in his uniform.
“I would have come sooner, but they wouldn’t let me,” was the first thing he said to her.
She nodded and told him to sit on the sofa by the window. She walked around the room during the first few minutes of his visit, which made Thomas suspicious of the nature of her invitation.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked. “Anything at all?”
“No,” she replied almost instantly. “Still, I think you should be here.”
“Why?”
“Just because.” Strangely enough, she didn’t mind his heat.
“I heard you met Void,” he said. His fingers were all over the place, caressing anything that they could reach as if stunned by their existence. “You father told me you talked in your sleep.”
“I have,” Diane replied, now standing next to him. They were both looking out the window.
“Was it awful?”
“I couldn’t breathe.”
“Are you better now?”
“No. He was in the castle,” she paused, the tears she was swallowing choking her so much that the only sound she could produce was a whimper. She breathed in deeply and said, “I can smell him, Thomas.”
He looked at her. The crown shone so brightly under the rays of sun that he had to look away quickly. “Should I open the window then?” He knew that, if he only moved his fingers slightly to the left, he would have been able to touch her skirt.
“Yes, please.”
Thomas opened the window wide, so the air calmed the growing tension. Her tears were momentarily replaced by shivers, so she slowly, but confidently, put the letter in Thomas’s hands. He looked at it, somehow worriedly. “What is this?” he asked and sat back down, once again unable to see her.
“Just read it.”
The piece of paper was flipped open once again. Under the nervousness of the third pair of hands it had reached it suffered great discomfort. The weight of its content pulled the upper part towards the ground, but the steady hands of Thomas Hammer made sure not to let it fall; to an outsider it might have looked like quivers. On the other side of it, almost illegible due to the darkness of the ink, was a report.
Emergency session of the Great Council
Date: 24th November xxxx
The issue at hand: a head
Conclusion: Queen Consort, Maria Anne Hunster, found guilty of high treason against (her own) crown. Not estimated a threat due to her lack of magical abilities. Occupies cell number 12 in the Painron prison. Execution scheduled in ten days. King Brandon Kenneth Hunster abdicates the throne as of today.
Princess Diane Katherine Hunster is the new Queen of Crystalia.
There was mockery in those words, Thomas was sure. How could a girl so pure ever wear a monarch’s robe? But then again, she was a Hunster, and they all shared those angelic eyes and gruesome smiles. The time when he had forgotten who they were had come to an end once more. He folded the letter quickly. How could he bear the name of the Fool when it carried in its roots the symbol of salvation?
Whom could I ever even save? Surely not the queen.
But the queen would be dead soon, and the king self-exiled. Diane would become the queen, and she would find her king. It was a natural cycle, for kings and queens to die of treason. Maybe he should have never left dust and sweat.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she whispered. She had her eyes fixed on his fingers that were shaking no more. It scared her.
He swallowed a huge lump. It was all too real now. “I suppose I should congratulate you, my Queen.”
All movement stopped. The Earth froze in its voyage for the first time in millennials. Maybe it was light years that counted a moment, maybe it was Clara Heal; either way, not even the flame in his eyes could melt the ice that blocked the path of the universe. Thomas shifted uncomfortably. His knew uniform seemed to bother him a lot. Pity came to him in waves; he was plucking petals, somehow always ending on a ‘no’.
“On what?” Diane asked. “On being even more trapped than before?”
“You will find a way.”
“Will I?” she asked, somehow angrily. Like she was spilling out her heart and he was ignoring it; like she wasn’t the one who ignored his first.
“You always do,” Thomas replied impatiently. He longed to get out of that room. “You are Diane Hunster after all.”
He wanted her to ask him to stay. It was that simple. Thomas Hammer was the type to get swayed easily, especially by silly lies.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Diane replied quietly.
“That you are made for this. You will be the perfect queen.”
And so, the Dove and the Fool would have parted ways, each setting off to their respective cave on the opposite side of the universe. The sun would go on circling the moon, or was it the other way around? The princess, no, the queen, would go on ignoring her problems until a familiar smell would fill her nostrils; lilies and blood always made such a thrilling combination. Her crown glistened with regret once she looked at Thomas. She hated that moment because it was the last time she could be a princess and he a Flamer in Crystalia. Thus, she could not allow him to leave so easily.
She was shivering. “Nothing has to change, you know. We are still a team.”
Thomas was evidently disappointed. “What are you talking about? Everything has changed.”
“Why?”
“Because… you are the queen now.”
“And I used to be a princess.”
Thomas looked out the window forlornly. “Yes.” Then he smiled. “Now you don’t have to ask permission to kill anyone.”
It must have been that strange fog that Diane saw throught teary eyes; it must have flown in though the open window. She knelt before Thomas, put her hands on his knees and buried her head in them. “Help me, please,” she winced. “I can’t stand this loneliness.”
She swallowed her tears together with her pride. The worst was over; there was only trust left. He would accompany her to see her mother. He would sit next to her in the carriage and maybe squeeze her hand once. She would look at the woods and think of Timidus; he had such an ugly head. The queen would remember the gravity and then arrive in front of the prison she had visited a week prior. She would walk in; he would wait outside. The smell would be rottener and there would be more flies. Maria would be there, near the end of the hallway; she would smile at her daughter and say, “Get me out of here.”. And she would say yes.
Yes, it must have been the fog.
“Of course,” he whispered.