lisa walked through the streets.
All around her, she could hear the city buzzing.
"... did you hear...?"
"... the queen, right in her chambers?"
"... probably a traitor or sothing..."
Countless conversations popped off around her as she made her way down the street, almost like those lights in front of people's hos that turn on when soone outside gets close. lisa had, naturally, been expecting it. But, it was still kind of annoying.
[Co on... Can't you give so room to think!?!? I can barely hear myself!]
That said, she wasn't exactly sure the silence would make much of a practical difference. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think much beyond two-word sentences. Sentences that usually started in so variation of "holy" and ended in so form of "shit".
[Holy fuck...] Like that. [I an... How did they even manage it? How did the king not get caught up in this plot if it happened while the queen slept?]
It seed like lots of people around lisa were thinking the sa thing.
Everywhere she went, she heard theories and speculations. So people guessed it was a knight. Others thought it was the king himself. Even the guards patrolling the streets got into it with so thinking it was suicide. lisa wasn't too sure which theory she agreed with.
[Obviously, last night's attack was an attempt to keep things from getting out,] she reasoned. [But, did she seriously lack that much trust in her assassins? Or, did she hear that they failed and killed herself imdiately or sothing?]
The idea that the queen was actually murdered made no sense to lisa. She had to have killed herself. But, why?
Regardless, lisa was now heading to the palace to investigate.
What she'd see upon reaching the palace, however, she did not see coming.
lisa's heart pounded as she approached the palace gates. The buzz of the city had faded into a dull roar behind her, replaced by the clinking of armor and the hushed whispers of palace guards.
[Alright, girl. Ti to put on your big girl panties and figure out what the fuck is going on,] she thought, squaring her shoulders.
As she rounded the corner into the main courtyard, lisa's eyes widened. The scene before her was like sothing out of a fever dream – or a particularly dramatic Greek opera.
"What in the actual fuck?" she muttered.
Zephyra, the court sorceress, was on her knees in the center of the courtyard. A circle of knights surrounded her, their spears pointed directly at her throat. The tips glinted in the morning sun, like a deadly halo around the sorceress.
Zephyra herself didn't look scared. She mainly just looked offended and confused.
There, looming over it all like so pissed-off, kingly thundercloud, was King Aldric himself.
[Oh,] lisa thought. [This is not good. Not good at all.]
She inched closer, straining to hear what was being said. The king's voice carried across the courtyard, thick with rage and grief.
"... and you expect to believe you had nothing to do with this? That my wife just happened to die in her sleep?"
Zephyra's reply was too low for lisa to catch, but whatever she said only seed to infuriate the king further.
"Enough! I've heard enough of your lies!"
[Shit, shit, shit,] lisa's mind raced. [They think Zephyra killed the queen? But that's insane!]
Without giving herself ti to second-guess, lisa marched forward, pushing her way through the crowd of onlookers.
"Your Majesty!" she called out, her voice ringing across the courtyard. "I must speak with you!"
All eyes turned to her. The king's face scrunched up.
"Miss Blackfla?" He growled. "What are you doing here?"
lisa swallowed hard, fighting the urge to turn tail and run. Instead, she stood her ground, eting the king's gaze.
"Your Majesty, I believe there's been a terrible misunderstanding. Lady Zephyra couldn't possibly have killed the queen."
A murmur ran through the crowd. The king's eyes narrowed.
"She couldn't?" He asked. "Of course she could."
[... Poor choice of words. My bad.]
"She wouldn't," lisa corrected. "I-I an, what reason does she have to do that?"
The king opened his mouth. lisa blinked. She was baffled. Indeed, it looked like all these people had thought about was who *could* have killed the queen. Not who had any real reason to.
"Didn't Zephyra just co back to the city? At YOUR request? What, you think killing the queen was how she planned to spend her ti here? Why!?"
The king paused.
He looked... nervous.
"And why, pray tell, should I believe you?"
lisa took a deep breath.
"Because, Your Majesty, I saved your life. Rember? When you were poisoned at the gala? You trusted then. I'm asking you to trust now. Again, what possible reason could Lady Zephyra have for wanting the queen dead?
She's one of your most trusted advisors, the court sorceress. Killing the queen would only put her in danger – exactly the position she's in now!"
The king frowned, considering her words. lisa pressed on.
"And let's be real, Your Majesty. If Lady Zephyra wanted to kill soone, do you really think she'd do it in a way that would imdiately implicate her? She's smarter than that."
A long mont passed. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife – or a particularly sharp piece of cheese. Finally, King Aldric sighed.
"Perhaps... perhaps you have a point," he conceded. He turned to the knights. "Stand down. For now."
The knights lowered their spears, though they didn't look happy about it. Zephyra slowly got to her feet, brushing dirt from her robes.
"But make no mistake," the king continued, his voice hard. "Lady Zephyra is not fully cleared. This matter will be investigated thoroughly."
With that, he turned and strode back into the palace, his cape billowing behind him like an angry cloud.
As the crowd began to disperse, lisa made her way over to Zephyra.
"That was... unexpected," Zephyra said. "Thank you."
lisa shrugged.
"Don't ntion it. But we need to talk. Now."
Zephyra nodded, and the two of them set off, walking the periter of the palace grounds. For a while, neither spoke, both lost in their own thoughts.
Finally, Zephyra broke the silence.
"The queen died in her bedchambers last night," she said softly. "Right next to the king."
lisa's eyes widened.
[Holy shit. That's... fuck.]
"How?" she asked.
Zephyra shook her head.
"No one knows. I assu it was either due to poison or magic, but..." She waved a hand, frustrated. "Even I couldn't tell."
"And because you're the court sorceress..."
"They assu I must have done it," Zephyra finished. "Yes. The theory is that I sohow appeared inside the chambers, killed her, and left without a trace."
lisa snorted.
"Because that makes total sense. Why use your imnse magical powers to, I don't know, take over the kingdom or sothing, when you could just off the queen for shits and giggles?"
A small smile played on Zephyra's lips.
"Indeed. The logic is... lacking. Though, there is one reason they're clinging to this notion."
lisa tilted her head.
"Why?"
Zephyra, arms crossed, tapped her index finger against her bicep.
"Well, think about it, lisa." She sighed. "If it wasn't , and the queen died in the comfort of her own bed... What's the other option?"
"Well..." lisa paused. "Oh."
Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire
"'Oh' indeed," Zephyra smirked. "People want to think I did it. The court and the knights, I an. Because, if I didn't, it ans the king probably murdered the queen in her sleep."
It was... not that surprising. After all, the queen herself had tried to do that to him not too long ago, just as a ans of ssing with lisa no less, but still. lisa understood why people didn't want to consider that as an option.
"So, now, with being montarily cleared... you can imagine what's going through people's minds."
They walked in silence for a mont, the gravity of the situation settling over them like a heavy blanket.
"It has to be the Shadow Mages, I think," lisa said finally. "This has their stink all over it."
Zephyra nodded.
"But why? What could they possibly gain from the queen's death?"
"I... I don't know," she replied. "But, clearly, the queen said a little too much yesterday. They probably just wanted to tie loose ends. Kill both and the queen, just to keep this info down. I an," lisa sighed.
"When I break out the info, that nim used to be the ones on top and that humanity basically gaslit our whole species into thinking we couldn't use magic, what do you think the reaction from the city will be? Chaos."
"... You're more aware of these potential ramifications than I thought you'd be."
"I'm painfully aware of them," lisa sighed.
[But, at so point, I will definitely be letting that cat out of that bag. I have to. I just... I just hope I can keep the damage to a minimum.]
Zephyra studied her face, her piercing gaze making lisa squirm.
They had completed a full circuit of the palace grounds, ending up back where they started. The courtyard was empty now, with everyone having gone back to their own business.
Zephyra turned to lisa, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Well, regardless, there's not much we can do at the mont. So," Zephyra clapped her hands, "since we're here... how about a lesson?"
lisa blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change in topic.
"A lesson? Now? Seriously?"
Zephyra shrugged.
"Why not? Life goes on, even in the midst of chaos. And you, my dear, still have much to learn."
A grin spread across lisa's face.
[Well, when in Ro... or Syux, I guess.]
"Alright, teach," she said. "Hit with your best shot."
As they made their way to Zephyra's study, lisa couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the calm before the storm.
The queen was dead.
The Shadow Mages were plotting.
And she was caught in the middle of it all.
[But hey,] she thought, [at least I'm getting so kickass magic lessons out of it. Silver linings and all that.]
Reviews
All reviews (0)