The Blood King's Bride
Chapter Seventy

The door opened in front of Wazir, revealing eyes that were huge, innocent, suspicious, and, more importantly, scared.

"May I help you?" The maid asked, still keeping to the door, not opening it any wider. Wazir flashed a smile at her, hoping to make her comfortable.

"You might not have noticed me before," he said, trying for a fake blush. "But I work here."

The maid's eyes widened, understanding flashing through her eyes.

"You are right. I have never seen you before."

"I hardly make myself seen."

They stood there for a while, an uncomfortable silence covering them both.

"See, I have something to tell you." He said, his face serious. He looked around, ensuring

no one was there to eavesdrop on them.

"Something important."

"Why me?" the maid asked, her face scrunched in confusion.

"Because I overheard your discussion." Wazir replied, bringing his voice to a whisper.

Looking around one final time, he leaned closer to her.

"I have the dreams too. And I know where they are coming from."

The maid's eyes widened, and she immediately opened the door for him, signalling him

to get in quickly. She checked out the hallway then shut her door.

Wazir studied the room he was in. It was tiny. A mat was placed on the ground, which spanned the end of one wall to the other. It wasn't much, as there was no difference between the size of that room and the one allocated for the Servants at Neba to clean up themselves. Apart from how cramp it was, it was moderately neat. Two females sat on the far edge of the mat, their backs leaning against the wall. They looked up at him with curiosity, studying him with the same shrewdness and fear the first girl had shown him.

"What do you want to tell us?" the one who opened the door for him asked. Wazir

couldn't help but be amused by the no-nonsense act she showed him, going straight to the point of his reason there.

Keeping his face blank, he focused all his emotions on his eyes.

"Once in a while, I get sent up to drop things by the kitchen in the upper level." Wazir

said, narrating his story just as they had planned.

"Today, after doing my job, I kinda got lost. I guess I wasn't paying attention too much." He said, having the grace to look sheepish.

"But I doubt you would want to hear tales of my journey in the palace halls." He said, his eyes hard again.

"I was passing by a huge wing when I heard some voices. I don't know what drew me to

it, but I went ahead to listen. It was then I discovered that I was in the queen's wing." He folded his lips, his eyes hard.

"I wanted to live, but something she said struck me, and struck me to my core. It

explained a lot of things that I have been finding hard to understand recently. The dreams." "You have them too?" one of the girls sitting at the mat sat up, her back straight and her

eyes curious. Wazir recognized her voice as the second speaker. Facing her, he gave her a single nod.

"She was discussing with the general. The powerful general that had brought the white-

clothed men into our kingdom. She calls him her brother."

"What does that have to do with the dreams?" The female who invited him in asked. He

wasn't sure if she was the first or Third speaker, so he simply labelled her in his mind as the first. "She confessed to her brother," Wazir replied, his voice taking an angry tone. "I heard

every damn thing. She isn't our queen. She practices black magic, and put everyone in the kingdom, including the king, under her spell. She said that the power is wearing off, but she doesn't know how to revive it again."

The three females' eyes were widened in shock and horror.

"No, it couldn't be." The first said. Wazir simply looked at her gravelly.

"Even I found it hard to believe what I heard. I had just about convinced myself that

perhaps, she was talking of another thing, playing with her brother probably, when she

mentioned the fact that the king was having the dreams too." He looked at them, looking at each one of them intensely.

"Dreams of his wife."

He watched as the blood drained off their faces.

"She-She isn't our queen?" The final one- who Wazir labelled as the third- asked. That

was the first time she had spoken since he entered their little room.

Wazir nodded, making sure they could see the anger in his face.

"She had us all duped. For nineteen years. She killed our real queen and threw away the

real princess. A these while we have been under her control, doing her bidding."

"N-No! This is impossible." The first said, her body so shaky that Wazir almost reached out to make sure she didn't fall.

"Do you know the worst part?" he continued. "We wouldn't even be able to have this conversation had her power still been as strong as it was. It's because it is now weak, we can have some level of control over our thoughts."

"We were like puppets in her hands." The second said, her face grim.

"She must have had her fun." Wazir said, trying to stoke their anger. "Coming from an

unknown place and commanding a whole kingdom to do her bidding. But her time is up because,

in the cause of her fear, she revealed the only thing capable of breaking us out from her curse." "And what is that?" the first asked. Wazir looked up at her, making sure that she could see the emotions riding through them.

"Her brother said the only way out of the curse, is for the person cursed to kill her. She

had been afraid that her husband may get some part of his memory, and along the way try to kill her out of anger. Her brother said that it was impossible because though the king is slowly getting his memory, she still had enough authority over him to command his actions. I guess they didn't count on a poor servant like me to pick up the discussion."

The third girl had paled considerably. "We have to kill the queen?"

"Yes." Wazir said, his voice serious. "I would have loved to do it by myself, but males

aren't allowed in the queen's wing." He walked a bit forward to the mat and crouched down.

"I don't know why I feel like I can trust you with this information, but so far, you are the

only person who I have seen that seems to be able to talk about it and notice that something is way off."

Silence rendered its heavy head around the room.

"What if it doesn't work?" the second asked.

"It will work. I am extremely sure of it." Wazir replied. He looked each of them in the

eyes, his eye grave.

"I know what I'm asking you is much. But aren't you angry about the way you have all

been treated? We have all been used! I do not know if I am even going to remember all these this

night. You guys are our only hope now!"

The girls looked at each other, nervousness surrounding them.

"Okay." The first stuttered. "Okay, I'll do it."

Wazir looked at her as appreciation filled his eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise you. I'll be with you all through the step of

the way, so if anything was to go wrong I'll take the blame."

"When do we do it?" The maid asked nervously.

"We start now. We have no time to spare."

Wazir walked over the plan with them. He brought out a knife laced with ash and gave it

to her. She took it with nervous hands. Wazir took her hand in his own, looking at her intensely. "Put your anger into it. You need to be cool and collected. Think of all the things she had stolen from you for nineteen years. You would not be able to have a cool mind if you're afraid." The maid took in a deep breath, her eyes hardening and determined. Wazir stood up from crouched, his legs wobbling a bit.

"I'll give you a few minutes to prepare yourself. Then we move." He looked at them one final time, then left the room.

He headed straight to the room Svetlana was waiting in with her partner. They stood up from the mat upon seeing him, looking at him with curiosity.

"Did it go well?" Svetlana asked.

Wazir gave them a single nod. "We start the mission in a few minutes."

*****

The hall was strangely quiet as they made their way through the castle's upper level. Wazir was right behind the first maid, leading her to her destination. Svetlana and their soy followed then secretly behind, giving them enough space that they wouldn't be seen and also would be able to help should the reason arise. They reached the upper level of the castle and headed to the kitchen first. Wazir had wanted them to find out if there was any servant to attend to the queen, so they would take over the errand, making it easier for them. Fortunately, luck was on their side.

A maid scurried with a tray with a bowl of food. Wazir looked at the first, then gave a

slight nod towards the maid. She looked at him nodded.

She walked to the maid, putting on a shy smile. "Is that for the queen?"

The maid looked at her curiously, a bit frazzled. "Yes, yes it's for her." Once that was

said, the first immediately took over carrying the tray.

"Don't worry. I'll take this to her. I can't help but notice you are a bit frazzled. Go rest. I'll take over everything."

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" the maid said, gratitude shining in her eyes. "I don't know what is happening to me." She nervously dragged her hands down her dress. "I have been

having these dreams, and I don't know, they make me shaky."

The first smiled, her eyes glinting. "I also have them. Everyone does."

"Really?"

"Yes." The first nodded. "Let me quickly give this to the queen. Then when I return, we

would talk about it. Go calm yourself."

"Okay." The maid said, rubbing her hands together nervously. "Thank you again."

The maid simply smiled and walked out of the room.

She walked outside of the kitchen, where Wazir stood waiting for her.

"Remember, this is the only chance we've got. You have to put your anger in your strike;

a single slash to the neck, or a stab to the abdomen. Once you are done, you run away, immediately."

The first nodded her head. "I got it." She walked to the queen's wing, Wazir staying a safe distance behind her. Taking one final deep breath, the first schooled her features, walked to the queen's door, then knocked.

The door banged open, and even though Wazir wasn't close to the scene, he could feel the queen's anger.

"I asked you for this, hours ago. Why are you degenerates so slow?"

The first could feel her heart beating loudly. The fear was etched very clearly on her face. But she tried to calm herself as she looked at the queen. She had never had any memory of her reacting to her servants like that. Her recollections included her being kind to everyone. The more she studied, the more she felt that strange servant was right. The queen practiced black magic and dared to use it on the whole kingdom. She began to feel the hot anger course through her veins. She watched the neck of the queen studied the distance and how quickly it would take for her to carry the act. The queen was busy insulting her to notice that something was off; servants were meant to bow when looking at royalty, but the first was looking at her. While she was still talking, the first wasted no more time and attacked, dragging her knife deeply through the queen's neck.

The queen's eyes widened in shock. She quickly placed her hands on her neck, a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. She wondered how a maid who was supposed to be under her control got the nerve to attack her. Before she could think more about it, she collapsed, her blood spilling from her neck to where she lay on the ground. The first watched as she bled, her eyes filled with fear yet hardness. She watched as the queen struggled futilely, how the life in her eyes slowly went out. When finally the queen breathed her last breath, all hell immediately broke loose.