Star of Blood

13 | Judgement

Without any hesitation, Jude stormed into the throne room of the Mendaxian castle and confronted the King.

Just a few minutes ago, he was staring at the Star of Blood with Prema atop that hill. However, it happened, and he made his decision—the only real decision he would ever get to make in his life. The worried Prema protested endlessly, but Jude would hear none of it. The tribeswoman he was so close to now sounded like nothing more than a squealing girl who ought to go back home. Her arguments and pleading made no difference. In the end, she ended up alone on that hill all the same.

Jude had sprinted down the hill, through the woodland, and over the meadows to get back to Mendax. He would've confronted the Hantri about treating the Mendaxians and Dorobans like insignificant pets and sacrificing them to supposed gods, but this sense of duty seemed to call him to his own people first.

His own people, who raised him in lies his entire life—they would be the first to know justice.

The Star of Blood was gone now, but the star-born carried its essence and will the whole way. Concentrating magic into his legs made him twice as fast, and he kicked up a lot of dust and dirt as he ran. Through the hole in his tunic, the bandaged wound ached and ached, but it stood no chance against Jude's magical adrenaline.

In a matter of minutes, he'd arrived at the front gate of Mendax. Despite having seen it just yesterday morning when he left for his walk, it felt like forever since then. The guards at the gate eagerly welcomed him and asked question after question about what happened to Jude. However, he paid them no mind—the only thing he was eager for was confronting the Crown itself. He'd run through the village, ignoring what any of the few commoners had to say. Jude was glad night had fallen—these streets would be swarming with Mendaxians at noon.

He'd entered the castle, and just like everyone else, he didn't give a shit about the people still up. In mere seconds, here he was now, standing in front of His Highness' throne with a bunch of bewildered nobles and guards watching.

"So you were alright after all, our Saviour," the King commented gleefully. Then, he noticed the sword wound and leaned forward from his fancy blue throne. "My . . . Pray tell us what happened."

Jude glared at him with eyes colder than snow. "My learning the truth is what happened."

The King quickly noticed that something was amiss. Scratching his dark beard, he asked, "And what exactly might that truth be, young Jude?"

"Mendax's truth," Jude seethed. "Do you know that truth, Your Highness? The truth about what you people did to the tribe?"

Confused murmurs floated between the nobles and guards, but the King stayed silent.

Jude glanced at every knight, sorcerer, archer, and noble here. There were well over a dozen, and they would all get to hear this. He turned back to the King. "Why the massacres, Your Highness? Why the genocide? Why go to such lengths just to keep yourselves safe? And you have the audacity to keep calling the Hantri savages!"

From his oh-so-fancy throne, the King stared down. "So you know, huh?"

"Just as I thought, you know too. And yet, you lied to me. You lied to everyone in this kingdom!"

"We have our reasons, Jude."

"What possible reasons would you have to trick people into believing that they weren't serving such a terrible kingdom?"

"Surely, you understand it too," the King sighed, standing up from his throne. His blue cloak concealed almost his entire body and hugged the carpet under him. "If they knew about what we did back then, our entire kingdom would fall apart, just like that."