The Princess of Wrath

Chapter 15 - Part IV: A Game of Shadows

"Such a stupid and prideful woman!" Roland insulted her as he knelt beside her and grabbed her shoulders to straighten her. "Damn it, Elfriede!"

He felt a little more reassured when he saw that the stitches of her wounds had not opened, giving him permission to start shaking her slightly followed by a few harmless slaps in the only corner of her face that was not swollen, bleeding or purple-colored. Upon seeing her open her bloodshot eyes and her face quickly covering with a veil of deep pain, he wiped the mixture of blood and saliva on her lower lip with the sleeve of his coat.

"I won't allow you to do it," he warned her, offering contempt for such a display of weakness on her part, yet fully predisposed to help her to her feet with great care. "You've tried it so many times in all this year that it turned into a ridiculous parody: the duel with the Sword of Sound, now fighting Diana... You are pathetic, Elfriede."

Roland held the Empress by the arm and stared into those cold eyes plagued with fatigue to ask that question that he had kept to himself for months:

"Do you want to die so badly?"

Without breaking eye contact, Elfriede pursed her lips and pooled all the blood inside her mouth to spit on the ground, causing Roland to grimace in disgust.

"Very well... If you don't intend to answer, at least let me take you to your room and see you rest," he told her, sighing in annoyance. He left his cane next to the Twilight of the Terror Hand and used both hands to help Elfriede walk and get off the platform. "You won't die. I thought locking you in this castle would ensure your submission, but it seems that I'll have to keep an eye on you constantly to prevent you from killing yourself or challenging someone to do it for you. By the Gods, challenging Diana, of all people..."

Elfriede stared helplessly at the windows covered in solid light as Roland led the way down the back hallway.

"If you fear that I'll die by my own hand... I won't do that," she assured him, her voice husky and weak. "If I commit suicide, I won't be able to enter the Halls of Exilia and beg my ancestors for mercy. There is no redemption for a cowardly ruler."

"Is this how you look at yourself? A coward?" he asked her with the goal that she continue speaking and focus on the possible conversation instead of the pain that must be spreading throughout her body. "You are someone who made very difficult decisions in the past for your people; the tattoo on your back symbolizes your determination. And now... You did it again in order to give all of humanity a chance to survive."

Noticing that Elfriede wanted to stop to rest, he allowed her to hold onto the small table at the entrance to the dark hallway. She took a deep breath, and her shaking hand against the table almost caused the fall of an invaluable pot originally made in the now ruined ancient city of Crywolf.

"It's just the two of us...," she hissed, shrouded in an aura of danger. "I could kill you, even in this deplorable condition."

Roland chuckled before replying:

"Are you sure you want me to die? Or did you forget why you agreed to give me all your political power?" The Alchemist smiled haughtily, like a master pulling the strings of a puppet. "Come on, let's get going. Perhaps you'll have a dream where you torture me to death once you fall asleep."

"No... Let go of me."

Elfriede pushed him with her left arm, still showing so much strength that she staggered Roland by forcing him to take several steps backward, nearly colliding with the double doors of the Council Chamber.

"Please, Elfriede! This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed when he saw her standing by her own means and straightening her back to adopt the posture that was expected from a lady of her caste.