A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 7 - The Hanging

Amanda slept peacefully that night. The dreams showed utter nothingness, making her have a rest from reality, unlike the norm. When she woke up, the sun was faintly shining, as though the abundant clouds were suffocating it. She smiled as the wind blew the leaves outside and the birds chirped, believing that everything was the same as always. While stretching, she noticed not only that the view couldn't be seen from her room, but also that her right hand, in which she was holding an object with a cold surface, was covered in a liquid. Observing more closely, she noticed that the object was a dagger and the liquid blood. Screaming, she held the knife with a shivering hand, turning around to see Douglas's corpse. It was pale and decaying, his mouth gaping open, and she understood none of it. As far as she knew, no one had a reason to murder him.

She took a deep breath, trying to remember what happened during the previous night. She went to sleep at midnight, when the moon was shining brightly atop the sky, accompanied by several stars. The sky would have been less black if it had been at least an hour before, as well as a few hours afterwards. As it was midnight, she fell asleep in complete darkness, where not even a beam of light could be seen. After quite a time of dreaming, she woke up to see a sky with a hue somewhere between dark blue and black. On it was also a landscape of grey clouds, and through the window, the breeze came, and all of it must have meant that it was around four in the morning. 

In the blink of an eye, she found herself in the hallway. The chandelier was hanging low like the bent head of a sorrowful person, and as it was not shining, it allowed the moonlight to be the only source of light, faint and wavering. She felt her feet freeze against the harsh white marble as her neck was touched by a pair of delicate hands with gloves on them. While she was yawning and aggressively furrowing her eyebrows so that she would not close her eyes, the shadow of the woman became visible to her as the sound the woman's high-heels made echoed through the halls. Strangely, she must have fallen asleep again, for she could not recall anything after that.

However, even if she had remembered everything within a second, it would have been futile. The door was already being opened, and she was standing there like a statue, staring at her horizons with wide eyes, holding a bloody knife in her right hand, unable to explain why she had found herself near the corpse of the king. It was most likely her end, her farewell, but perhaps there was a chance to convince the queen to let her go. After all, it was she who had forgiven her in front of everyone and let her into her palace. 

The queen came into the study all by herself, screaming hysterically once she saw the corpse of her husband. She covered her face with her hands, looking as if she was going to start scratching it with her nails. Beneath her fingers, her muffled sobbing could be heard, the painful presentation of the sea her tear canals had been conjuring for so long. She screamed about how she loved him, how she could not go on without him and how the world was wretched and foul. Amanda felt as if she could understand her completely, trying not to cry herself. 

"You are a murderer," Melinda hissed through her teeth, seeming to have regained herself. "You will pay for that which you have done, for your crime most wicked, for your excessively sadistic attempt at torturing me. If you expect any mercy from me, then you are foolish."

Amanda's eyes went wide. "Please, my queen, consider this fact. You know that I tend to sleepwalk, and I assure you, I have found myself here unexpectedly. Do you not see my distress? It is clear as day that none of it is a ruse. The evidence may be pointing towards me, but could a person such as me truly have committed an act that heinous?"

Melinda snorted. "We are all aware of what you have done in the past."

Amanda waved her hands frantically. "I thought you had forgiven me! I have no clue as to what has changed in the meantime."

Melinda stormed out of the study, slamming the door behind her. Amanda did not need to lean against the door's surface to hear her calls to the guards. She was screaming loudly enough for her to suspect that she would lose her voice soon. It was peculiar, she thought. This was not the calm, composed Melinda she knew. However, she sighed, scorning herself for failing to remember that even the bravest people show signs of weakness at that moment. 

She had bigger problems to worry about, though. She quickly walked across the study in fear, breathing heavily, unable to see any route which, if she followed it, would have helped her escape on time. Even if she had seen one, Melinda had far more power than she could ever have dreamt of, and she also had fate on her side. Misery was never a competition, and Amanda knew that everyone in the land had their own grave struggles all too well, yet her heart filled with toxicant, sizzling envy at all that Melinda had and she did not.

Several minutes passed, and Amanda was lucky that it wasn't more, or else the fear that crawled within her veins would have overtaken her completely. Still, her heart was beating uncontrollably, and she was standing there, shuddering, especially when Melinda opened the door with three guards right behind her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat when she saw the looks on their faces. It seemed as if they had no time to waste, as their eyebrows were furrowed and their eyes blank. Melinda could be seen carrying a rope, and, after she whispered something to the guards, she walked over to her and tied her hands behind her back. Amanda knew that, if she didn't act quickly, she would never have gotten the time to act again. She would either convince them of her innocence or die trying, she told herself.

"Before you hang me, hear me out, I beseech you. If you had a chance to redeem yourself after all the crimes that you have done, and the Queen herself forgave you, would you play the part of an idiot and murder the king immediately with glaringly obvious evidence? I don't know who set me up, but none of this makes sense. At least take me to the court before sentencing me to death before anything else."

A bloodthirsty gleam appeared in Melinda's eyes. "Execute her."

"Wait! Will you not even listen to me?" Amanda shrieked.

"Execute her," Melinda said through gritted teeth.

Stone-faced, the guards hastily walked over to her and took her by the hands, dragging her to the courtyard. Upon getting a grasp of Melinda's intentions, Amanda's eyes and mouth became wide open. Her jaw shuddered, her mind refusing to acknowledge the change. Only yesterday, she thought Melinda was the best person she had ever met. It appeared to be an illusion, a trick, a fallacy, for it couldn't have possibly been the same person, even at her worst.

The queen followed closely behind, looking at her with presumed apathy.  She turned away from her after several seconds due to being unable to face her shame. The ghouls that tormented her soul wanted to strip her of the ability to feel tranquillity, but she was not willing to give in, so she took a deep breath as she watched the seemingly eternal punishment that she had brought to an innocent woman.