The Silent Heir

Prologue

Cries of hate and sorrow filled the air as Emma was forced to march with her hands bound. "My son died because of you! I should have never trusted you! Murderer!..." Their screams of profanity and hate beat at her ears like rain, yet she could not hear them.

The filthy clothes, the panging hunger, Emma could no longer feel any of them. Even as vengeful fathers and mothers cursed her name, while spiteful brothers and sisters spat in her face, she could not feel them. For there is only one thing that consumed her entire being.

Her eyes were focused on the small group that mused her humiliation from their elevated position. Surrounded by men in gold armor, the royal family watched from afar. There were three of them, excluding the royal retainers by their side.

There were a few more faces she recognized from afar, but she ignored them all as her eyes remained focused on one particular person. A man who looked the spitting image of the emperor, sharing the same golden hair and emerald eyes. The high prince.

Despite the rough nudging from the guards and the occasional rotten vegetable being thrown at her, her glare remained still on the man as an infernal hatred burned within. The man looked down on her just as much as she was as they grew ever so closer.

They finally reached the execution stage, where a massive guillotine stood before her with a masked executioner and a knight. Even beneath the glaring sun, Emma did not waver. The booing of the crowd intensified when they noticed her glare.

Indignation burned their hearts as they screamed. "You even had the gall to glare! You filthy murderer! Know your place you-"

"Silence!" The screaming loses its momentum as all eyes turned back towards the platform.

The world shakes before falling silent as the high prince slowly rises. "Emma Le Larrum of the Larrum dukedom." he said as the world listened, "For the massacre of the village Lenora, high treason for the attempt of assassination of the future high princess and the slaughter of the 500 souls of your very own men, I sentence you to death."

His voice rang out in a firm tone as his glare sharpens to a razor's edge. "The justice for the dead and their relatives had finally come at last, evil doer. Speak your last words and be done with it, for the innocent shall have their justice!" The high prince shouted before a calm stillness falls through yet again across the world.

Emma slowly opened her mouth, her glare never wavered. "Only one." A cold whisper echoed throughout the world in clarity. Her pupils shook as if in madness as she bellowed a single hateful word. "DIE!" Emma roared as she tapped into power.

What reserves she managed to save for the past few weeks had finally come to see its uses. Like a starved engine finally gets the first taste of its longed and forgotten fuel, Emma's weak and tired mind came to life.

A second passed as her sapphire eyes bled into golden amber. The cold autumn air rushed back to her lungs as her aching muscles regained its lost strength. Her senses sharpened back in its prime. Her entire body roared to life, ready to kill. "Nera." A guttural whisper escaped from her lips. Power surged through her bound hands.

In a single fluid motion, Emma broke through her enhanced bonds as if they were wet paper. She plunged her fist into the executioner, catching him by surprise. His rib cage caved in as the bones pierced through his heart. His spine snapped into two like a twig, killing him instantly.

The whole world was silent. Shocked and disbelief were ripe in the air as the death came without warning. Emma did not waste the opportunity they had given to her as she immediately grabbed the axe of the falling executioner and cleaved through the knight beside her. It made a satisfying crunch as the metal of the axe broke past the knight's armor. "Urk..."