A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 5 - The Treacherous Deed

As days passed, Melinda found it increasingly hard to keep up with her duties, sensing the inevitable failure of her marriage on a random morning. What seemed like any other morning to everyone else, to Melinda was a new beginning like she had never seen before in her life. Many years of anguished pondering had led to the path she was about to undertake, evidenced by her holding a book in her hand that she knew could not have come from anywhere but the darkness itself and keeping a dagger in a pocket of her dress, and it was going to change everything drastically.

As she walked slowly to the bedroom that belonged to Douglas, her beloved husband, her long white dress trailed along the marble floor and the coldness of the palace crept along every inch of her skin, making her feel like a phantom. It was her right to have the throne, she told herself, but she was not certain if it was her right to be so possessive of it. She was already faltering at the start, but there was always time to get better. There had to be, or else she was going to be dead as well.

In no time, she was faced with the door of the famed bedroom, opening it with a strong grip of her right hand, which was covered with a glove made of white lace. She forced a smile that fooled him easily, seeing how overjoyed he was to see her not long after he had woken up, his blue eyes gleaming with naivete and his gentle cheeks burning with innocence. 

She sat by his side as she always did, prompting him to eagerly turn his head in her direction, staring directly at her eyes, which were as full of life as ever. She was completely still as he took her hand in his, giggling in the rhythm of a songbird while gazing at the ceiling, imagining every following step of her plan because there was nothing else to do in the overwhelming silence, which lasted until he initiated a conversation between them at once.

"Good morning to you, my dearest wife, the love of my life," he whispered serenely, holding her hand even tighter.

"Another romantic session, Douglas?" she asked, rolling her eyes in faux-annoyance. "I have not yet had the time to grab a bite! Slow down for a moment, please!"

He let out a brief sigh. "I sincerely apologise, milady, but every moment with you awakens my love more profoundly."

"All is fine, my friend," she replied, widening her smile. "I know very well the inescapable sweetness of love. Sometimes it can be liberating, and other times it can be intoxicating. Never mind this matter. There are many more at hand, after all."

He blinked twice in confusion. "You called me your friend, but can it be so after all the experiences we have shared recently? Can it, Melinda?"

"Yes, it can, for marriage is the highest form of friendship," she said after several seconds of silence in lack of a better answer.

"I do not think so, but let it be," he whispered to himself, believing that she had not heard him.

At that moment, another issue came to her. Silence had engulfed the room again, this time more invasively, in much the same manner that ivy engulfed a house that had been abandoned for years, for Douglas was stuck in a state of deep thought, not knowing how to continue the conversation, and neither did she.

It was suffocating to endure so many silences in one meagre morning conversation. She was not a woman of silence, or at least it used to be so. She was not many things that she used to be anymore. However, that pesky pang of guilt in her heart could not exist if she were to commit her crime, so she transformed her thoughts into white noise until another topic came along.

"The Annual Obscurian Festival Of Peace And Prosperity is soon upcoming," she said out of nowhere. "Have you thought of it? Have you remembered it? If you have, what are your ideas? Please do tell me all about it, for I want to hear all of it."