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

Chapter 6 - Damage Control

As was to be expected of a legendary warrior, Melinda killed people all the time, but when murder cannot be openly displayed, it is a much lengthier process than carving the blade into the enemy's chest - a process that she knew very well and was about to go through again. Because she had placed her hands into a pocket on her dress, no one had noticed anything strange enough for them to question her about, and even though she had found herself staring into the distance a few times, this was the norm for her, so no one questioned her about that either, even if they did whisper about it among themselves, which she heeded no attention to. 

She believed that she had planned the coverup well, but, of course, it was much easier for her to imagine everything in her head than to apply it to the real world. For most of the day, she tried to behave as she usually did, which was hard at times because the memory of what she had done and what she needed to clean up came back to her at several points throughout the day, but it was the end of the day that was the most important.

Amanda, whom she had indisputably been planning to frame for the murder this entire time, was a sleepwalker, which she had become familiarised with throughout her captivity. The noblemen and noblewomen who inhabited the castle tended to go to sleep at ten in the evening, for the most part, therefore it was safe for her to enter Amanda's bedroom after waiting for half an hour. The people around her tended to value sleep far more than she did, and even though everyone believed that she had forgiven Amanda, Amanda was still generally avoided as much as she could be, which was understandable.

Having fallen asleep a couple of seconds ago, the woman in question flinched at the creak of her bedroom door, waking up in cold sweat due to a reason she herself could not quite grasp. In the beginning, even though she had seen Melinda's silhouette, she had not seen it clearly, so it could have been anyone as far as she knew. 

When she saw that it was Melinda, with a wide smile on her face and a lively gleam in her eyes as well, she was overwhelmed with relief. Of course, she viewed it as peculiar that she would visit her in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep, but it was Melinda, and therefore she felt no need to question anything. Instead, she stood up eagerly, more than ready to initiate the conversation.

"Hello, Madam Bellerose," she said, waving energetically. "What could you be doing here?"

Melinda gave her a stern look. "Come with me."

"What could this mean-" Amanda began before being hit in the head by a heavy object she had no time to identify before passing out.

The next thing Amanda knew, she was in the study. Luckily for her, the curtains were open, therefore she could tell that the dawn of the following day had risen, which was not good at all, but which did not surprise her too much in the beginning, for she was a sleepwalker. While trying to make sense of everything, she looked around carefully. 

Everything seemed normal if one were to glance at the windows and the walls and the impressive collection of books on the shelf across from her, but everything was not normal when she remembered how she had gotten there the night before, especially not when she looked at the floor. 

The corpse of her king lay cold on the floor, staring blankly at whatever it saw beyond, never to open its eyes again. The body had been stabbed brutally in the chest with the dagger she was holding at that exact moment, not having realised it before she could get a good grasp on her surroundings and feel the metal and blood forced into her right hand. Her mind was engulfed by all sorts of negative emotions, mainly sadness and wrath, clouded by confusion because she had no idea what was going on. 

She could not think of anything but who was the best potential candidate to have committed such a heinous betrayal, having excluded Melinda immediately. Although the woman in question had visited her mysteriously the night before and knocked her out with no explanation, she could not help but trust her.