Kaija: Queen of Stone

10.5

I stood in the castle's hall with Baria's body thrown over my arms. I cleaned the mess I made in the dining hall. Being back in the room of her corpse made me somewhat confused. In my blind rage, I didn't remember how many times I pierced her.

A soft whisper sounded behind me. "Mara?"

I was not shocked to hear her. "I don't want you to see this, Qia," I whispered, recognizing her voice.

"What are you doing?" She stepped forward, observing me.

"Burying her," I explained. "We can't have her in the castle anymore."

She stood beside me and stared at me. Her vibrant green eyes lit up the night. "Let me help you," she whispered. "As a healer, it's my job to make sure I can do a burial."

Qia was my friend. Even though I had killed the one she called queen, she didn't resent me.

We stepped out under the night sky, the stars bright and shimmering. Baria was light, almost weightless like air. Her body didn't smell but she already appeared to be decomposing.

The weather outside was cold for a summer day, wind howling. It cried for the loss of a person or perhaps cheered for the loss of a tyrant.

I stepped near the hole I spent the hour unearthing. The body fell from my shoulder, contorting. I thought I heard a snap when it landed. I leaned down and situated her body, resting her hands on her abdomen.

I closed her eyes and stood, looking around. Udan did not have flowers, but the flowers from the Hills of Gristle were still sitting near the castle earthed in their pots. The wedding was no more, instead, it was a funeral.

I walked forward, plucking a blue one, and returned to her grave. Throwing in the flower, I turned to Qia. "Do you have any words?"

She sighed. There was pain on her face. "It's hard to know what to say to someone who has destroyed your entire life."

Tiroa would never walk again, Qia was branded. She wasted the last few years rotting within the walls of the castle as a servant.

"I understand," I whispered. "Do what you can."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Baria, the once queen of Udan, was not always a tyrant. She at one time cared for her kind and in turn, anyone who came within her walls." Qia blinked back tears as she continued, "As she aged and her power grew, so did her loneliness. Her power blinded her and she lost the part of herself she once knew. Baria might have been dead long before Mara slayed her. She may have been a husk of herself, fighting for her soul to return to Solace."

Perhaps the tyrant queen was fighting with herself as Qia claimed. Maybe the heart she harbored was made of stone long before. We hardly knew anything about Baria, where she came from or who she was before.

"That was lovely," I whispered, grabbling the shovel. "Thank you for giving her kind words."

She nodded. "Thank you for freeing me."

I turned to Baria. Despite the pain and suffering, it was no more. There could be peace.

"No longer will you reign."