The Divine Violence

Prologue

Chapter written by: Charlotte

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Dominique's POV

Amir Erikson, crown prince of Eldom, dropped to the floor of his bed chambers, slowly dying. Crimson blood ran down his neck, pooling around him and staining the pristine alabaster floor beneath him. He heaved, breath catching and sputtering wildly. His carotid artery had been cut, which, in combination with his other injuries, was quite fatal, to say the least.

Dominique smiled, crouching beside Amir's limp form. She frowned at his adorned clothes, all trimmed with velvet and embroidered with gold. The outrageous expense of it all disgusted Dominique. The satin bed linens, the silver bowl of exotic fruits, the mahogany table that it sat on. All of it was a frivolous waste, another reminder of the royal family's greed and inability to sympathize with anyone but the upper class.

Fueled by simmering rage, Dominique reached out, grabbing Amir roughly by his chin. She angled it towards her, leering down at the dying heir.

"How does it feel to die?" Dominique mused, a satisfied smile spreading across her lips. "How does it feel to die by the hand of the oppressed? By an assassin girl born in the slums?"

She pulled his face closer to hers, their foreheads nearly touching. Dominique clenched her teeth, holding strong against Prince Amir's last feeble attempts to escape her grip. He opened his mouth to respond, but only a faint dribble of blood came out, trickling steadily out of his mouth. His eyes were miserable, pained and watery. Dominique could not tell if his sadness was for his inevitable death, or something else. Something deeper, something tragic and fleeting.

But Dominique didn't care to ponder the Prince's last concerns. She knew she had already wasted too much time toying with her target, too much time relishing his demise. She exhaled, knowing she had to end her fun eventually. Dominique brought Amir's ear to her lips, feeling her magic hum within her.

"Now, die." She whispered, her grip softening a bit.

Amir choked out one last shaky breath, desperately trying to hold on to his life. But Dominique had given him an order, and nobody refused her orders. Amir Erikson, crown prince of the kingdom of Eldom, was no exception.

Dominique released her grip on the prince, letting him drop to the floor, limp and lifeless. She quickly examined herself, finding no trace of blood on her black suit. She had cleaned her assortment of knives and had been careful enough to leave no traces of herself behind either. It was as if she had never been there.

As Dominique triumphantly examined the scene, she heard the soft echo of footsteps from the hall adjacent to the prince's chambers. She quickly pivoted to the window where she'd entered, silently climbing out the sill and latching onto the stone wall of the castle. Once Dominique had found solid handholds, she closed the window pane with her right hand, sliding it shut.

A few moments later, she heard the door open, followed by a series of horrified screams. But by the time the scene had been discovered, Dominique was already nearing the bottom of the stone wall, bathed in the black cover of night. Feeling her adrenaline beginning to kick in, Dominique dropped the last few feet of her descent, rolling out of her ambitious landing into the palace grounds. Pushing herself up, Dominique broke into a sprint, quickly vanishing into the nearby woods, and disappearing into the dark brambles.

Dominique grinned, feeling herself swell with deep satisfaction, a pang of fulfillment ringing through her whole body. She had never felt so alive, so liberated and unburdened.

Dominique had been the prince's ending, but she would be Eldom's beginning.

She would be the divine violence.