Valley of Shadows and Roses | ONC 2024

Chapter 22

The castle's inhabitants celebrated their victory; while they had no idea how short the joy would last. Shortly. At first, they had no idea what was going on. Cheerful music echoed throughout the castle. The alcohol was flowing. Tired, sleeping bodies lay everywhere, on sofas, on the floor, on the throne.

And suddenly, it started. The sweet melody of fairies' singing carried through the castle premises. People moved to her sound. They didn't understand what was happening. Where does that music come from? The lights started flashing. They switched on and off wildly. That woke them up. There was a loud, ominous laugh. It multiplied in echoes and disappeared into silence. It gave them goosebumps. Shadows crept through the darkness unnoticed.

The lights went out, and carnage could begin.

The shadows dug into their flesh with their sharp claws. They bit them with their sharpened fangs until they drew blood. Screams and cries of pain were carried through the castle, forever burrowing into its walls. The white marble floors were stained red. Blood flowed in rivers.

Princess Luna returned to her castle. She walked through those corridors covered in blood and littered with bodies. The smell of death hung in the air. Luna listened to the death wail; it sounded like a beautiful symphony to her. People were running here and there, trying to save their bare lives, but no one escaped. Shadows were everywhere, and they were on the hunt.

Queen Luna threw Duke Bravery's corpse off the throne and took her rightful place. Before her laid a graveyard full of corpses that hated her. They considered her cursed. They tried to kill her. And now they were lying at her feet. The shadows feasted on their flesh. They were tearing pieces out of them with their teeth. The bodies were almost bloodless. Almost none of the new wounds were leaking blood. Luna watched all this with pleasure.

She won.

The Shadow Lord approached Queen Luna and knelt before her. "Your Majesty," he said with a mischievous smile on his lips.

Luna laughed heartily. "Don't ever call me that again. It sounds strange coming out of your mouth," she said.

"Excuse my inappropriate behavior, dear Luna." he stood up and approached her. He leaned his hands on the throne, trapped her as if in a cage. "We need to have a serious talk, dear Luna."

"And about what, dear Shadow Lord?" she asked him.

"We've had a certain unanswered question here for a few years," he replied.

"I think I've already answered no to that question a few times," Luna replied.

"Except I don't take no for an answer." a mischievous smile bloomed on his lips.

Luna started laughing again. "This curse of yours is a game. But it has a small problem; I'm not willing to lose," she said.

"And how long do you want to play that game?"

"As long as you let me."

"Then let's play," said the Shadow Lord.

Lights flashed, and he was gone; they were gone. Dead silence stayed in the room. It was strange, scary. All around, bodies were rolling in the red sea. She walked between them. She recognized some of them. Others she couldn't because their bodies were so mutilated. None of the servants remained, and those who did were now dead. It looked like she was going to have a lot of cleaning to do in the coming days, if not weeks. She can't let those corpses rot here.

Queen Luna walked among the bodies. She got her revenge. They've been trying to beat her all her life, and now she's won. She was the Queen of the Rose Valley. The throne belonged to her. However, there was an unnatural silence. It had never been so quiet here, she told herself. It felt unusually lonely when the Shadow Lord and his shadows left so suddenly.

"Princess, how could you let the shadows do this?" said the shocked Commander who survived the massacre. His face showed incomprehension.

Luna turned to him. "And how could you, Commander, allow these people, you pity so much, to try to burn me alive?" she answered his question. "It was your job to protect me, and you failed, Commander."

Those words stabbed the Commander like a dagger in the heart. How could he imagine that she could love him one day? How could he not see the evil that had taken root in her? The princess he knew wouldn't allow it.

"You allowed them to massacre the whole court. You even opened the gates for them. You helped them." he reproached her.

"Maybe I've had enough of everyone thinking I'm not good enough. I'm only good at standing aside and smiling. And maybe I just showed them that they were right about my curse all that time. I will be the end of this kingdom. And maybe I've already done it," Luna said. "I only took back what was denied me."

"This is not you, princess. You're not that mean."

Luna had had enough of everyone telling her who she should and shouldn't be. Everyone knows best who she is. No one really knew her.

She reached for the dagger that one of the dead lords had at his belt. She slowly approached the Commander and stabbed him. She could feel the warmth of his blood on her palm. Horror and shock flashed in his eyes. The Commander fell to his knees.

"I. Am. The Queen. Luna." she hissed in his ear, emphasizing every word. "I. Rule. Here."

And so the only survivor fell by the hand of his beloved.