BLACK HALO

THE MERGE

CHAPTER 9

~THE MERGE~

“She… she's dead,” Martha stuttered as tears filled her eyes.

“What?” Aurelia said, getting up from her seat. Michael watched with worry on his face as Aurelia walked to his sister's side.

Aurelia lifted Amelia's body from her seat, laid her flat on the ground, and placed her left ear on her chest. Her pupils shrank, and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that what Martha said was true.

She got back on her feet and turned to Michael. “Your sister's heart has stopped beating. She's dead,” she said softly and sternly.

Michael clenched his fist and teeth tightly as a look of sadness grew on his face. “No, no, this can't be happening; how did this happen?” He asked softly.

Aurelia turned to the broken glass cup with an emotionless face and said, “It looks like she might've been poisoned. The wine King Frederick brought was the last thing she drank before she died. So we should be asking him that question.”

Frederick's eyes widened in shock as he heard this. “That’s preposterous; we all drank from the same bottle of wine, and we're all fine. Why would you accuse me of such a criminal act?” he asked angrily.

“Well, you have more motive than anyone else in this room. I'm sure you planned this out before coming here, so you wouldn't lose your position as King to Queen Amelia. Who knows, the glass cup was probably secretly laced with poison by your orders before the wine was poured into it,” Aurelia replied, staring directly into Frederick's eyes.

All the council members Frederick brought with him remained silent, listening to Aurelia speak. They had previously warned King Frederick that Aurelia would one day turn against the kingdom of Seth-Healm, so they weren't going to intervene at all—they didn't want their deaths to be in Aurelia's hands.

“These are all baseless accusations. There's no proof that we were actually the masterminds of Queen Amelia's death,” Maldruid said, getting up from his seat.

Frederick just stared at Aurelia with shock in his eyes. He suddenly noticed something coming toward him. He turned to his right and found Michael, holding his sword up, ready to attack him. Michael clenched his teeth tightly, growling with anger.

He tightened his grip around his blade's handle and swung it remorselessly at King Frederick. Frederick watched with fear in his eyes, waiting to meet his demise.

Michael's sword suddenly broke into two pieces before it could reach King Frederick, and another blade stopped at his throat.

“Make one more move, and I'll kill you right here, right now.” Aurelia's voice sounded from Michael's left side.

Michael slowly turned to his left and found Aurelia staring at him with a look of disdain on her face. She held her sword tightly in her left hand and gently pressed it against Michael's throat until the area it was in contact with started to bleed.

Michael stepped back and asked angrily, “Whose side are you on anyway? This man just killed my sister, and you're asking me not to take revenge?”

“Firstly, I'm not on anybody's side. My only goal is to regain my memories and disappear again. We haven't yet proven that he's indeed the killer. If you kill him, and it turns out that he's not, you'll have innocent blood on your hands. I can't allow that. So, King Frederick will return to Seth-Healm unharmed,” Aurelia said.