Black Blood

-B2- Chapter 82

I continue my way through the tumultuous halls that I once called home, despite never truly feeling at home anywhere. These halls are nothing more than a rat's nest after everything that has happened, a place I never want to come back to after today. It's a past I want to bury and forget, though that will probably never be possible. Especially not with my father still alive somewhere.

Nevertheless, we proceed with the plan as it was laid out on paper.

With quick steps, I make my way to my mother's old office. A space you would expect next to the king's office, but was already pushed to a far corner at that time.

The halls here are quieter, less panic and less blood. The light seems darker and it's no coincidence that it overlooks the field where all executions take place.

It's the perfect place to have a conversation with Diana.

With that thought, I kick open the office door and look straight into two terrified brown eyes. I've seen panic in her before when we were in the kitchen with Chanel, but this is different. The last time, it was fear for her daughter's life.

This time, she is convinced she will die.

Alisha stands with her arms crossed next to the desk where Diana sits. Pressed back into the chair, she looks at me silently.

'Thank you, Alisha,' is the first thing I say and the cue for Alisha to walk towards me, give me the necessary papers, and leave the office in silence.

The moment the door closes, I look Diana straight in the eye and take a few agonizingly slow steps towards the desk.

'I did what you asked,' she mumbles, referring to the dagger she brought me for my supposed execution, hoping to convince me she isn't as bad as she once was.

'Correct,' I respond, taking another emotionless step closer.

'What do you want then? My daughter? Me? My life? Take everything but leave my daughter alone,' she pleads desperately. Another step closer, the click of my heel audible.

'No.' The final step until I'm right in front of the desk.

With a loud bang, I slam my hands on the wood, lean forward, and look deep into her eyes. She recoils instinctively, further pressed into her chair.

'I want to know where the king is,' echoes through the small room. Her brown eyes shift from panic to surprise and back to panic.

'I-I uhm... I don't know where he is,' she stammers, her eyes darting around the room, avoiding my gaze. She's not lying, she's just scared. What dumb sheep would tell Diana where the king is hiding? No living soul who could think for more than five seconds.

With a small grin, I straighten up, clasp my hands behind my back, and slowly begin to walk around the desk to the large window behind her.

'I swear, I don't know. The Dawn tells women nothing anymore. If I knew, I would tell you,' she continues as I stand in front of the window, looking at the large grass field. It's on this grass that Nora once died and where Christiaan will now die.

'When I first saw you, those years ago in the dining hall, I was glad to see a woman who seemed to have more substance than the average obedient sheep walking around the castle. I thought I saw a woman who could think for herself instead of just being a beautiful accessory for her husband, a woman who was more than a pretty thing in a dress. My first impression was wrong,' I begin my story while watching two guards tie the struggling Christiaan to the wooden post in the middle of the grass field.

'Christiaan was never interested in me, not even from the first moment, but he was in you. While other women had to beg and serve for months, sometimes years, to get a little more freedom and tasks, you got a position to teach in your first month. I thought you had exceptional qualities, were good at what you did, but in reality, you fucked your way to the top, with my husband.'