Toxic Tales

What's in a Name? Part 8

Three weeks went by, and the only particularly exciting news during that time was the announcement of the king's wedding. The townsfolk were all invited, but I stayed home; I had seen enough of the palace to last me a lifetime.

I wish I had savored those three blissful weeks...I like to think I would have enjoyed them far more if I had anticipated such a tragedy.

                                                                                          ***

I came into the house one evening after fetching water from the well—and I opened the door in time to see Bridget slit Emilia's throat.

She collapsed to the floor, clutching her neck and gasping for breath. I ran to her, screaming. I caught her before she hit the ground, but it was too late. She was dead.

"Dear me, how sad," I heard Bridget say in that sickening voice. "Oh well. You brought it on yourself." As tears flowed down my face, I slowly looked up at my wife's murderer, hatred boiling in my veins.

Royalty certainly seemed to agree with her. She wore a dark-red velvet gown embroidered with gold and gemstones, and a glittering gold crown rested on her head. I watched as she casually cleaned the blood from the knife—that same infernal knife from the very first murder—with a handkerchief.

"What...what have you done?" was all I managed to choke out. I couldn't stop crying; I cradled Emilia's lifeless body, praying for a miracle. "Why did you do this? Why did you kill my wife?!"

"You broke our deal," Bridget responded. She spoke as though commenting on the weather. "I told you not to mention anything to your wife, but that's exactly what you did. She knew too much, and besides that, I wasn't satisfied. I needed to avenge my father, and what better way to do that than to deprive you of your family?"

It took a moment for the horrible meaning behind those words to set in. My heart pounding with fear, I slowly cast my eyes toward Nicholas' bed.

He was lying in a pool of blood, dripping torturously onto the floor.

"NO!" I ran to his bed and held him in my arms. His head lolled about, as it was almost completely severed from his neck. I kissed his sweet little face and sunk to my knees, still clutching him.

Bridget laughed coldly at my display. "Now you know what it's like, you bastard."

I felt a surge of anger, like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was as though my entire body was filled with hot oil, threatening to boil over at any moment. I carefully placed Nicholas' body onto the bed before turning to face the queen.

"What kind of MONSTER murders a child?!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her vigorously. Her continued laughter at my behavior only made me more furious. "You're disgusting—you're not human—you're a demon—"

"Now, now," she said chidingly. "Is that any way to talk to your queen? The deed is done, so you might as well move on. Now, won't you release me before I scream for help?"

Nothing would have made me happier than to have crushed her throat with my bare hands, but I resisted. I knew she had the upper hand. I relinquished my grasp.

"Ah, that's better. Now, I am going to give you two choices: one, you can come with me to my husband and confess to the crazed murder of your beloved wife and child, or I can leave the dagger here and make it look like a lunatic broke in and killed your family in cold blood. Which do you choose?"

I didn't know what to do. I knew I deserved prison, but I refused to be arrested having the world think that I killed my two reasons for living. Quietly, I said, "Leave the knife. Make it look like an unfortunate circumstance. Then go to hell."

She smiled at me again. "As you wish. Goodbye. I sincerely hope we never meet again."

With that, she took the knife by the hilt, dropped it at my feet, and sauntered out the door.

I spent the following week numb with grief. I told the guards the lie SHE had requested: that a crazed mental patient broke into my home and in his confusion, he killed Emilia and Nicholas. As with my father's death, my neighbors offered me solace and sympathy, but their words and gestures were meaningless. I was doomed to a life without my family; nothing anyone said or did could ever change that.

I barely remember the next year, only that I wept bitterly almost every night and visited my family's graves every day. I prayed to my father to watch over them, and asked for my own death to follow soon. I knew I couldn't live much longer in such agony.

On the anniversary of their deaths, a thought occurred to me: if SHE found so much relief in revenge, who is to say that I wouldn't? I was a murderer; perhaps I could harness that darker side of my soul again and destroy the one who had destroyed me. I had nothing to lose.

With that, I set my plan in motion.

I spun gold for the first time in a year; I needed enough to bribe the guards. Once I had planned everything precisely, I took the dagger SHE had used to kill my family and slipped it into my belt. I took the gold I had spun and set out for the castle by nightfall.

Luck was on my side that night. When I arrived at the gate, the night watchman was sleeping. I crept through the gate as quietly as I could and made my way toward the towering castle. There was a guard in the foyer, but all I had to do was whisper, "I'll give you all of this if you stay quiet." He willingly took the gold and allowed me to pass.

I entered the palace and made my way up the main staircase. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I knew I would find it in time. I wanted to wake her and see the look on her face when I took her life, but I knew I couldn't take that risk. She could scream and alert the other guards. I would have to settle for stabbing her in her sleep.

I was jolted from my venomous thoughts by a surprising sound: a baby's cries.

Forsaking my vengeance for a moment, I followed the noise and found myself in what must have been the royal nursery. The baby was in a cradle near the window, crying helplessly. I wondered where its caretaker was.

I walked closer to the cradle. Moonlight poured into the room over the bassinet, and I saw the baby was swaddled in pink blankets.

When I saw this little girl, my heart nearly broke all over again for my sweet Nicholas. I knelt down beside the baby and tried to soothe her, but she continued to wail. My fathering instincts took over, and I picked up the child and cradled her in my arms.

She quieted down in a moment and fell back to sleep, but I didn't want to put her down. She certainly was a beautiful little one. I hadn't heard that SHE had had a child. I smiled at the sleeping babe and kissed her on the forehead, closing my eyes and reliving the memories of holding my newborn son.

Perhaps if I weren't so concerned with calming the baby, I would've heard the nursemaid enter the room. She screamed when she saw me. I put the baby back in her cradle and ran as quickly as I could back down the hallway, but it was too late. The nurse's screams had notified the guards, and before I knew it, they were locking me in the dungeon.

The next day I was tried and found guilty of attempting to kidnap the princess. The king wanted me beheaded, but SHE asked him if he would make an exception. I remember hearing HER say, "I think execution is so brutal...I believe a life sentence is a far more suitable punishment, don't you, my dear?"

With that, I was locked in the castle dungeon, never to see daylight again.