“Clink!!!” The glass containing the violet drink shattered on the floor.
“Apologies, my Queen,” the woman in black said, her hands trembling as she looked at the mess.
“Oh, let me help you!” the Maester offered, moving to clean up the shards.
The woman hurriedly exited the room.
“She said you ordered her to give me the drink,” Queen Annysha said, her voice filled with concern.
“She was very suspicious!” Princess Lyria added.
“I’m sorry, my Queen. I don’t know her,” the Maester said, eyeing the wet floor.
The Maester sniffed the residue of the violet drink, whispering to the Queen, “She even tried to poison you.”
Then he left the room.
The door creaked open as Prince Braylon walked in.
“Braylon! Believe me! I didn’t!” Queen Annysha pleaded.
“I heard something from Queen Valerie at the Nine Pillars during your trial,” Prince Braylon said.
“Don’t you ever believe her words!” Queen Annysha shouted.
“Why!? Why did King Henrick, as she said, urge his men here? Why did he try to save you?” Braylon demanded.
“What is happening to you, Braylon?!” Queen Annysha cried out.
“Braylon!!!” Princess Lyria shouted.
“I have to kill you before Father is buried!” Braylon declared.
He drew the luxurious dagger from his back—the same dagger used to kill Lynnor and King Syantus.
He raised the dagger towards his mother’s neck, but—
“No!!!” Princess Lyria screamed, her panic evident as she huddled in the corner of the room.
“You are not a Rose!” Queen Annysha said, her voice filled with desperation.
Braylon hesitated.
“You will become a king!” Queen Annysha continued. “You will fight against the High King to claim the Nine Kingdoms! Your mother will be a destruction of your great future! You should kill her!”
A woman in black emerged from the shadows. She appeared from the dark corner and spoke these words to Braylon.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!” The cry of a woman in agony echoed in his mind.
Braylon stood up from his bed and left the woman in black behind.
He saw his mother crying in agony beside his father’s corpse. The memory of that terrible night flashed into his mind.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!” Princess Lyria shouted, holding her ears as she cried loudly in the corner of the room.
She watched as her mother fell onto the bed, blood spilling from her throat, her eyes wide open with tears streaming down.
Queen Annysha took her last breath.
Prince Braylon fell to his knees before his mother’s corpse, the golden dagger clutched tightly in his hand, her blood dripping onto the floor.
The family gathered at the Nonagon Tower, the church of the Nine Kingdoms. The tower, shaped like a nonagon with a bell hanging in the middle, held the statues of the Nine Angels in each corner. In the center, the bodies of the royals were placed temporarily for their funeral, surrounded by orange chrysanthemums and nine candles to guide their spirits to the land of the dead.
Prince Braylon, Prince Cardon, and Princess Lyria attended the funeral. Queen Annysha lay beautifully dressed with her neck covered, beside King Syantus. Both had their crowns resting on their chests. Nine white devotees prayed around them.
“I will be a queen someday!” Princess Lyria declared, her tears mingling with the flowers.
“How could you do this to our mother?” Prince Cardon asked Braylon angrily.
“You are my heir to the throne,” Braylon said to Cardon.
As they mourned, the large door of the tower opened.
“What happened?!” King Orion demanded as he entered the Nonagon Tower.
“She died after you left her! The Maester said she didn’t have enough blood,” Prince Braylon said, his voice trembling.
“How could this happen?” King Orion’s tears began to flow.
“We didn’t know!” Prince Braylon cried.
Meanwhile, at Castle Verde in Verdeen, the capital of the Nine Kingdoms—
“My Lord! I order the construction of my castle in Bearland!” Wun Claws announced.
“The King of Bearland is asking for your help! My slaves and men are gone since I left my kingdom! The Queen of Thorns commanded her elves to burn my cottages! Now, only ashes remain! I need people and an army!”
“You are now claiming back your burnt kingdom,” High King Erin said to Wun.
“I, with the help of Sir Dryndon, will guard and rule our burnt lands,” Wun declared.
“I will send my servants to each corner of Verdeen to ask people to relocate to Bearland! I will also provide you with five hundred armored men to guard your kingdom,” High King Erin promised.
“Gratitude for you, my King!” Sir Dryndon said.
Back at Thorns, King Syantus’s coffin, adorned with glittering orange chrysanthemums, was carried by nine white devotees to the Rose Cemetery, where his parents were buried.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” King Orion whispered to his grandchildren as they saw the statue of Queen Orga Vale Rose, King Syantus’s mother.
“Grandfather, why are Mother and Father cousins?” Little Princess Lyria asked.
“Annysha was betrothed to Henrick of Pines, but to prevent the Fisher from joining the Rose family, Syantus was wed to Annysha by Orga,” King Orion explained.
Prince Braylon, soon to be crowned King of Thorns, listened in silence.
“You are not a Rose!” His mother’s words echoed in his mind.
They returned to Castle Rose.
“I will bring Annysha to Castle Vale. She must be buried beside her mother,” King Orion declared.
King Orion flew back to Castle Vale with Queen Annysha’s corpse held by the eagles’ feet.
Upon arrival, he commanded his servants to change Queen Annysha’s dress to feathers, as per Vale tradition.
“She died because of a lack of blood!” King Orion said to the Maester.
As the slaves and Maester changed her dress, they discovered the slit on Queen Annysha’s throat.
“Maester! Wasn’t she killed?” a slave asked.
The Maester examined the corpse. “My King, your daughter is ready to be buried,” he said.
Queen Annysha’s new feathered dress was beautiful, but the slit on her neck was now exposed.
King Orion stared at his daughter, confusion and grief etched on his face. “Did you cut her throat?” he asked the Maester bewilderedly.
“No, my King!” the Maester responded.
With lamps guiding the way, they transported Queen Annysha’s body to the dark underground chamber of Castle Vale, where the Vale royals were buried, beside the statue of Queen Andora Vale, symbolizing her unborn child.
“May the Nine Angels guide you to the land of the dead!” the Maester intoned.
“The blood of folks is the sacred one!” the nine white devotees chanted, holding candles.
“The blood of the folks is the sacred one!” King Orion echoed, as they prepared to lay Queen Annysha to rest.
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Crowns And The Nine Kingdoms
General FictionNine Kingdoms of Sin, Nine Kingdoms of the World-A Fictional World Reflecting the Faults of Reality It was believed that the world is flat and only has three continents... Winterlands to the North. Greenlands to the East. Desertlands to the West. Ni...
