Threads of Vengeance

Part 1 Chapter 1

A little girl ran, looking back every other second. Rocks cut her bare feet and thorns cut her arms, but the little girl ran. Sometimes through a forest and sometimes through a garden, but always, she ran. She ran and ran until she tripped and fell. A figure in black came up behind her .

“You should be in bed now, little princess,” said the figure.

“I'm sorry,” the little girl whimpered.

 “Bad girls must be punished” the figure said, pulling out a small knife.

 The little girl saw a flash of red followed by a burst of pain, and then darkness.

                                                                  * * *

Royal Palace, Nividean Empire

Maya woke up with a searing headache. It was the same dream as always. For the past ten years the dream had haunted her. Sometimes it wouldn't come for a week or a month, but it never went away fully either. She pushed her dark long hair out of her face and looked into a mirror. She caught a glint of light.

Her hand moved up automatically to her other eye where a crystal lay embedded. Very faintly, it glowed blue. Her fingers lightly brushed against the scar that ran across her bad eye. She grimaced and reached out for her white eye patch. It kept the crystal and most of her scar, hidden.

 “Calm down. You're not the same little girl anymore,” she told herself. "You're an empress now."

 After the failed assassination, she had realised her siblings would stop at nothing to get the throne, even if it meant breaking the sacred rules and trying to kill one not old enough to fight for it. From then on, she too had played by her own rules. It was bitter, but she had won. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

 Slaves carrying various garments stepped inside. All the clothes were white. Perfect for today's business. She chose one of simple yet elegant design and let them clothe her.  Once dressed, she headed outside the vast complex that was her palace, towards a small domed building that was called the judgment room and went by the nickname 'Yama's house'.

Morning sunlight streamed in casting the highly decorated room in a golden glow. As Maya entered the building, every man and woman in the room knelt. Everyone in the building was also dressed in white. Only when she took her seat did they all rise and take their own.

Her seat was a wide rosewood chair with carvings of beasts that sat upon a raised platform. Four old men wearing flowing white robes stood beside her. Two on either side. Soldiers armed with ceremonial swords formed a long aisle. Ministers and other nobles sat on balconies above.

 “Bring in the accused,” she ordered.

 A man in chains was brought in. Other than a hood on his head, he was completely naked. A month ago, he was a noble of middle standing, well respected by his peers. Then he was caught smuggling crystals outside. He was made to kneel and the hood was removed, revealing a gaunt, hook nosed man that had clearly been ill treated during captivity.

“The charges,” she said formally.

 “Smuggling and illegal export of crystals,” cried a herald.

 A collective gasp sounded from the viewing balconies. Most of the them knew the charges from the moment he was arrested. None of them, let the chance to distance themselves from him pass.

 “Advisors, do you find the accused guilty?” she asked.

 Everyone knew the answer already. The proceedings were but a formality.

 “I find the accused, guilty,” Each of the four men by her side replied.

 “Advisor Patnak what is the punishment for the crime?” she asked lightly.

 “Crystals are the most valuable commodities of the empire. Stealing or smuggling the same is an offence punishable by death only,” promptly recited one of the four men by her side.

 Maya took a deep breath. She had the throne only for a year and already there was a noble flouting laws. She had to make an example of him or there would be worse. She hesitated for a moment and then steeled herself.

 “Not enough," she snapped. "A noble that has cost the empire crystals shall not only pay with his own life, but with that of his family as well."

 Sounds of shock and surprise sounded. The man in question paled and started weeping. The punishment for treachery for the second only to that of killing the emperor. Hardly, pleasant. She watched as a rope was put around his neck and tied to a beam above. It was high enough to barely let him touch his toes to the ground and tight enough to cause pain without killing.

 Maya nodded to a soldier who vanished outside a side door and came back followed by the traitor’s family in chains. Another soldier brought out a curved dagger and lightly cut out the man’s eyelids and then slashed diagonally across his stomach. Some of his entrails spilt out, but he wouldn't die just yet. He would be forced to watch his family killed while suffering in pain first.

 The youngest son, a child of about six or seven years of age wept. The oldest simply prayed. She was about sixteen or seventeen, only a couple of years younger than Maya. The youngest was killed first, followed by each of her three older siblings and finally the mother.

The executioner made an art of the killing, taking his time between each beheading and savouring each kill. The fact that he used a blunt blade and it multiple blows for each person to die made it look fascinating in a horrifying way. A woman swooned somewhere and several got sick. Maya did not bat an eyelid. Neither did the man.

 Finally, Maya got up and walked up to the man. The white crystal in her eye socket glowed brightly and her body felt light as she drew in power from the crystal. She touched a puddle of blood in front of the man, which transformed into a red icicle. A quick motion of her finger and it promptly embedded itself into his heart, ending his misery. Not a drop of blood had touched her garment. She gave a rare smile.

Letting go of the power, she turned and left the aptly named house of Yama.

A/N: Yama is the god of death.