Look What You Made Me Do

Part VIII

Look what you made me do

The Chief-of-Army was a gifted strategist and a skilled warrior. But he was also a pugnacious warmonger. With the support of the False King, he was quick to annul the peace treaties and trade agreements that my parents had negotiated with our neighboring kingdoms.

I was sure that he and the False King were only waiting for the army to be completely ready before they declared war. Unfortunately for them, I wasn't going to let that happen. In fact, as soon as I retook the throne, I would reinstate our peace treaties.

Like the False King, the Chief-of-Army and the Grand Judge realized that they were probably targets of the mysterious killer. As such, they had taken precautions and had guards at their doors as well. The Chief-of-Army also carried his sword with him at all times.

He took one other precaution as well, and ironically it would be what allowed me to get away with his murder. He demanded that his door and lock be replaced by different, stronger versions that would be more difficult to break into from the outside.

The day after the funerals, while he and the Grand Judge finally had their meeting with the King, I used a secret passageway to sneak into Chief-of-Army's room room. I had my alibi; I was supposed to be cleaning some obscure room on the other side of the castle, but I'd done it last night. No one had any idea that I was currently crawling out of the trapdoor underneath the bed.

I had taken off my disguise and worn my red dress again for the occasion, covering it with a black cloak. Grabbing my bucket, I crouched into a corner of the room behind the couch.

Some twenty minutes later, the door finally opened and my victim walked in. I held my breath as he carefully locked the door and double checked it. Only then did he relax, putting his sword aside and moving further into the room.

Now.

I got up, unclasping my cloak so that it fell off as I stepped forward.

He turned to me and his eyes bugged out almost comically in disbelief. "You!" he gasped. How original.

"Me," I deadpanned.

"Guards, guards!" he yelled, looking around frantically for his sword.

Almost immediately, there was banging from outside the door as the guards tried to make their way in. But there was no point--the door was too secure. Before the Chief-of-Army could get to his sword, I dumped the contents of my bucket all over him. Within a second, he was screaming. Boils were erupting all over his body as acid soaked through his clothes and onto his skin. It was a pain worse than burning alive, I'd heard, and had gone to great lengths to procure this acid. I'd saved it especially for him.

For an hour, he screamed and moaned as the guards tried desperately to get in. Then at last, the pain became unbearable and his body succumbed to death. I moved then, pulling his body up to the bed so as to lay him flat on his back. I crossed his hands in front of him and made sure that his eyes--his glassy, horror-stricken eyes--were open, staring at the ceiling above.

Then I snuck back through the tunnel and made my way to the room I was supposed to be in.

Later that day, the other maids clamoured about the murder and from them, I learned the remaining details. It had taken the guards five hours to break into his room. I pictured his grotesque body laying there, the guards half-mad in their attempts to get in, the False King, the Grand Judge, and the treacherous maid all standing outside, pale and shaking, waiting to see what had become of another one of their conspirators. They told me that the False King had fainted when he had at last lain eyes on the body. I turned away from everyone then, and let a slow smirk spread across my face.