"Jacob.... I'm sorry," she whispered, tears flowing reely down her her cheeks, as she points the dagger at her throat.
Seeing this the general starts to run towards Margaret to stop the foolish girl. She begins the plunge of the dagger. My fingers twitch and her body stops. The dagger stops at her throat. A thin line of blood trickles down from where the dagger made contact. My fingers twitch again forcing her to toss the dagger towards the general.
"Why..." A whisper escapes her blood covered lips. "Why? Why? Why? Why?!!!"
Each time she asked her voice got louder till I was a scream, "Why won't you let me die?!You killed dozens of people here today! Why?! Why won't you let me grant myself the same mercy?!!! Why?!"
The dignified maid was gone. Replaced by a hysterical heart broken child. Fifty years of stress, betrayal and heartache finally surfacing in the form of a tantrum. She writhed on the floor with her heart in pain.
The others in the room had solemn looks on the faces. Feeling a sense of pity towards the once dignified maid. The servants understanding her pain looked down at her with a need to go and console her. But they wouldn't move, not without my permission and I wasn't going to to give it.
My look towards her was one of indifference. Not that didn't understand what she was feeling. I knew all too well. However I wasn't going to let her take her own life. Not when the party that caused this outburst didn't deserve to see her this way.
"You don't deserve to die," I finally answer her question.
Her tantrum immediately stops. She looks up at me with bewilderment, but it quickly becomes anger.
"You don't have the to tell me what I deserve." She said baring her teeth, venom oozing from her words. "You have no idea what I'm feeling right now. I loved the man who ordered my brother's death. If I don't deserve death then who does?"
"Then men who caused your suffering." I let my words linger for a moment and continued. "Your wrong I do know what you're feeling. You think I came here just because I decided today was the day I wanted to run a kingdom."
"Not at all. I came here for revenge. Like you I was betrayed. Like you someone was taken from me. Like you I was lied too."
Margaret looked at me now much calmer. Her breathing softened. Her teeth no longer showing. She was calmer more focused on the words I said.
"Now do you think for a second I'm going to take my life after I'm done. No I'm not. I'm going to continue living. In spite of the ones that caused me pain. That caused me to suffer. To show them I am above them in every single way. I lived. They died. That's how my revenge story will end. You think the king is the only one to betray me? No I got a list. A fucking, long ass list. That will take most of my extended life to fufill. If not all of it."
She looked at me confused. How could someone do young have that long of a list of revenge.
As if reading her mind I answer, "You think this is my first life? No. Not even close. I've lived thousands of lives and I remember them all. Thousands of lives. Thousands of betrayals. Thousands of revenge stories. Across thousands of different worlds and timelines."
Memories begin to resurface. Old some even forgotten. Causing anger to swell.
So in spite myself my voice raises, "So fucking live and show them that you won! You rose when they fell. Laugh, piss, shit on their graves! That's why you need to live. Do it for yourself! Do it for your brother! Live for him showing him that you succeeded where they failed!"
The hall shook with my booming voice. Every time my voice rose higher it shook more and more violently. Pillars began to fall apart. The floor began to crack.
After realizing I was caught in the moment and let my anger control me, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. After a few moments the hall stopped shaking. I waved my hand in arc.
The cracks in the floor faded. The pillars reformed becoming whole once again. Everything was back to the way it was.The hall was silent once again.
After a few more breaths I continued, "The weak die, while the strong live. That is the law of this world. Are you weak? Or are you strong? If you are weak then go ahead and take the knife again. End your miserable existence." I briefly pause before I continue once again,"If you are strong then live. For the memory of your brother. If you die his memory dies. Only the strong can live this way. Only the strong can remember. Its your choice."
I sat there silently. Watching waiting for her to make her decision.
She looked at her blood covered hands. She realized she had taken a life. A life of a murderer, but a life nonetheless. For some time she felt calm about it. Rage had taken over numbing everything else. Sight. Hearing. Even her own morality. Never before would she had thought of taking a life, yet she did so today.
Reality suddenly hit her. Her hands began to shake. Tears started to once again trickle down her cheeks mixing with the blood covered her face. Dripping to the marble floor. Making it look like she was crying tears of blood.
That alone would have caused the faces of everyone to deform into a look of horror, but that wasn't it. No, what caused such a look from the crowd in the hall was laughter. Margaret was kneeling down, covered in a man's blood, crying all while laughing. Pure maniacal laughter. To much stimulation at once went and made her fall into a pit of madness.
I look at the general. He rushed over to her and knocked her out. The laughter stopped. Fading into a distant memory.
"Take her, get her cleaned and put her in her room to rest for the rest of the night." The maids rushed over, grabbed her, and carried her off.
"See general? Even the purest of hearts can fall into madness and take a life. It all depends on the trigger. A life of love and devotion based on a single lie is one hell of a trigger."
"You didn't need to tell her," the general. "She could've remain blissfully unaware. Not knowing the cruelty of the men who betrayed her." His hands balled up into tight fists. Shaking slightly with anger. Knowing that the sweet innocent maid who used to bring him tea with a beautiful smile, was now gone forever.
"If she didn't find out she would have died. If it didn't happen this way she would've died. At least this way she won't die."
"You don't know that!"
"But I do know it. If it didn't go down this way and I killed the old healer, who she felt she owed her life to, or the king. Without the truth being revealed. One of two things would happen. Number one, after their deaths she would take her life. Or two she would try to kill me for revenge. Either way she would die. Love can be a powerful thing. It can bring us great joy and a feeling of being full. Or it can consume us, poison us, driving us to do things we never thought we would do. Margaret wasn't the only one wronged by these men. She wasn't the only one who loved the king and felt she owed her life to the healer. It was only Margaret that needed to hear it, but the others did as well."
The old general looked over at the other servants in the castle. They were crying, heartbroken. They were wronged, betrayed. Even after understanding the cruelty placed upon them, they were still stricken with grief. They were still in pain.
The generals fist loosened. His face softer. Finally understanding why I did what I did. Rather than them dying trying to protect the love they cherished or taking their own lives. He wanted them to live even if it was painful. At least now they have a chance to move on and live a new life.
He couldn't help but take glances at the other servants. Wondering if there was anything he could've done. If he'd paid closer attention would he have been able to help them or maybe avoid such a situation altogether. But even knowing this now there was nothing he could've done. Loyal to the throne bound by duty. That was him. A slave to the throne. Despite his position, despite the strength he was proud of, he was still a slave.
"That can change, you know?" I said. He looked at me stunned. Wondering if I could read his mind. "No I can't read your mind, but I can tell what you're thinking. The full status skill tells me not what you're thinking but what you have done and what you are currently doing. It doesn't read minds. By the looks on your face I can tell what you're thinking. And don't. I can't lose another general. I killed two today I can't lose another."
"Its not only because you're useful to me either. It's because you are loyal to the throne. You are loyal to what the throne represents. Not the king. Not the country. But the people. The people are the true kings. Without the people there are no cities. There are no taxes. There is nothing without the people. Its not your loyalty that is wrong but your mindset that is wrong. You fix that mindset and you can finally become the general you were meant to be. A protector of not the king, or the throne, but the people."
"What if you betray the people?" He asked still somber his voice low.
"Then kill me. That is your duty."
His look turned from self pity into one of inspiration. Like he had enlightenment, a revelation. He knew what should do now. He knew how he could protect the people. What he could've done, no what he should've done all those years ago. When he noticed the kings ineptitude. His failures.
"Your grace," he announced. Conviction in his tone tone. He got to one knee once again. "I swear from this day forward that my duty will be for the people. I also swear this if you betray the people I will come for your head. I will not rest until it is on a spike above the castle gates."
My smile grew once again. So wide and so wicked it could be described as a smile of madness. "Good."