Elizabeth stood trembling in the farthest, safest corner in the chambers, hands clenched so tightly. She had served her mistress for years, witnessed countless moods, tantrums, even the coldest silences, but this was something else. In as much as many things pissed her off easily, she always found a way through without going into a rage. This was new to her and she did not know what to do or say to her. It felt raw. Terrifying.
She didn't even look like the Iris she knew.
The sharp crack of wood tore through the air as Iris shattered the bedframe with her bare hands. Her strength was terrifying. Splinters flew like birds startled from a tree, some slicing through the air so fast Elizabeth instinctively flinched. Her mouth parted, but no words came. Just disbelief.
She wasn't just angry.
She was...crying.
"I worked for everything they stripped away from me. For what reason?" Her voice cracked as her fist flew into the giant wall mirror. Glass shattered, falling around her like shards of her reflection. Blood dripped down her knuckles, but within seconds it vanished. Her healing magic sealed the wound even before the pain settled in.
"Stupid higher council! Stupid king! Stupid kingdom!" Her scream pierced the air and the silence that followed was devastating. She crumpled on the floor, limbs giving out. Her breath trembled, her body folded in, and her voice, now a hoarse broken whisper chanted again and again like a curse. "They are going to pay.....!".
Seeing she was finally calm, Elizabeth approached her and crouched down to her level.
"Y-your h-h-highness?" Her voice was small. So small.
She didn't respond. She just lay limp. Staring into nothing in a haunting way, as though reality itself had betrayed her.
"Umh…I- what- do you need anything? Your Highness?" Elizabeth whispered.
Finally, Iris spoke. "Elizabeth? I…want to…die more than ever…"
"Your highness?"
"I know…I did wrong…but the council, those bastards didn't punish me…The didn't punish me. They took away everything…"
Elizabeth sighed.
So she was punished.
"You know what the worst thing is?" She rolled over to her back, eyes flicking up to the ceiling like she was staring through it.
This was when Elizabeth saw her sad face, for the first time ever. She always had disappointed faces, annoyed faces, defiant faces, but never had she seen her this sad. Really, truly, painfully sad.
"I never cared about titles in my early years. But they made me become a warrior because I'm special. They made me become a warrior because I'm special!!! They made me kill countless people because I'm special. They made me use tis power. Told me it was noble. But I was a child, Elizabeth. A child. I couldn't say no..." Her voice broke, but she went on. "My father will make me queen too for the same reason. I'm not complaining. Being special only means that. I knew that as soon as I could use my magic. I knew I was a special object. And special meant....obedience. I trained hard. Perfected it. Became invincible. To please them so they would finally leave me alone. With time, I got used to it and made it work for me. And now, they took it all away. My hard work....."
Elizabeth fell silent.
What did she mean by 'Took it all'?
"I don't need your comfort, Elizabeth." she added, voice dangerously calm now. "I think I'll do what I always wanted to do…."
"Don't kill yourself!" Elizabeth screamed.
Iris blinked at her. "Huh? I did say I wanted to die…but I wouldn't kill myself. I would never stoop so low."
"Then what-"
She stood up quickly, leaving Elizabeth baffled.
"I need to talk to someone about all these." She surveyed the wreckage of the room, tilting her head slightly. "I may have overreacted. Have someone fix everything."
She said leaving the room in a hurry.
Elizabeth sighed, "Right..." she groaned looking at the chaos around her. "How exactly am I supposed to fix this?"
.
.
.
Iris rushed down the stairs. She really needed to talk to someone she could trust. Not only that, someone who would help her understand something. It was almost sunset. Her boots echoed sharply across the polished stone as she approached the nearest royal guard
"Tell the commander and the magical corps captain to meet me. At our usual spot."
Without waiting for acknowledgement, she continued.
She stopped as other guards opened the doors for her. This was something she had not expected. It had been a really long time since she set foot in her private garden, she had forgotten these flowers existed.
She called them Carmella flowers, because only her mother had the seeds to the flowers and she never gave her their name. so she named them after her. But who else had these seeds aside from her? And who had planted them?
She picked one flower and brought it up to her nose. The scent reminding her of her mother.
Tears stung her eyes, but she wasn't going to cry for the second time in one day.
She walked hastily to the swing that was in the middle of the garden, where she saw two figures standing.
Marco and Kaede.
She almost got emotional, she even forgot she had called them here.
"That was fast." She said.
"I arrived here before him." Kaede said as a matter of factly.
"It doesn't matter." Marco replied.
"Oh but it does. You just wouldn't get it."
"I'm gonna kill you." He said drawing out his sword.
"Not if I kill you first-"
"Who..." Iris interrupted, clearly annoyed. "are you replacing me with in the council."
They both stopped and turned to her.
"You two can go back to fighting after we are done. I have something important to discuss."
Their expressions turned serious.
"Kaden suggested your third brother Elliot, and everyone agreed. But we'll have another meeting with the king and prince Elliot to make sure they agree."
Elliot.
That was one of her sneakiest brothers. He was always quiet. Too quiet. Always reading the room. Always ahead of all plans made. And somehow always ready.
"What about the two of you? Do you agree-"
"Definitely not." Kaede snapped. "I, unlike Marco here, am only loyal to you, the great princess of the land and will not accept-"
"Kaede. It's not a matter of loyalty." She interjected. Tired.
"That aside, who in the world came up with that punishment? Taking me off the council is one thing. And I agree, maybe I have been a little problematic…"
'Maybe?? A little??' Marco almost said it out loud.
"I deserved at most suspension. Replacing a higher council member is not just something they decide to do as a form of punishment. And, why would they take my weapon away? It just does not make sense…."
They fell silent.
She was right. No one had ever been expelled from the higher council before. And replacement, even when a member died took close to a year. The replacement always had to be perfect. Also this wasn't the first time, Iris had been suspended from being a guardian. It was the fourth, because of her problematic nature, but never had they taken her weapon away from her. Only she changed weapons as she was retraining to become a guardian again.
"This is strategic." Marco said. "Like a prelude to an attack. It is like crippling a rival kingdom's defense system before attacking it."
"As much as I hate you, you are making sense."
Marco popped some veins. "I do not care about your feelings toward me, Kaede!"
"I don't have feelings for you, Marco!"
"Crippling defense…" Iris chipped in not caring that they were having an argument. "If I were to fight someone now without my sword, I would have to use my elemental magic. Which takes up a lot of energy from my core. I mean if it's someone who doesn't know my fighting techniques, I'd win. Without my sword even Marco would beat me."
"I would too-"
"Not even close."
"Oh yeah? You wanna fight-"
"They suggested Marco and Lillianne get punished too. If my intuition is right, eventually Kaede would get suspended too."
So this is not external. It's internal.
"Why is that?" Kaede frowned.
Marco sighed. "Iris, now as an ex-council member cannot get information on what is going on in the kingdom. She's also not a guardian. The three of us are closest to her, thus serving as her line of access. With us gone, you would be her last line of access."
"I knew that."
"No you didn't!!"
Iris stroked her cheek, thinking deeply, as Marco and Kaede argued behind her.
"It is actually perfect. I knew there was more to it. But, why? What are they hiding from me? How many people are involved?"
The three of them went silent for a while, as the sun disappeared.
"Who is the mastermind behind this? It is either one of the nobles in the kingdom, the council, my father, or one of my brothers. All my brothers are stupid, except for my third brother, Elliot."
She said standing up from the swing.
"Someone is watching us...."
Kaede added.
"Don't look around." She said. "I've felt the eyes for a while."
They obeyed.
"That's it. I thought I was just overthinking this. Don't talk to anyone about it until we are certain."
"Yes. Your highness."
"You may leave."
She turned to go back inside as they turned the other way. Something stirred deep inside her. It wasn't fear, but something close to it. Like, she felt something bad was going to happen. Something she can't or won't be able to stop. But what?
On her way up, she met one of the castle chambers maids who told her they had prepared another room for her, as the other one is getting fixed.
Tired, she quickly got into the other room and slumped herself on the bed. She used to think that living as a dainty princess who had no responsibilities would be the best. But no. when she got that freedom, everything took a turn.
"Do not overthink it, princess." A deep voice echoed through the room, as the lights went on. She sat up immediately looking around for whoever said that, then their eyes locked.
"Elliot."
.
.