"That was the King Harris dead body!
"Keep quiet, Tamar; it hasn't been confirmed yet."
Rosa snapped at her colleague before wiping her wet hand on her maid uniform.
Tamar's brows creased.
"What more evidence do you need? Isn't it obvious? The dowager queen is really exceptional. Having the corpse of her husband hidden months after he died."
Celin, Tamina's personal handmaid, chipped in, her fast hand chopping some vegetables with practiced ease.
"The princess, Leah, confirmed it. So did her mother, Queen Johanna. The corpse has been moved from the room into the guest room. Apparently, Queen Micah broke the handle of the lamp, and the secret wall path couldn't be shut."
It was Tamar talking; she was doing the dishes. Scrubbing the plates with a sea sponge before dropping them in a huge bowl filled with water, then Linn, Jazell's handmaid, did the rinsing and drying of the dishes.
Rosa picked up a big wooden ladle and then began to stir the bubbling stew on the fire. The pot was huge, black soot was scattered on the floor, and the temperature in the kitchen was warm.
Celin wiped the sweat glistening on her forehead before putting the knife aside; she was through chopping the veggies.
"I have a bad feeling about this; something isn't right."
"A pile of old bones, and you all have suddenly lost faith in the only woman still capable of keeping the realms together. The queen dowager will do no such thing."
Rosa said before adding the vegetables to the stew.
...
All her life, one thing Selena had always tried to avoid was being caught doing something that was against social protocols.
She had made her stand as a feline queen dowager, a pinnacle of power whose authority couldn't be challenged.
But not today.
For the past few hours, she has been pacing up and down in front of the meeting room, hands entwined together, chin raised up, and eyes fixed on the door unswervingly.
A storm of emotions churned within her: anger, shame, and a rising dread she could no longer contain. Her heart thudded in her chest as she imagined the whispers spreading through the court. She feared the worst—and knew it might already be too late to stop it.
"I want to see my son!
This was the third time she was charging at the guard standing in front of the door. The guard, on the other hand, feared for his life.
"The king will be out soon. Please, my lady, exercise patience."
He said with a bow.
Selena snarled, cursing under her breath.
Her chest was heaving, rising and falling endlessly, the only sign she was still yet alive.
She sat down, only to rise again a moment later.
Pacing to the window, she stared out briefly, then turned back and sank into her chair once more—unable to find comfort anywhere.
"If I barge in there, I will look as desperate and guilty as the case may be."
She muttered under her breath, feeling helpless.
Immediately she heard the door open, her head snapped towards that direction, and she saw Racheal step out, one hand on her waist, the other on her protruding stomach.
Following behind were the rest of the council members, then finally Ragaleon stepped out.
When Selena caught sight of him, she rushed to where he was, then tugged at his sleeves.
"We need to talk."
Her pupils dilated, her voice breaking.
Ragaleon studied her facial expression; the last time he saw his mother like this, he didn't have a good sleep for three days.
"What is so urgent that you won't let me have my breathing space after hours of sitting down and listening to my council barter words that arch the ears?"
He questioned crossing his hands behind his back smoothly.
Selena looked around.
"They have found it, your father's corpse."
She said after confirming no one was within earshot.
Now, Ragaleon hated many things; ever since he was born, he was trained under strict parenting, in both body and mind.
Never has he ever let his guard down, nor that of the people he loved dearly.
But disobedience…. He despised it.
"Someone trespassed my orders?"
He asked calmly. His golden brown eyes darkened in unshakable dread.
Selena nodded before swallowing hard.
"There is still time; we can convince them…."
"There is nothing to hide!
Ragaleon's voice was calm but firm. His tone startled his mother, and she was left speechless.
"My reputation would be ruined."
Selena threw her hand in the air before slowly curling it into a fist and then bringing it down to her side.
"A reputation you have built over the years cannot be destroyed on the grounds of such a minor case."
Ragaleon began to take slow strides, and his mother followed him from behind.
"Johanna, she will plunge the whole court into a debt of gossip; she will make me look stupid in front of everyone."
"That would be the least of her problems."
Ragaleon replied before stepping into his chamber, and his mother followed suit and then locked the door.
"Where is Father's corpse?"
He questioned settling into a chair in the chamber, his eyes shutting close; as he began to massage his temples, he felt a headache coming on.
"As I speak, it has been moved to the guest room. What do we do?"
She asked, and Ragaleon's eyes opened.
"You still dare to ask me such a question? We will bury him as it should have been done the day he died."
He shot back, and Selena's face became contorted.
"Your words, they cause me sorrow."
She managed to say before giving way to her knees as she settled on a chair opposite the one Ragaleon was seated on.
"You seem to have forgotten the comfort that corpse gives to me."
She was sounding selfish right now, and it unnerved Ragaleon.
"You have no idea of the repercussions of your actions, Mother. This case would have been swept under the carpet, never to be brought up again, if only you had heeded my words. But you didn't; you were blinded by your own selfish needs.
"I loved your father; it is only normal if it gave me comfort to be able to see his body once in a while."
"Love?"
Ragaleon's voice became dangerously low.
"The day you had an assassin murder Father in his own room and made me watch as he died in a pool of his own blood, after days of locking him up in his own castle, I stopped believing in the word 'love'!"
He gritted his teeth in anguish as she said those words. Selena's eyes became clouded with unshed tears, and her body began to quiver as she tried to fight back her emotion.
"What I did, every action I took, was for your own good."
The tears fell, trickling down her slightly wrinkled face.
"He would have still been alive."
Ragaleon pointed out before running his hands through his shoulder-length hair. Anytime he thought of this, it always caused him pain.
"And then he would have made William King!
Selena screamed, slamming her hand on the table between the chairs. She shot up to her feet.
"Don't you understand? I know what I saw; he claimed to love me, but I could see the way he looked at that woman and her bastard son!
Selena broke down, palming her face with her hand, turning away from Ragaleon to hide the shameless countenance on her face.
"How did he lol at her?"
He questioned, crossing his legs lazily, drumming his lean fingers on the arm of the chair he was seated on. Trying to contain his anger, his lips pressed firmly against each other, yet he chose his words carefully.
Normally, he would have thrown caution out the window, vibrating with fury at the mere thought of his mother's foolish words.
But he remained collected.
He didn't forget that the woman he was talking to was his own mother.
"He looked at her as though he would have given her the whole world."
Selena replied, her eyes red and teary, and became distant, drained of life.
"Does Johanna know about these thoughts you have planted in your heart? If Father were to be alive, would he confirm your very words?'
"I didn't give them enough time to cherish what was brewing. I struck before it became too late.
I did what was right to prevent her from knowing she had always had the upper hand when it came to his love. I suppressed her chances with the authority bestowed upon me."
Selena leaned upon the window in the chamber; she felt good hearing herself say those words.
"I was ready to give William the crown."
Ragaleon said, and Selena lost her mind.
"Do you want us to suffer?!
She turned to look at him.
"Take my word for it, if William was seated on that throne… If upon his head a crown lay, and the realms were at the tip of his fingers, we would both have been sent to the afterlife, buried under the soil of Decreash!
Ragaleon's throat became dry; his heart became heavy with many thoughts that his mouth wouldn't dare to sprout.
There was silence for a brief moment.
"We would lie and tell them we didn't know how the corpse got there. For all I know, it is all dry bones and stale smell, nothing precise. There is no evidence that the skeleton found was that of your father."
Selena said after thinking profoundly, her lashes were still wet with tears, but she was indeed a strong woman.
All this while, she had been living her life as though she were as innocent as a dove.
Deep down, there were scars of secrets etched in her soul.
"People will ask questions, you know that, yet you insist on such a malicious thing."
Ragaleon was losing his patience.
"We don't have a choice; neither do they. We have the realms, and we can buy their support with the power within our reach.
For all I care, the whole of Decreash saw Harris Von Clegane laid to rest, and his fire pile set ablaze. Even though his body was replaced with that of a stranger during the funeral months ago, that doesn't change a thing."
Selena talked as though the things she did had no effect on her, but they did, greatly. She was on an emotional rollercoaster, but she masked it with a composed, feline countenance.
Ragaleon sighed before rising to his feet.
"Have the person who entered the room beheaded before dawn."
He said, turning to walk away, this discussion made him sick to the stomach.
His words made Selena laugh. Her voice crackled mockingly, and once more tears glistened in her eyes.
"It's not that easy, son."
She said, recovering from her laughter, before lowering her gaze.
Ragaleon was forced to rethink the words he had just said; there was nothing funny. Was his mother slowly losing her mind?
"Tell me," Selena began, taking some steps forward.
"Would you behead the very person whose father you had promised on his dying bed to take care of?"
Her question rang a silent bell in Ragaleon's head. He didn't need any more confirmation to know who his mother was talking about.
When Selena saw his resistance, she nodded her head slowly before turning away.
"That's what I thought."
She cooed before finally taking her leave.