Vandamonth Imperial Palace
When Kora stepped into Jarob's chambers, the first thing she saw was his eyes fixed on her expectantly.
"How are you feeling?"
She managed to ask, knowing very well it wasn't her he was longing to see.
Her eyes trailed away for a moment as she closed the door behind her.
Jarob's eyes flickered as he withdrew his gaze, turning, and that alone made Kora understood that her objective for coming might furtile.
She pressed her lips against each other, the. adjusted the furry coat leaning effortlessly on her shoulder before making her way towards the bedside.
"At least look at me."
Her eyes softened as she lurked around the bed. He remained silent, and she sighed as she dropped a document in front of him.
"I need your signature on these petition files."
Helping herself to a chair, which she drew closer to the bed, she settled on it, crossing her legs lazily and leaning back, her arm resting on the hand of the chair.
He turned on the bed, away from her, for the second time.
She tilted her head, chin up, muscles relaxing, as her eyes glistened with something immaculately uncertain.
"Jarob…"
She began placidly but was interrupted.
"Get out."
He sputtered coldly.
She was forced to remain mute for a split second as she allowed the word to sink in.
"Get out?"
She arched one of her brows in a questioning look and then scoffed.
"I will not give you the satisfaction of being able to control me, Jarob, not anymore."
She answered with a snarl as she adjusted on her seat.
"Now sign the papers, and then we shall discuss how you plan to make up for the debt you have plunged the crown into."
Jarob's eyes lifted. His breath was still shaky but steady enough to keep him alive.
"I want you out of my chamber; is that so much to ask?"
His voice was unrecognizable.
Kora mused inwardly at how tiny and cracked his voice sounded; it was foreign to her. He was withering away on this bed, with each passing minute.
Yet he had made up his mind to snatch the honor of having her tend to him with the remaining little time he had, as a wife would.
"Look around you, Jarob."
She began after a brief sigh.
"What do you see?"
She asked calmly, and although she couldn't catch a glimpse of the countenance of his face, she felt a slight shift in the tension in the room.
"Of what use is that question to anything relevant?
"Answer the question, Jarob."
Kora snapped, feeling her patience thin out, trying hard to control the whirl of emotions spurring through her.
He made no move to answer, so she continued.
"No one. There is no one in this room except for me. You are alone, and I am all you have. Know this, and know it now!
The pitch of her voice skyrocketed as the words sprouted out one by one, releasing the heavy knot of anger in her chest.
"Sign it!
She dropped the papers on the bed, just within his reach.
"Sign it, and don't die until you do so."
He heard her say before the sound of her shoe clicking on the floor resumed as she made her way towards the door.
"You didn't send the letter to Decreash, did you?"
His voice was low but still audible, and it reached her ears just as she laid her hands upon the doorknob.
She halted, her hand falling to her side limply, as her feet rotated back towards the direction of the bed.
"I did just as you had told me…"
"You speak lies."
He interrupted as he repositioned himself on the bed in a way that he was now lying on his back, his hands intertwined as they rested on his stomach.
"You simply speak out of ignorance."
She reasoned, then shrugged lightly.
"But your words have been forgiven."
She added, but Jarob shook his head from side to side, overwhelmed with sorrow that he couldn't contain.
"Cursed be the day I beheld your face on that starless night, Kora."
He breathed, eyes growing distant, and they trailed off towards the window.
"That night we met on the dance floor, I solemnly cursed it."
He said shrewdly, his flabby jaws and wrinkled face giving off a contorted countenance.
Kora looked at him as though he were deranged. She didn't want to make any meaning from what he had just said…she just needed a reason to walk away.
But her legs wouldn't move. They remained immobile as her mind travelled back to countless times she had faced humiliation that stripped her of her dignity, all because of this man! The very man she dared call her husband.
"You should curse that day even more."
She finally spoke out, then inched forward.
"That starless night…when the clouds hovered above us, with the moon peeking through them, and out of all the ladies dancing in the ballroom, you singled me out to be your wife…and that became the beginning of my suffering."
"No!
He barked, his voice barely able to send the message of the anger he was feeling.
"The beginning of your suffering started the day I found out my royal advisor, Aaram, was banging my wife!
He spat out to the utter dismay of Kora, whose face paled at his words. The tips of her fingers whitened as a chilling cold swept through the room.
At first she opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"You accuse me of such a thing?"
He was mesmerized by the impetus she had to even ask him that question.
*Deny it one more time, and I swear, Kora, today shall be the last day that crown sits on your head."
His words baffled her so much that she couldn't bring herself to counter them.
"You have been aware all this time?
She said after she found her voice, eyes betraying emotions she was so good at covering up.
Jarob picked up the documents beside him. His eyes were weak, barely able to read through the words.
He simply signed the papers and then threw them at her, but they landed right in front of her feet.
"Take the papers and leave. Don't you ever show your face here…never again."
Kora's eyes dropped to the paper on the floor. Her hands were clasped together, body erect, and mind wandering.
By the time she raised her gaze, her eyes were red… glistening with unshed tears
"You knew Aaram was fucking me, and you kept silent!
Her voice crackled, but he simply looked away; he was disgusted by her whole being.
"Look at me, Jarob."
She fought to keep herself on her feet as her knees buckled, but she held on, legs wobbling.
"Look at me!
She screamed, inching closer to the bed, her lashes now wet with tears.
Jarob remained still, but his eyes rotated in her direction.
"Why did you marry me if your plan was to make me suffer?"
She swallowed and then continued.
"You caused me humiliation, made me unable to show my face in public, and then you would only come to me at night and fuck me until I couldn't feel my legs!
She dragged her feet forward, fighting back the tears threatening to spill. Any man in his right senses would be angry about his wife's infidelity, but not him…not Jarob.
"And to think that you knew all this time but said nothing explains how lowly you think of me, how little you value me."
By this time her tears had dried up, they were now cold, resilient, and filled with utter despair.
"If you were to die today, I owe you nothing as your wife."
Her eyes dimmed, as she felt nothing but resentment towards him.
Jarob gauged her with his eyes before allowing his gaze to drop. He didn't need to say anything; just his silence alone was driving her mad.
"You do not deserve to have your children hover around your deathbed, paying respect to their father. That much I have snatched away from you. You are right; I didn't send the letter."
"You think I do not know that?"
He questioned absentmindedly from where he was on the bed.
"I know what you are capable of, Kora; I have been married to you for 25 years."
He retorted bluntly.
Kora snorted as she released a mocking laugh.
*Is that all you know?"
She questioned faintly, laying eyes on him.
"Do you also know that Jazell is not your daughter? And that you have just signed away your kingdom by signing that royal decree?"
She didn't fail to highlight the sarcasm in her voice.
"Aaram will be king!
Jarob felt his pulse rate triple as he battled to sit up without hearing his fragile bone snap out of place.
"Woman, have you lost your mind?"
"What I have just said is the truth."
She answered with relish, watching the countenance of his face change as the realization of what he had just done dawned on him.
Suddenly Jarob felt unexplainable pain…
"My throne…my bloodline, you tricked me, you venomous woman!"
He was struck with shock and felt his body system stop working at that moment; it was as though the blood in his veins stopped flowing.
"Get the grandmaester…"
He gasped as his eyes became bloodshot; he was going through a stroke and could feel his heartbeat slow down.
Kora remained where she was, watching him suffer. Not once did her eyes drift away from the bed.
Jarob's groans were like music to her ears.
In pain, he stretched out his hands, wishing she was within his reach; then he would be able to at least strangle her.
"Please…the grandmaster."
He begged; he pleaded earnestly. But Kora's heart was now as hard as a rock.
It had lost the ability to feel emotions; the only function it had was to beat inside her chest.
His eyes narrowed as his face lost its color, fingers flexing uncontrollably until they were now moving on their own.
"You have been married to me for 25 years."
She reminded him.
"Yet it never occurred to you that the woman now standing in front of you hated you to the core, and it would please her to watch you die."
Jarob couldn't hear a thing she said; he was battling with his life. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he slumped back on the bed, then began to jerk, foam trickling down from the corner of his lips.
She watched him for a while, savoring the pain he was going through, before picking up the papers from the floor and turning away lightly.
She had already made it to the door when she halted and turned to look at him one last time.
His body was now still, eyes closed, breath seized.
He was dead.
She remained in that position for a while, allowing the reality of being a widow to sink in, then she stepped out of the room and made her way to Aaram's chamber.
When she arrived at Aaram's chamber, she didn't knock before stepping in. She nudged the door open, using her authority as an excuse to not use her manners.
The sight she saw only seemed to worsen the situation she now found herself in:
There on the bed was Aaram, mercilessly thrusting into a concubine who was moaning endlessly.
The scene alone was an eyesore, so she stepped out and closed the door back before shutting her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks.
She rested her feline figure against the door as she wept.
A maid who was holding a tray of biscuits and was passing by took notice and was marvelled.
"Your Grace?"
She called out slowly, eyes fixed on Kora searchingly.
"May I…may I be of any help?"
She asked in a courteous manner.
That was all she could do; Kora had never wept before anyone…never.
Kora nodded, replying to her question.
"Sound the bells; the king has passed away."
She said, dabbing the tears on her cheek with her hand.
The tray of biscuits the maid was holding faltered to the ground. She thought she now understood why the queen was crying.
"Have words sent to my daughter Jazell and my son Brandon in Decreash about the death of their father. They should journey quickly to the north and pay their last respects."
She said, straightening up. The maid looked traumatized.
"Go!... now!
Kora urged, and the maid jolted before breaking into a fast sprint across the hallways.
The door to Aaram's chamber opened from behind her, and he stepped out, still arranging his hair.
His hair was a bit messy, and his dressing was out of place, as he made an effort to look presentable.
"What is this I hear about death…or has my ear lost its viability?"
Kora couldn't even bring herself to look at him, but she had to. After all, she made a choice; she chose him.
"You idiot."
She muttered before turning to look at him.
"What you saw there…"
He wanted to explain, but she didn't want to hear it; she raised her hand in the air, signifying him to remain quiet.
"Have words sent to the members of the council." She said, stretching out the papers, and he took it from her without knowing the content.
"The whole kingdom will mourn my husband for two weeks, and afterwards you shall be crowned the King of Vandamonth."