"And the Huntsmen were ruled by the Thorne; an ancient family bound to the Midnight Panther as their hunting guide and their spirit animal."
**Titan—Scott Buckley**
"The Knight of Debts only move on two occasions, your highness," Asborne gritted, sword still in hand "either to create a debt, or to collect a debt."
Serpentine tilted her head high ever so slightly, her sapphire blue eyes betraying no grief. "Well I haven't summoned any of the knights to create a debt, so it rather amuses me that they might be here to collect a debt instead." She spoke in a rather stern tone that spoke of the fact that she was in no mood to entertain nonsense in any form.
"Ask the knight to leave. I've just lost a daughter, and my patience is rather thin."
Asborne whirled around to do as asked while Serpentine sat besides the lifeless body of her daughter. Slowly, she took her daughter's cold hands in her warm ones.
Tears glued her blue eyes like frozen pools, but admirably, none of it rolled down. It was obvious to all six of her handmaidens in the room that she was tethering on the edges of madness, yet she betrayed none of the bubbling emotions that stewed within her.
Instead she smiled—a cruel smile that curled the corners of her lips and etched her glassy eyes with a monstrous edge. Then she made a solemn vow to her dead child.
"I, Serpentine Andal Thorne. First Princess of the Seamen and Crown Princess of the Huntsmen now makes a vow to Elara Thorne the deceased. I will avenge you. The court that brought you to your ruin I shall burn. The world that scorned you before you were born I shall pull down and destroy."
Healer Zak and the handmaidens in the room stiffened at the cold words spewed with an assertiveness that sent chills down their blood. But owing their loyalty to the crown princess and the deceased princess, inwardly, they cheered those words.
Because while the whole world might know that the now deceased princess suffered all her life, only they knew how much the crown princess they served suffered. Perhaps, even more than her sick daughter.
At just fifteen, Serpentine had given birth to a child in a turbulent court that loathed and secretly wished she would never give birth to a son. Giving birth to a daughter, Serpentine thought she would at least lead a relatively good life. Yet, the villains didn't spare her either.
At sixteen, she was forced to tour the world with a sick child in tow while she desperately sought help. Because Serpentine could not accept that her own child was without any hope left for her.
She thought the world was big enough. She thought she would surely find a cure. Yet there she was, mourning the daughter that lived quarter of a life for ten years.
"Your highness," Syria, the head of the handmaidens and a young woman the same age as Serpentine spoke, "accept our deepest condolences."
But Serpentine didn't turn to them. Instead, she gripped the cold hands of her daughter unwilling to let go just yet. Without knowing it, the tears that hung in her eyes like glass work rolled down her eyes errantly.
"I swear, I will avenge you." She croaked, a sob bubbling within her. But she put a lid on her emotion because more than grief, she felt like rage.
And rage was far more painful than grief most of the time.
"I shall find who did this to you and the heavens will weep at what I shall do to them!" She screamed, losing all her composure as the white cloth covering her daughter tugged down, revealing an immaculate pristine face with bluish lips.
It was clear that Elara died with a smile. Perhaps knowing that her mother who had loved her all her small life was right there with her doing her last moments. But Serpentine didn't see her daughter's last smile.
All she saw was her daughter's undeserved pain.
The door opened and Knight Asborne entered, his face grave but his sword noticeably sheathed.
"Have you sent him away?" Serpentine said hoarsely, quickly wiping away the errant tear that had rolled down her face. Schooling her expression into something akin to nonchalance, she turned to Asborne but immediately frowned upon seeing the man's expression.
"The knight is still here?" She said although it was more of stating a fact than a question.
Asborne bowed. "Your highness, something has happened tonight."
Serpentine stood to her full height. Asborne was not one to defile her orders without reason, and for him to come back without making sure the knight of debt was gone meant that whatever had happened that night was almost as gave as her loss.
"The Azure Witches have been massacred, your highness."
Serpentine's hand, carefully folded on her belly in a regal manner, fell to her sides on the news.
"What?"
"They say it's the Fallen Ones." Asborne explained without stopping.
Serpentine chuckled. "Asborne since when did you learn to crack such terrible jokes."
But the Knight's answer was presenting a letter to her. "Alongside the knight of debt, our contact in the palace has sent an urgent message."
Serpentine snatched the letter even as Asborne hurriedly explained the contents. "The Azure Witches, including the High Priestess Valata AshFall were murdered by Rashel the Fifth Fallen. The six other covens that make up the High Witch Council have managed to seal the boundary, but they were met with a terrible loss as well."
Serpentine perused through the letter that revealed horrible things. Each paragraph worse than the last. But Asborne was hardly done.
"Apart from that," Asborne began hesitantly, "there's news that his majesty is on death's door. The crown prince and the queen have kept it a secret.
That was when Serpentine balled the letter clenching it in her grip.
Body shaking from barely controlled anger, she didn't know where to start from. The death of her benefactor, Valata AshFall? Or the fact that her supposed family was keeping such important information from her?
The only reason why they would keep her father-in-law's deteriorating health a secret from her was if they were plotting something… something like overthrowing her.
On cue, Syria, the head of her handmaidens who also served as her advisor, stepped forward, eyes narrowed.
"They keep away such important information, it seems to me they wish to remove you from your position, your highness. If the king dies, Rule Five of The Enthronement Rules mandates that a new king be enthroned immediately in the company of his Queen who must be present.
Serpentine chuckled darkly, gripping the balled up letter in her hands. "So he wishes to crown his first wife made concubine queen. I see. I mean it was not surprising that he never visited his daughter even on her deathbed, but now the embarrassment I feel on his behalf has only grown more profound."
Syria bowed. "Your highness. We must leave for the Drylands. We cannot allow their plot to succeed."
"Naturally," Serpentine answered, the wheels in her head rotating without stop. "But King Devony Thorne, the spirits curse his soul to pieces, was alive and kicking last I heard. How is he on death's door already?" She spat, not bothering to mask her displeasure with the king and her father-in-law.
There were many monsters that existed in her married life. And aside from her despicable mother-in-law the Queen and her foolish husband, her deceitful father-in-law took the top.
Afterall he was the man who had triggered the deceitful plot that led to Serpentine, marrying into the royal family of the Huntsman.
"His sudden illness is certainly fishy," Syria commented, although just like Serpentine, the handmaiden was at a loss as to what conspiracy might be happening in the royal court.
It had been technically ten years since they properly went back.
That was when Serpentine realized something. "How does all this concern the Knight of Debts?"
"I was getting to that, your highness. The debt that is being called on is that of the High Priestess Valata AshFall."
"But you just said the High Priestess is dead?" Serpentine said suspiciously, her mind barely keeping up with the barrage of information that night. Everything seemed to be happening in quick succession, and Serpentine was hardly processing it in depth. Like a shallow, empty shell, she just listened mindlessly.
First was her daughter's death, now was the whispers that an ancient forgotten monstrosity known as the Fallen Ones had risen, and there was the mysterious illness of her father-in-law.
"The Knight is here with the High Priestess's ten year old daughter who wishes to seek refuge with you." Asborne answered.
Serpentine frowned. She had been to the Palace of Flames when Elara was five. And while she hadn't gone with her daughter for obvious reasons of her health, she learnt that the high priestess was struggling to have a child.
She had seen no ten year old daughter.
It was far fetched to think that someone else was trying to imitate being a family of the High Priestess. Especially since the debt between Serpentine and Valata had been steeped in high confidentiality.
"That can't be right," Serpentine said dismissively, "Valata AshFall has no child…at least not one that is ten."
Asborne seemed to look uncomfortable. And occasionally, he would glance at the lying figure of Princess Elara behind Serpentine.
"Your highness," he said uncomfortably, "I think you should see them first. The girl, she looks…." He trailed in a dreary voice, leaving his sentence hanging.
Serpentine frowned. That was unlike Asborne. As a knight, he was more fearless than most. And yet, the expression on his face could be mistaken for fear.
"Fine. Let the knight of debt in." She said flippantly, turning to Syria, "once we've taken care of tonight's affairs, we shall prepare to leave."