To Bewitch a Devil

The guards pulled their heads up by their hair. The men, faces swollen, were forced to look at the Princesses. Lyra forced her face to school into a neutral expression and avoided direct eye contact with them.

Kitana watched as the one that looked like he had an eye stabbed looked at her. His good eye moved over to Zelda, then Lyra, then Jasmine, and narrowed his eyes as he studied them again.

“That one”, Lyra heard one say.

Lyra did not look their way. Oh no, please not her.

“That one”, the other one said.

“That one, I remember her eyes”, another said.

“I think she is the one.”

Lyra still didn’t look their way. Her hair colour was similar to Jasmine’s, so they probably mistook her for her. When she looked to her left, Zelda was staring at her curiously. To her right, Jasmine’s eyes were on her.

.....

Oh no.

“She is the one.” There was more certainty in the first prisoner’s voice. Lyra swallowed a lump in her throat, and looked up. Everyone in the room had their eyes on her.

“She is the one that what?” Zavian asked.

“She hired us to kill the maid.” The prisoner elaborated.

Gasps came from both Jasmine and Zelda. Kitana’s face remained blank.

“I did no such...”

“If the next words that come out of your mouth is a lie,” Zavian warned, his voice cold as frost, “your fate will be the same as these men.”

Lyra’s mouth ran dry. She looked away from the King, her entire body shaking like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes shot to Kitana for help, but the other Princess said nothing. The wheels began to turn in Lyra’s head and she was seeing the part she had to play in Kitana’s grand scheme. It was a setup; it always had been from the start.

“Kitana. She is the mastermind behind all this!” Lyra revealed.

“I did no such thing”, Kitana denied at once.

“Liar!” Lyra screeched.

Zavian’s gaze locked between Lyra and Kitana now. To think Neera’s murder was plotted just for the power of being Queen, it made him sick just thinking about it.

“You were the one who made me...”

“...I can’t make you do anything, Lyra.” Kitana cut her off. “If you want to drag someone down in the hole you dug all by yourself, don’t involve me. Your Majesty”, Kitana looked to Zavian. “Ask these men if they know me, or saw me, I had nothing to do with this, Lyra wants me out.”

Zavian motioned to the guard, and with another pull of his hair upwards so he was facing Kitana, he managed a head shake.

“There was only one of them”, the prisoner said weakly.

Lyra could feel betrayal soaked in her stupidity wash over her. It was quickly replaced with rage, and she was about to pounce on Kitana and hopefully scratch her eyes out but two guards were quick to hold her in place.

“Enough!” Zavian bellowed. Decorum reigned at once. He stepped away from the throne and moved down the dias towards where Lyra stood. Lyra’s colour was fading by the passage of seconds, and when Zavian stood in front of her, she knew her doom had come.

“Your fate is just the same as these men”, Zavian said. Lyra instantly fell on her knews, as she bawled her eyes out.

“Stand up”, Zavian ordered. She gathered herself up, and wiped the tears from her eyes, all the while keeping her gaze on the King’s feet.

“Like I said, your fate is the same as these men. If I wanted to at this moment, I would have killed you all at this moment”, Zavian said in a disturbingly calm tone of voice. “I would have sliced you in half for daring to do what you did”, he closed his eyes and forced himself to breath to calm himself and control his reactions.

“But I won’t”, he gritted out as if in pain for saying that. “out of respect for the Duke, your father, and out of respect for our Kingdoms.”

“So what you will do right at this moment, is to leave this palace. Come any royal events, you will tell your father you don’t want to attend, talk more of seeing the gates of this place ever again. If I catch a glance of you, your grave will be dug next to these men, and that will be your end. Understood?”

Hot, angry tears flowed down Lyra’s cheeks as she knew not only had she failed to be Queen, but had jeopardized possibly any future affairs with her Kingdom and the King. She had been a fool. A big fool and a puppet!

Zavian had been interrogating the killers for days, punishing them for a name, and even demons had a threshold of pain they could withstand. He didn’t understand the need for protecting someone when they were still going to die anyways, but when he started to bring forth different women for identification, his sister included, never would he have guessed one of the Princesses would have anything to do with them.

“Guards, ensure Princess Lyra leaves the palace grounds immediately”. The King ordered. Lyra kept wailing as she was escorted out of the room. In the blur of tears, she shot Kitana a glare that could slice her in half, and Kitana gave her a ghost of a smile, as she crossed her hands in front of her.

She always knew Lyra was stupid, although the gir was still alive, she had gotten rid of one Princess.

A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she watched the guards take Lyra away.

Two more Princesses to go.