BOOMMMMM!
The booming of the horn tore through the night.
Ismena froze. The flames flickered. Her gaze darted to the corner of the room, to that stone safe with the sunflower framed in glass within it.
Dark.
Still.
She staggered to her feet, knocking over the vase behind her.
"It's not glowing," she mumbled, her body trembling.
The booming of the horn cut through the night again and her head jerked in the direction of the sound, only for her to look back at the flower.
It still wasn't glowing.
By the Sun, something was wrong.
Suddenly everything around her felt too loud, too much.
"Your Majesty!" A guard pushed the door to the Queen's quarters open, his voice blending into the chaos in her mind.
She turned her back to him instead, hurried to the balcony and roughly pushed the red curtains to either side of her.
She could hear the approaching army, feel the ground tremble from the weight of their movement, hear the clanking of their weapons, their overpowering chants, their undeniable presence. Scattered lights from torches a good distance away designed the night. Tied to a stick and raised into the sky above was a blue piece of cloth - victory.
Ismena frowned, her gaze fixed on the blue piece of cloth. Then she rushed right back into her room, to that flower that remained frozen in its darkness. Her hands moved around the safe thoughtlessly, her face pulled into lines of confusion.
"Your Majesty!" Her handmaidens rushed into the royal chambers next, not going past three steps away from the door. "The King—-"
"NO!" She yelled, snapping her attention from the sage that clammed shut immediately. Hot tears streamed down the corners of her eyes. "No!"
She bolted towards the door but they wouldn't let her pass, afraid that she had gone mad.
"Get out of my way!" She pushed past them roughly, her movement frantic.
They called after her, but she did not stop. She ignored the pain that dug into her feet as she ran down the stairs, to the front of the castle, where the returning army had now drawn closer to.
'VICTORY TO RAGMA!' The chanting increased.
'VICTORY!"
She stopped then, panting as her eyes combed the army.
Weapons.
Horses.
Warriors.
Many warriors.
Yet none was him.
'VICTORY TO RAGMA!'
'VICTORY!"
Victory?
She staggered back, her heart constraining with pain, her hand clenching into fist against her chest.
VICTORY?!
"Where is he?" She mumbled so lowly she almost didn't hear her own voice.
"WHERE IS HE?" Her demand crashed the chanting into silence.
All eyes were now on her.
"I. SAID." She took a step forward, "WHERE IS YOUR KING?!"
"Your Majesty," the Second in Command dismounted his horse, his eyes accusing her of insanity, foretelling an explanation she did not want to hear.
Why were they all thinking she was insane?!
Was that… pity?
NO!
Swiftly, she turned her back to him and turned her attention to the rest of the army.
"WHERE IS MY HUSBAND—" Her voice broke with grief. "Please where is he—-"
The sound of something crashing open submerged her words.
Ismena turned quickly in the direction of the noise. The warriors and the horses pulled back, creating a pathway to a big iron cage coated in silver with its broken door hanging open.
When Ismena's gaze fell upon the person who stood in the doorway, everything fell into place.
There!
Clad in leather. Tall. Regal. A glorious sight under the glow of the moonlight.
Alive.
Haron.
Her Haron!
Ismena's heart soared with joy and her feet raced towards him. He met her halfway. Pulled her against him. Sealed his lips against hers. They pulled away when they were short of breath. He pressed his forehead against hers, his warmth bathing her face, as he threaded his fingers through her hair.
"I thought—-" Tears ran down her cheeks. "Haron, I was——"
"Never." With a finger beneath her chin, he directed her gaze to meet his. "I promised, didn't I? I will always come back to you."
"But the flower did not glow."
A small frown fell upon his face filled with happiness. "What flower, my love?"
Her heart skipped a beat of fear. She shook her head quickly and pulled him in for another kiss, he responded with greater intensity.
This time when they pulled away, he turned to his people, half of whom were already teasing one another with their rulers' display of passion.
"PEOPLE OF RAGMA!" He declared with an undeniable voice of command. Instantly, silence stretched across the night.
"ON THIS TWENTY-FIFTH NIGHT OF THE BLUE MOON, THE FIFTIETH YEAR AFTER THE CLEANSING!" Haron raised up his sword, smeared with purple blood.
Everyone fixed their gaze on it with awe. Ismena did too, her heart filled with too much joy to think of anything else but this victory - to think that her husband was alive to fulfill it.
The non-glowing state of the sunflower came to her mind again but she shoved it aside. None of that mattered anymore.
"YOUR KING HAS BROUGHT YOU VICTORY FROM OUR BATTLE AGAINST THE MONSTERS OF THE NIGHT!"
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!" Ismena roared along with the crowd. Raising her fist in the air with pumps of excitement.
"NO MORE SHALL THE BEASTS THAT WEAR OUR SKIN IN DECEIT MAKE US TREMBLE IN FEAR!"
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!"
"WE HAVE SPILLED THEIR BLOOD ON THE FIELDS!"
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!"
"LEFT THEIR BODIES TO FEED THE BIRDS IN THE SKY!"
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!"
"WE HAVE LEFT NONE ALIVE!"
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!"
"EXCEPT THEIR KING!"
Silence.
Immediately, Ismena's face twisted with anger and confusion.
What?
Her fist slowly dropped to her side.
How dare he? After everything those monsters had done to them?! How could Haron do this? How could he do such a thing knowing firsthand what horrors those evil creatures were capable of?
HOW DARE HE SPARE THEIR KING?
The crowd began to mumble, filled with as much confusion as Ismena was.
Ismena looked right at Haron, her eyes filled with questions, she wished she could scream them at him.
There was a smirk on his face though, his gaze held hers for a moment before he looked away and pointed his sword at the silver coated cage.
"I HAVE BROUGHT YOU THEIR KING, SO THAT HE MAY DIE BEFORE YOU FOR ALL FOR THE CRIMES OF HIS KIND. SO THAT WE MAY MOUNT HIS HEAD AT THE GATE OF RAGMA!"
A smile broke across Ismena's lips.
There he was.
Her husband.
By the Sun she wished she could kiss him right now. Do more than kiss him.
"HUWAHHHHHHHH!" Ismena raised both fists in the air.
This chant from everyone was far more thunderous than the last, every bit of it filled with excitement.
"SO THAT IF ANYONE OF THEM TRIES TO RAISE UP AGAINST US AGAIN, THEY WILL SEE THE SKULL OF THEIR KING, BE REMINDED OF THEIR WEAKNESS AND KNOW THEIR PLACE!"
Haron gave a signal and the walls of the cage collapsed, revealing the creature within it.
A monste—
What was that?
A… man?
No.
Not a man. Ismena furrowed her eyes.
It looked like it with a short furcloth by the waist and all its long and huge human hands and legs stretched across the floor of the silver dungeon.
It looked like it with its black hair spilled all over the iron floor; concealing his face. Heavy silver chains binding him to the floor of the cage. Cuts, purple blood, and stripes on his skin like cracks from a fire breathing mountain, only if the flames were white.
Not human!
One of them. A different kind maybe but still an abomination.
"Monster," Ismena muttered, hatred blazing in her veins as the images of those who had been killed by these beasts flashed before her eyes.
Haron slashed his sword against the monster's back. "TURN INTO WHAT YOU REALLY ARE! YOU ARE NOT ONE OF US!"
But the monster did not move.
Rage collided with a thirst for murder in Ismena's veins.
Haron kept slashing into the monster's skin, the crowd's chants increased. Their laughter. Her rage.
Loud.
Too loud.
Till it became a blur, fading into the back of Ismena's mind.
Something else was in the air, something else she couldn't explain.
Her head felt too heavy.
Could this… could this… be the flower?
No!
NO!
Haron was alive. It didn't matter. None of it did. So what was this… fear?
Then she heard it.
Despite the chaos, it was clear.
A very low growl.
Her gaze snapped right back to the monster.
It stirred.
Then it opened its eyes and looked right at her.
Terror consumed her in that moment. She screamed, for whatever reason it was, she screamed.
But it was too late.
The first spray of blood struck her face.