Chapter Ten;
Death
death: n 1. The act of dying; termination of life.
2. The state of being dead.
3. The cause of dying..
4. A manner of dying.
5. a. Bloodshed; murder.
b. Execution.
"You're of no use to me now."
The gleam of the blades that the chevaliers carried caught her eye, along with the wicked smile her sister possessed.
"You can die now, for me, big sister." Her voice was mocking, as Amshel killed Haji, and then her own chevaliers attacked her.
She was without sword, without fighting companion, and without hope. Nathan slashed an arm and leg, James swiped at her face, Karl clawed to tear at her abdomen, and Solomon pierced her heart.
The pain was excruciating, and she cursed her body for healing each time they wounded her. Their cuts and strikes were slow and precise, torturous and deadly. Death, would it not come soon enough?
All the while, her sister sang.
The cut she had made on her sister's bare left shoulder had not been subtle, but it had not been big enough to rouse her, for no doubt nothing would have roused the sleeping young woman, as they had injected a sedative into her systems. Wordlessly, she pointed to the slowly dripping blood, her intent was for Nathan to collect some.
The blonde did not look in the highest spirits as he did so, glancing at the other sleeping queen's visage, contorted in pain and slight fear.
"It seems as though my dear sister is having a scary nightmare." Diva stated, none to quietly as the blood was finally placed into a small container; Saya's wound already healing, so that the crusty remnants of blood remained as the only sign that any of the sticky red substance had been withdrawn.
"My queen, why do you need Saya's blood? It could not be safe for you, what with all its lethal possibilities, and for you to be so close to it simply annihilates my nerves." Nathan stated, paused, and then continued thoughtfully, "Now, I didn't think that her dear little Haji would allow this to happen."
Diva merely smiled at the blonde, cocking her head to the side and sighing contentedly, "Amshel is…keeping him company."
Nathan returned a smile for the sake of politeness, though his eyes flitted vaguely of disproval over her implications, "Goodness, aren't you the effervescent and creative one." He murmured thoughtfully beneath his breath, trailing after her out of the room. "What should I do with this, Diva?" He inquired, holding up the container of blood.
The young queen paused in her steps, swiveling her head round only slightly so that she could glance at him from the corner of her eye, "Put it in a glass, would you? And water it down a bit with some wine, but not too much. Keep it safe, Nathan."
With clear a clear perplexed nature, the chevalier simply nodded, glanced cagily at the object he held in his hands, and proceeded to walk towards the western wing where the kitchen was located.
So far it had been a pleasant day, and the fact that his queen had invited him to dine with her, as well as the others, was a delightful addition to it all.
But the thing that made him most ecstatic was the fact that Saya was there as well, sitting across from him. He interlaced his hands, fingers with makeshift claws, and rested his chin upon them as he gazed none-too contentedly at the elder queen. He shifted restlessly, as though a great accolade would soon be given to him within the next few moments.
Saya, in turn, shifted uncomfortably. Her own thoughts were on why Haji was not present and seated by her, so that instead Solomon resided at her right and Diva to her left. James was, much to his displeasure, seated at the oval-shaped table closest to Karl on the left, while Nathan was placed next to his mother and the previously mentioned fellow monstrous chevalier.
Diva smiled serenely, facade gleaming with strange anticipation.
"We should do something to celebrate big sister joining me. A toast, perhaps?" She asked, tone light and pleased, turning to look at Nathan and leaning into her sibling. "Say something nice, would you?"
The chevalier matched the smile easily, if not more so, eyes sliding from the younger queen to the older in a drawled movement. He gripped the base of his wine glass and rose with the utmost grace.
"What more could there be said than the fact that their alliances is like the morning sun as it rises to illuminate our days ahead. Here is to our mothers and brides, our lovers and queens. Your presence here is a lovely thing, Saya. You liken to a rose in Diva's garden, filled before with nothing but daisies and tulips, nothing so extravagant." Nathan stated melodiously, dramatically, per usual.
As the others rose to clink their glasses in agreement, debarring the two queens, a near dissatisfied look flitting across the younger's expression, though it remained for only the slightest moment until quickly replaced by a smile once more as the drinks were raised to everyone's lips.
Karl moved the glass about in a small circular moment, the liquid substance within swirling about.
Diva looked at him expectantly, "Karl, why don't you drink to what Nathan has said? Everyone else is."
He inclined his head forward and gave his usual smirk, bringing the glass to his lips and tipping it up. The wine has never before tasted so delicious; something about it was bitter and yet mesmerizing and sweet.
"The wine is delicious." Karl commented, smirk broadening a fraction as he looked towards Saya, noting that she had yet to touch hers, his mouth opened to state something, but then he froze, eyes widening. Nathan averted his gaze.
His heart pounded madly, and though his lungs felt compressed to the point of breaking and his breath should have been labored, he found that no air entered or exited his body. Karl could have bared his teeth in hatred, though he could do nothing, as cracks began to line his throat.
Diva could only smile, in a delighted fashion. The cracks were spreading, and he found himself deprived of feeling his hands, though he still gripped in the glass in a stalled state, his heart fluctuating from a rapid pace to barely beating at all.
Solomon rose urgently, thoroughly perplexed as to what was happening to his fellow chevalier, Saya narrowed her eyes, suffering under the same confusion. The former noted that Nathan no longer looked in any of their directions, and he furrowed his brow.
The younger of the two queens rose, and in an opaque movement was beside Karl, whose limbs were continuing to crack and turning to a pallid gray coloration.
"You really should have known I couldn't let you live," She stated in a sing-song voice. "After all, you always threatened big sister…you stupid fool. I should never have made you my chevalier; you were always troublesome, caring more about sister than me."
Now Karl could barely hear her, body severed in cracks until, finally, he was completely gone, face frozen like a frail stone with a multitude of gleaming ruby fissures. Without a care or loving consideration, Diva pushed against the lifeless statue of a body. It fell and shattered, glass equally breaking into a multitude of pieces, as the arm holding it broke off along with other extremities.
Saya, horrified, looked from the rubble of broken body pieces to her sister, who had turned away from it to look at the rest of them with a wicked smile. All in all she as speechless, wondering how she could even think of killing her own subordinate.
"There, dear sister," Diva began, as though presenting the other queen a reward of grand stature, "I've killed him, and now you won't have to worry…but, I suppose, it was really you who did it. I was growing tired of him, anyways." She paused, then yawned in a sort of self-satisfied way, "James…be a good child and take me to the gardens. I am sleepy and I want to take a nap."
Though clearly fearful of the woman, it only seemed to increase the dark-skinned chevalier's reverence and submission toward her, and he nodded, rising and walking away with her as she hummed.
Diva's humming still rang in her ear, and as if in a trance, Saya's gaze remained locked on the pile of what used o be Karl. She wondered why she felt guilty, why she should feel a pang of misery that she should no longer see his face. Even in that moment, she found it hard to recall his voice; she knew not why she would miss him.
"Nathan," Came Solomon's voice, a steel edge to his voice that she had rarely heard before, "You knew something about this, didn't you?"
The other blonde raised his cerulean eyes to meet duller navy ones; he was in no disposition to be trifled with.
"Perhaps, but what difference would that have made?" Nathan asked, bringing a hand up to his chin so that he could lean upon it, face suddenly taking quite the weary tone to it.
Solomon seemed completely disheveled, so remorseful that Saya felt the urge to comfort him, commiserate with him even, though she held both her tongue and actions as the two continued to prolong their temperate dispute.
"You could have told me, and I could have warned him. At any rate, how could you have gone through with killing him, our own brother?"
"And what good would that have done? I wouldn't oppose my queen. Could you perform such an act that could be called traitorous in her opinion?" Nathan countered, sighing softly, "We took blood from Saya this morning, she only told me to keep it safe. I was clueless when it came to her plans, though when she told me to put it in a glass and delude it only slightly with wine, I began to grow suspicious. The final step was when she told me to put it on the table for dinner, and I worried for my brothers. She so meticulously planned this."
Subconsciously, Saya gripped her left shoulder. It had had a faint, aching twinge when she had woken up, and she had simply concluded that she had slept on it wrong. Though she had felt minor shame before over the fact that her sister had implied she had helped with Karl's demise, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. She had been the one who had killed him, really. Diva had only extracted the blood.
True, her sister had been the one to plan it all, but Saya herself had been the device and means Diva had used to kill one of her own. Now, she was aghast with herself. She was a danger to all of Diva's chevaliers, a tool that could be used at any given time to kill them.
So deep was her thought that she had failed to notice that the two flaxen had ceased speaking, their gazes resting solely on her. In addition, she had failed to keep her visage blank, fret and trepidation mirroring on her face.
"…The poor dear, she seems to be taking this worse than us. Had you grown attached to him, perhaps?" Nathan asked, a trace of a smile threatening to glimmer through. Solomon's features were astringent, though his eyes mirrored sadness and vague apprehension.
"No, I hadn't grown attached to him. I just…feel uneasy about what my blood can do. I hadn't thought about it before, I hadn't considered that even though I vowed not to use it against my sister and you all, it was still potently noxious. I hadn't thought that Diva would even venture to consider killing one of her own. I fear for what she may do now." Saya avowed restlessly.
"Well, now. Aren't you such a little darling? A queen fretting over her intrinsic enemy sister's chevaliers, perhaps even more than her own, a thing I don't believe I've heard of ever before." Nathan stated, returning to his usual amused method.
Saya shifted with discomfort, though was eased slightly at Solomon's encouraging gaze. She wondered how the blonde could even muster such elevating eyes after witnessing the death of a comrade, brother as he had called him. Either the chevalier lacked perception of emotion or else he could bravely conceal any emotion he had for the sake of another. She prayed it would be the latter.
"Come now, Nathan, you shouldn't mock her. I'm sure she is in no mood for such things, no different from my own self." Solomon stated in a tone almost dry and bitter, though kept his face as pleasing to the eye as ever.
"On the contrary, I find it to be quite the compliment, for a queen to humble herself so is indeed a treasure to look most ardently after. Not aberrant, nor voracious, she is something worthy to serve beneath. I find myself envying Haji, and yet…she is ordained already to be my bride, so I have nothing to wish for." Nathan paused for a moment to smile before continuing, rising as he did so, "Seeing as how you are in no mood for my antics, I'll leave, because it is as if you are in no mood for me."
Solomon watched Nathan's retreating figure, his face returning to a ghost of a crestfallen state. Slowly, he glanced at the pile of cracked chevalier remnants out of the corner of his eyes, which dulled a fraction or two more than before. Saya, wrapped up in thoughts of the death of Karl, failed to completely register the chevalier referring to her as his bride, though later, no doubt, she would confront someone about the matter. She did, however, recall that she had not seen Haji at all and grew worried for him, a question waiting patiently on her tongue.
"I looked after him like a brother. Even though he though he was alone, I did my best to keep him safe. But…it made no difference, it seems he flocked after you like his last relic of hope, the last tangible thing for him to grasp and hold on tightly for life itself. His death was like a twisted game for paradox, because even though you became his life, you would forever be his death." Solomon stated, abruptly, catching the queen off guard.
"I'm sorry, Solomon, that he died. I wish I could have stopped her from using my blood." Saya stated, "I feel like it's my fault."
He looked at her, now, tilting his head slightly to the side, "Thank you, for saying that. But, please, don't put yourself to blame. There's no reason for you to feel like that. And you must not think badly of your sister. Karl was constantly going beyond boundaries." His last words savored of rancor, though he was beginning to conceal any repulsive feelings he might have retained. His life required the ability to move quickly on, even if it meant leaving someone behind.
"Solomon," She began, feeling unpleasantly culpable for changing the subject while he was still in the midst of lamenting, "Do you know where Haji is? I haven't seen him today, and with Diva killing her own chevalier…" Saya's voice trailed off.
"No, I'm sorry to say I don't. Though her reasons for…killing Karl seems to have been in the best interest of you, so I can only assume that she wouldn't kill someone who holds importance to you." He replied, casting a weak smile.
Slowly, she nodded, though none too convinced at all.
"Saya, why don't you go to your room? After the…events that have happened, I'm sure you have restless tension. I'll see that Haji returns safely back to you." He stated, holding a hand out and down towards her so that he could politely help her rise. In return, she placed her hand in his and stood.
Solomon walked a few steps with Saya before allowing her to continue alone; watching her leave, continuing to look on even after the door had been shut behind her. There was something in his stare, envy, perhaps, that she should worry over her chevalier so, and a gloom of sorts over the reasoning of Karl's demise. Because maybe, just maybe, he was lonely too…
A/N: Yay, it's finally up. Sorry to any of my readers who liked Karl, but even though I've warped this story, I at least want to follow some details. Now, to move on to the Red Shield and the Schiff. Irene, Lulu, Karman and Moses, ah, the things I need to evaluate with them. Someone has to test Saya's blood. D: …Or maybe science will decipher that detail. THANK YOU FOR READING SO FAR. :p Huzzah.