Removing her sword, Adelaide quietly and carefully placed it down against the wall beside the door and quietly walked into David's room, closing the door behind her. The curtains were left wide open, allowing moonlight to illuminate the room with a bright silver tint – how David was able to sleep like that was beyond her comprehension but that wasn't important.

Adelaide slowly removed her hood as she walked slowly and purposely towards David's bed, her eyes locked onto his sleeping form. She hoped for his sake that he was still asleep – or perhaps she wanted him to be awake when she killed him, she wanted the satisfaction of watching the life leave his eyes. Knowing that she had won.

Grabbing a knife from her belt, she gripped it in her hand until her knuckles went white and she began to feel a slight cramp in her fist. She loosened her grip a little but it was still tighter than it probably needed to be.

Climbing on top of David's bed, Adelaide couldn't help but smirk a little to herself as she hovered over David's stomach, her legs on either side of his body, stopping him from being able to move.

David was wide awake and panicking but he couldn't scream because Adelaide's hand was over his mouth as she shook her head slowly, the knife raising a little so he could see it. "Long live the queen," she whispered into his ear before sticking her knife into his heart.

Blood splattered across Adelaide's face and her hands as well as the wall and on the bed as she kept plunging the knife into David's chest, watching the life leave his eyes. She almost laughed, knowing how easy it was to kill the false king – if only she'd done it sooner. She should've killed him as soon as she first laid eyes on him.

Adelaide cocked her head to one side as she looked at David's lifeless body beneath her, her fingers grazing over his face as she studied him closely. Shaking her head to herself, she removed her knife from his heart and used her index and middle fingers on both hands to cover her face with his blood. She then cut off his head and left his room, carrying his head in her hand.

Picking up her sword, Adelaide made her way back to the group, her walking was slow and her steps were heavy. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes but she quickly forced them back as she faced the group. "It's done, let's go." She announced the group before continuing walking down the hall, her grip on David's severed head tightening a little.

The group followed behind her, Shadowman catching up to walk beside Adelaide. "Did that make you feel better?" he asked, looking over at Adelaide.

Adelaide shook her head quickly, her voice barely a whisper. "No."

"Killing him wouldn't have brought Clara or DogNut back, y'know."

"I know, but he needed to pay for what he did." She paused for a moment to compose herself before she spoke up again. "And besides; Revenge is not meant to ease the pain; it is meant to balance the scales."

The group continued through the palace in silence after that, making their way back through the back door where they had entered. The group separated, half of the group going towards the wall to guard while the other half stayed back to decide which route they should take home.

After looking over the map and listened in to a suggested route by Shadowman, Adelaide looked up towards Edison and frowned. She excused herself and walked towards Edison, her eyes narrowing as he watched her talk to a short, dark haired girl. "Edison, you're supposed to be on duty, you can't talk to anyone. Plus, she isn't one of us."

Edison nodded his head, his dark eyes falling to the floor as his face dropped. "Sorry, Commander. It won't happen again."

Adelaide's eyes narrowed a little as she glared at him. "It better not, now, we've got a long trip home."

She watched Edison nod once more before walking off, then her attention turned to the girl in front of her who seemed to be studying her closely. "Do I know you?" she asked, her American accent thick and distinct, making her stick out like a sore thumb.

Adelaide frowned a little as she shook her head. "No? This isn't our territory anyway, it's yours. Well, yours for now."

The girl frowned, confused at Adelaide's words. "For now? What do you mean?"

Adelaide smirked as she held up David's head, causing the girl to scream bloody murder, Adelaide almost screeching with laughter as she waved the head around like it was a football before her smile dropped and she became completely emotionless within the blink of an eye.

She turned back to her group. "Time to go."

~#~

By the time the group returned to the main camp, it was fairly obvious that they had been gone a while. And they couldn't exactly blend in as easily any longer; Adelaide was covered in blood and Shadowman had a small puppy-like boy clinging to him. It was obvious that they'd have a lot of explaining to do, but nobody was really willing to do it.

Noticing the group, most of the older kids – the ones who were still awake – all stood up and looked towards Adelaide's group. From behind them, South London Crew began to appear to support their leader. Nobody said a word, waiting for someone to speak up, only nobody did.

Here goes nothing.

Adelaide held up David's head. "The king is dead, long live the queen!" She announced to everyone in front of her. While Adelaide's people applauded and cheered while most people remained silent, in complete shock that Adelaide had willingly beheaded a kid. Shooting one in the head is another thing, but purposely decapitating one and waving their head around like a trophy was another thing entirely.

Especially since nobody saw it coming or was prepared for it.

The kids in the camp knew their lives had changed forever; the reign of the false king was over, and the reign of the savages had begun.

Note

The king is dead – LONG LIVE QUEEN ADELAIDE.

I've also posted a new one-shot called In Your Head if you guys want to read it, it's up on my profile. It's to go with my other one-shot Without Each Other so it's kind of sad.

Until next time;

Lorna.