The duke turned his head to face Esmedella, his face as rigid as a statue. He had watched what was going on between her and Ismandi from a distance, but was close enough to hear what they were saying. Now, she was asking him why she shouldn’t even consider this proposition after he had explained to her what Ismandi was like. “Do you really need to ask?” His voice clearly showed that he wasn’t pleased.
The blonde woman attempted to proceed without crossing the duke’s boundaries. “I’m not saying that I’m accepting his deal.” She began to unbuckle her boots while she spoke, feeling Kaiser’s eyes on her. “But compared to what I’ve been shown, he’s offered me something that could potentially solve our problems rather than just burning every note that the nobles send me.”
Esmedella’s first boot hit the floor with a loud thud. “All he wants…” she began to say. Kaiser broke his gaze and turned to his right as he finished the sentence. “Is to get the negotiation that I set up for him in Naden to apply to the rest of the nation. I know.” The blonde woman was silent and was also half-tempted to complain about how he had no right to be spying in on her private conversations, but he did tell her that he was going to be watching and he was obligated to stay close in the off chance that Ismandi tried anything.
The woman didn’t say anything as she dropped the second boot to the ground and got off the bed. Esmedella approached Kaiser from behind and placed her hands on his shirt as the feeling of the soft cotton made her wish that she had him wear a short sleeved shirt instead. She felt a pang of guilt at the sight of her friend almost refusing to look at her.
The queen held his forearm with one hand and clutched a bit of his white shirt with the other as she spoke. “Why don’t you trust me?” This question received an immediate response. Kaiser turned around, breaking her grip on him. He had his hands gently holding her by the shoulders and spoke with a soft, caring voice. “I do trust you. More than anyone else.” The duke then dropped his hands and moved to the door. He spoke one last moment after opening the chamber door. “I just don’t trust men.” The blonde man shut the door behind him.
*****************
“But, my lady, you must choose one of the suitors immediately.” One of Esmedella’s advisors was pleading with her to make her decision of who to wed. The two were sitting in her study that was connected to the audience chamber by a small door. The queen was seated at her desk, review many documents with a very sour look on her face.
Kaiser had been acting completely different ever since the day Ismandi came to the palace. The duke had become far too serious about his duty and was even being stubborn to a fault. She noticed that he seemed to stop acting like her friend and more like any of the other guards who take their job far too seriously. This, in chain, affected Esmedella and made her a very difficult person to live with.
She looked up at the male advisor. This man was the only advisor that she didn’t like. Not only was he stuck up, but he was annoying as hell and that just made her want to cut his tongue out so that he would just shut up. Esmedella set down the quill she had in her hand and looked at the man. “And why should I make my decision so soon?” Her tone seemed to express that she was an extremely foul mood and would kill anyone who tried to even get close to touching her buttons. That wasn’t too far off either.
The advisor ran a hand through his slicked back, black hair and then ran it through the pointy beard on his chin. He gulped as he did so and then spoke. “Well, your Majesty, it’s because of the people.” The advisor was now fearful as to what might happen. Esmedella just looked at him with that same pissed off expression and then questioned him. “Really? The people?” she said, her tone expressing a sort of ‘is that the best excuse you can come up with’ tone. “And what do the people have to do with this?”
Just as the advisor was about to respond, the duke walked in and began to speak in matter of fact manner. “The people are getting restless. They love you, but they want a king on the throne soon.” The black haired man pointed to the duke, but didn’t say anything. He was trying to express that Kaiser had said what he was going to just say. Esmedella picked up her quill and glanced at her royal guard. “If they’ve waited this long, they can wait a little longer.” She then began writing.
Kaiser just watched her. Without taking his eyes off of the blonde woman, he spoke to the advisor. “Could you please leave us alone for a few minutes?” The advisor looked at the duke, but knew that he would probably be gutted like a fish if he said anything. So, doing the smart thing, he left the room and shut the door behind him.
The blonde man walked up to the desk, ripped the quill from Esmedella’s hand, and threw it across the room. The queen immediately stood up and glared at him in the eyes, which were only mere inches away from hers. Their anger had reached its peak and was going to explode. Esmedella raised her voice when she asked, “What is wrong with you?!” Kaiser was unfazed and responded just as loudly. “Why don’t you tell me?!”
The blonde royal pressed forward as she spoke, pushing the duke backwards a few steps. “Ever since Ismandi came here and I told you that I was considering his deal, you’ve acted like you’ve had your head up your a**.” Kaiser just stopped back stepping and responded, anger flaring in his voice and eyes. “Ever since that day, you’ve acted like you don’t care about anyone around you! So tell me what happened to you, Della!”
Esmedella’s eyes began to fill with tears. Just the fact that Kaiser had used her nickname in anger hurt her immensely. He was the only one who ever called her Della and he always said it in a way that just made her so much happier. In the heat of the moment, she raised a hand and smacked the blonde man. The queen then yelled in his face as her cheeks turned red and the tears began to flow from her eyes. “I changed because of you!”
Kaiser’s anger continued to rise at an astonishing rate. At this point, he wasn’t even thinking before he spoke. “And HOW did I do that?! Did it have something to do with me doing my duty?!” Esmedella was screaming back at him, her eyes blinded by the tears. “THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU’RE DOING!!! QUIT ACTING LIKE MY FATHER!!!” This was unexpected.
Those last five words struck a nerve in the raging blonde man. “Quit fighting me! I’m doing what’s best for you!” He reached out and took her by the arm. The queen ripped her arm away and her arm suddenly flew through the air. A burning sensation was prominent on the duke’s cheek and his rage was immediately dissipated. He was staring at the fury filled queen who was holding her hand across her chest after having slapped him.
The queen’s anger was uncapped and had overflowed. She lowered her hands, which were now balled into fists. “It’s not for you to decide for me!” she said with anger clearly showing in her voice. Esmedella lowered her head, her body trembling from her sobbing. “I thought you could trust me enough to let me do want I think is right. Then, Ismandi shows up with a deal and you think that I’ll make a fatal decision,” the blonde woman continued. She raised her head again, her eyes stabbing Kaiser with her glare. “You’re just like my father. You think that I can’t make decisions for myself. Well, I can. So quit treating me like the enemy.” Esmedella turned and then walked across the room.
Kaiser didn’t move and saw Esmedella go over to the nearby window. She was just standing there, sobbing and looking out into the distance. It took his queen’s hand slapping him to realize what he had done. In his hatred for the sky pirate, he had in chain hurt Esmedella. Their pain and anger just continued to rise until it exploded.
The duke slowly walked behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. He spoke softly, “Della…” She ripped away from his grip and yelled again, “Don’t call me that! You no longer had the right!” Kaiser followed her, his hands open at his sides, and he tried to speak. “Please. Listen to me. I get it.” Esmedella continued to walk around the room as she cried and yelled. “No you don’t! You’ve never understood!” The blonde man was following her ever closer now. “If you’ll just let me explain…” The queen cut him off by saying, “There’s nothing you can say that’ll make me forgive you!” Kaiser then reached out and grabbed her arm. “Della!” he said. The blonde woman twisted around, her arm flying through the air, and the duke felt a sharp pain his chest.
Esmedella’s eyes went wide and she backed away, her hands to her mouth. Kaiser’s grip on her arm had disappeared. He felt his entire body begin to feel weird. It felt as if he had a hole in his lungs, his eyes seemed to be ready to pop out of their sockets, and his muscles began to tingle. Kaiser then looked down at his chest. A dagger was sticking from his chest and the blood was soaking every little inch of his shirt. ‘What a waste of a white shirt,’ he thought before his knees gave out.
Kaiser fell onto his left side and he heard Esmedella shriek before feeling someone turn him over. Everything was beginning to look fuzzy, but the queen crying face was clear in front of him. She had laid his head on her lap and was stroking it. The blonde man could hear her repeating the words ‘I’m sorry’ over and over and over again. It was rather annoying at the moment.
The duke reached up to the hand that was cradling his cheek with his bloodied hand and gently took a hold of it. He looked up at Esmedella’s face with a smile. The moment he revealed his teeth, a dribble of blood came out of the corner of his mouth and his teeth were stained red. As he spoke, his voice was weak and raspy. “Stop talking. You’re annoying the hell out of me.”
Esmedella gave an unexpected laugh, only to have it replaced with tears. Kaiser continued to look at her. Everything was starting to look brighter. He spoke to her with pain surging through his chest. “I’m sorry for hurting you. I was only trying to protect you.” Those words brought only more tears and sobs. The duke set the hand that once held his cheek over his blood covered chest, just above his heart. “Do what’s best for Jaideria,” he said with an even weaker voice.
The world began to seem as if it were being swallowed by a white light. He smiled weakly. “It looks like it’s time for me to go,” the duke said with a voice just above a whisper. Esmedella cried even harder. “No! No! NO! Don’t leave me alone!” This moment had shattered her and her world was destroyed when the duke closed his eyes and took his last breath.
The body was limp in her arms and everything was gone. Every single good thing in her world was gone when he took that final, slow breath. Kaiser was gone and so was her hope. At that moment, several people came rushing in. They were soldiers, doctors, and mages. They heard Esmedella cry out and one of the guards had seen Kaiser collapse before rushing to find help. The doctor, who had long, straight, dark red hair, pointed at the guards to pick up Kaiser’s body. “If we hurry, we may still bring him back.”
The guards raised the immobile body and began to carry it as quickly as they could to the east wing, where the doctor’s quarters were located. Everyone, except a single mage who stayed behind to take care of the queen, ran with the body to the east wing. However, there was one thing that nobody noticed.
Inside the study was the crown of flowers that Esmedella had made when Kaiser had picked her the rose. When Kaiser’s body had been lifted off the ground and carried out, something came out of the crown unnoticed. A green mist swept out of the rose on the crown and sped through the air as a single stream. It flew through the air, undetected by any and reached the duke as he was being carried off by the various men.
The mist flowed around the running men and reached the knife sticking out Kaiser’s chest. When the blonde man fell to the ground in the study, the blade shifted a bit. This opened the wound a little, leaving a gap between the dagger and the unharmed part of his body. The living mist quickly made its way into Kaiser’s body through that that small opening. Unbeknownst to anyone, this mist was actually something that knew Kaiser. Something that knew him as a child. It met this child when he opened the doors to the hidden cathedral all those years ago.
