Why had Trish done this?
Katryna marched towards the war room in Castle Bower. An Infinity Guardsman had informed her that Trish and the servant boy Edrick had last been seen there.
At her side was her brother Finnigan and the High Sword, Arthus Medonia. The wall-mounted candles made his armour glitter spectacularly, sheening of gold and silver. He had his gauntleted hand hovering over the pommel of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.
Behind the trio were a couple of Infinity Guardsmen for the altercation they were expecting. Katryna was taking no chances- if Trish had been capable of killing her parents and aunt, who knew what else she was capable of?
Anger and hurt seethed through her tense muscles. She clenched her fist by her side as she reached the mighty closed doors of the war room.
She had not been back there since the day she and Trish had explored it, before being caught and punished by the queen. The red glow of the oak doors was not an easy visual to forget and seeing those iconic doors again after so long filled Katryna with some difficult feelings.
As Katryna reached out her arms to barge through the doors, Finn pulled her back.
“We do this together, remember?” Finn said with a tilt of his head.
Katryna took a deep breath in, acknowledging the pit in her stomach but forcing it down. She had to remain in control this time. She nodded to her handsome younger brother- she knew he was right. This would be dangerous.
Finn gestured for the two Infinity Guardsmen to stand back and guard the door, before motioning for Arthus Medonia to follow them in.
Both Finn and Arthus took the lead, hands at the ready to draw their swords if needed.
The two men took one door each, pushing them open together. The oak wood groaned open and the three carefully entered Castle Bower’s war room.
The chandeliers hanging high above were lit with dozens of candles, bathing everything in an elegant glow. Wax slowly melted away down the candles’ sides. Yet nothing felt warm about the war room.
The sparsely used area was coated in a layer of dust, from the floor to the banners, bookshelves, and even the enormous map of Alyria atop the table in the centre of the room.
The weapons hanging on their racks made tiny clangs as they steadily swayed against each other. The standing suits of armour guarded the room, motionless sentinels in metal.
There was a coldness to the room that transcended temperature, as if no one had entered it in years.
Katryna immediately locked eyes with Trish who was across the room, leaning against the massive painted table with her arms stretched out to either side, looking as if she owned the entire world beneath her fingertips.
Trish’s crimson red dress was slim as usual, and she wore her blonde hair covering the scarred side of her face.
To her side stood Edrick, her lover. The servant was barely old enough to be a man, yet his posture signified a confident and carefree attitude.
Neither of them appeared alerted by the sudden intrusion. In fact, it almost looked as though they were expecting the company.
“Kat, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Trish said with a slight hint of sarcasm.
Katryna, Finn and Arthus stepped up to the other side of the massive table, gruff-faced and anxious, refusing to break eye contact.
Trish stared with stars in her eyes at the grand painted table, gesturing out over the Kingdom of Camridia with her petite hands.
“I was just showing Edrick here the kingdom we helped you obtain,” Trish stated.
The words were painful to hear. Katryna grimaced. “What did you do?”
They were the only words she could mutter, trying her best to keep a lid on the bubbling rage within.
“We gave you back your kingdom, Kat,” Trish stated matter-of-factly.
“You murdered my parents. You murdered my aunt!” Finn shouted, his anger rising from deep within his chest.
Trish glared at Edrick, and then back at Katryna. “We did what we had to, to guarantee your sister’s rightful place on the throne.”
“That doesn’t make you innocent of your crimes!” Arthus said in a booming voice, just as angry as the prince and princess.
“I never claimed to be innocent.”
“We are here to arrest the two of you for the murder of King Giliam, Queen Mira and Rashel Bower,” Katryna said.
“Come peacefully, and you won’t be hurt,” Arthus said, taking some manacles from his belt.
Trish smirked. “And what about that poor stable boy’s mother? If you arrest us now, he will never see her again.”
Katryna raised a hand to Arthus as he stepped forward with the shackles, instructing him to stop. In the heat of discovering the truth, she had forgotten about Sniff’s mother who had been taken against her will.
“What do you want, Trish?”
“All I want you to do is listen and see all the good we have done for you. Then maybe you will change your mind. The death of your parents, while unfortunate, was the greatest thing to have ever happened to you.”
Katryna clenched her jaw. “They did not deserve to die.”
“They did, and you know it.”
Finn grunted with anger, leaning in to Katryna’s ear. “Let me kill this bitch,” he hissed, the words dripping from his tongue like poison.
Katryna had to ignore her brother, for the sake of Sniff’s mother. “Where is the boy’s mother?”
“Some place safe,” Edrick said with a disheartening sneer.
What does that mean?
“Tell me where she is, and we won’t have you executed,” Katryna said boldly.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious about how we got away with regicide?” Trish boasted.
“It isn’t hard to figure out. And to be honest, I won’t stand here another second to listen to you
