Lienna.
Today was the day for Veronica’s trial. Yes, after a period of what seemed like she had been forgotten by the shifter kings, they finally picked a date where she would be facing the world for her crimes. The air was thick with tension as members of the Royal council filed into the grand arena, their faces stern and unyielding. Even commoners had shown up, eager to witness the fate of the woman who had dared to cross the powerful shifter kings.
I was seated in the crowd, though my position brought me quite close to the shifter kings. I couldn’t see their faces, but I could sense their grave demeanor. Their expressions were mostly neutral, but the air around them seemed to vibrate with a deep-seated anger. They may have never said it out loud, but Veronica’s actions had definitely hurt them.
As I waited, my mind flashed back to my own time when I was about to be executed. The crowd had been just as eager to see me punished, and the shifter kings had been just as unforgiving. I shuddered at the memory, pushing it aside as a voice announced the arrival of Veronica.
A hush fell over the crowd as we turned our gaze to the huge door leading to the arena. The doors creaked open, revealing Veronica standing between two burly soldiers. She was shackled in chains that looked heavier than she was, her slender frame dwarfed by the metal restraints. Her eyes darted around the arena, searching for something or someone. I wondered if she was looking for an escape route or a friendly face in the crowd.
As she was led into the arena, the shifter kings turned to face her. Their expressions remained neutral, but I could sense a deep-seated anger emanating from them. This was going to be a trial like no other.
As Veronica arrived at the center of the arena, I cast a long, scrutinizing look at her, and my eyes widened in surprise. The Veronica I knew and hated was gone, replaced by a mere shadow of her former self. The once most powerful woman in the realm had been reduced to a shell of what she used to be.
Her eyes, once bright and calculating, were now sunken and empty, devoid of the spark that I was used to seeing. Her hair, that used to be so long and silky, now hung matted and tangled, framing a face that was pale and dry. I could even see the remnants of the scars Caspian told me she had sustained from my last display of power.
But it was the look in her eyes that truly unsettled me. There was no regret, no remorse, no hint of apology. Instead, a dark aura seemed to surround her. A prickling sensation began beneath my skin while I stareed at her, growing unsettled. I glanced at the shifter kings, and their expressions were steel-like, their faces set in firm lines that betrayed no emotion. Yet, I sensed they felt it too, this strange, unsettling energy that seemed to emanate from Veronica.
I kept a close eye on her, watching her every move, as an aide stepped forward to begin the questioning.
“Can you tell the crown here today what motivated you to try to kill one of our beloved rulers, the dragon king?” The aide spoke, his voice responding in the entire arena and we waited for Veronica to speak. But she refused to respond, her eyes fixed straight ahead, unseeing and unyielding. The aide’s words seemed to bounce off her, met with a silence that was unnerving.
The crowd around us grew restless, their whispers and murmurs filling the air as they sensed something was off. What sort of weird behavior was she putting up? The aide continued to ask her questions, increasing his voice if that was the reason she didn’t answer the first time but he was still met with the same cold reception. After the third time and not a word escaped her lips, everyone came to the conclusion that whatever she did was deliberate and she needed to be executed for it.
I pressed my lips into a thin line, watching as the executioner was ushered into the arena, dragging along his huge blade while Veronica was forced to her knees, her head bent in preparation for the blow that would end her. For some reason, I wasn’t comfortable at all. It was going much too well it felt too good to be true.
The executioner stood by her side, his stance rigid and poised, ready to execute the command. Caspian held up a hand, halting the proceeding as he began. “Veronica, say the truth now or forever hold your peace.” He announced, his voice cutting through the arena, his grey eyes piercing.
Veronica raised her head to look at him, and a tiny expression crossed her face. So tiny, one would have missed it, if they weren’t looking at her closely. A hint of a smile. Still, she didn’t respond. Caspian let out a sigh, indicating that he had dropped the matter, and Veronica’s head dropped once more.
I gazed back and forth between the shifter kings and Veronica, my heart hammering in my chest. Why did it feel like something terrible was about to happen instead? The air was thick with tension, and I could sense the weight of the crowd’s anticipation.
The executioner raised his blade high into the air, and it seemed like Veronica couldn’t handle it anymore. She began to cackle, the eerie sound cutting through the arena like a knife. The executioner ignored her, bringing down the blade with a vengeance.
It happened too quickly, my eyes couldn’t keep up with it. Before the blade made contact with her neck, a dark mist spread around Veronica, and she dissolved into it. The mist swirled and churned, like a living thing, and then Veronica reformed, her eyes blazing with a malevolent intensity.
She attacked the executioner, her movements swift and deadly. The blade fell to the ground with a clang, and the executioner stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear. The crowd erupted into chaos, screaming and shouting as they scrambled to get away from the arena.
“You’re mistaken if you think I’m going to let you kill me that easily!” Veronica yelled, her voice filled with rage. Her eyes blazed with a fierce intensity, and her body seemed to vibrate with dark energy. “If anything, this has just begun.”
I stood frozen on my feet, my heart racing with fear. When I looked at the shifter kings, they were charging towards Veronica, their faces set in fierce determination. But Veronica just laughed, her eyes glinting with malevolence.
“My time in the dungeons gave me enough time to finalize the covenant that I have with the dark powers,” she spat, her voice dripping with venom. “And now I have a new mission in mind.”
Her gaze locked onto me, and I felt a chill run down my spine. She raised her hands, and a shot of dark mist exploded from her fingers, heading straight towards me. I barely evaded it, screaming as I covered myself with my arms. But when I tried to summon the power of the moon goddess to attack, nothing happened. I was painfully reminded of how weak I was.
Caspian was the first to attack, using a blade to strike at Veronica’s body. But she just cackled as she pulled it out, letting it drop to the ground with a clang. “I’ll be back,” she taunted, her eyes glinting with evil. “Why don’t you hold out until then?”
With that, she dissolved into the black mist, disappearing from our sight, never to be seen again.