Chapter 5. Goddess Sent

Sylvania took a sip from the drink and swallowed. I could see her throat move and could hear her gulp as she ingested the fake elixir; I had just fed her. I so much wanted to smile at that very moment, but my plan wasn’t complete yet, not until King Japhet had taken his own sip.

The poison I laced the drink with was one that acted slowly. This was because I didn’t want Sylvania to drop dead on the spot; I wanted to make sure both of them had from the goblet first. Sylvania stepped away from me and I slowly moved the goblet toward the priestess again.

I had practiced over and over how the sent maiden acted and how she presented the elixir to the celebrants, so my acting was perfect. Could that have been what fooled the priestess? Was I so good that even she was fooled?

“Present the Elixir of truth to the groom.” The priestess ordered, and I quickly moved my arms in King Japhet’s direction. I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t focused; he was also nervous. He turned to Sylvania and turned to me repeatedly, checking if anything would happen to Sylvania before he accepted the drink.

Sylvania’s confident smile had grown onto her face again to assure King Japhet that all was well. I was sure she had already begun to think that I was the maid she hired, only dressed in a different uniform than what she ordered.

King Japhet, on the other hand, wasn’t so confident. The nervous look in his eyes only grew more and more evident with each passing second. He stared at the drink quietly, and the priestess finally spoke.

“Do not even think about refusing the drink; you will be struck dead by the moon goddess.”

King Japhet turned to the priestess and then turned back to me. His brows furrowed, and his facial expression went from a nervous one to an angry one. He thought about everything he had worked for, all the things he had done to get to this point, and decided that he couldn’t let one stupid drink ruin everything for him─he couldn’t let an ordinary prostitute like Sylvania ruin his life.

He moved his right hand, and my eyes widened as I saw him reach for the sword that hung by the left side of his waist. He pulled the sword out of its sheath and swung it vertically upwards at my face. I stepped back to avoid the blade and sliced my mask in two equal halves. All the guests gasped and rose from their seats. My black hair fell over my face, and the two pieces of my mask fell to the ground along with the goblet.

Sylvania’s eyes widened in shock as she saw my face. The fear she had in her eyes before she drank the Elixir returned, and she stepped back, palming her mouth and her stomach. King Japhet gritted his teeth in anger and tried to attack me, but the Andreian Knights, who were present at the party, drew their swords on him.

“Take one more step toward the princess, and we will remove your head. Remember that your armies are not here to defend you, and the knights you brought with you today are but a fraction of the Andreian soldiers present.” One of the Andreian knights spoke, stepping forward.

King Japhet withdrew his sword from my face upon hearing this, and I turned to my stepmother, smiling.

“You foolish old prostitute, you really thought you could fool everyone by hiring a fake goddess sent to present the elixir to you? For your information, the maid you hired is dead; I killed her, and the elixir you just drank is actually flavored water, laced with the deadliest substance in Andreia; devils drool,” I said as my lips curled into a sinister grin. Although my plan wasn’t complete, this was more than satisfying.

“What?!” Sylvania exclaimed in shock. She turned to the priestess and yelled angrily, “You said she was the goddess sent! Why did you lie to me? Are you two working together? I should have both of you imprisoned.”

“Lie? I am the priestess of the Moon goddess; I only say that which I am ordered to. This girl standing before you is the goddess sent, and I assure you I have had no previous discussion with her. When I arrived, I warned you that today wouldn’t be a happy one for you. This is how the goddess has chosen to punish you for your crimes, and so shall it be.” The priestess replied with a calm but stern tone, making sure not to raise her voice the same way Sylvania did.

At this point, even I was confused by the whole thing. What was the priestess even talking about? How could I have been the goddess sent? I thought the goddess sent was a being sent from the heavens.

Sylvania parted her lips and was about to yell again when her breathing suddenly seized. She wrapped her fingers around her throat, and her eyes grew red. She spat out some blood, and more blood rolled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. After struggling to breathe for a few minutes, she dropped to the ground, lifeless.

As she fell, I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. This was all I ever wanted—to get revenge for my father’s death. I didn’t care at all if I lost my life after this.

“Arrest her; she has murdered your queen. She has committed treason,” King Japhet yelled. This was his opportunity to finally take my father's kingdom from me. I wanted to avoid this by taking his life as well, but it seemed he was smarter than I expected. The Andreian knights, who once wanted to protect me from Japhet’s sword, turned their sword to me.

I turned to the priestess, hoping she would do something to stop the soldiers, but there she stood, like a machine, waiting for the goddess’s orders like she always did.

The knight who defended me before walked to me and said softly, “I’m sorry, but you’ve committed a grave offense against the kingdom of Andreia, and as much as it pains me to say, princess, the punishment is execution.”

I smiled softly at him and replied, “You don’t have to apologize, sir Steven. I have nothing else to live for anyway.”

King Japhet smiled as he heard this. Everything was starting to work in his favor. After my death, my father’s bloodline would end, and the kingdom of Andreia would finally be conquerable. As Steven pulled me away, I thought to myself.

“Is this really the end? King Japhet is going to take everything my father worked so hard to build, and no one was going to say a word about it.”

“Stop!” A voice oh so familiar sounded from the crowd. With the calmness of his voice, the metallic sounds his boots made as they hit the concrete floor, and the warmth it all filled my heart with, I realized who it was immediately: the dark knight.

I turned around and saw him standing with the rest of the guests. He was still clad in his dark gray armor and carried a sword on the left side of his waist. We both stared into each other’s eyes, and a soft smile crawled onto my face again. Was he here to save me? Was I finally going to get my kingdom back?

He moved his eyes from me and turned to King Japhet. “Father, I see your wedding has been ruined by this young girl; my sincerest apologies.”

My eye widened as I heard this. “Did he just call King Japhet his father?” I asked in my head as I stared at him with shock on my face.

“Thank you, my son. If it weren’t for you, I would have been dead by now. Once we get back to Valtoria, we will have a big feast in your honor,” King Japhet replied.

“What?! What do you mean?” I asked, turning to Japhet.

“My son here told me about his encounter with you. He was the one who asked me not to drink the elixir of truth, as he was sure you would try something like this. My son has always been smart. Our kingdom has had so many victories ever since he turned sixteen,” Japhet replied.

My brows furrowed, and the crevices between them deepened as I grew furious. I clenched my teeth and fist, then turned to the Dark Knight with my eyes filled with rage and yelled, “YOU TRAITOR!”

His facial expression didn’t change one bit. It was like he didn’t care about me at all; like he never cared.

As I stared at him, my anger slowly turned into sadness, and before I knew it, tears rolled down my cheeks. I could feel a painful lump form in my throat as my tears made my vision blurry. I instantly lost all my strength and fell to my knees, crying silently. Just when I thought there was someone out there who actually cared about me; just when I thought I had finally found a safe place in this godforsaken world, this happens.

“When do you intend to execute her?” the dark knight asked, turning to Steven.

“A week from now, so she can be mentally prepared for her death when it comes,” Steven replied.

“No, I suggest we execute her now.” The Dark Knight suggested, and my heart skipped a beat as I heard his cold words.