The Duke's Unwanted Wife

“You made the right choice, your majesty, you can rest in peace,” Natalia said, picking up the decapitated head. She cradled it to a chest, closing her eyes. Temara continued to scream, held closely by Sebastian. Fury burned in Madaline’s eyes but no one moved.    

“You’re a hard mortal to persuade. Maybe next time, I will go for that one,” Thiton said, pointing at Sebastian. Natalia’s blood ran cold. She lifted her head and glared at him. Thiton felt his entire body tremble feeling her glare on him.    

“Leave.”    

The gods left just as quietly as they arrived, the headless body finally falling to the floor. Madaline snapped her fingers and the body was wrapped up. Natalia stood with blood on her gown, staring into space. Temara lunged at her, wanting to tear at her but stopped when she heard her tiny voice.    

“Madaline, did I…make the wrong choice?”    

Madaline sighed, conjuring up a handkerchief to clean her bloody hands.    

“I don’t know. Whatever they’re up to, they won’t give up until they get their hands on the Divine Bird. Quene and I will do whatever we can to keep them at bay. Killing a human monarch will be enough to keep the doors of the heavenly court shut. But if they are shut, I wouldn’t be able to come back.”    

“It’s…” she sighed shakily, “...okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to come back.”    

Madaline disappeared, leaving them in the hall. Natalia finally turned to face those in the room, focusing her glance on the one chosen by the now deceased Queen. All the royal heirs were in the room with a few stewards and most importantly, the two duchess of the kingdom.    

“We have all seen who her majesty chose. The throne cannot sit empty for long. Choose when we will have the coronation, your majesty.”    

“Don’t…Don’t you dare call me that when you let my mother die!”    

“It was your mother or the entire kingdom, including you! The reason your mother chose is because she understood that! Now you can continue being a child or you can choose to take responsibility for the choice she made.”    

“No…I can’t accept this! No!”    

“If you will not accept the throne, I’m sure one of your siblings can take it.”    

“NATALIA! YOU KILLED MY MOTHER FOR A STUPID BIRD!”    

“You are clearly not in your right mind. I understand. I leave her in your hands, Bastian. I will be returning to the North.”    

“Natalia, wait! Take me with you,” Vera asked. Unlike the clear blame in the eyes of the others, Vera just seemed to have boundless curiosity and conviction. Natalia took her hand and disappeared. Once they were safely back in the North, before Vera could question her, Natalia fell to her knees. Covering her eyes, she screamed, her voice echoing in the castle. Marvis almost immediately came running with the gut feeling that something was wrong.    

“Na…talia?”    

“I thought…I was strong enough. I thought it didn’t matter whoever I was up against that I could take the upper hand. But damn! Damn it! Damn it! DAMN THOSE STUPID GODS! WHY?! WHY?! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?!”    

“Lia, what happened?”    

“I…I need to go,” she said, disappearing again. Since none of them could teleport, they were left in the entrance hall of the castle, staring awkwardly at each other. Eventually, Vera explained what happened to Marvis. After hearing everything, he ran out of the castle. After a few minutes, he found her. She was by the cliff, sitting with her knees to her chest.    

“Lia…DON’T TELEPORT AGAIN!”    

She slowly lowered her fingers and took her gaze back over the cliff. He sighed, draping a blanket he found over her shoulders.    

“It’s still very cold in the north, remember?”    

“You know, don’t you?”    

“Yes, I know. Although, unlike them, I can understand what you did. You were not just protecting Amaika, were you? You were protecting everyone because that’s the kind of person you are, Lia.”    

“What if I was being selfish? What if I didn’t want to hand Amaika over and stubbornly chose to let the Queen die?”    

“You didn’t expect they will kill the Queen, did you?”    

Shocked, she looked back. Marvis had an encouraging smile, caressing her hair softly. He kissed her forehead and cradled her in his arms.    

“This may be the wrong time to say it but…I love you, Natalia.”    

“Huh? HUH?! W-W-WHAT?!”    

“Look at you. I never thought I would see the day you’d be so flustered. You look so cute like this, Natalia.”    

“Stop saying my name! It sounds so weird coming from you. Don’t say it!”    

“You’re right, it sounds weird. But it made you smile, did it not?”    

“I am NOT supposed to be smiling right now.”    

“You’re right, you’re not. I know how devastated you are when things don’t go according to plans but I also know of your amazing ability to bounce back when life hits you hard. You don’t need to worry about failing when you make tough choices. They may resent you now but I know they will appreciate your choices. You can believe in me.”    

“if…I was asked to sacrifice you, I wouldn’t have done it. It doesn’t matter who died. If any of you were to get hurt, I couldn’t live with myself.”    

“Thankfully, all of us can protect ourselves.”    

“Against gods?”    

“You know how to ruin the fun, huh? Now, come on. Duchess Everon has a lot to say to you. Instead of leaving your guest standing awkwardly in your castle, why not try to come up with a new plan?”    

“It infuriates me when you are one step ahead of me but I’m glad you’re dependable, Marvis.”    

Marvis was also glad, glad that he had reached a level where he was capable of drawing her out of her shell. He didn’t miss the importance of that position in his heart and he promised himself to make sure he cherished it.    

Meanwhile, the person who was responsible for throwing the kingdom into chaos was just finishing up with their job as well as Natalia’s. They could only wonder why someone thought it was okay for one person to do such an arduous task in such a short time frame while going down to the kitchen to get themselves a cup of tea. While they passed the entrance hall, they discovered a certain dignified lady by the entrance hall.    

“Duchess Everon?”    

“Oh, it’s you, Amaika.”    

“Why are you sitting by yourself here? Are there no servants around? Your clothes are too light for this weather. Do you need a cup of tea?”    

“No, a cup of tea won’t help anything in this situation. I don’t know if you’ve heard but the Queen…passed away.”    

As far as they knew, the Queen wasn’t ill or particularly old. How she could just pass away was beyond the werephoenix but they didn’t question it. They still insisted on getting her a cup of tea while they were fetching their own. This time, she didn’t refuse.    

They brought the tray back filled with snacks and sweets. They poured the cups and handed it over to Vera while they took a cup of their own. Together, they sat in the living room, enjoying a cup in silence. Normally, Vera wasn’t very talkative but she felt inclined to spill her guts in front of a calming and stable presence.    

“The Queen was…killed by gods.”    

“How could that be possible?”    

“I was surprised too. I was more surprised when Natalia let her die.”    

“My master would never do such a thing if there were no other choices. Why would a god kill a mortal monarch?”    

“They were demanding the Divine Bird from Natalia and she refused to do an exchange with them, asking for the body of Egerth in return for the Divine Bird. Natalia asked the Queen to choose her heir and then I watched as the god sliced her throat open and spilled her blood on her throne. Did you know such a death is nothing but a bad omen for the kingdom?”    

Amaika froze, the cup of tea falling from their hands. Even when it made a loud sound upon reaching the ground, they were still in shock. Vera thought nothing of it but then, she wanted to press Amaika for answers.    

“Do you even know if she has a Divine Bird somewhere? The Queen is already dead so we can’t make an exchange but who knows if they’ll come back…”    

“They won’t, Vera,” Natalia said as she walked through the doors of the living room. Amaika stood up rigidly, wanting to leave the room. They were stopped by Natalia who shook her head.    

“I trust Vera enough to tell her this. Vera, Amaika is the Divine Bird.”