"What?" Claudia replied, moving backward from Boris' sudden advancement.
"Am I supposed to be shaken? To be in fear of what is next? That's cute," Boris laughed without a dose of sentiment in his chuckle.
Claudia flinched, "I mean, I never said you had to be, the fact that you could even think about it that way must mean that you had even the tiniest hint of fear in you."
"Ha," Boris snickered, his face seeming to really enjoy her words before snapping back into a belittling smile, "fear?"
He stood up and looked down at Claudia. "fear is not something I have the privilege of feeling right now, feeling shaken by the thought of a revolt in the kingdom, filling my mind up with sad situations in which we could be attacked is something I cannot afford to do. Every ounce of energy right now goes to keeping the kingdom in order for the king's return, to keeping everything just the way it is when he left," Boris muttered in anger, "I have no time to worry about others opinions about me, about pleasing the other generals or advisors of the prince, every drop of energy for that goes into worrying about the prince's safety. I have no time for ensuring the maids don't gossip about the war or the fact that a scrap was placed in charge, and I certainly don't have time to worry about a flimsy plan to bring down a kingdom I have sworn to protect."
Boris sighed looking at Claudia's fragile figure. She had tried so hard to put up a strong facade, pretend she is still in charge, all for that to be ruined when he read straight through her. He let out another deep breath before looking away, "I truly pity you, so that's why I'll give you a nice piece of advice."
He walked away from the jail cell and turned back to her one last time before walking away, "instead of wasting your energy wondering whether I am shaken by a threat coming from a fallen heroine, who now spends her days locked up behind bars of the kingdom she tried to ruin, try and sort out your thoughts. It's pathetic for you to pretend you are still a savior. Pretending you are a leader when the plan you tried so hard to play out can continue without your help. The plan you spent half of your life preparing for, the plan you put every drop of your energy in creating, can leave you behind when you have fallen. It can continue when you have been disposed of, can be carried out, and succeeded but your existence be forgotten. Ironic isn't it?" He turned around and prepared to leave.
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