"Your highness!" The guards called as they rushed into the king's bedroom. Most of them stumbled at the sight of the princess standing next to the king's dead body.
Thomas, who happened to be passing by when he saw the other guards trying to get into the king's room, was upfront and center puzzled by the death of the king. He looked at Catherine who was scared out of her mind and shaking. "Princess Catherine, what happened to the king?" He asked, stepping up to be the one getting the information while everyone else was taken aback by the king's death.
Catherine was still trying to process the things Chaos had told her but now that the guards were in here asking questions about her brother, she knew she had to act quickly or she would be blamed for this even though she was the one that killed him. "T-There was a creature here and it killed my brother and the woman who came to see him. The doors wouldn't open."
Thomas stepped away from Catherine to roll over the woman who had fallen face down. He turned her body to the side to get a look at how she had died but jumped when he saw her face. The woman's face kept her final expression right before she died. She died screaming from whatever she saw and her body looked like life was sucked from it.
Thomas almost puked at the sight of it but kept himself together since he was standing in the presence of the princess. "Something human could not have done this," he stood up, going back to Catherine's side. The palace would become hectic now that the king was dead but they needed to protect the princess. She was the only royal left in the palace right now.
"We have to get the princess to safety and have the palace on lockdown. Something killed the king and it might still be on the inside. Spread the word to every guard in the palace to be on the lookout and prepared for an attack. Word that the king is dead should not leave the palace," Thomas ordered the handful of men who were inside the room with him.
Many of them looked scared and confused about how the king could have died so easily. The two guards who had been on the outside guarding the king's door were terrified of their fate in the palace. They hadn't done what they were supposed to do and many would want them dead.
"Go now instead of just standing there!" Thomas yelled to the men as they were just standing around confused by the king's death. After Thomas yelled at them, they finally snapped out of it and did as he said. "Princess, you have to come with me to somewhere safe and we'll need to have a description of what attacked the king."
Catherine nodded her head taking her last look at her brother. He was gone and there was no turning back from this. She needed to brace herself for what is to come if she wanted to obtain what was dangling right in front of her. She felt sad to lose another member of her family but it was her growing desires that killed him. "I don't want to be here anymore. That thing said it will come back to kill me," she quickly told Thomas.
She wanted an army to surround her because she was certain Chaos was going to come back and kill her. The problem she faced was what she learned about Chaos manipulating humans to kill each other. Who could she trust in the palace after today? Anyone could become Chaos's toy to kill her.
"Get me out of here now!" She yelled, scared to be surrounded by anyone after this.
Catherine figured she would immediately have to handpick a group of skilled guards to stay by her side forever so that she could watch and make sure they weren't being controlled by Chaos.
"You two," Thomas pointed at the two guards who failed to protect the king. "If you want to make up for what you screwed up, come with me and protect the princess. If you fail to do just that, you'll be dead by the end of the day."
"Yes sir!" The two guards replied.
Though Thomas had stated they had a chance to stay alive by protecting Catherine, the princess had other plans as she would have them killed by the end of the day. Even at a moment like this, she wouldn't ignore the things they passed around about her or how they looked down on her. They'll be the first to see that she always got her revenge in the end.
"Let's go," Thomas said, leading the princess out of the room while the two guards followed behind them.
Catherine's heart became lighter the further she got away from her brother's bedroom and the sight of her dead brother. She wouldn't have been the first royal to kill their sibling to take the throne and she won't be the last. She'll make sure her brother has a proper send-off for what she had done today.
Catherine now had two things on her mind. One, succeeded in becoming queen as she was next in line after her brother. Two, get Alexander away from the Goddess who had him.