That morning Princess Isabelle lay in her bed, on top of the soft blankets, because even though it was spring it was really hot.
She lay there, motionless, she felt her skin, soft and silky, touch the blankets.
Obviously that was a special case, because a noble of her rank would not have been allowed to simply occupy her bed in those conditions, but obviously that was a special situation and for that very reason the orderlies and possible waiters had been ordered to get away from the area for some time.
-Does your wife suspect anything?- Isabelle took the hand of the man who lay next to her.
-Not yet...I'm still escaping with some excuse, longer work shifts and so on...I suppose she still believes it...-.
The man looked away, far into the room, the sun was shining, its rays did it, time had passed that morning, passed incredibly quickly.
What time could it be? Ten o'clock? Perhaps, he too seemed not to know and did not care at least for the time he was with Isabelle.
The princess turned over in bed, looked at the pale face of the man, those blond, dull hair, exactly like hers, those eyes, deep and gray, metallic, which were abstracted into nothingness.
It seemed like his eyes were full of tears, which the man however tried to keep to himself.
-What happens John?- the princess asked looking into his eyes, she wanted to know what was happening, what he was holding inside him.
-Tell me...am I a traitor Isabelle? Am I not a bad person, for having revealed too much about my own cousins, for having told, with bitter and naive recklessness, the arrival of the imminent war?-.
The lady smiled, embittered by that confession, because she already knew what was waiting her and she already knew how to punish the traitors.
She had paid John high sums, she had repaid him with her own body, sexually, even though he was her own cousin, she had loved him and this was what John wanted, to be loved.
Isabelle knew how to please the men who came into her hands, because it was very rare that anyone, in the end, could not fall in love with her.
She was beautiful, she was like one of those nymphs of Greek myths, those goddesses of the forest with a sublime appearance, because her blue, sweet and romantic eyes were able to deceive them, together with her soft and wavy golden hair.
John had thus revealed all the secrets that he knew about Juniper, about Henry, about the alliance, about the imminent war, he had even revealed the hiding place of the young rebel Brooklyn or should he say Diane Stanley?
Isabelle knew everything about her and the twins, and she swore that she would act as soon as possible to erase those other enemies from this world too.
Her cousin had been easy enough to buy, easy, to extort all that information from him, all that John needed was romance, love, passion, to satisfy his every need.
He had obeyed like a good pet dog, he had obeyed her and in his moments of passion he had confessed all these secrets to her.
Isabelle slowly got out of bed.
Her breasts, her butt, her hair had managed to cover everything that was not left for the man to see.
The princess took the light brush of a precious coloured wood, painted white, with soft bristles, whose strong smell of flowers and lavender spread around the area surrounding the two.
Her mother did not know anything about their relationship and did not even have to know, as each time that the two had left the bedroom the lady had personally instructed the servants to change and replace the sheets of the bed, perhaps avoiding unpleasant situations.
Isabelle began to slowly brush her hair, with one hand she slipped the bristles into them, with the other she held them steady, feeling all their softness and their sublime perfume.
John said nothing, no more, he remained motionless, sitting against the precious wood headboard of the bed.
-You know Isabelle...- he ventured to speak after a prolonged pause of silence -I can't take it anymore...you... I'm done...-.
It was as she feared, that led her to stop her every move for a moment.
What would happen now? John was one of her best informers and letting him go like this was too great a danger for her, for her secrets, she just knew too much.
Isabelle turned slowly and back to the bed, the man was slowly putting on his pants and it was her job to be able to stop him while she was in time.
-Wait John- Isabelle pointed out, taking two small and precious glasses of crystal from her chest of drawers and filling them to the brim with a sweet and aromatic liqueur -have a glass with me, let's talk about it at least -.
John waited a moment, his thin lips parted, he looked down at the cold and white marble floor, at his bare feet.
-To our work together...- Isabelle hinted placing the sweet and fragrant full glass under her cousin's nose -and a bright future for our kingdom-.
The man took the glass, put some liquid between his lips, it was strange, much more sour than he expected a simple liqueur could be.
It was strange, because immediately his head started to ache and spin.
-And now, before saying goodbye, I would like to grant myself one last time to you...-Isabelle pushed the man onto the mattress, climbed onto his abdomen.
John lay down on the mattress, everything revolved around him as if he was weakened, as if he could no longer understand anything that was happening around him.
Something was going wrong, he felt it.
And he felt it more when his own cousin began to forcefully press one of her pillows against his face, against his nose, his lips, his mouth.
He couldn't breathe.
How stupid he had been, he had a wife, he had a young daughter, he had people who already loved him, he had a family, his cousins and Diane, he had also betrayed her.
Now that John was dying he would no longer be able to see any of them, with no time to apologise, he had lost everything and everyone only for the money and for the passion, that without realising he would never again receive.
Now that he was dying, no longer feeling the freshness of the surrounding oxygen, not only a soldier died with him, but a coward, an egoist, a traitor also died that day.