The Queen Dowager's lip quivered and she bit her lower lip as the King was just a few steps away from her. The look in the King's eyes made the her believe that he was going to kill her. After all, he had killed his own brother to claim the throne without batting an eyelid.
Killing his mother to keep what he had just done a secret was just as easy.
The Queen Dowager closed her eyes as she thought of what she could do to get of that situation. She was not ready to die yet. Just not yet.
Her eyes flickered open and she quickly blurted out, "What I saw was the chief priestess insulting the King."
It was not true but at the moment, it was the only thing she could do to get out of that situation unscathed - to make the King believe that she was on his side and would keep her lips sealed about what had really happened.
Hearing her words, the King burst into a laughter that made the Queen Dowager cower in fear.
What was he thinking? Was he still planning to kill her despite her concession?
After seconds of laughing, he paused to gawk at his mother. The corners of his mouth slightly turned up in a smile and he said in a soft tone, "Mother, you know I love you and I want you to live for a long, long time.",
The Queen Dowager looked at him in disbelief. It was odd for the King to be so caring. He surely had an ulterior motive for saying that to her.
Just what was he getting at?
"For that to happen, you need to know your place.", he continued, his gaze quickly turning into a cold one.
"Instead of snooping around the palace, trying to find out everything that is happening, you should live quietly as if you were dead."
"This is my last warning and my last act of filial piety towards you, mother.", he warned.
She knew it! The King wanted to silence her. He was going to use that opportunity to clip off her wings. He had always seen her as a threat to him because he knew how much she hated him.
The Queen Dowager's hands tightened into fists. She hated him now with all her heart but there was nothing she could do to him. She had to suppress her feelings of hatred and anger and wait for the right time to act.
"Just bear with it.", she whispered under her breath, trying to calm herself down.
She slowly unclenched her fists and nodded.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will keep that in mind."
"Good.", he said with another smile which sent an involuntary shudder down the Queen Dowager's spine.
To the her, his smile was creepier than that of a ghost. She hated seeing him smile, hated seeing him happy, hated seeing him with the upper hand, especially after all the evil things he had done. What she hated even more was that she could do nothing to wipe the smile off his face at that moment.
"You should retire to your quarters now.", the King concluded.
Without saying another word, the Queen Dowager slowly turned around and went to her quarters.
When the Queen Dowager was out of sight, the King turned around and with the bloody sword that was still in his hand, he slayed two of the guards that were stationed at the front gate.
They also saw and heard everything that transpired between him and the chief priestess. Keeping them alive would be a big mistake if he was to keep his deed a secret.
Pointing his sword at the last guard standing, he smirked, "I will spare your life."
The panic stricken guard fell to the ground and repeatedly thanked the King for sparing his life.
Seeing the guard's reaction, the King burst into another hysteric laughter. It brought him joy to see people fear him. And shedding blood would make people fear him.
He was clearly a sadist who enjoyed inflicting pain on others.
The King slowly turned his gaze to the lifeless body of the chief priestess that was on the ground.
"Dispose that body somewhere deep in the forest!", he ordered the guard, still staring down at the lifeless body of the chief priestess.
The chief priestess didn't deserve any proper funeral. She deserved to be eaten by the wild beasts of the forests.
How dare she foretell such a thing as his downfall? She had her death coming the moment she foretold that prophecy.
"And no one must find out what happened here today. If word about the useless prophecy gets out, you will pay for it with your life!", the King threatened the guard before leaving the front gate to continue the funeral ceremony as if nothing had happened.
The guard sighed as he watched the King leave and he hoped in his heart that the prophecy would come true.
*****
The Queen Dowager sat in her chambers as she stared melancholy into nothingness. Her heart was heavy.
She was overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. She had just witnessed her evil son strike down the chief priestess but she could not tell anyone about it. She could not do anything about it either.
"Right now, it is best to lay low...", the Queen Dowager concluded in her mind.
"Just until Melvin is old enough to come back to the palace.", she continued on.
Melvin was her grandson and the first son of the late King. When she saw that Zhao had killed his brother, she knew he was going to try to harm the little prince who was the next heir to the throne. So she had faked his death and entrusted the little boy in the hands of her most trusted maidservant. She had the maidservant flee to Garolla, a neighboring Kingdom, to raise the child until he was grown.
She had hoped that when Melvin was old enough, he would come back to Pirella to oust his wicked uncle and claim his rightful throne.
Melvin was her only hope now. He was the only hope for the people too against the wicked King.
"But what about the woman in the prophecy?", the Queen Dowager gasped as she suddenly remembered the chief priestess' words.
The prophecy clearly stated that the one who would cause the downfall of the King was a woman. Did that mean that her grandson Melvin was not the people's hope?
And what did the chief priestess mean by saying the King's blood would be his downfall? Was the woman going to be from the bloodline of the King?
Her mind was filled with questions. Questions she had no answer to. Questions that only time could answer.
The Queen Dowager was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the approaching footsteps down the hallway.
She only snapped out of her thoughts when the doors of her chambers suddenly creaked open.
She glanced up to see a familiar face and was stunned, almost shaking in her shoes when she saw Eliza standing in front of her.
Eliza was the trustworthy maidservant whom she had entrusted her grandson to the year before. And it was dangerous for her to be anywhere around in the palace since the King and everyone else believed that she was dead.
"Why are you here? Are you trying to get yourself caught?", the Queen Dowager asked, her brows furrowing.
Eliza smirked to see that the Queen Dowager, who she once served, had not changed a bit. She could easily tell that the Queen Dowager was worried about her safety.
It was so like her to worry about every little thing.
"Don't worry, your highness, I won't get caught.", she reassured her before telling her the reason she came in the first place.
"I have brought a letter for you from Melvin. He wanted me to deliver it to you personally."
The Queen Dowager's face quickly softened at the mention of her grandson. She loved Melvin dearly and she hated herself for sending him out of the palace and faking his death even though it was to keep him safe.
But it was the only thing she could do. Lie.
"How is my grandson doing?", the Queen Dowager asked, reaching out her hand to receive the letter.
"I'm sorry to inform you, Your Highness that Melvin is...Melvin is...his condition is getting worse."
The Queen Dowager shut her eyes closed as she felt as if her heart had been ripped apart. A few months before, she learnt through secret notes from Eliza that Melvin had fallen ill.
She didn't expect to hear now that Melvin's health condition had worsened.
What was worse, she couldn't be by his side to help him recover.
She was so low in spirit that she could only croak, "Do everything you can to save him."
"I will, Your Highness."
"I need to take my leave now.", Eliza said before walking out of the Queen Dowager's chambers.
When Eliza left, the Queen Dowager let out a heavy exhale and slowly opened her teary eyes. She then opened the letter that was in her hand.
'I miss you grandmother. I miss father too.", she sighed after reading the first two lines of the letter in a soft whisper before crumpling the thin piece of paper in her hand.
She could not finish reading the letter without breaking down in tears.
It was more than just a letter. It was Melvin telling his grandmother how he really felt.
He missed her.
And she missed him too.
But she needed to be strong.
"Be strong, Melvin. For yourself, for me and for the people of Pirella.", she prayed in her heart.
*****
Outside the Queen Dowager chambers stood the King's Eunuch who had been keeping an eye on her as instructed by the King. He smiled to himself as he had just found out an interesting secret that the Queen Dowager had been keeping.
That interesting secret he had just learnt, if revealed, would cause much bloodshed in the Kingdom once again.
The Queen Dowager, as well as her supporters and the hidden Prince, Melvin, would be killed in a blink of an eye.