POV of King Reylan IV:
"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath, slamming my fist against the window of the castle as I watched the destruction unfolding before me. The thick glass shattered a bit underneath my hand. Trickles of blood began to run down the window. I could feel my body tensing and my teeth biting down into each other.
Something inside me was dying. It felt like a struggle to keep myself together in the very moment. My legs shook and trembled, not with fear but hopelessness. I could feel the despair trying to pull me down to the ground like hands from the grave. I took one long deep breath, holding it in until I mustered the strength to exhale and look back down at the accursed reality.
I looked hopelessly at the large kingdom falling to ruins before my eyes. Dark clouds of smoke had risen from the ground at every corner, buildings crumbled and lay splattered across their original positions, and blood etched across the bricks of the kingdom like the canvas of a careless artist.
"My kingdom!" I cried out, smearing my blood across the window as I fell to my knees. "Damn it." I looked at the ground, my sight reddening with anger. "Damn it." The darkness crowded my vision. "Damn it!" I repeated again.
"Your Majesty!" Harrison called out. I turned around to see him standing in front of the doorway to the meeting chamber. "Perhaps, you should sit down and—"
Who could have done such a thing? I thought, nearly drowning Harrison out. Another kingdom? No... We're one of the strongest kingdoms on this continent. They'd be foolish to challenge us! I began to get up. I could feel my blood nearly boiling under my skin. Perhaps a vein or two was popping out of my forehead. The elves? I questioned. No. The fairies? Even worse. I just can't fathom anybody daring to challenge us. Surely, this can't be the wrath of the giants, my mind rambled. Whoever it is... whoever dared make a fool out of me, out of my kingdom... I'll—
"—relax your nerves for a moment." Harrison spoke softly with a polite smile.
"Thank you, Harrison," I spoke, stopping myself in my tracks. I hadn't even noticed I was pacing back and forth until now. I took a small breath and tried to regain my composure, stretching my hands behind my back and cuffing them together. "But, I just can't handle this." I could feel my hands shaking behind my back, twitching at even the smallest passage of time. I looked him directly in the eyes. "I admire your tranquility at all times, and I trust your wisdom and judgment..." The following words nearly stuck to my tongue as I tried to speak. "However, this time, I cannot just sit back. A proper king would not tolerate such an atrocity." A weight nearly rolled off of my chest as I spoke. "In fact—"
"Oh, but on the contrary, your majesty," Harrison interrupted. A smirk corrupted his usually stern and serious face. "Your forefathers before you did it." My eyes widened, and the smile on his face grew. My heart beat slowed as the queasy realization of the words struck me. Every beat pounded harder than the last.
"Harrison..." I dragged out his name. The smile on his face faded; his demeanor had changed.
"Don't act like you didn't know."
"After all of these years, you dare betray me—"
"Betray you?" he ridiculed me, laughing. "Like your lineage hasn't betrayed the same kingdom that worshiped it for centuries?"
A flash of anger coursed down my body. I could feel it ripping through my veins. I looked at the advisor, reaching for him with my hand ready to strike. "You dare challenge me?" I yelled through clenched teeth, my mouth damn near foaming. Bright flames emerged from the palm of my hand.
"Enough," he uttered, his voice low. He looked down at me, scorning. "Your time's up." He raised two fingers up. I could feel all of my senses numbing. Everything began to move slower and slower... It felt as if all of time was stopping. My vision gave in to the approaching, frightening dimness. I watched as he mouthed the words of the spell. All of my hearing began to disappear, slipping into an abrupt silence. I could feel my heart racing, but my body wouldn't react. Every muscle in it felt limp and unresponsive, almost as if they were asleep despite my desperate will to move.
"Don't worry," I heard. "Your secret's safe with me..."
***
POV of Harrison Romocron
Pity wallowed the back of my mind as I looked at the king's suspended body. He looked like a statue detailed with flesh, posing in the open. I let out a small sigh. The sound of galloping footsteps echoed throughout the halls.
"This way!" I heard the voices of the guards as they ran down the hallway. Their footsteps grew heavier. "Hurry!"
Before they had a chance to pour in from either side of the hallway, I mumbled underneath my breath: "Time Magic: Emperor's Clock." I could feel the passage of time stopping around me. All of the footsteps halted into a calming silence. I took a refreshing deep breath. "A Jester's not fit to be a king, now, is he?" I asked the king. I stretched my hand out in front of the king, striking through his chest and impaling his heart. Blood splatted onto the floor. I removed my hand from the king's chest, watching him fall to the ground as his muscles gave out.
"You damn filth," I said.
Grasping time once more, I used it to accelerate my movements to a nearby hallway before my original spell ended. I Arrived in a hallway around the corner of the room. The guards had not yet reached my vicinity; their footsteps continued. I walked toward the exit of my hallway as I watched them pass me up.
"Guards!" I cried out. "Guards!"
Some of them came to a stop. Confused, they turned their heads and looked at me.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"The king!" one of them answered back. "We heard a loud noise outside of the seating chambers of the royal family."
"Very well," I said, nodding my head. "Continue. We need to prioritize the safety of the royal family at all times." I trailed them.
As we turned the corner and entered the hallway outside of the seating chambers, I could sense the depravity in the room.
"Oh my—"
Many of the guards screamed. Some of their knees buckled, trembling before giving out. Others turned their heads and closed their eyes in hopes of discarding the awful, new memory.
"This can't be real," one of them whispered.
"No. No. No. No. No!" Another guard rambled on. His desperate cries poured out into his physical body as he stumbled backward and fell. "If the king isn't even safe... then who is he?" he said, the horror creeping in.
I pushed past the many guards blocking my view until I could see the body of the former king. I grabbed my stomach as if a pit suddenly sunk into it. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped.
"Y-your ma—" I muttered. "Your majesty..." I shook my head in denial. "I'm so sorry!" I cried out, falling to my knees. A tear slithered down my eye. I cuffed my hands to my face and let out a loud, agonizing scream with all of the breath in my lungs. A brief moment of silence fell upon us. The sound of additional footsteps echoed throughout the halls of the palace.
I took my hand and wiped my eyes with it, sniffling in the process. I took a deep breath before standing up. Looking back at the guards, I spoke. "Now is not the time to weep. As important as the king was to our land, there is nothing more we can do for him." The cold, disappointing words gathered the attention of those sinking in their sorrows; their eyes made contact with mine. "Now, we must look out for the royal family and patrol the entire palace in case the intruder remains."
They nodded collectively. A couple of them mumbled to themselves.
"You are guards," I said. "So, act like it."
"Yes sir!" they shouted out, straightening themselves.
"Now go!" I ordered them.
Their feet scurried at my command. They divided among the two openings of the hallway and further divided among the many other hallways. I called out to the last four of them exiting the hallway. "Not you, four," I said. "I need you to accompany me inside. The royal family awaits, and we should further aid them during these dire and horrific times.