I rushed to my princess crumpled on the floor in a heap of despair. Her once-radiant face now resembled a ravaged tomato, her blue eyes bloodshot and streaming with tears. Her tiny nose ran uncontrollably, like a sniffling infant's, as she clutched my arms with trembling hands.
I held her closer to myself.
The first words she uttered since I brought her from her kingdom,
"Laurent… painnn… it hurts..," she stuttered, pointing to her leg.
Her lap turned bright red, her white skin charred. She was in so much pain that I tried to control my anger but I couldn't, my hands were trembling to kill. My urge to kill increased so much, I dragged the sword from Jules, but he held my hands.
"My Prince,please don't be impulsive." I held the sword tight and took a deep breath.
"Prince Laurent the seventh, your wife is not a virgin. So I, Matha, will punish her according to the customs of the royal family." Matha said, with a slight bow.
She signals her minions to carry my princess out.
"How dare you!!" I screamed out, her minion shifted back in fear.
Her minions draw out their axes raising it at me, they have the authority in the palace to strike if any prince rejects their punishment to the unfaithful bride. My guards drew out their swords, as they advanced forward. The tension thickened, if I retaliate now the Queen mother will accuse me of Treason.
"Prince Laurent, we are doing our jobs here. This is the tradition from your forefathers, so why stop us. Are you trying to rebel against the palace rules?" said Matha, with a triumphant smirk across her face. I felt like strangling her to death.
"Matha, you invaded my palace and hurt my princess. I need an explanation," I said with a smile.
"As for tradition, the prince can be asked if he saw the blood or not. He can also be asked if his wife was a virgin. You hurt my princess, without asking permission from me."
"Prince Laurent, you were absent from your palace. So I took the liberty to punish her in your stead." said Matha, smiling like she had won a lottery.
"As per tradition, the prince didn't report to the Queen mother after the first night with his wife. You know the Queen mother is incharge of the Princesses royal court. No princess will be allowed to disobey the rules of the court. Not even the crown princess."
"That is my fault then, I had an important matter to report to the Emperor." I said, trying to swallow my boiling anger.
"May we summon her to the princess's court? To collect her dues." Matha's voice dripped with malice, her gaze piercing through me like a dagger's edge.
"Jules, call the royal physician to check on my princess." I said, carrying my princess and laid her on the bed slowly.
"Matha, I will go with you. My princess needs to be treated," I said with a smile.
"Martha, I won't forget your goodwill today. I will reward you soon."
She smiled, "My prince, I don't need a reward. I am only doing my job as the woman of Purity."
"Just soon, I will make you all pay for today's event." I thought to myself, wiping the tears falling from Tiamera's eyes.
**********************
I knelt down facing the Queen mother's throne, she knew I was here but she kept me kneeling for 2 hours.
Her palace is the most beautiful and more expensive than all the palaces in our kingdom. The Emperor palace is bigger in size but the Queen mother's palace has more expensive decorations, and her throne was made of gold.
The walls were extracted from the falling nations. In her youth, she invaded lots of kingdoms to steal from them just to build her place to be superior to the Emperor's palace. The Queen mother was a warrior, because of that she only had one child, a daughter. She couldn't have kids for the late Emperor, but she rules the kingdom behind closed doors.
Queen mother walks in being held by her Palace maid, she walks slowly like an ant. The Queen Mother is the oldest woman in the palace, she is 75 years old, but she looks like she is in her 30s. Her non-aging features remain a mystery in the kingdom. How she never grew old, she looks younger than the Emperor, her adoptive son. She loves beauty and jewelry, there is a warehouse in her palace that stores all her jewelry, golds, and jade stolen from invaded kingdoms.
"To whom do I owe this unpleasant visit?" said the Queen mother as she sits on her throne. She made a hand gesture for me to stand up.
I bowed again and stood up.
"I have come to request an advice from you on a matter concerning my wife"
"I thought you were wiser and stronger than everyone? I called for you last night and I was told you were on top of your wife. That you couldn't obey my calling." said the Queen mother playing with her nails.
I beckoned Jules, whispered to him, he nodded and left.
"I am sorry Queen mother, I sent him to check on my injured wife," I said and she gave an unpleasant nod.
"My princess was injured by Matha, your court assistant." I said, swallowing my anger.
"The purity team..Hmmm… anything they do is not under my jurisdiction. Is your wife unclean? A prince shouldn't marry a dirty woman," said the Queen mother, furrowing her brows.
"My princess is pure, we had our first night on our way here. We slept in the carriage and did it there. We are young couple, so we can do it anywhere we want. We did it in the carriage(I smiled) So I had no time to report to the princess's court on time. I saw the blood stain." I added, with a smile.
"hmmm…So Where is the evidence?" said the Queen mother, with a disgusted look.
I smiled, "I am sorry no evidence but I can guaran…."
Queen mother cuts me off, "Your words aren't a guarantee. Where is the Matchmaker that went with you? He must have done a purity test right before taking her from her parents?"
"Yes, he did a purity test. There is no way I can carry a woman touched by another man home." I defended myself.
"But where is the matchmaker?"
"He fell from the mountain and died. I was just informed this morning. So I couldn't bring him along," I said with a slight smirk on my face.
Queen mother laughed so loud, her eyes lightened up in amusement.
A maid ran in, panicking. She fell to the ground.
"How dare you disturb the Queen," said her personal maid who stood by her side.
"Fire!! Fire!! Fire!!!! Fire in your warehouse my Queen," the maid said, panicking her voice shrill with terror.
Queen mother's smile faded, she gazed at me with daggers in her eyes, her eyes filled with venomous intensity.