The view as the sun rose was beautiful. This is all she looks forward to every single morning. This and nothing else. She has no motivation in this life; nothing keeps her going. She hopes to die soon. But death isn't something you can bring upon yourself here.
She lets down her snow-white hair that lands softly onto her back. She smiles, leaning over the balcony, letting the soft breeze brush gently over her pale skin. The glowy orange hue of the sun reflected itself on her milky skin.
She can feel the footsteps behind her. She knew exactly who that was, and a frown immediately settled on her face.
"My lad-"
"I'm having my day off today. I don't want to be disturbed."
She states in an annoyed manner not turning back to face whoever was behind her.
"But you had your day off yesterday."
"And I'll have another day off today too."
"His highness, the king's orders."
She then groans in frustration and turns back to look at her, her red eyes piercing right through her personal maid.
"Deal with it, I don't care how. I have somewhere I need to be."
"My princess, an important event is to take place today. You of all people cannot afford to miss this."
Event?
Why was she unaware of anything that was to happen today? Well, of course! Her damn brothers would never tell her.
Her personal maid noted the confusion flickering in her eyes and immediately explained the situation.
"Your eldest brother has been out for a fortnight in attempts to capture the reaper my lady. Today, we received the news that he successfully managed to capture the reaper. His troop is on its way back from the mission and will arrive soon. The execution of the reaper will in hand take place as soon as they arrive. As a royal high ranked witch you are requested to be present. Your father, his highness, and the higher council gave out the orders." She bowed. "Everything is ready. If you need anything else, be sure to call me." She walked out of the room hastily, most likely avoiding any orders from the princess.
The reaper.
The reaper who had killed a lot of her people.
Her mother included.
The late queen.
The thought of that left a bitter taste in her mouth.
She wants to rip it apart with her own hands. Normally , a representative guardian of the royal family would kill such. But she wasn't a guardian anymore. So probably, they just request her presence because her power is needed to kill.
She will do it regardless.
.
.
She dressed herself today in her guardian uniform and made her hair into a bun.
Looking at the mirror, she got nothing but bitter memories. Maybe if she killed the reaper today she might get rid of the bitterness in her heart.
Maybe.
Probably not.
The thought of it only made her more bitter. What would she even gain by that? Would she consider that revenge?
Revenge?
What even is the point of revenge?
She would still do it.
She got out of her room with her sword in her hand. She threw it over to one of her guards.
"Last minute brushes. Make it sharper than ever."
"Y-Y-Yes M-my lady!!!"
He wasn't the only shaky one.
Everyone on the hallway; the maids and guards all stood there with shock written all over their faces. What happened to the princess? Her uniform....it had been years since anyone saw her clad in it.
The only person who had a normal resting face was her personal maid. She wasn't intimidated at all.
The princess then pointed at two of her guards. "The two of you come with me. The rest of you are free from duty for now."
She declared and majestically walked through the hallways headed for the throne room.
It had been close to a year since she had been in the throne room. Damn, she really detached herself from this royal life!!
The halls whispered behind her. Due to her heightened senses, she could basically hear everything, but she ignored them.
She quit being a guardian and spent all her time in her room reading pointless books, as they would term it. After the queen's death, she descended from being the invincible warrior princess to a very dainty and fragile princess who was couped up in her room reading.
She hadn't landed a single order to her guards , only occasionally asking them to bring her daisies or roses. Or when she wanted a piggy back ride across her garden.
So, yes. Their shock was valid.
.
.
.
The double doors leading to the throne room opened, revealing the princess standing there majestically. Her six brothers were all sitted there. They all glared at her as if she didn't belong there or she was doing something illegal. Her father who sat at the throne stared at her and blinked im confusion. She walked over stealthily to where her brothers stood.
She bowed to the king.
"I'll kill him."
She declared.
Before she could say another word, the throne room was filled with a deafening laughter.
Cruel. Mocking. Relentless.
Her brothers were laughing at her.
She wasn't surprised at all. Of all the things that could have happened when she walked in here, she had expected this the most. Nothing made her budge. Not even their words.
"Oh so she's done fantasizing with her useless books now she wants to kill the reaper?!Back to your useless books princess-"
"She thinks she's the main character or something!!!!"
"Get back to your room!!! We don't need a weakling right now."
"Might as well follow your mother to the grave. No wonder you are so weak. A pathetic woman, of course, gave birth to a pathetic little bitch like you-"
She didn't budge. But the king did. Clearly offended and enraged.
"Enough."
Silence.
"Iris will do the execution."
"But-"
"And the next time, I'll forget you are my children if you if you disrespect my wife." He declared, and waved his hand in the air as a sign of dismissal.
They all walked out of the throne room, all lurking behind Iris.
She ignored them. She always does. Of course, they curse at her, spit insults and threats. All which mean nothing to Iris.
Iris walked to the execution floor, which sat directly across from her chambers.
Weird, right?
All her life she has witnessed countless executions.
Ever since she was a child.
Traumatic, right?
This is the first time she stepped into the room. Her eyes wander around grasping every single detail of this room where countless murders occurred. She walks slowly over the dried up blood. On one corner she sees the stack of bones, probably from all those who lost their lives here.
The stench of blood.
Suffocating.
She takes out her white handkerchief and covers her nose. How do the guards even survive in here?
At the wall, she sees a lot of writings. Some in the symbols her people use, others in recognizable symbols and others in symbols she's never seen before.
So many people have died here.
People from different places.
They probably deserved it.
Her eye notices a very familiar symbol on the wall.
Her name.
Iris.
Why is her name written on the wall?
Before she asks, one of her guards walk in with her sword in her hand. He hands it over to her.
"The first prince has arrived through the gate, my princess. The procession has commenced."
Fuck that stupid murderous procession.
She hates it.
But this time, its different. She wants to attend. She must do it.
"Understood. I'll be there in a minute."
He bows respectfully and exits the room.
The princess walks over to the window. There, she can see the whole procession from afar as they approach the golden gates that lead to the castle.
Every single person on the city's streets chanted his eldest brother's name.
She laughed.
He probably did not contribute anything in the whole mission.
Except probably giving out orders, of Course.
He was the eldest, yet the weakest of the current princes.
Ironic.
And, just like his other five brothers- excluding Iris' younger brother- he wanted the throne so bad.
So, Iris concluded that this whole mission was definitely for the throne.
Who wouldn't want him to be king now that he had 'captured' one of the biggest threats in the entire kingdom that has been around for about two centuries.
"Pft! That bastard is gonna take a brave and strong guardian's credit just because he wants the throne! I'm sure of it"
Even though it bothers her so much, this is definitely none of her business.
She can't wait.
To kill someone?
Not just someone.
The reaper.
Just as she was about to turn to leave, she noticed something, rather someone perched on top of the golden gate.
Cloaked up with their face completely covered up.
Perfectly still.
Who was that?
And why were they staring at the reaper like that?
Iris looked back down at the reaper and noticed that he had looked up at them fear visible on the reaper's face.
Was the person planning on killing the reaper?
The person flicked two knives against each other.
The princess instinctively knew what was about to happen and she knew she had to move immediately.
"GUARDS!!!" she screamed, "ABOVE THE GATE!! MOVE-"
Too late.
The person was fast.
So damn fast.
When the guards took notice of the figure atop the gates, the cloaked figure leapt down and chopped the reaper's head off.
Just like that.
One clean swipe.
Like it was a damn easy job.
The figure, satisfied, turned back and leapt back onto the gate, then onto the roofs of the houses nearby and he took off like a ghost.
Everyone was shocked, including the prince, and they stood there processing whatever was going on.
The princess however, was pissed beyond reasoning. This was her kill. Who dares take away her kill?
Rage lit inside her.
Just as a hunter would react to another person taking its prey, she leapt out through the window of the execution room and immediately went after the killer.
The figure was fast.
But not as fast as a guardian with royal blood and a high ranked witch.
The princess grew impatient, as she wanted to beat the shit out of that jerk as soon as possible. She would kill them. Rip the life out of them!
Kill?
Yes. Kill them.
"Stop running right this instance. Or I'll-"
Her statement was cut short as the person running from her sent not less that 10 blades towards her. Oh, this was fun!!
Finally, she went against someone who actually matched her skill.
She skillfully dodged all the blades and sent one right back at the person.
It missed.
She had no choice but to use her magic. With a few words, a white beam glowed from her hands and went straight to her target . The target stopped moving and let out a groan.
An immobility spell.
"Got you!!"
She then ran to where the figure stood as many of her royal guards surrounded the target too with weapons ready just in case of anything. With one swift movement, the princess took off the cloak that covered his face.
Everyone gasped including the princess.
"You are….a girl?"
.
.