The tales of which he had the “honour” of going through were by no means for the faint-hearted. Although, they were a source of his distress and eternal misery, they were also the ones that ultimately pulled him through all the wretches of the world. His childhood taught him to be the man he is today. Keeping those stories even to himself was not so much for protecting the vulnerable psyche of his people, but also to maintain his image of the cruel, merciless tyrant king that he was. In his kingdom, there was no room for weakness, not from his subjects and more so, not from himself. He was the pillar that held this whole nation together and he knew it. That was the reason, why even the Queen, the closest person to His Majesty married a man, whom even to this day she does not know anything about. The Queen was terrified of her husband and what he was capable of. She saw a lot of anger and hatred behind his cloudy stares that were almost always accompanied by a frown, making him appear even more stern. It has been two weeks since she got married and despite holding the second highest position in the kingdom, she saw no prospects of light in her future, unless that person changed.

“Swoosh”… The raised axe glistened in the sunset’s glory that was peeking through the enormous windows of the throne room. The Queen clutched her seat. Her fists turning white as she continued to dig her nails into her palms. Cold sweat dripping down her back and sides of her face. Gulp. She knew what was coming, but she still felt horrified of the event unfolding in front of her eyes. She wanted to shut them and not notice the pleading look of a man whose life was about to abruptly end, but she could not. The King was watching her every move. Unless she wanted to be next, she needed to watch through the entire execution. “Chop” and the head flew right to the throne’s feet. The Queen stuffed a scream. She turned to the King, only to find him taking a deep breath through his nose with a wide sickening smile, as he was savouring the smell of iron that was quickly filling up the room. He turned to her and grinned sinisterly. He extended his hand to her.

“Let us now retire for the night of the sweetest dreams, my Queen.”

JN