(Imperial palace, Queen's garden)
"Do you believe me now?"
Two figures spoke while peaking through the window with a view of the garden.
"You weren't lying..." The other one answered in a weak voice.
The image before their eyes was of Empress Katherine walking through the garden with her daughter, the same woman they were sure died last night in her sleep due to the effects of poison they put in her tea.
"There was no poison in the tea." The first one spoke again.
"But I poured the whole bottle! You watched me do it. " The second one's hands started shaking.
"I don't remember it."
"How-how is that-? I swear on my life! There was not a single drop left in that bottle!"
Two small glass bottles were shining in the sunlight as the first one pulled them out of a small brown bag, one was empty and one was full of strange clean liquid.
"It wasn't your fault, that is just how it works. Even if you stab her with a knife, she won't die, but the blood will stay on the knife."
"So it wasn't a lie? Such a bizarre thing was true?"
"It may be bizarre, but it is the truth." The first one reached out for the second one's hand and placed the full bottle on their palm, in that bottle was different from poison used last night. "Do you believe me now?" They look each other in the eyes. It took a few deep breaths before the decision was made, and the answer was said.
"I believe you."
"Then will you join us?"
"It is for the good, right? This is the right thing to do, the only right thing?"
"Yes, we must perish this land from evil. In God's name."
"In god's name." The second one repeated.
"That's right, remember this day every time you look at her. Remember that she came back to life and that you are not the only one that knows about this. Empress Katherine is the devil."
And as if the devil heard them, she stopped and looked at the window on the third floor of the Queen's palace. The sun was blocking her view, so even while covering it with her hand, she still couldn't see what caught her eye.
Katherine didn't know what actually caught her eye, but she felt the need to look up.
"Perhaps it was a bird." She said under her breath.
"Mother, are you alright?" Neftali asked, causing Katherine to turn all of her attention towards her daughter. They were walking in the Queen's garden with a huge parasol above them that the Empress was carrying. She never comes out in the sun without it.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Her mother asked with a curious look.
"I am just worried about you," Nefeli said, while looking at the ground.
"There is nothing to worry about," The Empress started walking towards the greenhouse that they were originally supposed to go to until they got carried away with the conversation and ended up at the opposite side of the garden.
Neftali chose not to say anything, instead she took a good look at her mother. The Empress was dressed in a soft lavender gown with a hat that had matching ribbons to her dress on her head. Her hair was down, which was rare, but other than that everything seemed the same as usual. The gloves on her hands, the parasol in them, mother never came out in the sun without it, her skin was so pale that even a small exposure to the sun caused severe burns. This way the parasol created a huge shade for her to walk in the garden and be protected at the same time.
Mother asked. "Did you remember what your dream was about?"
"No."
''Do you have them often?''
Neftali thought for a moment, she has never really gotten nightmares before last night, she doesn't even dream often. If she said that to her religious mother she would probably connect it to some spiritual story.
''No, only when I'm exhausted like I was yesterday.''
"You should have told me about it, rest is important for children your age."
Neftali turned her head to look at her mother's eyes that weren't looking back at her but instead somewhere far away. She was always mesmerized by their unusual shape and color. Her mother's jewel-like eyes had an interesting purple color that was mixed with light blue. Nefeli could swear that if she looked at them long enough, she could see how the colors mix with one another. Iyan laughed at her when she told him, and her nanny said it was just her imagination. Regardless, staring at her mother's eyes was Neftali's favorite thing to do before falling asleep. However, after she was too old to sleep in her mother's bed she stopped doing that simply because there was never an opportunity to check if she could still see that weird phenomena or was it really just a product of her own imagination.
Those eyes were blue like water yesterday.
"I am fine, mother." Neftali started to see it now. Her skin was whiter and her hair lighter, her eyes started losing its color, it was like she was fading away.
But perhaps it is best not to mention it.
"Come here!" A male voice yelled.
A sudden noise of running was heading towards them.
"Catch me if you can!" The other one, also male, laughed back.
Neftali, confused, looked at her mother who just covered her eyes with her hand and said to herself. "In my garden."
The running got closer to them, and Neftali spotted two male figures running and jumping over the bushes and flowers, trying not to fall into one of them. They yelled back and forth, Neftali heard the clinging of the sword and shortly after realized who those two men were.
After all, it was the sight she saw every morning, it was actually a thing that woke her up every morning in the academy.
Her brother and Sir Leonard, who taught him sword fighting since he was little, were always the first one to start training in the morning before anyone normal would wake up. They were always loud, yelling and running across the training grounds right outside Neftali's dorm room.
Now, as it looks like, they plan to make the Empress's garden their new training grounds. But knowing her mother, Neftali knew that she wouldn't let that slide. Especially not in front of her eyes.
"You are as slow as ever, old man," Crown Prince Iyan said right before trying to run away from Sir Leonard only to notice his mother who he almost crashed into.
"Mo-Mother?" Iyan muttered and tripped on his own feet, causing him to drop his sword.
Empress places a small and angry smile on her face. On Iyan's face appeared the look of a scared boy that made Neftali giggle.
The Empress approached her son and started fixing his hair, if you weren't able to see the look on his face you would never know she was actually pulling his hair, only slightly, so he had to endure it.
"Iyan."
"Yes mother?" She was still pulling his hair, only this time it was quite noticeable.
"Does my garden look like a training ground to you?"
"No mother."
"And if I recall correctly, your classes start today. Is that right?" She let go of him.
"Yes mother."
The Empress raised her eyebrow. "Why are you here, then?"
The Crown prince took a step back and bowed to his mother before returning to the palace, running at first, but since her gaze was never taken from his back, he started walking.
The Empress picked up the sword that was left before her feet.
"Leonard of Vendrig," she called out for the blonde haired man in a shirt and black pants that was trying to escape but failed.
"Your Majesty," he bowed as she approached him.
Neftali always liked Sir Leonard, despite being a son from the richest family in the empire, she was never scared of him or blinded by his beauty like other girls her age. Her friend told her it's because she was in his presence from an early age. Mother used to bring Neftali to Iyan's swordsmanship practice, they would watch them for hours from the balcony on the first floor right above the training grounds. Later in life, she would sit under an oak tree while Sir Leonard and Iyan did things such as learning how to fight or playing with a ball they stole from the temple.
Sir Leonard could also be found by her mother's side. In the past, you could see them walking through the open hallways of the Imperial palace or having tea in her office for the report on Iyan's progress.
He offered to teach Neftali too, but she, who never had any interest in barbaric things such as swordsmanship, declined the generous offer. But it is not like he never taught her anything, Neftali was often picked on because she in some ways resembled Sir Leonard, that bothered her only because she was worried about her mother's reputation. A fun thing Sir Leonard knew how to do very well was to insult people in a way they don't notice right away. He often played with words while talking to people he didn't like, and he taught Neftali how to do that too. Her mother even caught her using that type of language once and scolded both of them, like she was about to do just now.
"Now you should know I never held a sword in my life, but that could change if you step on my gladiolas again." The Empress handed over her son's sword while giving him a sour look.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Sir Leonard took the prince's sword while trying his best to avoid her gaze.
"Don't come uninvited in my garden ever again."
"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed once again and left as fast as he could walk.
Even though she liked him, Neftali never understood why her mother liked him enough to let him act recklessly.
"My poor flowers," the Empress said to herself as soon as both of the troublemakers left.
Neftali didn't know what to do, she was honestly afraid of being scolded like her brother if she said the wrong thing.
"Should I call the gardener?" Neftali finally decided to ask.
"No need," her mother stood up,"only a few leaves are damaged. Should I call it my garden if I couldn't take care of something so simple?" The empress returned to her original path towards the greenhouse.
"Besides, a few damaged leaves can't ruin a whole flower."
Neftali got lost in thoughts for a second and rushed to catch up with her mother before the tea that was waiting for them got cold.