The blood dripped down the blade of her sword as Rayne had slain the last the enemy within her reach and she turned and ran further down the corridor and as she came to the great hall and all she could see where the bodies of soldiers littering the ground, friend and foe lay lifeless and then she saw King Viktor lying in the centre of the hall and she ran to the side of the fallen king and knelt by him. “My lord” The king was barely breathing and did not open his eyes and Rayne looked up as more soldiers entered the great hall and Rayne stood up “Take the king to his chambers and have the physician examine him but he may be beyond our help” The soldiers obeyed and walked over to the king to lift his bodies and remove it from the room.

 

An older solider walked to Rayne his face worn and weathered with cuts and bruises from the battle, “Nickolas, its nice to see you have survived, what of the enemy?” she asked the old soldier, “They are retreating, we have won” Rayne sighed,

“Have we won? The king may die and they may return to take their revenge for the death of their leader” he gave Rayne a sad smile.

“This is a victory and Malcolm had no heirs to avenge him and his people will be too busy fighting each other for leadership to think about returning and attacking us again. The king may die but we are still strong and Varna will be a great ruler like her father.” Rayne nodded, “It’s not Varna that troubles me, Varia may not share your views on Varna succeeding her father and how are the princesses?”

“They are alive they will want news on their father,”

“I will go and see them, and you must see to the fortifications and we must get rid of the bodies before they start spreading disease, we must burn them and see to the townspeople”

 

“I will take care of it, you go find the girls and see to the king” Rayne nodded and then left the great hall and headed for the safe room that was build to protect the family from any invasion, it could only be opened from the inside once sealed. As she moved through the castle she could smell the death around her as she passed the bodies of the soldiers that defended the castle and the ones of the enemy. Rayne passed the castle gardens and a once beautiful place was now littered with death and blood, she sighed and she finally reached the safe room which had 2 guards standing on the outside of the door.

 

Rayne walked up to the guards and stood in front of them “Are the princesses still safe inside?”

“Yes sir! We were awaiting confirmation of the enemy being gone before we allow them to leave”

“The enemy is gone and the king is in critical condition, it is time for them to come out and see their father” One of the guards pulled a rope next to the door 3 times and then the door to the safe room opened and the two princesses came out from hiding. Varia smiled as she saw Rayne and rushed to her wrapping her arms around her neck “I feared for you with all of those soldiers, I’m so glad that you are alive and well” she pulled back kissing Rayne’s cheek as she stood in front of her. Rayne smiled at Varia “Its going to take more than a few soldiers to get rid of me,”

 

Varna stepped up beside Varia to address Rayne, “I am also glad you are ok, how is my father?” the smile faded from Rayne’s face.

“I am afraid that the king was badly wounded during the battle, the physician is with him now but it is not likely that he will survive his wounds.” Varia’s smiled had also faded “come, I will take you to him” they both nodded and walked along side Rayne to their fathers chambers, Rayne took hold of Varia’s hand as they walked and she gripped it tightly as she was afraid to lose her father.

 

As they entered the kings chambers they stood at the bottom of the kings bed, the physician had bandaged the wounds but the king was still unconscious and the physicians mood was dark and he looked up to the princesses “I’m sorry all I can do is make him commutable, his wounds are fatal and I’m afraid that he may not last through the night.” He bowed his head and then walked passed them and left the room. Varna walked to the side of her father’s bed and knelt down holding his hand as Varia stayed standing next to Rayne holding on tight to her hand “I will leave you and Varna to spend some time with your father,” Varia gripped her hand tighter.

“Please don’t go, stay with me” Rayne smiled and place her other hand on Varia’s face and stroked the skin, “You must spend this time with your family and I must tent to my other duties, say goodbye to your father, I will see you a bit later” Varia nodded and let go of Rayne’s hand as she left the room leaving the two princesses alone with their dying father.

 

Rayne walked through the castle passing the soldiers moving the dead from the floors and servants cleaning the blood and soon the castle will look as it did before the attack. Rayne reached a room with large wooden doors and soldiers outside guarding as they seen her coming they opened the doors and she entered the war room. Nickolas was standing by a large round table along with some other soldiers and they looked up as Rayne walked towards them. “How are the girls?”

“They are with their father saying goodbye”

“We must prepare for the death and the succession of our new queen” one of the younger men added. Rayne locked eyes with Nickolas, “The people are all grieving for the loss of family and homes, once we have a queen crowned we must have a grand festival for the people to lift their spirits and place their minds elsewhere” The younger man stepped closer to Rayne, “once we have a queen crowned? You sound as if there is a choice to be made, Varna will succeed her father” an older man with red hair stepped forward, “The king has made no written will stating who will succeed him but Varia is quite popular with the people and the court”

“She is no queen, Varna is the eldest twin and is more level headed she would make a better queen than Varia and being the eldest by law she is to succeed her father.” The younger man added.

“Varia has more of a mind for ruling than you may think and..”

“Yes we all know your loyalties lie with Varia, you’re never far from her bed that’s no secret”

“Enough!” Nickolas sighed “We cannot be dragged into a civil war after what we have all just been through.”

They all nodded their agreement.

 

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Varia sat on a seat by her father’s bed and she could hear his breathing becoming shallower her hand held his and she looked up as Varna moved towards the door. “Where are you going?” Varna turned to face her sister “To see Nickolas, there are things needed to be done and many decisions to be made, we must prepare or father’s funeral.”

“He has not even passed yet and you already want to rid the world of his body? Or is it your own succession you are thinking about”

“Varia, father is going to die there is nothing to be done about that but what we can do is prepare his way to the next life as swiftly as we can for him. My heart breaks to see him go but the city is recovering from the attack and we must endeavour to make the change as easy as possible for them.”

“We must seeks out the Vors and destroy them we must avenge our father and home.”

“No Varia there will be no more killing, the Vors have lost their leader and have retreated, we have won and we must take care of our home and people not throw our soldiers into another battle” Varna let the room leaving Varia with her father and turned her gaze back to his. Tears were falling from her eyes, “Don’t worry father we will have vengeance for what has happened here, they will pay for taking you from us and if Varna won’t do this then I must whatever it takes.”

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Rayne entered the king’s chambers and saw Varia still sitting with her father but there was no sign of Varna. Varia smiled when she saw Rayne “Where is your sister?” Varia sighed,

“She went to find Nickolas to make plans she said, she refuses to take this opportunity while the enemy are retreating and unorganised to attack, we need to make them pay for what they have done”

“Varia, we have taken a hard hit today and should not be think about more bloodshed” Varia stood up and walked towards Rayne “So you are also against me?”

“I am not against you its just everyone’s spirits are broken and a battle may not be the best course of action right now.”

 

“Their spirits will be lifted once we have our revenge, if we do not show the enemy we are strong and can retaliate then it will leave others to believe we are weak and may incur more attacks, we need to make our stand and protect our kingdom.”

“I understand how you feel but Varna will not condone it she will do what she can to help us recover but she will not retaliate”

“Then perhaps my sister should not rule if she does not have the strength to do what is needed” Rayne took Varia’s hand, “Don’t do this”

“I’m afraid I must, I will have my revenge over the Vors but first I must take care of my sister and anyone loyal to her are you with me? As I do need your help and support” Rayne nodded.

“I am with you”

“Good now we must determine whose loyalties we can trust or buy at least.” Varia smiled and turned back to her father and saw that he was no longer breathing; he had passed to the next life to start his journey anew.