As was to be expected of a legendary warrior, Melinda killed people all the time, but when murder cannot be openly displayed, it is a much lengthier process than carving the blade into the enemy's chest - a process that she knew very well and was about to go through again. Because she had placed her hands into a pocket on her dress, no one had noticed anything strange enough for them to question her about, and even though she had found herself staring into the distance a few times, this was the norm for her, so no one questioned her about that either, even if they did whisper about it among themselves, which she heeded no attention to. 

She believed that she had planned the coverup well, but, of course, it was much easier for her to imagine everything in her head than to apply it to the real world. For most of the day, she tried to behave as she usually did, which was hard at times because the memory of what she had done and what she needed to clean up came back to her at several points throughout the day, but it was the end of the day that was the most important.

Amanda, whom she had indisputably been planning to frame for the murder this entire time, was a sleepwalker, which she had become familiarised with throughout her captivity. The noblemen and noblewomen who inhabited the castle tended to go to sleep at ten in the evening, for the most part, therefore it was safe for her to enter Amanda's bedroom after waiting for half an hour. The people around her tended to value sleep far more than she did, and even though everyone believed that she had forgiven Amanda, Amanda was still generally avoided as much as she could be, which was understandable.

Having fallen asleep a couple of seconds ago, the woman in question flinched at the creak of her bedroom door, waking up in cold sweat due to a reason she herself could not quite grasp. In the beginning, even though she had seen Melinda's silhouette, she had not seen it clearly, so it could have been anyone as far as she knew. 

When she saw that it was Melinda, with a wide smile on her face and a lively gleam in her eyes as well, she was overwhelmed with relief. Of course, she viewed it as peculiar that she would visit her in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep, but it was Melinda, and therefore she felt no need to question anything. Instead, she stood up eagerly, more than ready to initiate the conversation.

"Hello, Madam Bellerose," she said, waving energetically. "What could you be doing here?"

Melinda gave her a stern look. "Come with me."

"What could this mean-" Amanda began before being hit in the head by a heavy object she had no time to identify before passing out.

The next thing Amanda knew, she was in the study. Luckily for her, the curtains were open, therefore she could tell that the dawn of the following day had risen, which was not good at all, but which did not surprise her too much in the beginning, for she was a sleepwalker. While trying to make sense of everything, she looked around carefully. 

Everything seemed normal if one were to glance at the windows and the walls and the impressive collection of books on the shelf across from her, but everything was not normal when she remembered how she had gotten there the night before, especially not when she looked at the floor. 

The corpse of her king lay cold on the floor, staring blankly at whatever it saw beyond, never to open its eyes again. The body had been stabbed brutally in the chest with the dagger she was holding at that exact moment, not having realised it before she could get a good grasp on her surroundings and feel the metal and blood forced into her right hand. Her mind was engulfed by all sorts of negative emotions, mainly sadness and wrath, clouded by confusion because she had no idea what was going on. 

She could not think of anything but who was the best potential candidate to have committed such a heinous betrayal, having excluded Melinda immediately. Although the woman in question had visited her mysteriously the night before and knocked her out with no explanation, she could not help but trust her. 

After all, she had proven herself on many occasions, and in the two years they were forced to be together, she saw no real reason to distrust her, only a few small hints of corruption. Besides, she had forgiven her, had she not? It must have been foul play beyond the likes of anything she could ever have imagined.

But that did not matter now. All that mattered was the fact that she was doomed if she could not act quickly. She walked around the room nervously for several minutes, having no idea what to do. Out of all the people in the castle, she was the most suspicious one, and there was no telling what Melinda would do if she saw her like this, given their complicated relationship. Within this land, she had all the power she ever could have dreamed of, and it seemed that nothing could step in her way. 

At that moment, she felt a tinge of sizzling, toxicant envy burn through her heart at the thought of it. She knew very well that said paragon had her own little miseries buried deep within her soul, but it was certainly much better to be her with her countless advantages, mostly the aforementioned power. But that did not matter now either, now did it?

It especially did not matter when Melinda herself burst into the room, accompanied by three guards, crying and screaming at the top of her lungs when she saw the pitiful decayed body of her husband. It did not look particularly horrible, mostly because it was still fresh, but seeing him so pale and lifeless must have had a terrible effect on her mind, or so Amanda imagined. 

Her queen resembled a ghost of a tragic figure that had come back to haunt the castle grounds with her intense display of hysteria, her eyes wide open in abject horror and sorrow, releasing tears that could not fall quickly enough, her jaw trembling with all the pain within her tormented soul as she screamed about how dreadful this tragedy was and how the world was wretched and foul, forcing Amanda to feel much pity for her, even if she knew what was likely to ensue.

"Murderer!" Melinda shrieked shortly after, pointing a finger at her as if she were a freak. "Execute her!"

A shiver crept up Amanda's spine. "My Queen, I promise you that this isn't what it seems like. You've known me to be a sleepwalker for a while now, and I don't know how I've found myself here, so I hope you'll trust me enough to defend my name."

Melinda snorted. "And why should I do that?"

Amanda clasped her hands as she stood up. "Please, Your Majesty, show me some compassion. You paid me a brief visit last night, and even if the murder had been committed beforehand, there's clear evidence that I hadn't done the deed, no matter how guilty I may seem. You know that I've come here for a second chance, and you know that it makes no sense for me to waste my second chance so stupidly, so I beg you to understand me."

Melinda glared at her. "We all know very well that you have the most to gain from murdering him. Execute her already."

"Am I not going to get to defend myself in court?" Amanda asked as the guards tied her hands behind her back tightly. "Shouldn't I at least have that relief?"

"No. Your life is over now, you traitor," Melinda said coldly, and it seemed to Amanda that she could see a bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes for a second as she spoke.

Amanda pushed and pulled with all the strength in her body, but the guards' grip on her hands was so strong that it rendered all her efforts useless. As she began to weep, Melinda marched right in front of her and tied her mouth as well, and while she did that, she could see all the powerful pain in Amanda's eyes. No one said anything as they all went to the courtyard, where the gallows had been standing for a while, this being a time during which they were used constantly.

They were stopped dead in their tracks when, after getting out of the study, they were approached by Marius and Seraphina, those poor unfortunate parents of the King. When the two of them saw what was going on, they looked at the scene in horror, both of them attempting to speak, but neither of them knew what to say.

"Your son is dead," Melinda spoke, pointing at Amanda. "And she was the one who killed him. I am sorry to have to inform you of his death in this manner, but there is nothing I could have done about it. She will be hanged shortly."

"There is no need for you to apologise, my dear," Seraphina said through tears while Amanda was vigorously shaking her head in the background. "We know very well that you always try to do what is best for us, and also that there is nothing you could have done to stop the cruel whims of Fate. You will always be like a daughter to us, much unlike that dirty peasant rat who dares to leech off of our kindness. But I suppose it was our own folly that we showed her kindness in the first place, for someone like her could never return it. Let her hang, and let us be done with it then."

"The age of Maya Koren has come again," Marius said, placing his palm upon his forehead. "A poor person who is shown gratitude decides to lie and cheat and steal in that name, culminating in the utmost betrayal of principles. Such radiant evil shall not live in this land as long as we are allowed to prevent it, and you, Miss Collins, will not gain anything from murdering your King, do you hear me? Treason of the Crown needs to be punished with the utmost brutality in order to restore peace, is it not so?"

Amanda was deeply troubled by his analogy, even though she'd become more than ready to tolerate being mocked for her low-class upbringing throughout the four painful decades of her life. Maya Koren, one of the many rulers of the legendary Xarian Empire that existed centuries ago, was a woman about whom one could not say a kind word.

She had indeed come from poverty, as had many people, particularly in her time, when poverty wracked the land due to a powerful plague, but she was never grateful for anything, thinking herself to be better than everyone around her, harassing whoever was inferior to her, and wanting many things that none should want, willing to do anything to get them.

And get them she did. Maya, although her heart was black with cruelty, knew to act nice when she had to. She also valued knowledge above all else, believing it to be one of the most precious things in the world, right below decadence. She had to learn a lot to get the crown, mostly dark spells made by evils ancient and unknown, whom she was unendingly eager to be a prized host to. 

After having seduced the King and murdered the pretty young woman who was to be his bride - the King's heart was black, too, so he was not mad at her for doing so - during her reign, she was known to use her dark spells from the evil book that she owned, an evil book resembling the likes of-

The Spells From Shadows! Melinda owns the book now!

"You can go now," said Melinda to Douglas's parents and the guards, smiling brightly at them. "Amanda and I will come soon."

They did so immediately. The moment they left, Amanda glared at Melinda with much hatred, overwhelmingly curious to see how the other woman would react. A shiver went up her spine when Melinda smirked at her, her eyes gleaming with malice. 

"You saw my book, right?" she said through laughter. "It is a pity that you can do nothing about it. I may have murdered my husband, but you will still die the death of a traitor for all your previous crimes. All in the name of the law."

Amanda looked at her with a kind of despair in her eyes that screamed How could you?

"All in the name of the law," Melinda muttered to herself while dragging Amanda to the gallows, arriving at her intended destination in a few minutes' time.

Around the gallows, many people were gathered on the benches, staring sternly at the scene. Illuminated by the bright sunlight as birds and butterflies sang and flew around her, Amanda stood helplessly above the judgmental crowd, a group of guards forcing her to approach the rope before the executioner could tie it swiftly around her neck.

She'd never seen him before, but due to a momentary glimpse, she could see that he was tall, grim and strong, the latter of which came to be very clear to her when, after the rope had been twisted into a knot around her neck, he tied it a little more tightly, after which her face started to become blue because of all the pain that she was feeling, and it was obvious that he was being restrained at the time.

"We have come here today to hang a traitor of the Crown," he said in a booming voice. "She has been found guilty of the murder of the King in the name of Patrick Hemingway, and now she'll get all the justice that she deserves. Before she hangs, is there anyone who'd like to say anything about it?"

Amanda looked at the crowd from all sides, and even though it was exactly what she'd been expecting, she was overwhelmed by the hatred that came from most of their eyes. The Queen stared at her with cold, emotionless neutrality; Maria stared at her with pity, and Theresa stared at her with uncertainty, as if she had a feeling that it wasn't her, but also no idea who else it could've been. Everyone else expressed hatred, even her little sister, Cecilia, whom she'd sacrificed as much as she could for. Maybe it was a trick of the light or a mere act. With a fleeting hope, she waved at Cecilia energetically just to make sure. 

No answer came, but the stare of contempt remained.

"It is time then. Let justice be done upon her," the executioner said, strangling her with the rope, using all the force in his body.

As her surroundings were overcome by the black curtain of Death, she looked at the crowd one last time, just to see if something had changed. Not much had changed, especially not the hatred that came from all the strangers, along with her sister, and also not the emotions written on Maria and Theresa's faces, but, as she released her last painful breath, she saw in the Queen's eyes the gleam of something she couldn't have imagined to see.

Guilt.

With a solemn expression, Melinda walked up to Douglas's parents after everyone else had left and Amanda's body had been taken care of, staring right into their souls. "I know how harrowing this must be for you. Your son was killed the day before, and now you have had a hanging, which is never good, no matter the circumstances. You need some time to grieve in peace and solitude, especially now that the Crown does not belong to you any longer. I heard you bought a weekend house in Eade last year, and I am sure it would be nice for you to stay there as long as you need to, away from the cruelties of the world in a place of wealth and beauty. Do not worry about anything. The Crown is in my hands now."

"Thank you, dear daughter," said Seraphina, shaking her hand. "You are in the right. There is no reason to worry about anything now that the throne is yours. Thank you in advance for everything you will have to do for the period of time in which we are not here, no matter its length. We will make sure to have a good time in Eade, and we will write to you whenever we can. Good luck, and good times to you as well."

"Thank you. Farewell," Melinda said with a frown, smirking to herself the moment they were gone, heading back into the palace before anyone could see her.