It was over or it began.

I stared at her body as it fell to the floor, toppling from the chair with another crack as she folded. I stabbed her multiple times after the blow that killed her. Out of pain, fury and the desire to silence the itch. Her hand was outreached while her legs were contorted, almost parallel to the wedding ceremony. I blinked back tears as I stared at the amount of blood covering her and the floor.

It had to be done.

The itch told me she needed to die and it wouldn't let her live any longer. The knife fell from my hand and clattered to the floor. Blood pumped through my ears, masking the echo. My chest heaved, throat tightening with each breath I tried to take. My hands were encrusted with blood.

As I wiped them on my dress, the doors to the dining hall opened. In the middle of them stood Hona and Qia with perplexed expressions. He pushed her back, shielding her from the horror. Qia stayed by the threshold, looking at me with concern.

I felt like I was back in the river, waiting to be viewed as a monster. I backed up, cornered, not able to escape. Hona approached me and looked me over. There was a shift in his expression when he saw the blood on my dress and coated on my fingers.

"Mara?" he whispered, walking around the table. There was a tremble in his gaze as he stared around the room. "Where is Baria?"

Her name made my ears ring. I stared at the ground and picked up the knife. It was no longer warm in my hands but cold. Baria's silver eyes stared at me, lifeless and weak from the ground. I looked at Hona, fingers tight on the handle. His eyes traveled to the knife and he stopped inches from me.

I gritted my teeth and brandished my chosen weapon. "Leave me alone!"

"Mara, what happened?" His voice was low and calm.

I thought he would be unruly like Jonga was. I imagined he would hurt me like him, cutting into my flesh until it was bone. I shook my head, Hona was appearing to be more understanding than I initially thought. A lump grew in my throat as I waited for the understanding to vanish and betrayal to come. I was fooling myself.

"It had to be done," I said through the lump. "She was not the queen Udan needed. She was hurting people. Hona, if I didn't do anything, she would hurt everyone."

"Mara..."

I brandished it again. I was right. He didn't understand.

"Qia and Tiroa suffered because of her and so has this entire village! She was plotting to kill me. It was blatant to see... Hona, if I didn't defend myself I would be in her place." I looked down at Baria's body and imagined the stranger I knew as myself on the floor. Ivory hair and pale skin with crimson blood leaking from my chest and throat.

He held out a hand like he had in the river. I wasn't the damsel anymore, I was the danger, the enemy.

My stomach clenched as I stared at him. "I will not let these people suffer!" I screeched, stepping back. "I will murder anyone just to bring justice to those who deserve it! Even you. You've shown me kindness, Hona, but I must do what is best for Udan."

"What is best for Udan?"

He didn't need to know. If I told him, that was going to make things worse.

He realized I wasn't going to tell him. "Put the knife down," he ordered. "I will not hurt you, I promise."

"You've seen it for yourself!" I continued like I didn't hear him, tears running down my face. "The way that she treated them."

He nodded, pain on his face. "I have."

"Then do you understand?"

He didn't answer, his hand still outheld. I took another step back and plucked the silver crown from her head. Hona still stared at me as I placed it onto my head. "I can bring them justice," I repeated. "I can be the queen they need." I would not be a tyrant like Baria was.

"Mara," he whispered. "You don't know what you've done."

I wiped my face, the blood spread on my cheeks. I was savage like a wild woman in the woods. Everything they claimed me to be. I thought Hona was going to strike me down at any given moment, since I killed their precious queen. I grappled the knife, ready to strike. It was him or me. Fight or survive.

"You've freed me," he whispered, his eyes blurring with tears.

I wasn't expecting this. "What?"

"Thank you." He fell to his knees, bowing until his head touched the floor. "Thank you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You are thanking me?"

"We were under her rule for so long. I felt like I had nowhere to go and when she took Anai from me." His voice fell. He swallowed and continued, "I wasn't sure if I was alive anymore. I was chained to her side, deprived of freedom and now.... You've given that back to me." Tears melted from his eyes. I saw the pain from before when we were in his Kaijan's bedroom.

I blinked. "I did?"

"You freed Udan from tyranny." He stood, his throat constricting visibly. "You've given Anai peace by killing her killer," he explained. "You've given my pain peace."

"I'm glad," I whispered, unsure of what to say.

He placed a hand on his chest. "Under divine law, you are crowned queen of Udan. We never thought this day would come."
"I'm truly queen?"

He nodded.

"Even though I am thought of as a Kaijan?"

"You are the freer," he explained. "A bringer of a new dawn."

I smiled, feeling light as a feather. The itch was gone, burrowed under my flesh. For a moment, I imagined this is what freedom was. "Will you stand by me?"

Hona smiled back. "I will," he vowed. "You have my word and my spear."

We walked out of the dining hall, receiving glares from Qia. "What happened?" she inquired, stepping back as her face shifted in horror. She took in my appearance and looked inside the dining room. "Where is Baria?"

Hona looked at her and laughed like a giddy child with tears in his eyes. "We are free."

Her eyes widened and she looked at me. She was shocked and moved at once. Her eyes filled with tears like Hona's had. She pressed a hand to her mouth. "You did it..."

"I couldn't let you suffer anymore."

She broke into tears, her shoulders tightening as she dropped to knees and curled her head to her legs. "You actually did it."

I leaned down and encircled her. "Now you can find the girl you saved and start over. You're free, Qia."

Upstairs in the queen's chambers, I ran my fingers through the colorful dresses and picked out the silver one Baria denied to wear. I held it in my hands, power coursing through my veins. With a smile, I walked into the room with the bath. I turned on the water, the steam billowing around me in wisps.

I couldn't remember how long it had been since I felt water in my hands. I smiled, undressing from the horrible servant dress chained to Baria's side. I held my breath as I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I was not the servant girl anymore. I was not even Mara. I was unsure of the person I was becoming.

Blood streaked my white hair and smudged on my face. I looked down at my hands, they were painted in scarlet, drying until crusted.

I wasn't certain what was happening to me, but I didn't feel regret when her blood poured or when Hona cried. I felt justice. The same justice I sought to bring when I faced Baria for the last time.

I still wasn't certain what she meant when she stated I would not understand why I was in the dining hall until after I left it. I wasn't certain if I would ever understand what she meant. The woman almost spoke in tongues, rarely making sense. Every word out of her mouth was either a lie or a story.

I stopped the water and stepped into the tub. The climbing sensation of warmth took over my body. My fingers ran through the water, trying to get rid of the blood. Baria's blood clouded the water, masking it red. I fell back, leaning my neck on the cold porcelain. I touched my hair, seeing her blood tinted my hair pink. I decided it was a reminder of what happened. A piece of history for when the Queen of Udan was dethroned.

I smiled as I stood, the water spilling from my form. I stepped out, feeling a hint of renewal washing over. I reached over, clasped a woven towel, and then enclosed myself into it. My hourglass figure displayed more in the towel than it was in the filthy servant garments.

I wandered into the main room once more. The dress I had picked waited for me on the bedside. I picked it up and slipped on the gown. Once dressed, I ventured back to the room with the mirror and starred in it. In its vision, I had become a Queen. It was certain.

The woman standing in the mirror was not Mara, the servant, or the girl before Mara, who was long forgotten, this was Queen Mara of Udan, the slayer of the tyrant Baria.

I touched a hand to the fabric. It felt like another layer of flesh, shielding me like armor. With it, my confidence blossomed.

I looked out the window, the sun was setting, sky velvety pink and orange. In the morning, I would become what Hona claimed me to be.

The bringer of dawn.

I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the linen. Under my fingers, the silk felt like bliss. I thought it was wrong of me to not have Tiroa and Qia enjoy the luxuries I was presented with so I extended that they could visit any room they liked and sleep in it, even mine. They deserved it especially after all they had been through.

There was a heavy sense from within. It was odd that an hour ago Baria was ambling about the castle and now she was rotting in the dining hall, her blood spilling into the marbled floors. I straightened, the guilt reached me instead of long ago.

Changing out of my gown, I wore the dress of a servant once more. There was one more thing I had to do before the sun blessed the sky at dawn and a new age began.