Fareeda

Queen Fareeda quietly opened the door to her daughter's room. She peeked inside and glanced at Clara, who was sleeping unnaturally still and wasn't moving around like she usually did. Ah, well, she didn't have a nap today. She must be exhausted. She watched as a small breeze from a half-open window ruffled Clara's brown hair. The cold draft hit Fareeda's skin and she shivered, closing the door.

She turned around and was greeted by her sister, Elise, crown off, and pale honey-colored hair wild and untamed, falling down her back in waves. She jumped a little and then regained her posture.

"Oh! Elise, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"It's fine," Elise said, brushing it off. "Fareeda, I'm worried."

Fareeda took her hands. "Worried about what?"

"I don't know," Elise admitted. "But I don't feel safe in the palace tonight. Something is going to go very wrong."

Fareeda's face twisted into a frown. "Elise. You know it bothers me to hear you so upset. Be more positive, hmm? For me?"

". . . I guess I'm just worried about the rainy season," Elise muttered out. "There's so much preparation going on, right? My mind's just getting a little hectic." She smiled awkwardly, almost sadly, like she was slowly losing herself.

Fareeda patted her hands. "Yes. Yes, it is. We have flood warnings installed, and we finished building the new parts of the capital higher up. There's nothing to worry about. After all, what's the worst that can happen?"

Elise's smile contorted and she removed her hands from Fareeda's. "Just in case, though, if something happens that isn't related to floods, I got a few more guards outside everyone's rooms. Clara's should be coming soon."    

"Elise--"

Fareeda was interrupted by a fierce hug from her younger sister.

"If something happens tonight, I just want you to know that I love you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fareeda murmured. "I love you too."

With a final squeeze, Elise turned away and walked down the hall into her bedroom in her white silk nightgown. Fareeda tilted her head a bit as she saw the worry lodged in her emerald eyes.

Hmm. Odd behavior for Elise. She was always happy and cheerful.

Fareeda shook the feeling off as she entered into her room, brushing past the extra guards that Elise had set up outside her door. She closed the door behind her and untied her red hair from its bun. Neat bloodred waves fell from her face as she turned around to her husband.

Alisan marked the page in his book and placed it on the table beside their bed. Fareeda took off her crown and gently placed it on the table as well, and crawled into bed.

"How's Clara?" Alisan asked.

"Exhausted," Fareeda answered. "No nap today. She's sound asleep."

Silence filled the air around them for a time.

"Elise was going off about something again," Fareeda muttered into her pillow.

"Again?" Alisan said, his voice distressed. "She's been doing that for months now."

"This time was different. It's like all of her stress from the past months have built up to tonight. I've never seen her so distressed." Fareeda rolled over to face her husband. "I think she thought that she was saying her last words to me in the hallway a minute ago."

"That's crazy. You'll see her tomorrow morning, and everything will be fine."

"I know," Fareeda said. "But Elise has this . . . thing, where she predicts bad events before they happen I guess? She gets really anxious. Nothing will happen, though. I'm sure of it."

Alisan brushed a stray bang of hair back from Fareeda's face and gently kissed her on the lips. "If you're sure," he said. "Good night. I love you."

Fareeda smiled and closed her eyes. "I love you too."

___

A sharp thud awoke Fareeda. Still dreary, she muttered, "Sweetie, close the window."

When no response came, she said, "Alisan? Darling?" She opened one eye and a freezing wind hit her skin. She shivered. "Sweetheart, you really need to--"

She sat up in bed and started at the scene of horror sprawled in front of her:

Alisan's throat was slit. That was the first thing Fareeda noticed, followed by the shadowy figure standing above him. Drops of crimson blood dripped off its knives and splattered onto the floor in small puddles as it slowly turned its head and saw her, its next target. Fareeda was about to scream, however, the assassin was too fast. With one slice of their knives, her throat started gushing out red blood.

Fareeda's bare feet hit the cold tile floor of her room hard, and she put her hands to her neck. When she took them off they came away smeared in blood.

Blood bubbled from her lips and spilled down the sides of her face. In a panic, she tried to scrape the blood cascading down her chest back up into her throat, but to no avail.

Her eyes twitched. "B-But--I'm--You can't do this to me," she said, blood spraying from her lips, before pointing at the figure and fainting from blood loss onto the bed.

The assassin chuckled softly to itself and looked at the figure of the young queen as she took her final sigh. Her eyes dimmed, and she didn't move again.

The assassin heaved the former queen's body off of the awkward position she was in and back onto the bed. They pulled the blanket over her, smoothed it out, and flicked some blood onto her old crown. They left, without a second thought, out the window. After all . . .

what's the worst that can happen?

_____

The beautiful piece of artwork up above was made by ChemicalChrist. While this isn't finished yet, they said I could post this here until the full version is done. Go check them out! Yes, Clara was dead when Fareeda saw her.