The Golden Throne

The crystal lamps shine their light on the blood on her hands –her siblings’ blood- and gold speckles shine in it. It’s a play of the light, thinks the Hummingbird Princess, they bleed as red as me.

She had never wanted to play the Game. But everyone born in this family is sooner or later dragged into it. The game of politics and intrigue that ended with the corpses of the Swan Prince and the Crane Regent Princess at her feet.

First, her brother’s honeyed lies.

We can both join forces.

We can end our sister’s reign of terror.

The people are being asphyxiated under her heel.

I already have control of the army, you are the one more fit to be queen.

And she had believed him. Why wouldn’t she? When had her brother been anything other than kind to her? Protecting her from intrigues, being her crutch, the hand leading her through the tangled web of the Game, away from danger.

He had been the hardest to kill.

When her sister laid, silver eyes open wide, at the feet of her very own Golden Throne, her crown askew, a red stain spreading on the left of her chest, breaking the symmetry of her black and white robes.

The Swan Prince walked towards her. Words sharp as a champagne glass shard, but still as sweet.

Well look at this

Of course the Hummingbird Princess would kill the Regent.

The one who sympathizes with the revolutionaries.

Or the radicals. That sounds better.

Good thing I was there to stop her before her reign of terror started.

She might be naïve, but she is also skilled with the sword. He plummeted to the ground, white hair stained with blood. The feathers from his pauldrons scattered like a halo around him.

Her siblings look regal even in death. She looks at the crystal lamp over her head, wondering waiting for the world to stop spinning around her.  

Heavy metallic footsteps on the marble floors bring her back to reality. Her personal guard kneels before her, helmet under her arm. Her black cape dips in the prince’s blood, but she doesn’t seem to care.

“Your Grace.” She says, looking up, eye brimming with awe.

“Do not talk to me like that. We were never in formal terms.”

The Hummingbird Princess helps her back on her feet, yet her guard is still looking at her like it’s the first time she has seen the Sun.

“I’m sorry. But you will finally ascend to the Golden Throne, to your rightful place. The people will finally be free. My family will stop being hungry. We-“

The princess turns her back to her, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead.

“Ascending to the throne after murdering my own siblings? Do you really think anyone will accept this? They will be asking for my head at dawn.”

“But you are better than them! The gods chose you, you listen, you are kind and merciful, and-“

“And if I impose it on them I’m not better than my siblings.”

Her sword falls with a clink that echoes across the marble walls.

“My brother won in the end.”

A heavy silence falls upon them and the empty throne room. For what seems like an eternity the princess watches the shadows darken as the sun sets.  Her guard kneels and picks up her sword, offering her the handle. She takes it, distractedly, but the knight closes her hands tightly over hers.

“It was the traitor.” She says, a smile on her face.

“What?” The Hummingbird Princess tries to break free from her hold, but her knight was always stronger than her.

“The princess’ shadow. From a low upbringing.”

Then she walks towards the sword, which digs in her stomach. The princess screams, but she only grunts and keeps walking towards her, trying to reach her face with the hand that is not holding the sword.

“A radical, clearly. Poisoning the princess with lies.”

Her legs start shaking and the princess pulls out her sword and catches her guard in her arms before she hits the ground.

“She was planning to assassinate the royal family from the start. And she was stopped by the Hummingbird Princess. Sounds good, doesn’t it?” She coughs up blood. “The princess who shows enough strength, even while grieving, to avenge her family.”

She looks up at her princess.

“Almost like a fairytale.”

The princess just looks back at her in shock.

“No… Why did you have to- No! You can’t leave me now!”

She starts shaking, but her knight just smiles at her and uses the little strength she has left to reach out and caress her cheek.

“You know, the only thing I will regret is never seeing you walk up those steps and sit in the Golden Throne.

The Hummingbird Princess stands, lifting the guard in her arms, straining under the weight of her armor and the blood-soaked cape. Leaning, she places a soft kiss on her lips and hears her sigh.

“If I walk up those steps, it should be with you.”

She turns and starts climbing the steps to the throne. She circles her sister’s body. She sits on the Golden throne, cold and uncomfortable, not like she had anticipated. Her guard, her friend, her lover lies in her arms, curled up. Her dark hair falls over her eyes and she is smiling, that sweet smile of hers.

When did her knight stop breathing? When did her heart stop?

The Hummingbird Princess rests her head on the back of the throne and looks at the empty and cold throne room.

And she waits for the dawn.

There is a country to rule. And many questions to answer.

[if you like my writing consider buying me a coffee? your girl works night shifts ;u;]