Work Text:
It was the eighteenth man she killed.
Princess Zelda leant on his body and put her ear above his heart. Like the others, his heart exploded. She did not know if she should be sorry or feel some regrets. After all, she warned him. She warned all of them. But they kept playing deaf. They kept thinking they were different , that they would be able to fix her.
But no man could.
When she was a little girl, too little to remember, Princess Zelda was cursed by a witch. Every person who would confess their love to her would feel their heart explode and die. At first, the royal family thought this was just a rambling of a jealous woman. But when Zelda saw the first boy die in front of her eyes, when she was 16 years old, they reconsidered it.
Zelda has never fallen or caught feelings for anyone. Because why love someone you will kill anyway? Was not love supposed to be beautiful? Love was not supposed to be a weapon.
She wondered what love felt like. When she watched King Edward and Queen Diana, she could see how happy they were. They even had a daughter, Princess Sabrina, made out of their love. Even her little sister, Princess Hilda, dreamt about love all the time.
Do not get this wrong, Zelda was capable of love. She loved her family and the kingdom with all her heart and soul. But romantic love was a concept she did not understand. And a while ago, she accepted the fact that she would not be able to fully understand it.
“I heard His Majesty requested my presence,” Princess Zelda asked her brother at the threshold of his office.
King Edward looked up from his papers and nodded. Zelda understood she should close the door behind her and sit in front of him. She waited for him to finish what he was doing. She did not want to disturb him.
“I received a letter from the King of Jiok. The Queen will arrive in a few days. I want you to receive her and keep her company,” he broke the silence.
“The Queen of Jiok? Why is she coming? I thought diplomacy duties like these had to be held by the King himself,”
The kingdom of Greendale and the kingdom of Jiok have been in a cold war for decades, even centuries. The one always trying to put the other in the shadows.
“Sending the Queen instead of himself could mean two things. Either the King is testing us to see if he can trust us if we will not take his wife as a hostage to declare war,”
“Or she is sent here to spy on us. To see if we are stronger or weaker than them.”
Edward nodded.
“I will take care of this. You can trust me, Your Majesty,” Zelda assured him.
Once again, he did not say anything but nod. Zelda bowed to him before leaving the room.
The Queen of Jiok arrived three days later. She went straight to the guest room and declined the invitation to dinner with the royal family, which hurt King Edward’s pride.
“She has been travelling for days. She must be exhausted,” Queen Diana tried to calm her husband down.
“I am unable to care less about her tiredness. The least she could do is to come to us, thanking us for receiving her and then apologising,” King Edward spat.
“Your Majesty,” Zelda started.
He gave her a look and she could swear she saw flames in his eyes. Her lips parted and nothing came out of her mouth. He left the room, throwing the serviette on the table.
“Why is Papa so angry?” little Sabrina asked.
“It’s okay Sweetheart, eat before the food gets cold,” Hilda answered while petting the little girl’s hair.
Zelda loved her brother very much. Being a King meant you had a lot of responsibilities and duties. And even if King Edward was an amazing ruler, it did not mean he was not human. The slightest things could make him angry and Zelda understood that. He was used to keeping his emotions to himself and often leash them out when he was with his family, the people he trusted. Reactions like this often happen. They all learnt to deal with it and to continue their day or evening, making sure to leave him alone.
The next morning, Zelda was reading in one of the staterooms of the palace. The sun started to pierce through the clouds to hit the window. Zelda liked to read in the morning when the day was still calm. It was also one of the rare times of the day when she could smoke. Her brother hated the smell of cigarettes.
“Your Highness,” a servant called her, “the Queen of Jiok would like to know if she may join you?”
Zelda could only see the servant. But looking at the expression of the poor girl, she knew the Queen was right beside her, hidden by the door.
“Of course, I would be honoured to be in her company,” Zelda answered with what Hilda called the ‘honey and diplomat voice’.
She put her book on the little table in front of her.
“I am the one who is honoured Your Highness,” the Queen spoke, “Thank you, you can leave us,”
Zelda turned her eyes towards her and almost choked. The Queen was wearing a green dress - if we could call that a dress - revealing her breast. It is only when she sat in front of her that Zelda could see - or stare at - her face. She had sharp cheekbones and vivid blue eyes, a colour that contrasted with her curly dark hair.
“May I?” the Queen asked, talking about cigarettes.
“Of course, Your Majesty,”
“Please, call me Lilith,” she said.
Lilith put a cigarette between her lips and Zelda lit a match for her. She expected Lilith to take the match with her fingers but instead, the Queen leant her face forward without breaking eye contact with Zelda. Zelda moved backwards and threw the match on the table. Her obvious embarrassment made the Queen smirk.
“I hope Her Majesty recovered from Her journey,” Zelda spoke.
“I did. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I heard you will entertain me during my stay,”
Zelda was so much more than entertainment. She was a powerful and smart woman who was told to stay in her brother’s shadow. She hated to be reduced to this. But, she did not have a choice.
“I would rather say that I will keep Your Majesty company than entertain You,” Zelda corrected.
The Queen blew some smoke and smiled. Zelda could not really understand what was making the Queen smile like that but she knew it should not worry her.
“Are you doing this on purpose? Keep calling me by my title while I told you to call me by my name?”
There was a hint of annoyance in the Queen’s voice. Zelda could feel it and she did not know why she felt satisfied.
“I believe Your Majesty and I do not know each other very well at the moment. I highly respect You and do not want to be rude,” Zelda explained with the proud-bitch smile Hilda hated.
The Queen nodded, finishing her cigarette and stubbing it out.
“I hope you do call your husband by his name, it would be a shame,”
Zelda’s lips fell and she looked at her hands. Every time people mentioned marriage, she could not help but lose her voice.
“I do not have to worry about that. I do not have a husband, or someone like this in my life,” Zelda changed her position on the couch.
The Queen moved an eyebrow upward. It was very rare that a princess was not married or set to be married. The only reason for a princess to stay single was either because she was not able to bear children or…
“Oh, so it is you. You are the cursed princess of Greendale,”
“Yes,” Zelda managed to pronounce.
“Interesting,” The Queen smiled.
“May I ask Your Majesty what is interesting ?”
How could she find that interesting ? Her right to love and to be loved was taken away from her. Zelda did not choose this, she was enduring it. There was nothing interesting in her misery.
“Because you want to love and to be loved so badly,”
Zelda built this cold image for years. Because if people cannot love you, they should at least fear you.
“With all respect, Your Majesty, do not pretend to know me,”
The Queen’s smile was bigger. Her eyes were sparkling in amusement.
“I know I am right,”
“I am afraid you are not,”
“Your Highness, are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
She was enjoying this. Zelda could see how the Queen was making fun of her. It was at this moment that Zelda understood why she used the word entertain earlier. The Queen saw her as a toy she could play with, not a member of royalty or a human being.
“I do not need to convince anyone about anything,”
“I see,” she replied with a smirk.
Zelda got up and excused herself. The Queen nodded and let her go.
Why was Zelda’s heart beating so fast? She could not be angry with the Queen. Because deep down, she knew the Queen was right.
Zelda barged into the tea room where Princess Hilda and Duke Ambrose were talking peacefully. They looked at her but said nothing when they saw her fearful eyes. The red-haired princess went straight to the dresser.
“Is she taking a drink from the forbidden dresser?” Duke Ambrose whispered.
“Is everything all right Sister?” Princess Hilda carefully asked.
“I just need a drink,” Zelda answered, opening a bottle of wine.
“Isn’t it a bit early to drink?”
“Well, it is certainly happy hour somewhere,”
Hilda said nothing and sipped her cup, watching her older sister pour herself a glass of wine. Zelda knew this drink was not going to fix her mood. Even if she was drunk, she could not forget her moment with the Queen. She did not know why she felt like this and especially how she felt.
The Queen of Jiok made her feel things she had never felt before. That was the first thing that annoyed Zelda. How can she not know what she was feeling? The second thing that annoyed her was that the Queen only needed five minutes to know everything that needed to be known about her, while Zelda could not describe the Queen. She has never been qualified as an open book but rather as someone unreadable. How did the Queen manage to know her so well?
“So,” Duke Ambrose started, “How is the Queen of Jiok?”
Zelda put the glass on the dresser and glanced at the Duke, who regretted being born.
“I apologise for asking,” the Duke looked away.
“Is she the one that made you drink this early, Sister?”
Zelda rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink.
“So, she is.” Hilda smiled.
“Do not say another word or I will bury you under the tree in the garden,” Zelda threatened her. “This woman is getting on my nerves,”
Zelda proceeded to tell them about what happened. She did not forget to call her rude, petty and sly. She did omit to tell them about the analysis she made. Instead, she told them that she “pretended to know me as if she created me”.
“She seems quite charming,” Hilda commented.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I cannot wait to meet her this evening at dinner.”
Zelda lost her voice. Her sister must have lost her sanity as well.
For dinner with the royal family, the Queen of Jiok decided to wear something less revealing. She also did her hair, extricating a side of her face. The red dress she was wearing was as vivid as the blue of her eyes, Zelda noted.
As usual, the King was at the head of the table with his wife and daughter at his sides. Zelda and Hilda were next to the Queen, at the middle of the table. And this time, the Queen of Jiok joined them and sat in front of Zelda.
“I hope Your Majesty feels better this evening,” King Edward said to the Queen of Jiok.
“I do. Thank you for your concern and for receiving me, Your Majesty,”
They started to eat in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the noise of the silverware over the plates.
“I assume you went to the garden with Her Highness Zelda today?” The King asked.
“No, we did not,”
“You did not?” King Edward was asking the Queen of Jiok but he was staring at his sister.
“No, we did not, my King. I-” Zelda was starting to justify herself.
“I was afraid it would rain. It does not rain a lot in Jiok and I sometimes forget that it is not the case here, in Greendale, so I did not ask my servants to put clothes for that in my luggage,”
“If you are missing anything, do not hesitate to ask my servants. You are our guest so my servants are yours as well during your stay,”
“Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty,”
Zelda expected the Queen to look at her but she was invisible. The Queen kept eating as if Zelda was not here, in front of her, staring at her.
“Zelda, you should take the Queen to our gardens tomorrow. I think the weather will be in our favour,”
“Of course my King.”
Zelda smiled politely and kept eating. She did not say another word during the dinner.
“Is the Queen already in bed or is it possible for her to receive me?” Zelda asked the Queen’s servant.
It was pretty late, Zelda expected the Queen to be sleeping already. At this time, Zelda was already wearing her nightclothes and usually, she was reading in her bed. That was what she was doing. But she could not focus on the words written on the pages. She could only think about the Queen.
Why did she lie at the dinner? She could have told the truth. She had nothing to lose by telling it. Did she know the King would have been upset?
“The Queen is ready to receive you,” the servant bowed to Zelda and left the room, closing the door when Zelda entered.
“Your Highness, I was not expecting you,” the Queen said while looking at Zelda through the mirror.
“I am sorry to disturb you this late. I had something to ask you that could not wait for tomorrow,”
“I am listening,” the Queen kept brushing her hair with a golden brush.
“Why did you lie earlier? You are aware that we did not go to the garden today because I left you,”
Because I was upset , Zelda wanted to admit it. The Queen put her brush on the dressing table and turned around to see Zelda face to face.
“I do not know. I just thought it was the right thing to do,”
She seemed very different from the woman Zelda met earlier. Zelda did not know if it was the intimate setting or the look in her eyes that changed something. She was not sly or petty this time. Under the candlelight, with her hair down, wearing nightclothes, the Queen seemed human .
“Well, thank you. I also apologise for my behaviour earlier. I should not have let my emotions take over me,”
“Please, you do not have to apologise for anything,”
“Yes, I do. It is not the way royal members should behave,”
“I do not care about how Princess Zelda of Greendale should behave. I want to know how Zelda, the human being, wants to behave.”
Zelda parted her lips but did not know what to answer. Actually, she did not know what to think about this.
“I was about to paint. Do you want to join me?” the Queen offered.
“Thank you for the offer but I will get back to my chambers. It is late and I need to sleep.”
“All right. Then I wish you a good night, Your Highness,”
“You can call me Zelda,”
The Queen blinked. She sure did not expect this one. A part of Zelda did not expect it either.
“I wish you a good night, Lilith,”
Zelda bowed and left the room. Her heart was still pounding, but she felt great. Maybe that was how Zelda, the human being, should feel all the time.
“Good morning, Zelda”, Lilith greeted the princess.
Zelda turned around to meet the Queen. That day, their guest was wearing a dark purple outfit composed of a long jacket and a skirt revealing her ankles. Two strokes of her curly hair were falling over her forehead. Zelda noticed she put some blush on her cheeks, highlighting her cheekbones.
“Good morning, Lilith,”
Lilith smiled. She liked the way her name sounded in Zelda’s mouth. It has been a while since she heard her name pronounced this way.
“How was your painting session?” Zelda heard herself asking.
“Quite relaxing. Do you want to join me today?”
“You do not seem to be the kind of woman to accept a ‘no’ for someone,”
Lilith chuckled as they walked through the garden.
“I am glad you figured,” she first said, “Does that mean you will join me?”
“Yes, I will,”
Lilith smiled. The kind of smile when her lips almost reached her ears and also her heart. She did not know why she found Zelda so fascinating but she was the least of her problems. Her problem was that she knew she was falling for someone she did not know, someone she perhaps had already fantasised about.
Should Lilith be scared? Not only Zelda could break her heart but she could also make it stop. But was Lilith’s life worth it?
“Is everything okay?” Zelda worried.
Worried . No one really noticed when the Queen of Jiok was sad. Why? Because since she became Queen, Lilith has never been anything else but sad. Well, until this very moment.
“I was just thinking. There is nothing to be worried about,”
“Lilith, you are crying,”
The Queen put her cold hand on her left cheek. She then looked at her wet fingers in disbelief. She had not cried for years . Why was she crying right now?
Zelda took her hand and invited her to sit on a stone bench. She did not say a word but she was still holding Lilith’s hand with the fear she would break if she let go. The tears were still falling on the Queen’s face but she was smiling. This time, it was a smile of relief. She was still capable of feeling. Even after all those years.
“For how long?” the princess wondered aloud.
“I am sorry?”
“For how long were you holding back those tears?”
“Long enough,”
Zelda simply nodded. What could she say anyway?
“Do you know why I said those things yesterday? About you wanting to love and be loved?”
The tears had stopped and the Queen looked directly into Zelda’s eyes. Zelda felt like she could see everything, her body, her soul and her fears.
“Because I see myself in you,”
“Are you not in love with the King of Jiok? Does he not show you how much he loves you?”
Lilith laughed. Zelda did not know until that day that it was possible to put so much pain in a laugh.
“Love and power, that is what he promised me before our marriage. A consort, that is what he made of me.”
A tear fell on her left cheek. Zelda unconsciously lifted her other hand to wipe it off. Lilith grabbed her hand. She liked the feeling of the warm hand of the princess on her cheek.
“You deserve to be loved, everyone does,”
“You are lovely,”
Lilith let go of Zelda’s hands, even though she did not want to. She got up and saw a bunch of purple flowers.
“What are these? We do not have this kind of flowers in Jiok,”
“These are violets.”
“They are beautiful. I should paint them,”
Zelda looked at Lilith playing with the flowers. She could be endeared by how childish and innocent she looked at the moment. But Zelda saw something deeper. Lilith was making a distraction, thinking Zelda could forget. Zelda could not, but she played along. She played along, just to see her smile.
After dinner, Zelda went straight to the Queen’s rooms. A part of her, a bigger part than she wanted to admit, was worried about Lilith. She has not seen her since their visit to the garden. The Queen stayed in her room and asked the servants to bring her food.
Stolas, Lilith’s servant, let Zelda enter without announcing her. Lilith was already in her nightclothes, tying her hair into a bun. Zelda gazed at the Queen as she grabbed paintbrushes and a glass of oil.
“So, you really came,” Lilith said when she noticed Zelda.
“Of course.”
Lilith smiled and brought a stool towards her. She raised her hand and gestured to Zelda to join her. Zelda slowly walked towards the other woman. She sat next to her and her heart started pounding. Zelda has never been this close to someone. Lilith’s scent was making her feel dizzy. She smelt like lavender under the summer sun.
“Have you ever painted, Zelda?”
Zelda startled. Lilith’s voice sounded deeper, deep enough to make her shiver. She could not speak so she moved her head from left to right. Lilith took her hand delicately and put the paintbrush in it.
“I will guide you then,”
Air . That was what Zelda needed at the moment. She could have taken the time to catch her breath but her eyes were drawn to the Queen. Zelda could not help but follow her every moment. The way she traced the stem on the canvas, the way she tilted her head to see how she should continue, the way she squinted her eyes when she focused on the lighting and shadowing of the flower. The more she looked at her, the more she could hear her own heartbeat.
Was she paying for killing those men?
Zelda knew the curse. She knew it for years. She repeated the curse to herself every night before going to bed, not to forget. “Every person who would confess their love to her would feel their heart explode and die..” Zelda herself was not supposed to feel like this.
The princess did not realise she moved until Lilith stared at her, shocked. Zelda was standing, the stool and the paintbrush on the floor.
“What did you do to me?” she heard herself ask with a broken voice.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Stop playing innocent. You-You did something to me,”
“Zelda,” Lilith put the paintbrush on a side and stood up, “What is going on?”
“W-Why can I not breathe? Why is my heart t-threatening me to leave my body?”
Lilith’s eyes widened. Zelda’s eyes travelled from Lilith’s eyes to her open mouth.
“Answer me!” she begged.
Lilith took a step forward and put her hands covered by paint on Zelda’s face. The princess did not have the courage or strength to push her away. She lost herself in the icing blue eyes looking at her.
“I did to you what you did to me, Zelda,”
Zelda’s lips opened and Lilith took this as an opportunity to kiss her. It started sweet and soft. Zelda did not understand what was really going on. But when she did, her head was not the one in control anymore. She pulled Lilith closer and they kissed harder.
And if that kiss could be translated into a sentence, it would be:
You are mine and I am yours.
“We shall talk,” Zelda greeted the Queen of Jiok the very next morning.
“Good morning Lilith, I hope you slept as well as I did. Do not you think the weather is amazing today? Because the Sun makes my hair look even prettier than they usually are,” Lilith joked, thinking Zelda would have greeted her this way in another universe.
“Lilith,” Zelda called out.
“I love it when you say my name,” she smirked.
“Sit down or you will not be alive to hear me saying your name very soon,”
Lilith rolled her eyes and sat on the couch. She played tough and joked around. But she was, in fact, very scared of what Zelda was about to say. Yesterday night, Zelda somewhat confessed she felt something for Lilith. Or at least, Lilith did not make her feel indifferent. And Lilith saw this spilling truth as an opportunity.
“I believe we need to talk about what happened last night,”
What happened last night . Lilith was thinking about it since Zelda left her room with pink lips and cheeks. The feeling of the Princess’ lips over hers was not leaving her. Without realising it, she put her fingertips on her lips. Lilith’s lips were already missing Zelda’s as if they were made to be tied together forever.
“Do you regret it?” Lilith blurted out.
Zelda frowned. This look was the real Lilith. She was acting playful but it was just a facade. Like everyone, Lilith had fears and that day, Zelda knew what Lilith feared the most: Zelda.
“Do you want me to regret it?”
“I am no one to tell you what you shall regret or not.” Lilith looked away, “But I do not feel any regret. If I had the chance to live this moment again, I would not change anything,”
Zelda smiled. Lilith never saw that warmth in her eyes. It was not the fire she had last night. It was something different, something intimate and affectionate.
“I would not change anything either, Lilith. I do not regret anything that happened last night, even if I know I should,”
“Why?”
Zelda chuckled.
“You are the Queen of Jiok. I am the Princess of Greendale. This is the main reason why. We should not be… a thing . We are supposed to be enemies. And nothing proves to me you are not here to spy on us. Maybe, you are trying to seduce me to find some dark secrets about her kingdom, to find our weaknesses to tell your King,”
“Is that what you think of me?”
“Are you telling me I am wrong?”
Lilith could have lied. But when she saw Zelda’s eyes, nothing mattered anymore. Not the King nor the Kingdom. Everything she could lose was sitting right in front of her. A part of her thought this was ridiculous, she did not know Zelda. But something in her guts told her that this woman was worth it.
“You are neither right nor wrong. The King did send me to spy on you, to find some dark secrets and weaknesses of your Kingdom. But he never asked me to seduce you. In fact, he could kill me if he knew what happened last night,”
“Why are you risking your life? You could die from my curse or from your King’s hand. Why are you doing this Lilith?”
“I do not know.”
And she did not lie this time either. Lilith did not know why but she knew she had to. Because for the first time in a while, she had a purpose in life.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
We keep going . That is what Zelda wanted to say. But she could not afford to lose Lilith forever, not this time. She was not like the others.
“We should return to our previous roles. Until I find a solution to that curse. I do not want to harm you, Lilith,”
“And you think it will not harm me to pretend nothing happened when everything has happened? That there is nothing between us while I can feel your burning eyes on me all the time? I should also pretend that I do not want you while I just want to show the world that you are mine and that I am all yours?”
“Please, do not make it harder,”
“I am not making it harder, Zelda. I am just showing you what you refuse to see,”
“It is just temporary. I swear,”
“You swear? And on what? On your beloved King?”
“On you, on us. I swear it on us,”
Us . She swore it on them and they both committed to fighting for their love. Because they knew it was worth it.
After their discussion, they tried hard to act formally. Zelda realised that they always had been something else than their titles to each other. But they hid it pretty well.
“I thought you did not like the Queen of Jiok but you seem to appreciate spending time with her now,”
“I still do not like her, I am just fulfilling my duties. The King asked me to do it so I shall not refuse,”
Princess Hilda rolled her eyes. She must think Zelda was too serious and boring. She did not know how Zelda wanted to kiss Lilith every time they were together. She did not try because they made sure to be surrounded by at least one servant of the Palace every time. That was part of their deal. They shall not be left alone, not even once.
One day, the Queen asked if she could leave the palace to go see the village of Greendale. She started to get claustrophobic in between those giant walls. The King accepted her request and asked his sister to join her, as well as guards and servants.
So, one shining afternoon, they took a carriage and went to the village. They stopped at some shops and discussed with villagers. Zelda has never thought that Lilith would be so good at talking to people, especially when it was not her people.
They went to a restaurant and they sat in a private room. Servants were eating in the common room and one guard stayed with them. Lilith offered him a part of a meal, which he declined, saying Her Majesty shall not worry about him.
“Is Her Majesty enjoying the visit to the village?” Zelda asked.
And the time you spend with me .
“Of course. I think Greendale is very lovely.”
But you are much more than just lovely .
They smiled, both looking in another direction. Zelda cleared her throat and took her fork back. Everything was going well. Until…
“Princess Zelda!” a young man entered the room, “Princess Zelda, I love you!”
Zelda froze when she heard the words. The body of the young man fell to the ground. The guard stepped closer to the body and checked if he was still breathing. As Zelda expected, he was not. The guard took the body in his arms and asked another guard to take both women to the carriage.
Zelda could faintly hear the noise around her. She was underwater. Someone grabbed her arm and without realising it, she was in her room in the Palace.
It was already dark outside when the door of her room opened and she saw Stolas.
“Good evening Your Highness, may the Queen join you?”
“I am not in the mood to see Her Majesty. Please give Her my apology,”
“The Queen ordered me to convince you to let her in.”
“So, you asked out of manners?” Zelda scoffed, “She may enter, I do not have the choice anyway,”
Stolas bowed and stepped aside, letting Lilith enter the room and close the door behind her.
“How are you doing?”
“You should not be here and you know that.”
“I do not care about where I should be. I only care about you, Zelda,” Lilith put her hands on Zelda’s shoulders.
Zelda took a deep breath.
“That is the problem, Lilith,” she freed herself from Lilith’s grip. “Look what I did today,”
“It was not your fault. I understand that it must be terrible but it is not your fault. You did not want it to happen,”
“You do not understand, do you?” she asked, “That boy could have been you, Lilith,”
Lilith put her hands on Zelda’s wet cheeks and forced her to look at her eyes.
“I would rather die right now because of what I feel for you than live a life without you being in it. Because the latter would be pointless,”
“Lilith, please,”
“No, listen to me,”
“I do not. I do not want to listen to you because if I do I will not listen to my brain, and, and, and”
Zelda was out of breath, losing her words. Her mind went blank, her heart was breaking in her rib cage. Everything was loud and suffocated her. And then, it all disappeared. She felt something hot on her hip and her throat, something sweet on her lips. Air was running into her mouth. Lilith’s breath.
She did not push her away. Zelda pulled Lilith closer. Lilith was everything she needed and wanted. They rolled on the bed and kept running their hands on the other’s skin through their satin nightdresses. Lilith pulled away to catch her breath and took the opportunity to admire Zelda’s beauty.
The woman was under her, back on the bed. Her red hair was forming a halo around her flushed face. Lilith stroked Zelda’s cheek and passed her thumb over the red lip she kissed a few seconds ago.
“I know that those three words are forbidden between us. But that does not mean I cannot feel it or show it to you,”
Lilith leant on Zelda. Their lips were close but did not touch. Lilith did not move, as if she was waiting for Zelda’s approval.
“You know you got me, Lilith,”
It was how they made love in the candlelight.
“What do you mean the Queen of Jiok left?” Zelda asked, hiding how heartbroken she was.
The servant bowed again saying the Queen left earlier this morning when the Sun rose. Zelda could not believe it. Last night, she sa-, she showed Zelda how much she loved her. And the very next day, or should we say a few hours after, she left like a thief in the night.
“I guess Her Majesty had duties in Jiok,” she answered bitterly.
“Her Majesty left something for you, Your Highness. She told me to give it to you,”
The servant gave a book to Zelda. The cover was white with violets on it. There was no author but the title was The Letter . Zelda thanked the servant and went back to her room. She was intrigued by this book. She had never seen Lilith reading or showing any interest in reading. When she opened it, there was a hole in some pages and a thin piece of paper in it. Zelda took it and read what was written.
Zelda,
I am writing this while you are sleeping next to me. Because I am a coward and I cannot bring myself to tell you I have to leave. I cannot bring myself to tell you that I do not know when will be the next time we can see each other. I hate the fact that you were right. We should have not begun this, we should have not done what we did, because now it is hurting so much. It hurts so much to leave. How can I go ‘home’ when my home is right in front of me?
There are many things I have felt in my life. But you have unlocked things in me I did not know were unlocked before. And even if I did not do the same to you, I hope you will still want me. Because even with that curse, I want you. Death does not scare me. You do not scare me. If what I feel for you must kill me, so be it. Because there is no more beautiful death than this.
L.
This woman was crazy. And Zelda was crazy about her.
“Your package has arrived,” Ambrose told Zelda while handing her the book wrapped in black paper.
Lilith left Greendale for about a month. And for a month, Lilith and Zelda have been sending each other letters through the book. They talked about their past, their secret dreams, what they would do if they were to meet again in a universe where they are just Lilith and Zelda, putting away their titles. Those words shared were intimate and should not be seen by anyone but them. That was why Zelda asked Ambrose to find someone they could trust, someone who would not look to it and deliver the book directly to Lilith.
“You will thank Prudence for me,”
“You can count on me for that,” Ambrose smiled.
Zelda rolled her eyes. She did not want to know how the Duke would thank that poor girl. She waited to be alone in the tea room to open the letter. It was surprisingly short but long enough to strike Zelda.
He knows.
He will attack Greendale next full moon.
Zelda did not bother to knock or announce her venue to the King’s office. She barged into the room and did not care about the eyes throwing lighting at her. She did not let him start speaking.
“We need to prepare our soldiers. The King of Jiok is preparing an attack,”
Edward rose to his feet.
“How do you know that?”
Zelda opened her mouth. What was she supposed to say? Because if she spoke the truth, if she told Lilith warned them… No, the consequences were too big.
“It does not matter how I know that. What does matter is that I know it. Brother, we must prepare,”
He did not say anything. He did not even move.
“I think you have something else to tell me.”
“I told you everything you needed to know.” Zelda crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“So you admit that you are keeping things from me?”
“That is not what I said,”
“That is what you implied,”
“We are losing time, precious time. I am going to the Commandant’s Office,”
Zelda turned her back and was about to leave the room.
“I know about you and the Queen of Jiok. I assume she is the one who warned you,”
Zelda’s hand was still hanging in the air. She eventually let it fall along her body and turned around to face her King.
“I am not angry or disappointed, Zelda. I just wanted you to know you do not have to keep secrets from me.”
“It is not for me that I kept the secret,”
“I know. And you do not have to worry now,”
They looked at each other. It has been a long time since Edward did not give a warm look to his little sister.
“Thank you, Brother,”
They were standing in front of the border that separated Greendale from Jiok. Lilith looked at the dark sky and then at the peaceful city. Greendale’s inhabitants were nice and welcoming people. They did not deserve to be pulled from their sleep by flames and to die. No one deserved to die, especially not because of her.
“That castle is ridiculous,” Lucian laughed, “I am going to demolish it to build another one. When I will be King of Greendale,”
The country of Greendale was doomed. Because even if she warned Zelda a month ago, she knew the people of Greendale could not live with what would happen. She knew how inhuman Lucian was. He would not spare anyone, even children, and especially not women.
“Maybe you should paint this landscape when it will be over,” Lucian whispered to Lilith’s ear, “So we can have a souvenir of how it looked like before you betrayed me and your kingdom,”
Lilith looked down and heard him chuckle.
“Destroy that gate!” Lucian ordered.
Lilith did not remember anything except piercing screams, fire and her body running endlessly.
At the same time, Zelda was roaming the palace’s corridors. They managed to gather women and children in the castle while the luckiest and wealthiest had the chance to leave the city days before. Fortunately, the palace was big enough to welcome most of the population. Soldiers were all around the building and at each corridor. No one should enter here. And even if they wanted to, it would not be an easy task.
“Your Highness,” a soldier called her, “You should get back to your room. You will be safer,”
Zelda did not say anything but executed. She went to her room and slightly opened the curtains. They were already here. She could see the flames and ashes in the air. The glass of the windows was too thick to hear anything, but her heart could hear the screams well.
Then, she saw him, the King of Jiok. He arrived on a dark horse with the biggest sword Zelda has ever seen in her life. He stabbed and cut in half almost all the soldiers that were at the portal. Even from here, Zelda could see his killer smile. He was not trying to take Greendale’s throne for power or to prove his supremacy. No, that man was mad. That man was enjoying chaos, he was chaos itself.
She heard a thud. The princess frowned. No one should be in this area except the soldiers. It was not possible that the enemy's soldiers were already in the palace. She heard another one and she was sure that it came from behind the room divider.
She grabbed the first thing she saw, a candelabrum, and tiptoed towards the room divider. She heard another thud, louder this time, and a groan. She moved aside, ready to aim at the person hiding behind it. The candelabrum fell from her hand, making another big thud.
“Lilith?” she breathed out in disbelief.
The dark-haired woman got up on her feet and closed the trapdoor. She caught her breath and removed the dust from her dress.
“How? You? What?” Zelda stammered.
“You told me there was a trapdoor in your room. That you used to escape there when you were younger. I ordered someone to explore the plans of the palace and to find that trapdoor as soon as I read your letter,”
“Why?”
“Because before Lucian learnt about… about us, I planned to come back like this. I needed to ask you something,”
“What was it?”
Lilith bit her lower lip. Zelda tilted her head as her heartbeat harder.
“Runaway with me Zelda.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I know it is a big decision that you cannot take on a whim but, listen, I have thought of it. You and I, we will never be fully ourselves here. We will always be in the King’s shadow, even though we would be better rulers. We, as women, are expected to be polite, to go to see the people, to play cute and nice. It is not what I want and I know it is not what you want either,”
“So, what? Do you plan to go to a land and conquer it? Like that King of yours?”
Lilith sighs. Lilith had never been a settler and she had never wanted to be one. People took many things from her throughout the years. She knew what it felt like to have something and to lose it because someone else stated it was theirs and not hers anymore. She did not want to inflict that.
Lilith wanted people to be able to choose their fate. As she was choosing hers at that moment. She wanted people to learn, to take decisions by themselves and stop executing others’.
“It is not the one ruling the land that makes a nation great,” Lilith said.
“It is its people.”
Lilith nodded.
“So, what is your answer?”
BLUE & GOLD
Greendale is saved!
After weeks of battle, the war is over. Yesterday night, King Edward managed to kill King Lucian, former King of Jiok. The Kingdom of Jiok is now counting many casualties and the King’s wife, Queen Lilith is still missing. Many rumours say that the Queen must have been killed during the War by Greendale’s soldiers. If you have any information, send a letter to
Phiona put the newspaper away when she heard students coming into the room. She arrived in Riverdale a few weeks ago with the aim to reduce the number of illiterate inhabitants of the city. She went to a lot of restaurants and shops to tell people to come in. There were only ten people looking at her right now, but it was better than expected. Children, elderly, and middle-aged women. They were different kinds of people and it was hard to teach. But Phiona did not give up.
“When are the painting classes?” a woman asked at the end of the class.
“Tomorrow, at the same time as this class. It will be with my friend Mary,”
Phiona did not come alone to Riverdale. Mary believed people needed creativity in their lives to stay sane. It worked for her so it should work for others, right?
“I will try to bring my husband. I am sure he will like it,”
“I hope to see you both tomorrow,”
The woman waved at her and walked painfully away. She must work in the field. Phiona took back the newspaper and finished reading the article.
“Anything interesting?” a voice said from the threshold.
Phiona looked up and met Mary’s gaze. It was still unbelievable for her to be with her, romantically and physically speaking. The dark-haired woman approached and took the newspaper to read it too.
“It must be chaos in Jiok right now,”
“It was inevitable. Lucian was too greedy and reckless.” she sighed, “Your brother might prepare an attack to take the throne,”
“Lilith,” Zelda yelled-whispered, “Are you sure we are alone? No one must hear us speak like this,”
“Do not worry, love. We are alone.”
Lilith leant on to give a peck to her lover. Zelda eventually gave in but she was still on her guard.
“Thank you,” Lilith said.
“For what?”
“For believing in us. For sacrificing your life for us.”
“Well, you are sacrificing your life for me. What if my curse kills you one day?”
“I am not scared of dying. Death is inevitable. What we are living right now, is something that happens once in a lifetime. Our love was true from the beginning and if I have to die for it, then so will I,”
Zelda looked Lilith in the eyes. She might have made a mistake when she decided to run away, losing her title, honour and wealth. But when she looked at Lilith, and when Lilith looked at her like this … Zelda knew she did the right thing.
Because their love was true.