The Red Rose Victim

The kingdom is in great mourn.

The death of the king has divided the House of Lords and the House of the Commons. Even the servants of the royal family have separate views on whether the suspect is to be blamed or not. How could there be no division if the prime suspect of the king’s death is his only child, Princess Jezebeth.

Now here she comes. On her side are the king’s soldiers. Poor Princess, her beauty is now hidden in her tattered regalia. She hardly walks because of frailty. She restrained eating for weeks because she knows more than anyone else that she will finally return to her father’s arms.

The princess then settles herself inside the court room. This would be the last day of the princess’ trial.

The lawyer begins the trial by asking the princess in loathing tone, “Why did you kill the king?”

Before the princess could answer, a red smoke appears at the entrance of the courtroom. The princess can clearly see its red tail. The smoke, in its seemingly creature form, begins to murmur, tell them the truth…tell them the queen’s secret. The red smoke then slowly moves upwards the ceiling.

“I can’t answer your question Doctor Scratch be-because I am…I am not the king’s daughter.” Princess Jezebeth asserts her words with lowly eyes. The entire courtroom is flabbergasted of what they heard.

Doctor Scratch faces the audience and declares, “Our princess is telling us at this crucial point of her trial that our queen cheated our king all throughout this time.  And that, Princess Jezebeth killed the king to take over the kingdom because our princess knows that the kingdom would never be hers!”

“No, you’re wrong! The princess would never wish to own the kingdom for herself,” the queen interrupted.

“My Majesty, please take your seat. This trial won’t allow any interruptions even from you, Your Highness.” The Lord Chancellor has taken his authority inside the courtroom.

The queen sat down uneasily and was stunned, too, of what the princess has said. She now looks straight through the princess eyes. A lot of thought have gone into the queen’s mind. My princess. My poor princess would never wish to own this kingdom because hers is greater than this. How did she learn the truth? No… she must not. The truth will destroy the kingdom.

The Lord Chancellor turned its way back to the princess’ case. “Doctor Scratch, you may now proceed.”

“Thank you, Lord Chancellor.”Doctor Scratch moves towards the dock and looks at the princess with hostile eyes. “Princess, we all know that this is the last day of your trial. But, before this day ends, we want to know the truth of the king’s death. Let me ask you once again, why did you kill the king?”

The princess was calm – unlike her past 29 days inside the courtroom. She looks at the queen again and said, “I do not wish to answer your question, Doctor Scratch. Rather, I would like to correct what you’ve accused the queen earlier. The queen did not cheat the king because the queen could not bore a child.”

The queen was stunned this time. This is the end of all. The crowd begin to babble.

“Order in the court! Order in the court!” the Lord Chancellor shouted as he rapped the gavel. After a while, there is silence inside the courtroom. The Lord Chancellor, with shaking voice, then says, “Doctor Scratch…please, proceed...”

“Yes, My Lord.” The Doctor Scratch then proceeded to the interrogation. “Thank you for making this trial easier, princess… Oops, my bad. I mean, Jezebeth.” Doctor Scratch leans in the dock. “Jezebeth, I would like to remind you that this trial is not about your existence. What we need to find out is the truth about the king’s death.” Doctor Scratch is more desperate this time to end the trial. “Why did you kill the king!”

“I did not kill the king,” the princess answered directly with no doubt in her eyes. She turns to the crowd. The red smoke is only a meter away from her.

“But, you were the only person in the king’s room where he was found dead by the king’s servant.” The trial is now getting hot. “I’ll ask you for the last time. Why did you kill the king!”

The princess pauses for a while as the red smoke kisses her cheeks. She then answers the question. “I was…I was there because…because the king was trying to kill me.”

“You are not telling the truth! The king could not cause you any harm because he was already bedridden for a month before he was killed. And, the entire kingdom knows about this truth.”

The princess suddenly stands up and exclaimed, “The king was bidding me from going home. The queen was aware of this because she was doing the same. You have given my father no other choice but to kill the king.”

“Why are you blaming your crime to a person who never....”

Clunk!!! The chandelier fell from the ceiling. The trial was suddenly stopped. Then, all of the people inside the courtroom began to run wild when a red smoke began to appear on the ceiling.

A woman from the crowd rushed towards the princess and spanks her causing the princess to kiss the ground. “This is your fault! Cast away your curse in this kingdom…”

As the princess looks into the woman, the red smoke in the ceiling turned into a huge dreadful creature. It has no body. It’s only a hot-red head with two horns on top of it and a tongue as red as its face. Upon seeing this horrible creature, all of the people inside the room rushed outside of fear. The creature is restive and is looking for someone. It had move for so many times around the room for two meters per second. Its groan covers the courtroom making the place a horror.

The woman who had beaten the princess was now half-way the entrance. But, the creature won’t allow her to escape from its wrath. After it devours the flesh and soul of the woman, the creature puffs back into a red smoke and then it vanished.

Everything is destroyed inside the courtroom and it’s filled with horror. Only the Lord Chancellor, the queen, Doctor Scratch, some of the king’s soldiers, and the princess are left inside the room.

“Arrest the princess!” the Lord Chancellor commanded the soldiers without any doubts. “Execute her!” The soldiers then escorted the princess to the Execution room.

“Stop!”It was the queen trying to speak despite the deep wounds she got after the mayhem. “You’re worsening the situation.” Nobody listens to her plead. The queen has now lost it all – this is the end of the kingdom. She slowly falls down on the floor facing the entrance of the room. She sees the ruthless soldiers forcing the princess to go with them. Thoughts play in her mind again. I should have not stolen you from the Witch cave. I should have taken the red rose, instead.

The red smoke began to appear again.

Note: This is an original story by Red Phantom.