The Accusation

THIRD PERSON'S POV

"They smell so f****** delicious! Evan will definitely be impressed." The Queen approved as she takes the plate with the omelette from Talia's mother. She smiles gratefully as she sets the plate down on her tray next to the bow with pieces of chicken and soup.

"Won't it be awkward for him to be the only one eating eggs at the dinner table?" Talia's mother questions.

"He got a small issue to solve so he will be very late. I am going to give the food to his servant to take to his room." The Queen wears are forced smile as she answers. "Thank you so much for coming to help, you cook just as good as you fight." She compliments, still wearing that fake smile. 

Talia's mother smiles back and shrugs her shoulders. "Training and cooking are some things I do every day, you shouldn't feel less capable because you have less time to do them. Being a Queen is a lot better than knowing how to do any of those things."

"Thanks for trying to make my useless ass feel better. But I need to at least be really good at something in order for my people to respect me." The Queen responds, looking a bit distressed. But she immediately masks her sadness with another forged smile.

"Let me give the food to Evan's servant before it grows cold." She picks up the food and starts heading out of the big kitchen. She halts and turns before getting to the door.

"I think I will have a bath and put on something better before joining you at the dining table. It won't take more than a few minutes, but keep my husband entertained before I come. You make a much better company than I do anyway." She winks at her friend, turns and steps out of the room.

She halts again only a few steps away from the Closed door and takes out a tiny bottle full of poison from one of her pockets. She empties the content of the plate with the eggs and dumps the empty bottle into a trash can.

She carries on down a long corridor while calling out as servant's name. Adoor opens a few metres ahead and a chubby male servant steps out and rushes to her.

He bows his head slightly before addressing his Queen. "What can I do for you, my lady?"

She hands him the tray with plates of food. "This is Evan's dinner so take it to his room."

The servant nods his head vigorously. "I had asked my friend to prepare the omelettes since she is really good at making them, but I don't trust her much so you must take a few bites of the eggs to make sure they are not poisoned before my son eats them." She orders, faking a concerned expression.

"Yes, my lady." The servant agrees to turn to leave. But she stops him by grabbing his sleeve. He turns his head to look at her again.

"Make sure you take a bite of the eggs before my son eats them, otherwise you are the one I will blame if anything happens to him." She warns and finally relinquishes his sleeve.

"I will do as you say, my lady." The servant affirms and carries the food away. The Queen smirks as she too turns to walk away in a different direction.

*****

*TEN MINUTES LATER*

Inside a spacious, flamboyant dining room, the King, his little nephew and Talia's mother eat and talk like a small family. Two servants stand a few steps away from the table, ready to get whatever the royals and their guests may need.

"I never could have believed a woman can fight so well until I saw you fight my aunt today. You got better skills than every one of the knights." King's nephew compliments and Talia's mother smiles gratefully.

"Fighting skills are learnt, you just have to train. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman." She replies.

"Would you train me?" The King's nephew asks.

Talia's mother thinks for a while. She looks up at the boy when she finally thinks of an answer. But the room's door flies open with an alarming Force before the words leave her mouth. 

A group of soldiers storm inside, the Queen walking fast behind them. She appears extremely enraged. Her eyes are red and tears stream down her cheeks. 

The soldiers Match forward and grab Talia's mother. She is confused and tries to push them away. The King and his nephew look just as shocked.

"What on earth are you stupid idiots doing? Let go of me!" Talia's mother snaps at the soldiers. But they only tightened their hold, working together to restrain her as they are well aware of what she is capable of. 

They drag her from her seat and force her to kneel on the floor. she fights them, but not even she can beat the strength of ten knights.

"You jealous devil! How dare you try to poison my son?" The Queen screams angrily, taking quick steps towards her friend who is struggling to free herself from the tight grip of the soldiers.

"Have you gone mad? What are you even talking about?" Talia's mother screams in shock.

The king is even more astounded, leaves his seat and makes his way to them.

"Don't you dare deny it! You put poison in the eggs you cooked! The Queen accuses and slaps Talia's mother on the face. 

The king now rushes to them and stops next to his fuming Queen. "Honey. . . is my son alright? Did the poison.. . hurt him?" Shock appears to be making it hard for him to speak.

"Evan is alright. But his servant is dead! I. . . I had asked him to take a bite of the eggs to make sure they were safe for our son to eat." The Queen sheds more tears as she falsely accuses the other woman.

The king's jaws clench in anger as he turns to glare at Talia's mother. "You came here to kill my son? What wrong has he ever done to you?" He roars, his voice cracking with fury. 

Talia's mother looks up at him, anger reflecting in her eyes as well. "Your wife is insane! I have never even touched poison in my life! She yells at both of them. Why would I even want to kill your son?"

"Because you have always been jealous of how powerful he is! You realise you will never be the best warrior as long as he's alive. Unfortunately for you, it's his servant that took the poison. My son is totally well and wants your head cut off for ending the life of his servants while attempting to take his." The Queen snarls, causing Talia's mother to gape in shock.

"But I didn't put anything in that food! I swear it, I wouldn't hurt the prince!" She pleads, unaware that the Queen had set her up and would not care what she says.

"Then why is the servant dead, you ugly devil? You will pay dearly for this!' The king hisses slapping Talia's mother hard on the face. "Take her away and lock her up! I will have the council convene tomorrow and decide on the terms of her execution!" He orders the soldiers and they immediately start pulling Talia's mother out of the room.

"I didn't poison anyone! please believe me!" She begs even as they roughly drag her away.

"You're a murderer and I will have the same thing done to you!" The King hisses and a smirk lights up his Queen's face.

She turns and hugs him after the soldiers and Talia's mother have left the room. "Thank you for not taking on her. no one should ever be allowed to hurt our son.

"I will make sure she regrets her actions a million times even before her head is cut off." The king mutters, still seething.

*****

TALIA'S POV

Anxiety makes my heart throb. Mother didn't return home last night and I have been imagining a million things that could have gone wrong.

My eyes haven't closed for a full second even after I entered my bed last night. I did my best to convince my siblings that mother was just running late and nothing had gone wrong so they relaxed and went to sleep.

I too didn't want to think that she wasn't okay or wasn't coming back. I left her share of the cake covered on the dining table and decided to wait for her to arrive while resting in the warmth of my small bed. 

Hours passed while I kept waiting to hear her knock on the front door. But nothing came. The sun has now come up and she is yet to show up. My fear keeps mounting with every passing minute.

Guess I will have to get out there and find out where she disappeared to. Even if I have to fight my way into the palace, a place I have never been to before.

I roll out of bed and change into something more presentable than my buggy pyjamas. I step out of my room and immediately hear someone knock hard on the front door.

A smile curves on my lips as I finally sigh with relief. I have never before felt so thrilled by something as simple as the sound of a knock on the door.

"Taylor!" I call out to my sister as I make my way to the front door and take hold of the doorknob. "Mom is home!" I shout even before opening it.

But it's not our mother waiting on the other side when I swing it open. My whole body quivers at the site of the five big soldiers that glare down at me. I take two steps back even though I know it wouldn't help much if they mean trouble.

"What do you want?" I ask.

The men match forward really fast and two of them grab my two hands. "You are coming with us to the palace, you and your siblings!" The one holding my right hand states.

"Uh. . . why?" I shatter, panic making it hard for my brain to think well.

"Your mother attempted to poison our beloved prince last night. The council will be deciding on her punishment as soon as you tell them all you know about your mother's plan to kill the prince." The same soldier answers.

"No! I gasp. That cannot be true!"

My fear surges as I realize that my imaginations of what had gone wrong with our mother were very right. We should never have trusted that angry and envious Queen. She definitely set this up and mother must be in deep trouble.

Mother has never planned to even poison a rat let alone a super powerful prince.

"Let go of my sister you big idiots!" Taylor yells at the top of her voice while rushing down the stairs towards us. I really wish she had stayed in her room. She and Michael are the only people I would risk anything to keep safe. but I was not prepared for this.

I try to fight the men holding me but my strength is too little compared to theirs. Not to forget that I am yet to phase so I cannot shift into anything more formidable than my human body.

The three men not holding me rushes towards Taylor. She boldly attacks the one that gets to her first. But her blows are too weak to cause any harm to him. Two of the soldiers finally managed to restrain her, each taking hold of one thin hand.

"Go find the boy! The king ordered that we return with all of them." The one holding my right hand orders the fifth soldier.

The soldier nods his head and runs up the stairs. We hear the sounds of the door opening as he searches for Michael. I hope that my little brother already heard the sounds of chaos and found somewhere to hide.

I am disappointed when the soldier reappears carrying a screaming Michael in his hands. He is still in his pyjamas and looks appalled.

"He is just a kid, what can he possibly know?" I yelled at the man.

"We are following orders." The one that appears to be in charge of others' answers. "Let's go!" He orders and they pull us out through the door, leaving the front door wide open for strangers and neighbours to walk in as they please.

I feel hopeless and extremely angry in my heart. The evil Queen attempts to destroy my home. 

Come and let me know what is waiting for me.