THE CURSE FROM A LONELY WOMAN

                As usual, the royal palace was buzzing with low noises. It was early in the morning and the sun rays had gently embraced the land making it warm especially in the north. The servants of the royal palace were starting their usual duties which included cleaning the marbled floors, royal chambers, large halls, pavilions, the royal library, and maintaining the garden. The royal chefs were starting to make delicious foods for the royal family members who were about to wake up. The royal family members included king Raleigh Kainz, his highness's uncle, Oswald Kainz, and queen dowager, Avon Kainz. After the death of the former king, queen dowager Avon stayed inside the palace handling the palace's internal matters.

              King Raleigh's uncle's name was Oswald Kainz. He had always been in favour of king Raleigh since he was small and helped the king a lot when there was a struggle for the throne. He was one of the most trusted people of king Raleigh and was most loyal too. Even during the rebellion of the king's stepbrother, Oswald was calm and made a strategy to defeat them. Oswald had always been a royal advisor of king Raleigh since he sat on a throne. King's success in the ruling was also highly contributed to Oswald. He was a quick learner and decision-maker. If one problem was raised, he had hundreds of methods to solve them. So, providing the post of royal advisor to Oswald was one of the best decisions king Raleigh had made in his life.

         King Raleigh had already woken up and was sitting on a large couch looking at the sunrise. Among the royal family members, he was the first one to wake up. But it was not for his healthy lifestyle. It was just that he couldn't sleep properly. He had insomnia and only slept for two, three hours at night. He never had a peaceful sleep because he was afraid of his nightmares which would drag him deep into the abyss. He knew he had been cruel and his hands were full of blood.  The people who died by his hands were the reason for his nightmare. He had heard the curses they shouted before dying by his hands. Even his stepbrother had cursed him to rot in the deepest part of the hell before dying. Being king wasn't so easy after all. 

      King Raleigh was lost in his thoughts when he heard someone knocking on his door.

           "Enter."

    Ashley, the king's personal attendant entered the royal chamber with a silver tray in her hand. She saw king Raleigh sitting on the couch on the balcony. The gentle morning sun rays were basking him and at this time, the king looked so soft and approachable. She then walked towards the king and bowed before him.

         "Good morning, your highness."

          "Hm, morning."

She knelt at the label of the table and started pouring the tea into the cup. After preparing, she gave Earl Grey, the particular tea brand that the king loved to him. King's day always started with a cup of Earl Grey. King Raleigh took a sip and asked, "What are my plans for today?"

     Attending the king was never an easy job. They have to prepare for everything. She lowered her head and answered, "Your highness, after the morning court, you shall have breakfast with lady Blaine in the royal garden's pavilion."

    "Hmm... very well." The king said drinking a sip of the tea. 'You may leave now."

     "Yes, your highness." Ashley then bowed to the king and left the royal chamber closing the door behind her.

     King Raleigh then slowly drank the tea and soon finished enjoying the view outside the royal palace. He stood up and went inside his chamber to get dressed for the morning court. He never asked for his attendants to help him dress and did it himself. It took quite a long time to wear royal attire with a royal robe. He then put on a gold crown on his head and left for the court hall. The two royal knights were walking behind the king holding long spears.

           King Raleigh entered the court hall majestically. There was a large glass chandelier in the centre of the hall and the walls were carved beautifully with quartz and other minerals. The red carpet was placed on the floor from the door to the golden throne. When king Raleigh entered the hall, everyone present in the hall stood up and bowed in respect towards their king. King Raleigh walked slowly on the red carpet towards his throne. 

       The throne was placed above three stairs from where the king could look down on everyone. The throne was made up of gold which was carved beautifully. The faces of the two dragons were carved at the end of each hand resting place. The soft royal red cushion was placed on the seat to make it more comfortable. King Raleigh took three stairs and sat down on his golden throne looking majestic. The two royal knights were standing behind him. Queen dowager Avon and the royal advisor Oswald were the ones who were placed closest to the king. 

        After King Raleigh sat all of the ministers and dukes also sat down on their respective seats. Then the king looked at everyone present in the hall and spoke.

       "Begin now."

One of the ministers who were responsible for the criminal matters stood up and walked in front of the king. He lowered his head and said, "Your highness, we have caught the ones who were suspicious of being a spy. They are currently in prison."

    King Raleigh nodded in his head and the minister signalled the guards to bring them. After a while, two persons were walking inside the court hall with their hands chained with iron chains behind their back. One of them was the girl while the next one was the boy. They both looked middle-aged. The girl looked quite pale while the boy was tanned. One could guess easily where they belonged just by seeing their features.

    They both were forced to kneel down by the guards in front of the king and their heads were lowered. King Raleigh stared at them for a while and asked in a stern voice.

      "Do you know what crime you both have committed?"

The girl raised her head a little bit and answered, "Yes, your highness." The boy also nodded his head in agreement. King Raleigh hadn't even glanced a bit at the boy. He was only looking at the girl.

     "And you still dared to commit."

    "I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with him." The girl answered lowering her head slightly.

    "HAHAHAHAHA..." King Raleigh's laugh echoed loudly in the hall. Both the boy and the girl flinched in terror. "I clap you for your bravery after all... you are from my kingdom. But your audacity to bring him into my kingdom. You know what is the punishment, right?"

     The most important rule of the Raven kingdom was 'The citizens of the Raven kingdom aren't allowed to be involved in any romantic relationship with the citizens from the other kingdoms.' This rule was made after king Raleigh had killed his second aunt a year ago. She was actually a spy from the southern kingdom and was caught red-handed. She was publically executed. Even her husband couldn't save her, The king didn't look for any blood relations when it came to his kingdom and he didn't want such incidents to happen again. For him, his kingdom was his top priority.

     Both the girl and the boy banged their head loudly on the marble floor. "No please, your highness." The girl pleaded, her eyes full of tears.

     "Where was your fear when you dared to fall in love with this man? You clearly knew he was from the southern kingdom, right? What would you do if he was a spy? Would you take  responsibility?"

     "Your highness, we assure you we aren't spies. We promise to stay or move away from this kingdom. Please let us go. We really love each other." The girl answered crying and choking her voice.

      King Raleigh then looked at the royal guards and said, "Make both of them kill each other. If they don't agree, hurt them in front of the eyes of each other. I'll see for how long their love will last."

     "No, your highness. If you want then please only kill me. I was the one who approached her first." The boy answered immediately looking into the king's eyes.

  King Raleigh's face showed a smile which was quite not a smile and said, "Very well. I'll grant you your wish, you insect from the south."

    The king stood up from his throne and stepped down walking towards the boy. He stared at the boy kneeling in front of him and took out his thin sword.

    "Never rest in peace, no-name boy."

    "Nooooo" The girl hadn't even shouted long when she saw her lover's head being separated from his body. It happened in a flash that she didn't even have the time to react properly. She just blankly stared at her lover's beheaded body and the blood which flowed around her. She then took her lover's head on her lap and looked at it blankly tears flowing from her eyes.

   Everyone felt chills in their body with the king's current action. King Raleigh hummed in satisfaction and shrug away the remaining blood on his sword then walked towards his throne and sat on it. He stared at the girl and said, "Give this boy's body to wild animals and this girl will stay in the prison for the rest of her life."

      "Kill me."

     "Hm?" King Raleigh looked at the girl narrowing his eyes.

      "He was the only one who loved me. I had nobody except him and you killed him. Kill me too."

      "Fine. I'll grant your wish after all I am your king. Guards, burn her alive with her lover's dead body, right here and now." 

    This decision made everyone even more afraid and chill around them. They wanted to object but didn't have enough courage. Right now, King Raleigh was angry and they didn't want to face his wrath. The girl looked at the king with her dead eyes after the guards came with fire and petrol.

    "I curse you that you will never be able to experience the feeling called love. I curse you to never be happy and you will never be able to love in this life. You will discard your happiness by yourself. I curse you for eternity."

    "Finished?" King Raleigh asked without changing his expression. "I have been cursed so much that I don't remember what they were. Adding some more isn't anything."

     "This is the curse from a lonely woman who had her lover just killed."

    "Fine. Guards burn her." The king ordered. Soon, petrol was poured on her and the boy's body. They were set on fire after that. The whole hall was glowing because of the fire and everyone was silent. Some looked at the view while the others couldn't. Only the sound of a girl shouting in pain of being burnt could be heard.

       Queen dowager looked worriedly at her son's lack of emotion. Who was she to say anything? Even she wasn't allowed to call him 'son' after he became the king. Oswald was looking at the scene without emotion too after all he was very loyal to the king. He never questioned his decisions. For him, king Raleigh was always right.

   Very soon only the smell of freshly burnt corpse lingered inside the hall. The king ordered them to call the maids and clear away the ashes. The hall was still in pin-drop silence.

     "Why are all of you silent?"

  Because we are afraid of you, ah. "Continue."

    Minister Weshly walked towards the king and bowed him. He was the commander of the royal army. He was a tall blonde man with a ripped body. Previously he was second-in-command but after king Raleigh sat on the throne, he was promoted to being a commander.

          "Your highness, regarding the hunting you are going to participate in starting from tomorrow, we have already found a good destination."

        "Elaborate.

 "Your highness, for your hunting trip we have located the mountains at the border of our kingdom. The temperature is pretty warm there compared to here. There are lots of tall and small mountains and boulders suitable for hunting."