The face of a Dead Queen

Rain

“Sapphire?” he said again.

People slowly gathered closer, drawn by curiosity and shock. Some of them stared at me openly, their faces pale, their eyes wide. Those who looked the most shaken wore small blue badges pinned to their clothes – the symbol of the Lycan King’s court. The rest only looked confused, glancing between me and him like they were trying to understand a story that didn’t make sense.

“Sapphire… you’re alive?” a woman whispered.

She stepped closer and took my hand in hers. Her touch was warm, gentle, filled with a kind of affection I had never known. She looked at me like she had found something precious she thought she’d lost forever.

The kindness startled me. It felt foreign, overwhelming. I pulled my hand back and lowered my gaze, my heart pounding. Why were they calling me Sapphire? Who was she supposed to be?

“Isn’t Sapphire the king’s late wife?” a sharp voice cut in. “We buried her remains. This is nothing more than a cheap look-alike.”

I looked up then.

The man who spoke had a hard face and cold eyes. There was something cruel about him, something calculating. He looked like the kind of person who expected the worst from everyone and enjoyed being proven right.

“Julius is right,” a woman whispered nearby. “I never saw her myself, but anyone can tell this is a stunt.”

“Poor Alpha Ryan,” another voice murmured. “Maybe grief has finally broken him.”

Their hushed whispers spread like poison seeping through the hall, and the Lycan King, Alpha Ryan seemed to hear them. Confusion crossed his face as he looked at me again, this time more carefully. His gaze lingered on my eyes through my glasses, studying them as if searching for something. Whatever he saw there seemed to snap him back to himself.

The softness in his expression and the longing in his eyes vanished, replaced by something sharp and dangerous.

“Who brought this woman here?” he demanded.

No one answered.

“I asked a question!” he barked.

The room froze. His eyes burned as they landed on me, filled with pure disgust. “Who dared to insult me with such a cruel joke? Bringing a woman who resembles my late wife on the very day I choose to remarry?”

Still, no one spoke.

I turned, my chest tightening as I searched the crowd. Hannah was gone. I couldn’t see my father. Diane wasn’t there either. They had disappeared, leaving me alone in the middle of the hall.

Was this why I was never allowed outside? Because I looked like his late wife? But I had been locked away for as long as I could remember. Long before today. None of this made sense.

“I see,” Alpha Ryan said coldly. “No one wants to take responsibility for this disgrace.”

The blond man who had tackled me earlier stepped forward. His voice was calmer, but his eyes were serious. “Didn’t you come here with an access seal for another girl? Where is she? Did she send you?” He glanced at me with something close to concern. “If you don’t identify her, you will be punished.”

He wasn’t threatening me without reason. He was telling me the truth. But I knew my family. They would never claim me in front of everyone. If I spoke their names, they would deny me – and punish me later.

I had no one.

“Fine,” Alpha Ryan said, his tone hard as a rock. “Malcom. Restrain her and have her executed immediately for her defiance.”

My head snapped up.

Executed?

I hadn’t done anything wrong.

The blond man, Malcom hesitated, his jaw tightening, before grabbing me and forcing me to the floor. His claws slid from his fingers, sharp and gleaming under the lights. My body wouldn’t move. Shock locked me in place, my limbs heavy and useless.

No one spoke. No one stepped forward. They just watched.

“Please,” I whispered, my voice shaking.

Alpha Ryan crouched in front of me until we were eye level. Up close, his beauty was terrifying. Perfect features twisted into something merciless, something inhuman. This was not a man who hesitated. This was someone who would end my life without regret.

“Last chance,” he said quietly. “Who brought you here? Who are you?”

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

“I… I am no one,” I sobbed.

“Kill her,” he said as he stood.

Malcom raised his claws. Pain burned at my neck as one pierced the skin, just enough to draw blood.

“Alpha Jed’s daughter!”

The words tore from my mouth before I could stop them.

“I’m Alpha Jed’s daughter,” I repeated weakly, disbelief crashing over me as I realized what I had just done.

Malcom froze. He released me immediately, and I clutched my bleeding neck, gasping.

Then I saw him. My father.

His eyes locked onto mine through the crowd, filled with fury and something far worse than anger.

“Alpha Jed,” Alpha Ryan said holding back fury. “I asked severally who brought this impersonator here and you said nothing. Why don’t you explain to everyone why you felt too big to do so?”

My father grunted while Diane and Hannah hid behind him.

“Can you not speak? Answer the Lycan King? Is that girl truly your daughter,” Malcom said softly.

“She is not with me,” he said.

I knew he would deny me and say he doesn’t know me. I should’ve never said anything. I should’ve just accepted my fate.

“Though she is indeed my daughter from my first marriage, she is a witch, so I do not claim her,”

The hall exploded into chaos at his words.

“A witch?!”, “kill her!”, “Don’t get close to her,”

I stood there not believing my ears. To say something like this, he must really hate me.

“Silence!” Alpha Ryan barked at the terrified crowd. “Do you think this is a joke Jed? My territory is protected from witches and mages good or bad, so how is a witch in our midst?”

“I didn’t mean for my words to be taken literally Alpha. It is just that a child who caused the death of her mother during birth is nothing less than a witch, wouldn’t you all agree?” My father said while I put my head down, ashamed that he had told a room full of people the words that hurt me the most.

“Because of her bad luck, I never let her leave the house, but for some foolish reason, she did and she’s ruined your day. You can do whatever you like with her. It’s what she deserves.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks, unable to bear hearing such cruel words.

“You must think I’m a fool. How does any of that explain her striking resemblance to my wife?” Ryan barked.

“I can’t say for sure. I never knew she shared resemblance with your late wife, you know, not everyone saw her face because she kept to herself and always wore a veil. Whatever the resemblance is… I’m sure it’s nothing compared to the beauty of your late wife. I would never try to desecrate her memory by bringing this bad luck to you,” My father said.

“You’re digging yourself into a bigger pit,” Ryan said through clenched teeth. “Because this girl looks EXACTLY like my wife. So, you better start talking,”

“I don’t know why that is, and I don’t know how else I can prove to you that she has always had this face.” My father said.

“You better prove it, or you will join your daughter in death.” Alpha Ryan said and my father gave me a stare so chilling that I almost passed out. Because even if we survived this… I knew I would never survive going back home.