CHAPTER 4 - I DID

--REINE--

His eyes widened like I'd asked for something impossible.

Mother's grip on my hand tightened.

Even Eren shifted uncomfortably.

"Why do you need a mirror, darling?" Mother asked, gently caressing the back of my knuckles. "Eren, ask someone to get her water please. She must be so thirsty."

Immediately, he stepped outside to oblige to her command.

Cain squeezed my hand, leaning closer. "Reine. Tell me who did this. I promise, they won't live to see another sunrise. Just give me a name."

I sniffed, my eyebrows pulling closer.

Eren returned with a glass of water and extended it towards me.

"Water, darling?" Mother asked, taking it from him.

I shook my head.

She placed the glass on the table beside the bed.

"Reine," Cain said again. "I will not rest until you have been avenged. Who did this?"

I looked away from him, unable to keep gazing into his sad eyes.

Those same eyes that once looked at me with admiration and pride.

My face was wrapped in bandages.

I knew what Karlos had done.

But I had to see.

I had to see it for myself.

"My dearest girl," Mother pushed. "Please, answer your brother."

What was I supposed to tell them?

That it was Karlos? My mate?

The same man I gave up Nymore's throne for?

Or Emerald?

My own flesh and blood.

Cain's other sister. Mother's other daughter.

Eren softly cleared his throat, taking all eyes off of me.

"I... it isn't my place, but I feel we shouldn't pressure Her Majesty for answers yet. She is still in shock," he said quietly. "Something devastating has happened, and it's only natural to need a bit of time to process it all."

I laughed, but there wasn't a tinge of humour in the sound.

"Process it?" I smiled. "What does that mean?"

"I think all Eren meant is that you'll tell us when you're ready," Mother replied. "Won't you?"

I nodded, closing my eyes.

"I will. I am. I am ready to tell you."

"Well, then?" Cain asked. "Who did this?"

- - - -

--EREN--

She let the question hang in the air, before her broken smile widened into something even more painful.

A tear slid from her eye, wetting the bandage across her cheek.

"I did," she announced, her voice final.

"What... what do you mean, sister?" Prince Cain asked, voicing what we all thought.

"Exactly what I said," she replied, now opening her eyes to look at us. "I did this to myself. All three of you tried to warn me, and yet, I didn't listen."

Warn her?

The only thing I'd warned her against was--

Someone knocked on the door.

I walked over and answered it.

The royal messenger.

"From the King of Warhill," he stated, before handing me a scroll.

I glanced back at Reine.

Her eyes were on me already, void of emotion.

"Thank you," I muttered, closing the door and taking the scroll to Prince Cain.

"What does it say?" Reine asked.

Prince Cain unfurled it and read it, his eyes glowing brighter with every word.

"Brother," Reine chuckled. "What does it say?"

"I am going to kill that piece of shit!" Cain growled, standing up. "How dare he?"

"What? What is it?" the Queen Mother asked, standing up as well. She extended her hand for the scroll, and Prince Cain slapped it into her hand.

She read it too, and her face went pale.

"How could Emerald...?" she whispered, before sitting down hard.

My heart pounded in my chest.

I didn't need to know what was written in the scroll.

Their reactions had made it obvious that my suspiscions had always been correct.

Princess Emerald had moved to Warhill with an agenda.

It was her.

She had caused all this.

My fists curled at my sides.

How could she?

Reine cleared her throat, still smiling.

"Sit down, Cain."

He frowned at her. "What? How can you ask me to sit? Reine, I will fix this, I promise you. She cannot do this. He--I will ruin everything he has ever loved."

"He loved me once," Reine said quietly. "But I am already ruined, aren't I?"

"That's not true," I said, unable to hold back.

Silence fell around me.

Reine stared, and raised her eyebrows.

"Then get me a mirror, Eren."

Prince Cain and the Queen Mother both glanced at me, their eyes begging me to stay where I was.

But they didn't say anything, so I didn't wait for them to.

If she wanted to see herself, she deserved to see it.

I turned on my heel and walked out, quickly arranging a mirror for her. It was brought to me with a black silk cloth covering it. The moment I stepped back inside the room with the mirror, another silence fell, this time louder than the previous.

Reine didn't glance towards me at first.

But she slowly sat up, closing her eyes like she was preparing herself.

I walked over to her bed, and carefully placed the mirror in her lap.

I could feel Prince Cain and the Queen Mother glaring at me.

But I pretended not to notice.

I was just human after all.

Reine took hold of the mirror, and the moment she did, my eyes shifted to the glass of water on her bed side.

The water rippled.

I frowned, glancing down at the Queen Mother's foot beside the table.

I stepped back from Reine, watching her.

Her eyes remained shut, but she slowly pulled off the cloth from the mirror. Then, she reached for the bandages wrapping her face.

"Reine," the Queen Mother whispered, but that was it.

Reine untied the bandages, her jaw clenching as it probably hurt her.

The bandages fell to her lap, blotched with blood and medicine.

My chest ached.

The Queen Mother turned her face away.

Prince Cain's jaw tightened.

The water rippled some more.

Reine took a deep breath, the sound very audible in the silence.

The glass of water rattled on the table, enough to gain others' attention as well.

I looked from Reine to the glass, and back at Reine.

Finally, her blue eyes fluttered open.

Her mouth parted in shock, like she wanted to release the most blood-curling scream ever heard.

But no sound left her mouth.

Tears slid down her cheeks.

And the glass on the table burst, shattering into pieces.

The Queen Mother stood up with a gasp.

My eyes widened.

Prince Cain froze.

The pieces of glass fell to the ground.

But the water... it rose in the air and drew towards Reine, swirling around her.

- - - - - -