Fantasy || ᴇᴄʜᴏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴇᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ ||

[ditto]

So, it had begun; the imbecilic princess had gone to the elvish kingdom this morning, leaving the palace pleasantly still, and the queen—the rightful queen of all—had sat back in the knowledge that her plan had been ignited—and there, she could still be found tonight.

In the light of the two moons, everything had a sort of glow to it, even without the aid of candles or torches, so it was easy for the queen to walk around without being noticed. The servants had long ago retired to their quarters and the king to his, and now, Victoria found her way across the gleaming floors in complete stillness and silence, apart from a lone frog croaking outside.

She touched at her pocket to make entirely sure that the materials she had smuggled into them earlier were still there and hidden safely, and when she found that the lumps were right where they should be, a smile curled onto her face. Around the corner she went, and then around the next, a vile smile of excitement on her face. Gods above, you have truly given me your blessing.

The wide, open arch appeared before her; through it, the purple, fragrant lavender garden waved gently in the soft breeze.

Her smile spread wider, and she kicked off her shoes and stepped into the courtyard.

An image flashed in Victoria’s mind of young Aurelia, sitting in the courtyard with her knight by her side, a smile of careless joy on the young girl’s face.

Pah. Aurelia had always been a sentimental fool, too content to hold onto the past and not look to the future—too happy to hold onto this foolish slap in the face to the current monarchy to cry about her dead mother.

She had always been so naïve; she was so easy to deceive.

From her pocket, Victoria withdrew the ceramic match box she had taken from the servant’s quarters earlier. “Aurelia,” she began, the name like poison in her mouth, “you little fool.” She smiled to herself. “You were not given brains. You always think the best of the world—of people.” Victoria clicked her tongue. “You will learn soon enough of your foolishness.”

Victoria struck the match; an orange flame lapped at the air. She pinched the match between two fingers, smiling down at the flame.

“But by the time you learn,” she said, and she leaned forward and connected the tip of one of the purple blooms with the flame, causing the flame to spread to it and blacken its bud, “it will be far too late.”

Victoria dropped the match into one of the clusters of purple flowers as the orange began to lick more and more flowers, consuming them, blackening them, and causing them to call to the ground.

The orange light reflected in her eyes, and her smile broadened.

Gods above, you have truly given me your blessing.

VICTORIA

♡coded by uxie♡