BITTERSWEET HELL

What do you think the end is like?

I never thought my end would be me on my knees, bending my head down as the heavy crown is placed on me.

'What a glorious end!' One could say, but I assure you, I would rather die than wish for such an end.

The king's hand, Lord Julius Ayke, faced the crowd with a beaming expression, "I now pronounce, Aria Nobody, as wife to King Silas Lyon Grey and Queen of Kingdom Rheiss. Long live, may the gods be with you."

What a joke!

This moment, this stupid gown and this stupid crown, it is a joke. My life is nothing short of a cruel sadistic joke, one that gives me nightmares and chills.

For a moment as miraculous as this, as to how an orphan like me became the queen of the most powerful kingdom, must thrust you into the realm of torturing wander, I too have been there, and it is no joke coming out of it. So allow me, if you will, to make this easy for you.

Well for starters, I am Aria, Aria f**king nobody.

WAY BACK…

I had a sister, Arya, she was human… kind, pretty: lovely golden eyes, soft rosy lips, fragrant curly red hair. Arya was, if I were to be a storm, Arya would be a flower. And despite growing up in a dark era, she grew to be very beautiful and nothing short of perfection.

A few years ago…

After the battle between Kingdom Rheiss and my kingdom came to a relieving conclusion, everything was completely destroyed. We lost our parents and to add salt to our wounds, me and my sister, Arya, were captured as slaves and later sold to lady Camelia - should've been named chameleon because of her deceptive nature - the owner of Pleasure Garden, a place for men to do what men do best; brag about how important they are to women who give no s**t about their lives but only the gold coins they will offer them after.

My sister and I were thrown into that dark, ugly, disgusting world. I would never let that darkness engulf us, at least, not Arya, and so I cut a deal with lady Camelia, she offered two options: either I become a whore or, I become something worse, a thief.

I hated kingdom Rheiss and its people anyway, so it wasn't exactly a hard choice. I became a thief in order for Arya to live comfortably as a cook. Lady Camelia will care for her health and safety, she will keep Arya's hands clean and I will shoulder all the dirty work.

Pickpocketing wasn't that hard, I'd do it in a heartbeat than open my legs to those slutty men for a few gold coins.

Two orphans in a big city, we grew just fine and survived the test of time and all the challenges it hurled at us, that was, until the ascension of the new king, only son to the late king Marcellus Lyon Grey, Silas Lyon Grey became the new ruler of Kingdom Rheiss, and that was the beginning of a very dark and long end.

On his very first year, everything was ravaged. The crops were destroyed by a mighty flood, there was no food, no security, people were farmished, tired, and frustrated and then, on one very day, they turned hungry for violence and a protest broke out in the kingdom.

My sister Arya was sent to the market to get vegetables, she was there when the protest started. The soldiers attacked, and my poor sister, who only went there to get vegetables, was slain with a sword. That ruthless soldier did not waste a second to cut my sister's throat with his weapon as I watched from across.

'Arya!!!' I screamed her name so loud i thought I'd lose my voice and then I launched myself in her direction, the crowd were pushing back but I pushed forward, weaseling myself through them.

Someone threw a stone, it hit my head, knocking me to the cold ground at impact.

The crowd running for their lives stepped on me as they ran, still, I crawled, pushing through until I reached my sister, Arya, her beautiful eyes now empty, I didn't even get to say goodbye. My only family left was snatched from me.

I could hear nothing, feel nothing. The guards yanked me by the elbow and chained me along with the rioters they captured but I felt nothing, even when they hit me black and blue, broke my ribs, disfigured my face; I felt nothing.

Losing a loved one can destroy a man's core to live, while for others, it can fuel the bloodthirsty desire for revenge.

I understand that these men were frustrated but a poor man doesn't act on his own accord, there is a mastermind behind them, and whoever it is, is my target.

And so, I started investigating, I didn't waste another day mourning Arya. Her murderer was roaming free, feeling victorious, she wouldn't find peace until he's burned to nothing but a pile of ash.

My investigation led me down a rocky and dangerous path that almost claimed my pathetic life a couple of times, but I prevailed against all obstacles and adversaries.

Death was the curse gifted to me, and in this era, everything is give and take.

I tracked down those involved, punishing them one after the other, till my investigation led me to Lady Camelia's doorstep. I did tell you she's a chameleon, a sadistic monster wrapped in the body of a seductive woman.

Despite knowing Camelia for almost two decades, it didn't take me a fleeting second to point my weapon at her, I wanted a name in exchange for her life and she's a smart business woman, she is a core survivor and she was smart enough to understand how dangerous I was in that moment, and so she gave me one name, Silas Lyon Grey, the king.

It is no shock that such a man would turn ruthless. Every person that shares the Lyon blood is cold and unemotional, but to cause harm upon your people and orchestrate a riot that led to the demise of hundreds? It is just pure evil!

I would be doing kingdom Rheiss a favor if I eradicate the only living member of the Lyon family away from the face of the world.

It was easy getting into the castle as a maid, Camelia did that for me. She has her connections in the castle and besides, I was blinded by my rage and could do anything, she saw the darkness that was shrouding my senses and it compelled her to comply to my conditions, to save herself.

I worked in the castle for a year, studying the building in and out.

King Silas Lyon Grey! I want his head.

On the day of the appointment of new knights to serve the bastard, a feast was held, the king partied and drank the finest ale.

I knew that this day will come and so I impatiently waited for 365 days for the day to arrive, the day I finally get to avenge Arya.

King Silas was accompanied by his guards, they brought him safely back to his chambers and stood guard by the door, not knowing that he needn't protection from the outside because I was inside, I sneaked into his chambers earlier when all the maids and servants were busy with preparations for the feast.

I was invisible to them anyway, so it wasn't that hard to disappear.

I stayed behind the curtain for hours, planning the attack in my head. I went over the plan for a few hundred times before the king finally returned.

I have never seen him up close but I knew that he is undeniably tall and muscular, a skilled fighter too. He could have made the perfect king if he wasn't so ruthless.

Silas took off his shirt, my eyes took stock of his broad and ripped chest, I stared too long, I wonder why.

He was drunk and probably had no idea the doom that was awaiting him.

He grumbled something and was about to take off his pants but slipped and flopped onto the bed, drifting into a deep slumber instantly.

What an embarrassment!

I came out from my hiding place, unsheathing the dual-edged dagger I received as the prize from a gambling i was involved in a few years back.

I didn't mask my face, there was nothing to hide. I wanted him to see his killer before he takes his last breath.

I jumped on the king's body, covering his lips with my palm while jamming the sharp edge of my dagger against his throat.

His eyes snapped open, gray eyes meeting mine, and for the briefest of seconds, my heart skipped a beat.

I was afraid, this one decision could completely destroy my life, I would be executed for murdering the king, but in that moment, I didn't care. I'm all alone as it is.

I would kill the king and kill myself to spare myself from the torture of living on without Arya in my life.

'This is for Arya!' I growled, stabbing the dagger into his chest and rammed it down further deep into his beating heart.

His eyes popped out as if his eyeballs were about to burst out.

My hands were trembling and I was quivering like a candle on fire. I'd never kill a man before, and I just did.

Warm blood started flowing below him, staining the white silk bedsheet. He was no longer alive and I didn't give him a chance to fight back so everything felt easy, too easy.

I let go of the dagger which I held with an iron-grip, now staring at my bloodied hands.

'I just killed a man!' The words rushed out of me in shock.

This is it, the end. This is the part where my story should've ended, but then… why? Why did this happen?

All of a sudden, the king's eyes snapped open. At the blink of an eye, he yanked my hand, pulling and pinning me down on the bed while he climbed on top.

I was genuinely shocked when Arya was killed before my eyes, but seeing a dead man rise back to life? It terrified the life out of me. I thought I was running crazy and perhaps I am.

That was the first time I saw his face up close, he was handsome in such a way that would captivate the viewer's heart at first glance.

His gray eyes were hooded by long perfect black curly lashes. His lips were soft and inviting, hair as black and shiny as a charcoal.

I was lost in his beauty, perhaps it was the shock of seeing him alive that jumbled up my senses.

But reality reared its ugly head at me when my eyes took stock of the dagger still sticking out of his chest, how is that even possible?

I gasped, voice trembling, 'You… you are… you are not dead?"

A devilish grin appeared on his face,

'I was never alive.'