Prologue: The Royal Massacre

The Jovevski Castle, situated at the very centre of the capital of Ogronevia, was one of the greatest marvels of the island nation.

A banquet was being held there that night. A banquet to commemorate the successful subjugation of the sea monsters in the west. A feat single-handedly accomplished by the powerful, beautiful and talented second Princess.

It was meant to be a joyous day. One filled with drinking, dancing and enjoying the many delicacies that nobility could afford. It was supposed to be a celebration.

Then the guest of honour, clad in chainmail and brandishing several weapons on her person, threw a dagger straight into her father's skull.

Her icy-blue eyes, once hailed as resembling that of a fairy's, were blown wide with panic as she impaled her mother into the walls of the throne room with a spear that had been strapped to her back.

As her eldest sister, the first Princess, was about to turn from her conversation to face the commotion, she had lost her head.

It had been ten seconds, and three members of the royal family were dead.

As the first scream from a noblewoman was heard, the first Prince had his head smashed in by a mace.

The nobles began to run to the door and the knights finally tried to act. The youngest, the ten-year-old Prince, had been stabbed in the heart.

The twins tried to escape, almost making it through the exit. She gripped their necks from behind and snapped their heads to the side.

Through the noise and bloodshed, her mumbling words got louder and louder.

"Monsters…Monsters…There's monsters everywhere."

The knights were thrown to the side every time they got even a little close to the murderous princess. They were trying to stop her but she was a monster herself in her own right.

As soon as she spotted the last of her family, she moved back to the throne and found twelve-year-old Ísar. He had been hiding behind the throne.

She was about to stab him with her sword.

"Sister?"

She stopped. It was a split second. A moment of clarity, which vanished as soon as it came but Ísar had already stabbed her in the throat with a dagger of his own.

Her sword fell from her grip as she stumbled back, hand on her throat and her manic stare still on Ísar. Her precious baby brother.

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Prince Ísar stared down at his older sister's dying body.

The screams coming from the panicking nobles had become muffled sounds to his ears. His grip tightened on the bloody dagger until his fingers turned white.

The banquet, her banquet, was in complete chaos.

Ísar took a step back as his sister scrambled to catch him. He watched her fall hard on the hall's marbled floors. She was clutching her bleeding throat yet seemed wholly unaware that she was dying.

Her gaze went from their father whose body was sprawled on the steps to the throne. Their mother, impaled into the walls. Their oldest sister, decapitated. The first prince, unrecognizable. The twins had their necks broken with two, sickeningly loud twists.

At least it was quick for the youngest. He'd only been ten.

A mere chance. She had never been of sound mind. Each monster subjugation she was ordered to participate in took chip after chip of her sanity away. The only reason he survived was because she had favoured him and hesitated.

A split second where she paused and Ísar could not risk her change to her broken mind.

With as much strength as his smaller body could manage, he stabbed her in the throat. His hands were still shaking from how much force he needed to do so.

Ísar could hear his rapid heartbeat in his ears. He didn't take his eyes off his sister who had stopped moving but her dimming eyes were still fixed on him.

There was so much fear in her icy blue eyes. Even while laying in a mix of her blood and their family members', she stared at Ísar in fear.

The dagger fell from his hand as he went on his knees. He crawled up to his dying sister. He heard many protests from the brave nobles that risked getting closer but he inched closer to her. Her fingers twitched on the floor but did not move further. He wondered how long it was going to take for her to die.

Then she was gone, and Ísar collapsed.