The Witch's Poison...

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Emperor Sargon's POV.

"What happened here, your highness?" He asked.

The room was very scattered with a lot of broken ceramic and glass objects. Apollo walked carefully, avoiding them with each step he took. The sight of my room scared him, even I wondered how come I broke all these.

"Apollo, what do you want?" I managed to say.

"I came to ask if you are going to address the people now or later?"

"For what exactly?"

"Your wife is Dead. The people have the right to mourn their Queen" he replied.

In Akkad, before people could join you to mourn your dead relative, You must go out to them and announced that he or she was no more. Queen Ariadne was my wife and their Queen. It was my duty as the husband to inform the people and her parents.

"With the way, I tarnished her image do you think anyone will mourn her?" I asked bitterly.

"Not everyone hated her. To me, she was a strong woman. Queen Ariadne stood by side till the last no matter how you tried, distancing yourself former, she still respected you as her husband"

"She betrayed me, Apollo" I reminded him of that act.

"I know but she was your wife. You should have forgiven her and saved yourself from all these" he said, pointing at the mess, I created.

"Mother thinks am the killer. Did you think I will do that?" Apollo was not just my prime minister, he was also my childhood friend. I wanted to know if he think I will do such a thing.

"To be sincere Emperor, you are a complex being. One can hardly tell what you are capable of doing" he uttered.

Apollo also acted as my advisor though, most of the time, I don't listen to his advice. It was for this same reason that, my chief of advisor requested for change of position. I didn't grant his wish, rather I sent him back to the village, where he came from.

"Can I come in?" A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see who it was.

It was Queen Valeria. She stood at the door with a beautiful smile. Am sure she didn't hear about Queen Ariadne's death, or else she won't smile or even put on this heavy makeup on her face.

"Have you heard about Queen Ariadne's death?" I asked without answering her greeting.

"Yes, I did. That is the reason why I came to see you" she said.

"Really?"

"Yes, please Your minister should excuse us."

Apollo understood immediately. He bowed and left. Such an obedient man!

"Go ahead, tell me" I urged.

"You finally got what you wanted. How did you do it?"

"What do you mean? Throw more light Queen Valeria" I asked with my brow furrowed in confusion.

"I mean Queen Ariadne's death. You did it right?"

What? Even Queen Valeria thought I did it! I could take insults from my mother, but not from this woman standing in front of me.

"Get out of my room now!" I thundered. The rage in me kept on increasing like a flame. Sooner or later, it was going to explode like a bomb.

"Your...m sorry... Please" she stammered. With a lot of fear in her eyes, she left the room.

Queen Valeria was special to me, maybe that's why she had the guts to call me a murderer in my face. Had it been, it was another person, I would have punished him immediately.

***

The women's quarters were very quiet by evening. It was obvious that they lost someone precious, and most of them would silently blame me for killing her. I wished there was something to do, I would have gladly found a solution.

I was going to announce to the people that Queen Ariadne was no more before a thought hit my head. What was the cause of her sudden death? She was doing fine before being taken to prison, if anything happened, then it was in the prison. There was no way, I could bury her without knowing what killed her.

Immediately, I sent for the pathologist. She was the best in the entire Empire. I wanted her to tell me the cause of my wife's sudden death. If there was anyone involved in it.

I reached Queen Ariadne's door, and I halt. Apart from the day, she fell, I have never attempted to enter her room, until yesterday when she died. A husband and wife were supposed to close that's what Mother always said. But, I did the other way round.

I opened the door and the pathologist was in there with my mother. With the clothes, she wore it seemed like mother didn't leave the room when I told her to. Stubborn woman- I inherited this.

The pathologist saw me, she was about to come and meet me but, I told her to continue with the autopsy. Mother didn't say anything to me, unlike her. I stood there waiting for the results so that I can prove my innocence to my mother, that I wasn't Queen Ariadne's killer.

The woman stopped checking and turned to us. She shook her head like Queen Ariadne was just dead.

"Your highness, she is not dead the pathologist said.

"I don't understand... she..." I stammered. Was she trying to pull my legs or to make me feel better?

"What are you saying?" Mother was also confused.

"The Emperor's wife is still alive though in a very critical condition."

"We don't understand...how is that possible?... I mean tell us everything in detail I kept on blabbering nonsense.

"Queen Ariadne is affected by the witch poison. If only she was awake, it would have been easier to ask how come, it happened" the woman explained.

"What? A witch!! Princess Morgana" exclaimed.

"I don't know how to manage my queen came in contact with a witch, but I will do my investigation. The most important thing is to save her" I said.

"It is hard to do that, but they are always a way outright. Come, let me explain to you by illustration.

We moved closer to where Queen Ariadne lay and the woman began her explanation. She said the marks that looked like broomsticks on her hand shows that Queen Ariadne was poisoned by a witch

Though her body was cold, she was still alive. I wondered how it was so. The pathologist said only a witch could cure her. Which was not possible because the witches have been at war with my family for a long time even before I was born. When I ascended the throne, they were angry, that most of them rebelled against me saying, that they couldn't bow down to a Devil king. In order clear the misunderstanding of who was the master, I slew them all. The few that were left, ran off to where I couldn't get hold of them.

Now, am faced with this great dilemma. Should I save my Queen or let my enemies be where they were? The question was a difficult one for me to answer because once I let the witches back into the Empire, they would try to usurp me!