I moved across the window and towards the lifeless body on the floor still regretting the decision I made in anger. His death should have been public humiliation and I should have made it as slow as possible.
Then suddenly, I remembered that it took two to tango. Nydia had fled while I dealt with her lover. I wasn't just angry at her, my blood was boiling at the audacity she had. Had she ever really loved me or had there been a motive all along?
I walked out of the room, walking away with bitterness of the betrayal still coursing through my veins and then scanned the area. There was no trace of her. The palace halls seemed so long and endless from where I stood. With a slight hiss, I began to walk down the never-ending hallway with only one goal; to find Nydia.
Each step pounded against the cold floor, disturbing even my own ears. I kicked open the doors at the back of the palace closer to Nydia's Chambers where I knew she would have fled through and sighted her from a distance. She was in a corner afar off, leaning against a pillar looking quite terrified. She must have felt my presence because she whipped her head backwards towards me, and then, for the brief second that we locked eyes, I could see only hopelessness in them. She stood up abruptly and began to run, tripping over stones and wounding herself badly. Then she was up again, running. My guards stood erect at the back gate with their swords raised.
"Stand back!" I barked, my voice was sharp as a knife and clear as a bell. "I will catch her myself."
They both hesitated but complied and backed off as I chased her towards the gates. I witnessed her falling again and this time more violently, and standing up only to have the blood ooze from behind and follow her as she dragged herself slowly along the floor. Taking in a deep breath, I paused for a while to catch my breath. Anger was really getting the best of me and my whole body was vibrating.
After I felt calmer, I looked up, and she was gone, but not before leaving a blood trail. I traced the blood through the winding corridors of another section of the palace paved with marble but did not see her. However, the smell of her body mixed with the stench of blood informed me. I knew right off the bat where she would head to by default.
I made directly for the stables and then unlatched the door angrily, then saddled Thunder, ready for a journey. When I mounted my horse, the stable master frowned quizzingly but said nothing to me. He knew better. Apparently, Thunder also noticed my anger and frustration so he charged off faster than he had ever before.
The trip to the house of Lord Edvin was rather fast and quite rough with thunder galloping for all he was worth. The wind blew around me, whooshing past my ears almost painfully. I could not hear the sound of anything other than the harsh wind.
The scenery faded into nothing, blurred by the speed of my horse and when I knew we had reached a considerable distance, I pulled the reins, slowing the horse down so that we wouldn't miss our destination. On getting there, the guards looked at each other with apprehension and then opened the gates.
Lord Edvin had just stepped out of the house but did not look too surprised to see me. He shook my hand and smiled broadly though his expression waivered. "Dagen, it has been so long, how are you? Is anything the matter?" He asked.
I ignored his greeting and went straight to the point. "Have you seen Nydia?" I asked in a very icy tone.
Forcing a smile on his face, Edvin became wordless and then only shook his head. "No, I haven't."
I didn't believe him from the way he sounded. From where I stood, I could also see the faint stains of blood on the carpet behind him. My hands sweated and my blood boiled at him for lying to me, but then again, who was I to blame him? As much as he and his sister hated each other, I knew that he would try to protect her from death if he could. “If you meet her, let her know that she is dead to me, ” I whispered menacingly. "If she ever appears in my sight, she will die a very slow and painful death!"
Edvin’s smile faltered visibly and he choked slightly at the menace that was laced in my response to him. He nodded his head, he was afraid of uttering a word.
"You are not saying anything about it," I commented.
"What shall you have me say?" He asked.
"She is your sister. Your twin."
"I know your majesty," he sighed. "Whatever it is she has done... I hope you will be able to forgive her once your anger subsides."
"Nydia deserves no forgiveness." Saying no more, I sprang to my horse again, and, albeit my thoughts were in a whirl, rode away towards the palace.
Returning to the palace we did, racing at full gallop, and my mind whirled. Nydia had let me down in the most terrible way that one person can let another down. It was one thing to love someone, to tell them you loved them, to be jealous when they paid attention to another person and then to betray them just like that.
How could I be betrayed like that? I still could not fathom it.
I was consumed by the sudden hatred I had for Nydia and wondered how I had even ever loved her. I wonder if she has wondered how she ever loved me as well. What desperation or what hatred did she have that she slept with a common man and even within the walls of the palace?