Chapter 72 THE QUEEN MOTHERS JUDGEMENT
“Send for the physician. Now.”
King Adrain’s voice cut through the chamber, sharp enough to still every movement. Servants who had been running moments before froze in place. Blood darkened the marble floor at his feet, spreading slowly from where Celine lay.
Adrain knelt beside her, pressing his hands against the wound, warm blood soaking through his sleeves.
“Stay with me,” he said under his breath. “You hear me?”
Celine tried to speak but only air came out.
Footsteps rushed away down the corridor. Somewhere beyond the doors, bells were already ringing.
Behind him, restrained by guards, Queen Elizabeth watched in silence.
The royal physician arrived breathless, sleeves already rolled up.
“Move,” he said gently, kneeling opposite the king.
Adrain stepped back only when the physician’s hands replaced his. His fingers trembled as he rose, blood staining his palms. He stared at them for a moment as if they belonged to someone else.
“Will she live?” he asked.
The physician did not answer immediately. He examined the wound, pressed cloth against it, murmured instructions to the assistants.
“It depends,” he finally said. “The blade missed the heart, but not by much.”
Adrain closed his eyes briefly.
Celine groaned softly.
He spun back toward the physician. “Save her,” he said. “Whatever it takes.”
The physician nodded. “We will try.”
Across the chamber, Queen Elizabeth shifted under the watchful eyes of the guards. There was blood on her hands too but dried now.
Adrain turned to face her.
“Mother,” he said.
She looked up at him.
“I would ask you again, did you poison my father?”
The room seemed to stop breathing.
The question hung in the air, heavier than the smell of blood and incense combined. Adrain’s voice had not cracked, but his jaw was clenched so tightly it ached.
Elizabeth said nothing.
Adrain took a step closer. “Tell me it isn’t true,” he said quietly. “Tell me you didn’t do it.”
The guards shifted uneasily. The physician glanced up once, then returned his focus to Celine.
Elizabeth’s lips parted. For a moment, Adrain thought she might lie and he almost hoped she would.
“I did,” she said.
The words were calm, simple and final. This truth and of Prince Eric’s poisoning has tormented her long enough.
Something inside Adrain broke not loudly, not in a way anyone could see, but completely.
“You let me mourn him,” Adrain said. “You watched me bury my own father.”
Elizabeth’s eyes did not waver. “I watched you become king.”
He laughed once, bitter. “At the cost of murder?”
“At the cost of survival. He could have replaced you!” she replied.
Adrain shook his head slowly. “But you were poisoning him for months.”
“Yes. He deserved it.”
“Why mother. And how long? Every day?” he said.
“Yes.”
“And he trusted you the most…”
She said nothing more.
Adrain turned away from her, his hands curling into fists. His breath came shallow, controlled by sheer force of will.
They moved Celine to a private chamber, far from the throne room, away from eyes and whispers. Adrain followed until the doors were shut firmly in his face.
Only then did he lean against the wall.
The palace that had raised him felt suddenly unfamiliar, like a place he had been pretending to belong to all along.
Footsteps approached.
Elizabeth stood a few feet away now, still guarded, still composed.
“You should have let her die,” she said.
Adrain looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.
“She was loyal to you,” Elizabeth continued. “She was never to me, she knew too much and you know I never liked her.”
“How did you even get a blade? Why would you stab her? For the truth!” Adrain said. “You could have told me if it was difficult!”
Adrian immediately remembered Queen Athalia and her meticulous ways of helping him countlessly.
“Athalia would have handled this better.” He murmured.
Silence stretched between them.
“Why?” Adrain asked.
She sighed, as though tired. “Your father would have replaced you.”
“He was ill, how could he have done that?” Adrain replied.
“He was sentimental,” she corrected. “He was going to ruin everything. Alliances undone, enemies forgiven and Eric as King. He wanted peace and he knew which son could give that.”
Adrain’s mouth tightened. “Eric again. Even if he had those thoughts, he would still remember his first.”
Elizabeth stepped forward as far as the guards allowed. “You talk like you don’t know when love makes one predictable.”
Adrain stared at the floor.
“He loved me,” he said.
Elizabeth’s voice softened, just slightly. “So do I, But I don’t want to watch my sons cause a war in the kingdom.”
He looked up sharply. “No, mother. You loved yourself and the crown.”
“I better don’t find out you had a hand in Eric’s Exile.” He continued firmly.
She did not deny it nor say anything .
By nightfall, word of the stabbing had spread through the palace, though details remained carefully controlled. Rumors swirled, but no official statement was made.
The king did not appear.
Adrain sat alone in his private chambers. Blood had been scrubbed from his hands, but he could still feel it.
A knock came at the door.
“The physician,” a guard announced.
Adrain stood. “Let him in.”
The physician bowed. “She is stable. Weak, but alive.”
Adrain exhaled slowly. “Thank you.”
“There is something else,” the physician said hesitantly.
Adrain’s gaze sharpened. “Say it.”
“She asked for you.”
Adrain nodded. “I’ll come soon.”
Celine’s eyes fluttered open when he entered. She smiled faintly.
“You look terrible,” she whispered.
He pulled a chair to her bedside. “You’re not allowed to talk.”
She ignored him. “I can’t believe she really meant to kill me.”
“I know.”
“I know she’s your mother but she’s dangerous, my king” Celine said. “You can’t let her…”
“I won’t,” Adrain replied.
Celine studied his face. “I know you still love her...”
He did not answer.
“…but she killed your father,” Celine said gently.
“I know.”
“And she could kill you too,” Celine added.
Adrain’s eyes darkened. “Do not say that.”
The judgment was made before dawn.
No council was summoned, no public accusation was announced and no trial held.
Queen Elizabeth was taken quietly from her chambers and escorted to the eastern wing of the palace, the part long sealed off and forgotten by most.
Adrain met her there.
“You’re exiling me,” she said.
“No,” Adrain replied. “Exile is mercy for murder. You know that.”
She smiled faintly. “Then what is this?”
“Justice,” he said.
Elizabeth was confined, stripped of influence, her movements watched, and her voice silenced. The world would believe she had fallen ill and that grief had broken her.
The people would never know the truth, not because Adrain feared them but because he feared what the truth would do to the crown.
In her room, Celine smiled.
"The Queen Mother is gone, now It's time for Queen Athalia."