A knock came at the door to George's room, where he was hunched over a few documents at his sitting area with his mind occupied by the fact that Aefia might as well try it again. The sudden sound of knuckles hitting wood was the only thing that could send goosebumps up his arm as he straightened himself and told the person to come in.
"I am sorry if I am interrupting anything specifically urgent to you." The guard bent forward in a bow, then lifting his head in hesitation. "I have something that might actually cause you panic but I think it is way more urgent." He spoke as his voice shoke. He was the same guard who had dragged Aefia away when she was about to hit her head a third time on the wall.
George's eyes blew wide as he abruptly stood up, dropping the documents entirely. "Please don't say she tried to kill herself again." He whispered to himself, but it didn't go unheard to the guard as he gritted his teeth and looked at the elder brother fotbeh same girl he had witnessed, who happened to poison his mother. The tension in the air was shattering instantly, added to the long moment of silence.
"Unfortunately... I can't really say she didn't try it again... But I can't confirm anything too." The guard answered back with a low voice to avoid angering him. "But the main reason is that the duchess has been poisoned, and the Princess happened to be there this morning due to an invitation given by the Duchess herself. You may go check it out yourself... I hope you wouldn't be maddened... But I also came to inform you... The Princess was imprisoned... Because of multiple servants' complains and suspects and because she submitted herself."
The reality hit him immediately, and he felt like his mind was betraying him by making the situation seem more dire than it is. "How does anyone prove that she was the one to poison her?! Weren't they both in good terms yesterday?! What changed?!" He asked, while his glasses fell from his eyes. He didn't give it a care, because the situation needed more attention then he had anticipated. He immediately reached out and walked towards the door. "Explain everything..." He ordered while his steps took him towards the duchess's room.
The guard didn't hesitate as he walked behind George. "The poison, as the Princess had said, was English Ivy. And there was blood splattered across the sofa and carpets, broken plate on the ground and the blood could have been the duchess's because she was bleeding from the mouth." He answered while catching up with his quickened pace.
"The dish splattered and the servants waited an entire minute before bursting in and the Princess was standing at the edge of the sofa that the Duchess had fallen unconscious on. And the servants instantly started to accuse her about the poisoning and all. And right before getting taken away, the Princess had spoken and confessed about poisoning the duchess. She even altered them by saying it was English Ivy, and she submitted herself without hesitation."
"The more suspicious thing however... Is the fact that she walked all the way by herself. She didn't fight back, didn't ask for directions, but she happened to be eavesdropping to our few unpleasant comments without giving it a mind. Like it was part of her everyday life and she was used to it all. Then, one of us whispered about hitting her on the head with a hammer, which she overhead and... She hit her forehead to the wall... Twice."
"I can already see it..." George spoke while coming to a stop at the sharp corner before descending the stairs. He traced the edges of the dried blood splattered against the wall, with his bare fingers. "And who was it the one who said they wanted to hit her head with a hammer?" He spoke while turning around abruptly before placing another step to the stairs.
Then, with a second thought, he looked away and continued descending the steps. Nevermind it... I will ask her instead. Of course... Who knows if this one following me was the one who wanted to hit her head with the hammer.
The stairs to the ground floor for the palace vanished, but then came the one that descended to the cell that Aefia was put to. "Which level?" George asked. "Which level and which cell is hers? And are you done explaining of what else happened? How is mom or what the physician said?"
The guard was taken aback immediately. "Well... Aaa... The duchess is alright. It wasn't even lethal and it was just an irritation so they took the Princess's advice and used Aloe Vera as a soothing gel." He answered back while catching up. "And about the cell and level... We had to put her to the lowest for safety uses." He hesitated while saying.
"And under whose orders?" He asked, this time, angered to the top of his nerves. "That is the most coldest and the most dangerous cell to put someone like her in. And wasn't it designated for those who are to be executed? ... Under whose orders do you think she would be given the clearance for execution?"
"You... Your highness..."
"Then who had the right to think of themselves higher then me? Which one of the guards?" He spoke with a calm voice, but his tone was stern regardless. At this point, the guard knew it would be a mistake to speak about other things right now and keep his sanity intact if he didn't want to make the situation at the cell door more intense.
"I am sorry if it is your concern to know about who... But the bigger matter is that almost all servants here hate the Princess and no one really ever said why. And the fact is... Some guards may have crossed the line with their pride... But what really matters now would be to reach her cell before they start plotting the execution themselves too." He hurriedly added while keeping watch of George's expressions.
The truth is... I had a brother... Who had done this before... And I fear that another sibling is about to do it. The guard thought. Once the reality hits them that they want to die... They would keep trying even if one method failed and the other did too. And each time, they try to find a more stable and quick way to kill themselves... And a forced execution by people who hate you is the most stable out of them all... And the least suspecting.
I am honestly terrified of this incidents anytime I get the symptoms coming from anyone... And to think that someone as smart as the Princess...
The remaining distance to the cell was completely silent, but George had picked up his pace and landed on the last stair within half the time. Once in front of her cell, he was terrified with the scene. "Didn't you say she had only injured her forehead?" He asked in a low tone as he walked up to the bars.
He didn't hesitate, and snatched the keys from the gatekeepers hands. He opened it himself, and bursted with no patience, a normal brother's act of complete disbelieve of seeing their sister getting beaten up by someone else. He grabbed Aefia's chin and looked left and right, as her head slightly lolled to the opposite direction. Her face was paler then before, and her hair was slick with blood. "Then how... Does she get injured at the back of her head...?" He asked while scanning his eyes over the stains printed onto the cell's walls. An unknown fury rose inside of him.
Her blood lose was too intense and she couldn't move her fingers much due to it. Her dizziness and lose of strength gave out the symptoms too well to just ignore, as the guards looked back and forth in confusion. "Who was it? She can't have smacked her own head against the wall. If anything, she would hit her forehead hard against the wall until she see her blood flooding the room. Not ore then this." He added while taking a look at her fingers, where one digit from her pinky finger was missing.
"Why isn't anyone saying anything? Or are they just waiting for their own execution?" George turned his gaze to face the group fo people standing in front fo her cell doors. "I won't keep you alive if you don't speak up... And either ways, I can't say if you will still live after you choose to confess." He added while glancing back at Aefia's face.
"There was a servant in here... Saying she wanted to drop something off." One spoke while stepping forward. "She told us to step away for a while, and this was the we found the cell afterwards... And about the finger, she was trying to touch a cobra previously... So we had to shoot at it's head to keep it from actually killing her. And the bullet had hit her finger and took off a part of her finger."
George eyed that guard carefully. "And the bullet happened to leave behind such a clean cut?" He asked back.
"Get out of my cell..." A voice cut through the tense atmosphere, as Aefia's head shifted. Her focus returning to her eyes as she started to stand up, with a few drops of blood fall forward when she bent forward. Before long, she knees buckled, but she stepped to the farthest corner of her cell. "There wasn't a servant in here... I did it myself... And there was actually a cobra in here... Now get out of my cell..." She answered back while slumping at the corner and distancing herself away from him.
She didn't look up to his face, her eyes looked towards the straw laid floor, but she refused to let her eyelids shut. She had afford this much from her remaining strength and she needed to use it wisely. "If you don't leave... I will have to force you out of here." She whispered back while struggling to lift her head. Her back felt like snapping with the weight of her skull, and she was waiting for that specific second for a sharp 'crack' sound so that she would be left with a successful plan.
However, George didn't listen to her order or threats, and continued to walk towards her direction without giving a care to the way the guards were whispering about him being blind and all. "Don't think I don't understand the fact that you had it all planned and you surrendered yourself to this violence... Because you would have fought back otherwise." He spoke with a calm tone, reaching out to grab her by the shoulders to keep her from falling further.
But instead, she picked up her bleeding hand and threw a few sharp objects at his direction, most of them not even reaching him. They were all sharp metals that she had collected to scratch her own flesh to make them bleed in case she was bored. He stepped back in horror, as ankther guard yanked him out of the cell without a word. "Cut her finger! Take off the remaining!" One shouted as orders while holding a shotgun at her direction.
Another reach inside with a knife while holding up her fingers, then sending the sharp edge of the blade into her flesh, until it collided with the bone of her knuckle. And just then, George send a fist into the nearest guard's gut, and snatching the shotgun out of his grasp. He laid his target at the one who was cutting through her finger, and placed his index finger at the trigger. "If you cut another finger... I will shoot." He declared while watching the blood trail down her palm.
The guard with the knife took a look at the brother with the shotgun at his hand, and the daring, fierce eyes of the sister who stood bloodied, but could kill him in a second if she wanted. "Do it... You listen to me. You don't listen to him." She muttered while keeping her gaze sharp at his face. "If you don't do it... I will do it myself."
But the threat from George was more frightening to him then Aefia's. He stepped back, in hesitation, then immediately ran out of the cell, and the gun point remained at her instead. She didn't offer a smile or anything, but she did feel a moment of relief that her entire finger wasn't cut off. Her eyes stayed locked at her older brother. "What was your point that you are trying to prove? You can't reject the fact that the execution will official be held... And if you reject it... I will accept it... From here."
"And how are you going to do that?" He asked back while lowering the gun, and eventually dropping it to the ground. "Because the law says I still have a right to rule over a few request... Until I die and the duchess personally removed my title, I am still in charge of the few trial requests. And if not by law... By contract... And too bad I can never terminate it." She replied, and then lowering her bleeding hand so the blood dropped to the straw-laid ground instead.
"I have an idea of that already..." He answered back while stepping forward another step. "In fact, you had her unconscious just so you could summon your own execution... Lawfully... And I still don't understand why you are so obsessed with taking your own life like that..."
"You know one thing? ... If you were brought into the courthouse, no one would stand for your execution once they got to know about your history of trying to do it and the amount of time I am having to force my way into this conflicts."
"I never told you to get your hand into my matters!" She shouted in pure anger as tears rolled down her face, and her head staying stuck to the ground, with her hair shielding her face from view. "It's my life and I do whatever I want to do with it! You are not my biological brother to put your mind into it! I told you yesterday already!"
"Stop shouting Aefia..." He spoke in a calm voice.
"You stop! ... You weren't there when people had to sacrifice their lives just to keep me standing! ... You think it is worth living with the guilt that they traded their lives to keep me alive?! And I am still a shame to them that I can't fight back!"
George didn't say anything, but took a step back. Then, he faced to the guard who had told him about it. "Avoid punishing her... Whoever does it will be killed. And have her wounds bandaged." He ordered while climbing back up the stairs.