Chapter 7: The Night The Lights Went Out For Mia

Prologue // Chapter 1: The Queen is Dead...Again // Chapter 2: The Ball // Chapter 3: Long Live The 7th Queen // Chapter 4: Don't cry, beg, or scream. // Chapter 5: The Plucking of a Flower // Chapter 6: Unexpected Allies //

CONTENT WARNING // TRIGGER WARNING - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

When they finally reached her room, Iris looked around her new quarters appreciatively. There were vital items already placed in the room, and in the closet, dresses were already hanging. Her bed was huge, and a purple canopy hung over it on a bedframe that was gilded with silver and gold.

"Well, even if I am a prisoner destined to be murdered violently at least I'll be comfortable." She said, grinning. Mia and Evelyn looked at her, discomfort on their faces. "What? Don't tell me the previous Queens were deluded enough to think they would survive until old age?" Iris chuckled lowly. She turned to another door in her room and opened it to a bathroom joined to her bed. A large deep tub sat and she pointed. "That. That's exactly what I need." She said.

"I'll get the water heated," Evelyn said, hurrying into the room that lead to where Iris assumed the fireplaces were to heat the water that would fall into the tub. When they were left alone, Mia sighed softly.

"It's uncomfortable that you are so crass about your future." She said, entering the closet. "What would you like to wear to dinner with the King?"

"I have to eat with him?" Iris asked, looking into a large vanity mirror that hung over a station where she would put on any jewlery or do her hair. Her ebony hair was a tangled mess, and her eyes had dark circles under it. She hadn't slept in almost 48 hours, and the porcelain skin under her eyes was baggy.

"Don't worry, he'll get bored of the pretenses of this marriage soon enough," Mia answered, pulling out a sapphire blue gown. "Hmm?" She asked, holding it and Iris shook her head.

"No. Too pretty. It's bad enough I have to look at him again so soon. Something plain." She said, picking up a brush and attempting to work the knots out of her hair. Mia nodded, frowning.

"I just don't want to delude myself. I want to survive. But I can't sit here and think things will be fine." Iris answered. "Pretenses are exhausting, and I will be tired enough in the near future trying to figure out a strategy to stay alive as long as possible."

She was careful with her words. She didn't quite trust Mia and Evelyn just yet. She didn't know exactly where their loyalties would lay if the time came to choose. She wanted to win their favor before actively enlisting them and risking their lives in her mission to end Jonathan's life.

"So what you're telling me is, I won't have to sit here and coddle you and tell you lies to help you sleep at night?" Mia asked, pulling out a simple green dress and laying it down on the bed.

"Gods and Goddesses, no. Absolutely not." Iris huffed as she ran the brush through her hair, her golden eyes watching Mia's face carefully in the mirror.

"I see..." Mia said softly, before nodding. "You are by far the strongest woman he has ever brought to this castle. Most of them were simpering crybabies. Just so you know, for the rest of your belongings, a servant has been sent to your home to collect them." Iris was comforted by this. The clothing she wore at home was simple and not at all elegant or extravagant. Her family did not waste their resources on keeping up with the illusion of being well off. Instead, the spare money they may have gotten from taxes went right back into their region's economy flowing enough to keep people fed as much as they could. She grew accustomed to it, and she didn't care for the extravagant nature of most other noble girls who all flit about in dresses from a time of wealth long past.

"Thank you," Iris said, putting the brush down now that her hair had been smoothed and all sign of the physical assault on her was gone from it.

"While she's not here, I want to speak frankly to you. If I may?" Mia sat down on the edge of the bed, and Iris noted her face looked tired.

"About?"

"Everything. Evelyn has never been a Queen's maiden. I, however, have been here a while. I've seen a couple of Queens....reigns. Frankly, Evelyn has no idea about the horrors she's going to most likely see with you. And I thought I would forewarn you since you'll be the one surviving them."

"You mean until I stop surviving them?" Iris turned and looked at Mia with a hard stare, and Mia closed her eyes and nodded forlornly.

"I suppose." She said, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Well, it seems you have something to say. So go ahead, tell me already." Iris said, sitting on the bed next to the woman. Iris took the time to notice that Mia was a few years older than she was, her hands were dry as if she was worked to the bone, and her frame was thin, though the castle was probably the one place in the kingdom where food was abundant, thanks to Flora.

"I...the best way I can explain it is to tell you what I've seen." Mia said nervously. "I was there, hidden in her room when he killed the last Queen." She said softly, tears filling her eyes. Iris gasped softly, turning to face the woman.

"Oh...Mia." Iris turned, gently grabbing one of Mia's hands. The woman was staring off into space now, her face pale and her bottom lip trembled. When she began to speak, tears fell from her eyes and her voice shook and broke.

"The ghoul came in to warn us. I ran and hid because I didn't have much time. I hid in the closet, but I kept the door cracked. When he came in, the air went cold. When he talked, it was like several voices came out of him. He demanded her clothes off and she did. He was violent. He violently beat her. She begged him to stop. I heard her leg break when he yanked her open to get to her. It just kept screaming, and it felt like it was happening for forever. And then he just began to stab her. He kept going though. She just kept...screaming and screaming... and he just kept fucking, and stabbing..." Mia trailed off, and Iris found herself holding her breath as disgust and terror chilled her to the core.

"He didn't stop until he was done. He literally fucked her corpse until he was done. And then he lay next to her... just smiling, admiring the sight of her ripped open, covered in blood." Mia shuddered, her arms had wrapped around her thin frame and she clutched herself. Iris listened, her body rigid, her heart pounding.

"Mia... that had to be..."

"Obviously it wasn't as bad for me as it was for her. I was so terrified that I couldn't look away. I saw it all." Mia's voice was shaking and Iris shook her head.

"No...I mean yes. But, you saw that. That had to be terrifying."

"The worst part was the smell. Like rotten eggs. Like pure evil." Mia whispered, her face contorting as if the smell still lingered in her nose. Iris took in this information, new fear coiling down in her stomach. "He's evil," Mia said, nodding as if convincing someone else. "He stayed there for hours, and I crept to the back of the closet. He never found me there, but when he left, I was too scared to move. Late that night, the ghoul came back and sniffed me out. He took me to the kitchens so they could take care of me. He doesn't talk, but he seemed to be trying to be sweet... if ghouls can be. The next day the room had been cleaned out, and the mattress was gone. Like she never existed." Mia took in a deep breath, the tears streaming down her face. The redhead wiped them away before she turned her green eyes to look into Iris's golden ones.

"I don't know if telling you this will help. But I want you to know what... you're dealing with. I can't do anything more than that to help you." She said, and Iris reached over and took Mia's hand.

"Thank you, Mia." Evelyn then came back into the room, smiling at them cheerfully. She seemed to be oblivious to the mood of the room and she nodded towards the bathroom.

"Water is warm!" She declared cheerfully, before her eyes went to Mia's tear-stained face and worry clouded her expression.

"Well, I am sure her Majesty doesn't need us here for the next part. Let's go." Mia said standing and walking out the door of the chambers, Evelyn following scowling doubtfully.

Iris dipped herself into the big tub submerged herself in the scalding hot water up into her nose, and stayed there with closed eyes, forcing her mind not to think too hard until it went cold.

Dressing herself in her green dress, she again brushed her hair and put it into a sideways braid. It wasn't long after she was ready that Evelyn popped her head in.

"It's time, Your Majesty." She said.

"Call me Iris." Was the answer that felt most appropriate as she followed her out of the room and toward the dining hall.