Queen Of Adis

Present

Haru and Adis were now in their chamber and currently cuddling on their bed. Haru was gently stroking her husband's head while Adis buried his face in her bosom, inhaling her sweet, calming scent.

She always knew that the kind of life he had gone through was all trials and tribulations. She also knew that his weary heart, mind, and soul were longing for rest and salvation. Her throat constricted in pain when she tried hard not to weep again as she heard some of his past, regretting that she wasn't there for him when he needed someone the most. Moreover, she was the cause of the two overwhelming ordeals that almost shattered his soul.

'Was she worth all his pain?' she honestly wanted to ask but decided against it.

She heard Adis spoke in a hoarse voice as he wrapped up the story of his past. "When Millie and Hannah lost their husband and child, I knew that they would seek revenge someday. However, I couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves while many wicked beings and enemies were hunting for Ilyas' family to kill. I took them under my wings and hid their real identities for their own protection while being cautious as to when they will stab me on my c.h.e.s.t just as I did to Ilyas. When you came, their distant eyes became alive and they started to genuinely smile again. They must have adored you due to your jovial and relentless personality as well as your mischievous nature. I thought that as long as they could see Ilyas in you, they would not hurt you. But now I realized my stupidity and I almost lost you and my child." His voice was laced with guilt as his embrace tightened around her body.

"Ssh, stop condemning yourself. It was your ancestors' fault to begin with. Ilyas knew what's coming, and yet he faced it without fear and fulfilled his calling." Haru consoled him as she held his face within her palm and gaze into his fiery orbs. "Ilyas told you to be happy and free, did he not? Then why are you still being gloomy and not letting go, you stupid King? As long as you are not free from the shackles of your past, Ilyas can never rest in peace."

Adis contemplated for a moment then heaved a long heavy sigh. That sigh meant so many things, but more importantly, it was a sign of his surrender. He grasped the back of her head and touched her forehead with his. "Slowly, but surely, I will. Is that... all right?"

Haru smiled as she c.a.r.e.s.sed his cheeks. "Fair enough. I shall be right beside you until you completely heal." Upon expressing her commitment, she sealed it with a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Haru?"

"Hmm?" She hummed against his lips as continued to give him faint kisses.

"Are you not disgusted with me," he whispered nervously, yet his eyes bore on hers, reaffirming the truth of her feelings after knowing his past. "My hands are soaked with the blood of both wretched and innocent lives, and yet, it dares to touch your untainted body and uncover your secrets. My mind and my heart are broken and weak, but it only yearns for your name. I am a failure as a King and as a person, even still, you are the only one I can't let go. Even if I drown into the abyss of darkness, I will never let you go." A teardrop suddenly fell on his cheek as he confessed with pain and solace in his eyes. "Haru, you are the means to my destruction and my only source of salvation. That's how much I love you so."

Haru smiled softly as kissed the corner of his eyes and his hands. "These hands, as corrupted as it may be, have never failed to lift me up and protect me." Then, she c.a.r.e.s.sed his head and placed her palm on his c.h.e.s.t. "Your mind and heart however shattered and tired, have always made me feel alive. You may think that you are a failure in so many ways, but in my heart, I will always be grateful that you are my husband. No one can compare to you. And I am sure, that you will also be an exceptional father. Even if the world forsakes you, I will still embrace you, save you and love you."

That afternoon, two passionate souls made love with great abandon as their tears endlessly fell onto their cheeks; his, for the grievances that he longed endured, and hers, for the overwhelming devotion as her heart listened to his silent scream.

******************************

"I knew you'd come," Frost casually said while leaning on the wall with his hands inside his pockets. When the person wearing a white cloak stopped, he added, "Don't worry, I won't stop you. But as your doctor, at least let me be with you while your knight in shining armor is not around."

Haru pulled down the hood of her cloak and revealed her otherworldly elegance. On her back was her attentive servant, Anais. "Thank you, Frost. I know that you are familiar around Gehenna just like the back of your hand. Can you please take me to Millie and Hannah?"

Frost nodded in understanding and guided her to her d.e.s.i.r.ed destination. "Your King will be furious once he finds out that his pregnant wife sneaked out in the middle of the night for an unwelcome rendezvous."

Haru did not comment until they stopped in front of a closed-door room. She clutched her c.h.e.s.t as her heart suddenly beat frantically in anticipation.

"My Queen, I have warned you multiple times already about stress and any kind of negative emotions as being bad for you and the baby. So please, do act precautiously for this servant's peace of mind." Frost carefully reminded before opening the door.

As she entered the room, she was greeted with a simple yet clean chamber, complete with all basic necessities and different from the filthy dark prisons of Gehenna. It was obvious that the treatment for her two maids was far from being criminals.

As soon as the two women inside the room saw Haru's entrance, they stiffened for a moment then avoided her gaze as their faces reddened. A mixture of uncertainty, despair, and longing could be seen in their faces.

Haru stood elegantly with her head held high and straight shoulders, as though she was an indifferent queen facing her lowly subject. "I guess a formal greeting to your Queen is already too much to ask now," she began as she walked closer to Millie and Hannah. "I hope they at least treated you well."

The two women still refused to look at her as they nodded.

Haru sighed as she looked intently at the two girls. "Before anything else, I think... you owe me an explanation or at least enlighten me of why you suddenly turned your backs on me after all these years?"

"Why ask, Your Majesty? I'm sure you did not come unprepared. The King won't lie to you just to cover his crimes. Whatever you heard is the truth." Hannah spoke softly yet cold. Then her eyes became ferocious as she gritted her teeth. "Your king is a murderer. He betrayed my husband and the person who treated him as a family."

"Just like what you did to me," Haru immediately cut through. "Except, the King you hate so much saved you from being a murderer."

"That does not change the fact that we lost our husband and I lost my child because of him... and you. Queen Haru, there's nothing you can say that could change our hearts--"

"Who says about wanting you to change hearts?" Haru cut Millie off and continued, "If anything, I will not stop you from cursing the Royal Family if that would help you vent out your anger. But one thing is for sure, I will not apologize for whatever happened in the past. Because I know that my King was hurting as much as you do. He was also a victim of fate and up until now, he is still fighting with his own guilt and grief. At least for my King, he never meant to hurt Ilyas and he tried so hard to break the curse."

"But more than anything, what I really want to know was your feelings towards me. Was it all... just a lie, Millie, Hannah?" She whispered her last statement with great difficulty. "Did I not treasure you enough to even spare my child?"

Millie and Hannah opened their mouths just to have it closed again as though they were fishes out from the water. They didn't know how to refute her words. When all said and done, it was indeed no one's fault. Even their prince already accepted his fate and declared his will. But they got blinded by envy and hatred when they discovered that the King found his true love at the expense of their prince.

Millie slowly lifted her head and finally gazed at the Queen's crystal clear eyes. Then, she stared at her dark hair and delicate face as if it was not her she was seeing but a ghost of someone else. "For whatever it's worth, we have truly adored you. With your unrestrained energy and smile, your relentless attitude and brilliance, I thought... my prince's soul was reborn inside you." She raised her hand and reached out to touch Haru, but stopped when she realized what she just did. Her voice croaked and her breathing stuttered as she cried. "Now that we passed the point of no return, I can never return to your side nor I can see your smile, can't I?"

Hannah hugged Millie tightly to stop her from crawling. Was it wrong to be jealous of someone else's good fate while they lost everything? Was it really wrong to want for retribution? If things were reversed, would they not do the same? But when she saw how her Queen Haru's face looked so torn, she realized where they went wrong. Their betrayal was something the King and Queen could forgive, but Haru's child was her bottom line.

"I'm sure Adis is torn between punishing you for my sake or letting you go for his friend's sake. So I will decide for him." Her voice shook as her tears silently fell, yet she refused to look the other way. With a resolute stance, she finally declared, "You have betrayed the Royal Family, attempted to murder the Queen of Umbra and the future heir of this kingdom. As the law stated, your crimes are punishable by lynching. But for the sake of your husband's heroic deeds and honorable conduct as well as for all the years that you have served the Royal Family and me, I hereby decree... your exile."

The two women's eyes grew wide and their mouths gaped open as they looked up at her. Exile? Not a death sentence? But... why?

Haru continued, "At the break of dawn, you shall leave Gehenna and follow the man I have arranged for both of you. He and some Reapers will guide you out of the mainland to live in the Eremus Mountains where the prince's body was laid to rest. You shall protect the Cave of Ilyas for the rest of your immortal lives. Treat this as my last goodwill to you."

When Haru appeared at the Eremus Mountains, the winter had finally ended and the snowy steeps and ridges became beds for lushes greens and exotic flowers. Adis built a cave where Ilyas' body rested and a small manor on the top of the hill to commemorate her arrival and to be closer to his friend.

As the two women could not suppress their emotions any longer, they ran towards Haru and enveloped her in their tight embrace. Millie and Hannah wept their relief that their plan did not succeed They wept for all the time that was wasted in vengeance and lies, and most importantly, for the friendship that's forever lost.

As the three continued to exhaust all their bitter tears away, a man in a black coak was leaning on the wall outside the room and silently listened to the Queen's resolution. His red demon eyes glistened in unshed tears as he gave out a sad smile. Afterward, he started to walk away and disappeared in the cold shadow of the night.