Of Blood & Power

V I G I L A N C E

"YOU MUST BE WONDERING WHY I GATHERED YOU HERE TODAY."

The king stared out at the faces before him. Their aristocratic faces reeked of haughtiness.

"We are indeed curious Your Majesty."

"All of your daughters, all, are guilty of the attempted murder of one of the girls in the Selection. And due to this, they shall be punished."

"A girl whom, correct me if I'm wrong Your Majesty, had no business being in the Selection in the first place."

"And that condones murder, Lord Rexes?" The lord was silent.

"Lord Rexes is correct, Your Majesty. We're not talking about a girl from the middle class, a merchant's daughter, who wandered into the palace. We're talking about a girl who crawled out from the lowest rung of society and sneaked her way through these walls."

"Besides, another man added, she wasn't murdered. Some severe scratches I won't deny, but none of our daughters had a hand in the death of another."

"Lionel has always been a brute," said the Duke of Berry calmly. "How do we know that there wasn't, say, a ring leader that pressured the other girls to do it in the first place? Indeed, she could've beaten that girl with the help of a few others while the other girls guiltily stared on. And I wouldn't surprised if Lionel's daughter—"

"How dare you!" exclaimed Lionel.

"Are you done arguing and accusing each other like children?" asked the king. The men quieted.

"We understand your anger, Your Majesty. However we ask you that you'd, if it pleased you, take a second look at our daughters before you expel them to my harem. If you cast all of them aside, who could you possibly marry?"

"None of your daughters will ever become concubines in my harem," the king said.

"So you mean to expel all of them from the competition and the harem?" a count asked, incredulous.

"No," the king replied.

"Then what? You seem to be taking both actions at the moment."

"What I intend to do with your daughters is a fate I feel is more deserving." Markus didn't bother to go on to explain what it was. He drank in the curious glances of the fathers instead. He let the silence stretch.

"What, may we ask, do you intend to do Your Majesty?"

"I intend to sentence your daughters to death." The king couldn't resist producing a cold smile. Eyes widened and gasps could be heard throughout the room. "Your daughter did not just beat up a lowly commoner, they tried to kill the person I elected as my favorite. I gave this woman my own apartments and two of my rings. A eunuch of mine recovered them when they went to the girls in the harem because they thought returning the rings was an adequate repentance. When, as you know, they only thing it served to be was the signature to their death warrant."

"Anyone who kills or harms someone wearing something of the king is, in essence, hurting the monarch," someone whispered miserably.

"Yes," Markus said. "They are."

"I have decided a hanging is the most suitable option for death, taking their and your rank into consideration." Markus paused. "And men?" Everyone looking away in anger or sorrow lifted their heads to look at the king. "Should any attempt be made to free or aid any of your daughters in escaping the harem, you shall be put to death as well. And it won't be a hanging. You'll be thrown in my worst dungeon. I'll make sure they torture you so slowly, so painfully, death will seem sweeter than freedom."