Then, he let Lachoneus topple to the floor.

An unearthly, ear-piercing scream filled the air. Allon and the other soldiers in the great hall cringed and searched for the source of the sound. 

Charlotte realized that it was coming from her. But she couldn't stop. 

Father-Father- no- PLEASE-not Father- FATHER NO!!! 

She felt something inside her snap, and a pure rush of energy filled her small frame. She saw as if from a distance the curtains being blown away from her, and suddenly a great cacophony filled her mind.

-who is that-just a girl-the princess-he just killed the king- I didn't come here to kill children-would someone shut her up-we just killed the king-why are we just standing around- we need to find the wine cellar and celebrate-I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream like that-the king is dead-

Charlotte struggled through the thoughts of all the men in the room, and focused on the only one she cared about, her father, but she heard nothing from his mind. She concentrated on him, and was suddenly aware of a ball of energy housed within his body, which was slowly ebbing away and fading into nothing. Then she was aware of other balls of energy, one for each person in the room. A great rage filled her. 

Why should their energy be burning brightly while Father's seeps away into nothing... 

She reached out to them.

-what's happening-I can't breath-it's magic I know it-I can't move-somebody help me-is it the princess doing this-she's killing us-what's happening-

And one last thought came into her mind as she looked at Allon, the sneering man, that man that started the war, the man that invaded her country, her city, her castle, her home. 

The man that used magic to cheat in a fair fight. 

The man that killed Father. 

Just one last thought.

-she looks just like her-

Then all the balls of energy were snuffed out in the room, all except her own and her father's withering life. 

The scream stopped. Somehow she had ended up on hands and knees just in front of the window she had been hiding within. She shakily got up and went to her father's side, stepping over the dead, fallen soldiers. 

He was gasping for breath, blood bubbling up out of his mouth and past his lips.

"Father," she whispered, kneeling beside him. His eyes opened wide and stared up at her. "Father, please." Tears spilled down her cheeks and onto his pale face. He reached out a hand, gently brushing her wet cheek. "Please don't leave me..." She grasped his hand and clung to it for dear life.

"Remem... remember, Char-lotte," he gasped. "I... I love-" He struggled to say the words, then he stopped. 

His body stilled, and her newfound senses felt all the energy slip away into nothing. His eyes stared glassily up at her. She let go of his hand, and it fell limply across his bloodstained chest. She reached out a trembling hand and closed his eyes. He could have been sleeping, just like she thought that man by the city wall had been. 

Except for the blood. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, and felt the snap again, and the full-throated scream ripped out of her once more. She was again aware of balls of energy, all of them, in the castle, in the city, in Raelin, in the world, their voices in her mind overlapping and almost driving her mad with the noise.

Perhaps she was going mad.

She opened her eyes and saw the dead bodies all around her. The enemy. She had killed them. But this wasn't enough. They had killed, plundered, invaded, destroyed, and they would pay. 

All of them. 

She reached out with her power, limiting it to just Raelin, then again to just the foreign soldiers, just the people that didn't belong in her home. Just a thought, and they were all gone. Snuffed out. Death came and went in the blink of an eye.

The power searched out for more, but she drew it back, controlling it, brought it to just herself, sitting amongst the dead in the great hall, tears spilling down her cheeks, her hands clenched into tight fists. She stopped screaming. She let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes. She gazed around the room, seeing the death, the frozen expressions of fear, the glassy stares. 

Finally, she realized what she had done. It hit her full-force. Thousands of lives, gone. Thousands of people, dead. All from just a thought from her mind. All from the blind rage that now turned into grief, guilt, disgust, self-loathing. And fear. 

Charlotte felt the power within her, and drew it tight to herself, locking it away. She buried it deep, willing it to disappear completely, but it remained, an ugly, nagging reminder of the deeds wrought that night. She swore to herself that she would never use it to take another life. Never again. 

She looked down at her father's body, bloodstained and still. She reached out for a little bit of the power and brought it out, directing it toward him. But nothing happened. She almost lost control again, but quickly locked away the power before it did any other horrific things. 

She gazed down at her father, Lachoneus, King of Raelin, now just a shell. And there was nothing she could do. She could take many lives. But she couldn't give just one back.

She had saved her home. Thousands upon thousands of her people were safe.  She would come to be known in the centuries to follow as The Protector of Raelin. 

But that night... she was just a scared little girl, who's only wish was that her father would open his eyes once more.

Conclusion

Author's Note:

A million and one grateful words to you, dear reader, for somehow finding and making it to the end of this short story. If you wish to read more of my works, just stayed tuned, as I have quite a few stories in the vault of my mind, and, even better, in word documents on my computer.

~M H Sly