"How Long Until The Crown Breaks?"

13. All the guards of the palace ran towards the large golden doors of the Empress's room, and rushing in the room in hordes, they all stood by with some not even inside the room. The handmaidens and servants of the Empress stood by the Empress's bed with their heads down and their hands held together as if showing the Empress peace, but in reality, it was their way of mourning her.

They all take their mask off once the Great Speaker rushes in the room, and seeing the Empress's lifeless body on the bed of gold, the Speaker gasps as long as he can, putting his gloved hands to his mouth while walking over to the bed, placing his hand on the neck of the Empress, shouting "How long have you all tried to awaken her!" While looking around to all of them.

He begins to wonder around the room, by bypassing the guards, handmaidens, and servants with his hand on one hip and the other in the air as he rambles to himself.

Then he stops in front of her bed, saying to the head maiden, "how long has it been??"

 "Your Greatness, no longer than thirty minutes."

As if angry now, he belts out " Ahwhwwh!"

They look to each other, trying to figure out the emotions of The Great Speaker, but just then, Marishi walks in the room with haste along with her maidens.

Running in the room with authority and distraughtness at the same time, Marishi, who was holding the bottom of her dress, lets it fall down as she looks into the empty face of her mother.

The longer she stared at her mother, the more silent the room became. 

When she managed to look elsewhere, like the picture atop the bed that showcased a potrait of her mother, to the right of her that showcased two large golden statues of past Empress's, and then to the left which is the large windows covered by large golden curtains.

She looked at everyone else, saying with gritting her teeth, "can't you see I'm mourning here? Leave this room at once! Now!!" Shouting the last word out, they all simultaneously walk out of the room with haste, bowing first of course, and then making their way out.

Marishi watches every last one of them make their way out before slowly looking back to her mother's body.

She stared again as she walked around her mothers bed, softly touching the edges of the golden sheets as she made her way around both corners, all while still looking to her mother, slowly bringing up a smirk with each stroke of the bedsheet.

Then she walks over to the largest vase in the room, plucking out the glowing golden sunflowers (which are ones native to Naminek) and spreads the petals over her mother.

"Bathe in gold..." She says to the body before wiping away her smirk and bringing upon her face a lovely smile. Then from the lovely smile comes tears of joy and from her real expressive joy that brings out the laughter in her comes the fall of tears...And from these tears she acts out sadness towards her mother and begins to cry aloud so that everyone outside the door will be able to hear.

Simply walking out of the room after, Marishi keeps up with her saddest emotion yet, the large run down of tears that stream down her young face.

She says to the guards, servants, and handmaidens as she stands before them while they look to her standing right outside of the door. "I want the funeral as fast as possible, it's time my mother has some rest."

She walks off without any other words back into her room as her handmaidens follow, but The Great Speaker stops her and says, "your Power, we must grant you the crown soon enough as well, shall we?"

Marishi stops in her steps and only turns her head just enough to see The Great Speaker in her peripheral view, saying "I will take my crown soon enough, I just want my mother buried first" Then she ligthens up her voice to say, "that's all" Before walking back into her room officially.

And he is just left there to take in her words.

.......

In his cell, Takashi didn't necessarily eat nor sleep, but he simply kept his eye on a book the guards let him read. Hearing a bang on his cell door, Takashi lifts his head up as he hears the bang then the guards voice saying, "someone is hear to speak with you, come up to the door."

The guard says this in an assertive and authorized tone they makes Takashi just want to kill the man, but after all, it's his job and he's doing what he is told to do, unless he ends up just like himself.

Takashi steps up to the door and leans against it as he says back to the guard, "can I see who it is now?"

The guard opens up the door and standing before Takashi is Calshi, Norshi's apprentice, the great master of the guards who he pretended to be.

Takashi steps back as the guard says in that same tone, "you have only ten minutes to talk, make it quick" Before closing the door on the both of them.

Calshi turns to face Takashi with a smile as he tries his best not to be intimidated by the warrior.

Calshi simply kneels at the small stone steps while Takashi sits back on his rock bed once again.

"Like he said, make it quick" Takashi starts the conversation off with this wording.

Calshi nods and takes out what looks to be a piece of rich clothing.

"My father gave me this, he said it is of the Empress herself."

Takashi listens.

"You see...My father says that this is from what the Empress gave him when they had slept together one night, a "drunken night" he said, one that angered him for he knew it would hurt my mother if she ever found out. You see...I think my father did something by using this cloth he somehow tore from one of the Empresse's robes, and used this to maybe do something? I don't know but...With how she got sick and how it doesn't add up to you doing besides pushing her...I believe my father is holding something back...That maybe he knows what made the Empress sick?"

"Or that he did something to her himself" Takashi adds with simplicity.

"Like what? That he poisoned her? He can't get too mad? He made that choice himself as well, I mean you rejected her?"

Looking generally surprised and shaken, as if he doesn't want Takashi's thought to be true, Calshi adds, "and if that's true, why did he give it to me? He told me to throw it away but...Why didn't he do it himself?"

"Fingerprints...Maybe? But regardless, it's not something that is strange, a lot of bad things have been done to the people of each dynasty that has ruled."

"We are only the third one in this world?"

"Yes...And I'm going to change that...And you are going to help me, by using this as evidence that he used that cloth to poison her, maybe while they were bedding each other."

"Oh?"

"Or to wipe off something on a bottle, you said they were drinking right?"

"Yeah, they were."

"And I myself heard him along with the others and the ruler herself that he said that she was poisoned instead of cursed, pretty sure he slipped up on himself when saying that, it was no mistake."

Looking at Takashi with an eager smile, Calshi leans towards him and says, "let's use this to take my father down."

Takashi scoffs as he brushes his hair to the side, "you surely are not fond of your father are you?"

"He hasn't necessarily treated me right, I am much closer to my master Norshi."

"Then why are you helping me?" Takashi questions him with all seriousness, "why are you telling me all of this, using me just to take down your father, huh?"

Calshi pauses, as if he was about to stutterr out his next words, "well...You are a warrior, there is something special about you, the Creator is said to have chosen you himself."

"That's right." Takashi makes the few words a statement.

"Even if my blood wrongs you...I still side with you. I've seen all the even my father has done over the years, I can see him poisoning the Empress, he had to do it, after all, he has his own gardener, he could have told them to take something poisonous."

"He did" Takashi leans forward towards Calshi and says proudly, "and we will expose him."

Then a pounding is heard on the door, and the great sound of running feet is heard all over, causing Calshi to look around everywhere trying to figure out what is suddenly going on, "It's been ten minutes already??"

Takashi just looks at him, smirking.

And behind Calshi is the door opened wide with Calshi moving out of the way right on time.

The guard says with a rushful tone, "Follow me!"

Calshi points to himself, but the guard clarifies by saying "You, both of you, come with me!" Rushing out, Calshi follows the guard as Takashi forces himself to follow.

Once making it outside in the courtyard amongst all the other prisoners and guards, Takashi stands with the other thousands of jailed men while Calshi stands up on that hill along with the prison guards.

One of the guards whispers to Takashi as the men wait out the answer for why they are called out like this, but some of the guards, specifically the older ones, start bowing down, some crying, and some cursing the Empress under their breath.

One of the guards even smacks a man on the head with a golden sword when hearing him. Takashi looks over to the occuring, and one of the guards snaps at him, telling him to look forward.

Calshi stands before them all and speaks, "everyone, the Empress is dead!"

Some of them gasp, other about and cry, and most of them cheer which causes the guards to start arguing with them again.

The fight doesn't break out in the moment as Calshi tries to use what authority he has to stop everyone from arguing, meanwhile, Takashi stands firm and upright as he just minds his business amongst the chaos around him.

Spotting a familiar someone amongst the crowd, he sees The Great Speaker approach Calshi, then following him up the hill is Princess Marishi.

Angry, looking as if whatever she needs to say will be harsh and filled with justice for her mother. Marishi makes sure she is high above everyone as she stands on a rock, looking all towards the men before her like she is trying to look for a specific someone.

She squints her eyes suddenly and says to her guard behind her, "Takashi, right in the middle...Bring him to me."

Without hesitation, the guard nods and makes his way to Takashi while four other guards accompany him. The Great Speaker gladly watches from above as the guards grab Takashi and walk him up to the now-to-be Empress.

Marishi turns around at the same time The Great Speaker does, and with holding her fist together before her in a sort of childlike attitude, she smiles big and bright to see Takashi kneeled before her.

Takashi lifts his head up and says as if joking, "are you planning to execute me here and now? It seems you have forgotton that your Great Timid works with my matters now..."

One of the guards beside him hits him on the head, but it doesn't phase Takashi, at all.

The Great Speaker snaps at Takashi proudly, "you may not speak in this matter!" 

Takashi keeps smirking, especially at The Great Speaker.

Marishi puts her hands behind her back and then her smile becomes just like Takashi's smirk, "you see, I wish that were the case for both matters, but no, I need you alive for one more event...Then I will have my pet tigers eat you, and if you talk again, it will be alive for you." She starts giggling as she looks at the other prisoners, "some of these prisoners, the men and women, have faced that fate already...But this isn't about them..."

She walks closer to Takashi and lifts up his chin, "I know you hate this empire, and with the power you were given, you wish to change it, but life is not going to always go your way...And you will learn that in the hardest way possible."

She backs up from him and then proceeds to say, "and I know you have a plan to overthrow my dynasty you ever so heroic Twilight Warrior...?" Her voice lightens up in a child like manner, right for her age, until she brings up a smirk and continues saying "But you should let the idea of your plan being a failure into your head now If I were you..." 

She looks around and then right up to Takashi's eyes to say "but if you wish to continue your invalid idea...I and my empire will mourn you" She looks him up and down, "you clearly are not going to let up though, so...good luck."

Leaving the barely fearful Takashi behind with a smile on her face; he just casually watches Marishi walk away with all her power, with the guards roughing him up again as he hears her say in the distance, "be sure to pray for my mother during her funeral, unless I'll have you all as my tigers supper."

Saying that and walking away out of sight, Takashi catches The Great Speaker give him a certain look of possible defeat before he turns out of the gate and leaves as well.

With the help he is now getting from Calshi, he already has his plan intact, and that is to get rid of The Great Speaker.

Now to get through the Empress's funeral.