Return of the Fallen Volume 8 Chapter 24
Mila surprised everyone with a shout. Even Garn himself was speechless for a moment.
Still, even with Mila standing in front of this woman, trying to protect her, Garn wouldn’t just back down.
“Move, Mila; this woman is suspicious. I’ve never seen her face before, yet she’s in my chamber. She’s a spy! She must be!”
Mila screamed at Garn.
“STOP IT! THIS WOMAN HAS WORKED IN THE PALACE FOR NEARLY AS LONG AS ME! SHE CAN’T BE A SPY! MY KING PLEASE LET HER GO!”
Garn was still crushing this woman beneath his wind and stealing the air from her lungs. Mila, being so adamant and willing to shout at him, actually gave him pause. He looked the woman over, but he couldn’t recognize her face.
He shook his head.
“I think I would recognize someone who worked for me for years. I’ve never seen this woman before in my life.”
Mila though, wasn’t backing down.
“You’re right you’d think after so many years you would recognize a face, but you’ve been far too busy raining destruction down and warring that you don’t know who works under you. Because of such things, you even went so far as to kill those who wouldn’t follow a single order. Where do you think the replacements for those you killed came from? Look around the room, all of these faces come from other parts of the palace, I bet you don’t know them either!”
Garn curiously glanced around his chamber and was surprised to see that he really didn’t recognize anyone.
(These people are? They are my subjects?)
“That look in your eye—I can tell you don’t know any of them. Are you going to kill them as well? Are you going to kill me next!? Whatever the answer be, at least look at what I’ve done all these years for you and take mercy on these innocent souls. Please, my King! Release this woman at once! She’s done nothing to incur such treatment as this!”
Garn was feeling confused. He did, in fact, kill a good few people under him, but he should still recognize these people in his chamber, yet for the life of him, he couldn’t put names to faces or anything alike. Mila was the exception, and he knew her well. She had been loyal and had only spoken out against him once when her family was in danger. He overlooked her attitude then and thought about all she’d done for him. She, out of everyone around him who still lived, was definitely the most loyal.
Garn waved his hand, and the wind crushing the innocent woman was pulled away.
Fresh air filled her lungs, and she coughed violently for a few moments.
Mila waved a short man over, and the man started to heal the woman before he escorted her away.
Garn saw the fear in everyone’s eyes and barked at them.
“Back to work! And Mila, you may be important, but the way you speak is intolerable in my presence. You will call me with respect.”
Everyone jumped to it in fright, everyone except Mila. She stood her ground and glared at Garn as if she would claw at him at any moment.
Garn was not a fan of such a look. Even if Mila was his most loyal subject, such a defiant attitude was not something he would put up with.
“What is that expression for? Do you wish for this King to give you equal treatment with the other lowly subjects?”
Mila said nothing and continued to glare at him.
Garn gnashed his teeth.
“Woman, answer me! Why do you stare at me with such contempt?”
Mila finally opened her mouth and spoke.
“This woman could never have contempt for her King? Rather…This woman wishes to speak with your Majesty privately.”
Garn snorted at her.
“Speak here if you have something to say. Anything else would be a waste of everyone’s time, especially mine.”
Mila shook her head.
“If I say what I wish to say here, I’m afraid your Majesty would be put off in front of all of these eyes and ears. Please, let us speak privately.”
Garn waved her away with a shooing motion.
“If you can’t say it in front of those here, then bite your little tongue and speak nothing at all. Now leave me.”
“My King, I must speak with you in private.”
Mila knelt down.
“I implore you to hear what I have to say!”
Garn became angry and stamped his scepter hard on the ground.
*BANG!*
The power from his scepter caused the entire palace to shake, threw a few people off their feet, and even made Mila tumble over and onto her face. Her head smacked the ground, and she started to bleed from a cut above her brow.
“I SAID LEAVE! I HAVE NOTHING TO HEAR FROM YOU! GO AND BUSY YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING THAT MATTERS AND STOP BOTHERING ME!”
Mila slowly stood up, blood dripping into her open eye. She refused to close it and continued to stare at Garn in silence. She slowly backed away.
“Understood…your majesty.”
Mila bowed before turning and leaving in silence.
Garn, on the other hand, looked around at those in his chamber. Now there was no one he recognized.
(These fools, all of them are useless, and none of them can be trusted. I’ll have to watch them; things are too important to let an insect mess my plans up.)
Garn’s scepter stamped the floor once more, and the floating palace began to move once again.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Mila made her way through the palace. Walking along the long corridors, several people called out to her, seeing blood on her face, but she ignored them entirely. Many had seen her come from the King’s chamber and felt the shaking of the palace just moments ago. Connecting her injury with the shaking of the palace, they all knew in an instant that it was King Garn who had done this.
None could go against King Garn, and so once they connected the dots, so to speak, none dared approach Mila in fear of getting involved and having King Garn’s sights set upon them in any capacity.
Mila also didn’t wish to involve any of them and continued ahead until she reached her room.
Shutting the door, she locked it behind her and made her way into her private bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at the blood still running down her face. Seeing her own numb expression and thinking about Garn, she snapped.
*BAM*
She slammed her hand into the mirror and shattered it. Her hand got a few cuts and more blood poured into the sink, but she didn’t care about the pain, she could hardly even feel it right now.
“Why…Why did it turn out like this?”
(Things weren’t supposed to go this way. Garn, how did it come to this? You were the hero of the people. You saved us all so many times over. Our loyalty, you had it completely. We would have all gone to the ends of Gordonia for you, but this…this is all so wrong. The innocent lives that fell to you are in the millions. So many…you hurt and killed so many.)
Tears began to flow like a river down Mila’s face.
(You killed so many, and I…I helped you do it. Beasts, monsters—we’re worse than all of them. We deserve to be put to death. Even if humanity survives all of this, how can any of us be a part of it and continue to call ourselves human? How can devils like us ever go back?)
Mila looked at the cuts on her hand, and for some reason, she couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.
(Surely I will be punished at some point. Whether it be tomorrow or in the afterlife, I will burn for eternity if the gods are true. Garn as well, he will burn, but…The world cannot wait for him to die a natural death. Something…Something has to be done. Garn…He must die.)
Mila turned the water on in the sink and slowly washed out her cuts. Removing all of the glass from the sink, she filled it up with cold water until it started to spill over the top.
She dunked her entire head into the cold water and screamed as hard and as long as she possibly could until there was no more air in her lungs and the bubbles were no more.
Just as she felt she was going to pass out, she pulled her head out of the water.
*Cough cough huff huff*
She coughed and inhaled deeply. Once again, she looked into the mirror; the calm had returned.
After dealing with the cuts on her hand and head, she cleaned herself up, dried off, and put on fresh clothes. After that, she calmly left her room and headed for the deepest part of the palace.
(Garn…you will be stopped no matter what.)
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