Endless Winter - 2

A NIGHTMARE

I woke up to the usual nightmare. I was soaked in sweat and my heart was beating frantically. I lit the lamp nearby and dropped a silver goblet with my shaking hands.

I got up from my bed. The nightmare still felt vivid.

A lifeless body of my beloved son.

I had everything people dreamt of. A high position in the Court- I was the Royal Treasurer. I had a small castle for myself within the Palace. I slept on a fluffy bed, wore silk clothes. I had everything but my son.

I lost him two years ago. He committed a crime, they said and the Prince sentenced him to death. I wondered if he had done the same had it been someone of a royal lineage.

I pleaded. I wept. The walls of the Palace remained stony and deaf to the cries of an old father just like the people living inside it. Prince was a new hero- the rightful owner of the throne. Righteous and of Principles of steel, just like his forefathers.

I burnt in the fire of vengeance since then. That memory of my son's lifeless body stirred the hive of hatred in my heart. I never had a calm sleep right from that night. My sleep had been marked with only two recurring visions.

A nightmare of my son's death and a dream of Prince's dead body.

Watching the Prince dead was the only aim of my life now. The fire that kept me alive even after my son was taken from me.

Over those two years, I just kept quiet and kept serving in the Palace just so that I wouldn't lose the Prince from my eyesight. I planned, I conspired, I kept an eye on him. Two attempts of assassinations. Both failed miserably. When the Prince left for the Battle of the West in last spring, I wished he lost his life there.

Maybe his fortune was too strong or maybe the prayers protected him, helped him evade the death every time it sneaked towards him. The prayers of his mother and some Forest-girl who loved him.

He returned victorious from the Battle in the West. The King broke the news proudly in the Court that day. Everyone cheered. Prince would return in twenty days. The wheels of my thoughts revolved fast.

With two attempts failed now, I had to be careful. Fortunately they weren't too cautious because I could cover up those two incidents without attracting undesired attention. I couldn't afford to get arrested. I did not really fear the death but I did not want to die without avenging my son, without seeing the Royal Family weep over their Prince, without seeing the fear of death in Prince's eyes.

All I needed was a right opportunity and an infallible weapon.

-- To be Continued...