By: Sophia Wang
Andri walked through her home's winding halls. The glass turrets sparkled in the sunlight, while the mirrors reflected light through the whole structure. The glass prisms hung up around the castle and filtered the light into ribbons of rainbows. The dripping sound of melting snow echoed through the entire fortress.
As Andri approached the throne room, she clenched her fist in anticipation. Months of investigation had nearly paid off. She hadn’t come back from abroad without good reason. The murder of several officials in her father’s court and the King himself would not go unavenged. Nor would the most recent crime, the theft of the Rainbow Crown, the symbolic relic of the king. Andri smiled. ‘And so the stage is set…’ she thought. She hoped her plans would be fruitful.
As Andri reached for the intricately carved door handle, her eyes widened. She backed up, staring at her hand, horrified. Blood, smeared in the shape of a hand. Andri opened the door. Drops of blood, leading to the waiting room. Andri bent down and inspected the droplets. She reached into the pocket of her gown and pulled out a pair of meticulously tailored gloves, layered with plastic. She spent a good portion of her allowance buying handkerchiefs, gloves, and hand sanitizers. Andri dipped a slender finger into the blood and brought the crimson liquid to her nose. Not blood, she thought, paint. How amateurish. She took off the gloves and tossed them onto the floor.
Andri strode to the waiting room, where those who saught an audience with King often stood for hours on end. It was empty now, of course. She whipping on a pair of sunglasses to shield her face from all the reflected light in the hall and almost jogged towards the the throne room itself. As she walked closer, she could hear faint shouting. It sounded vaguely like the word “heart.” Andri pushed open the mirrored door and her eyebrows shot up. ‘Blanche?’
Her sister sat on a couch, bound and gagged. Her muffled screams must have been what Andri had heard. Andri undid the gag. “Speak,” she ordered.
“Oh, Andri! You need to save me! There’s this man! I saw him stashing the Rainbow Crown into the guest bathrooms weeks ago! I’ve been trying to find evidence that he did it but then he tied me up here! I’ve been yelling for hours!” Blanche nodded toward the gag. “The man is probably still here! You need to mobilize the forces to stop him!”
A cold tone rang out. “Shut up.”
“What do you mean?” Blanche said with what sounded like a giggle.
Andri glared. “Stop this nonsense. I know that you ordered Guard Dimitri to steal the Rainbow Crown. What I want to know is why.”
A series of crazed giggles rang out. “So you knew all along. Guess that means our little game is over. You’ve always been the golden child anyway” Blanche finished untying the ropes on her wrist and dug out a vial from her pocket and uncorked it. The pale blue liquid in it gleamed ominously. Blanche tipped her head back and drank it. She almost instantly crumpled to the floor. On her dying breaths, she rasped out four words. “I. Hate. This. Family.”
Andri chuckled. “You’ve made that no secret, sister mine.” Hydrogen cyanide. Not Blanche’s usual handiwork, Andri noted. She turned toward the raven black satin curtains. “Mother, I know you’re in there.”
A woman came out, her lips stretched into a fake smile. “My scheming little vulture has grown up!” Andri’s mother had always loved calling people insulting pet names under the guise of fondness. Her smile vanished. “Where is the crown?”
Andri turned toward the other curtain. “Father, our little drama has come to an end.” A near-transparent form floated out. The ghost of King Andrei scowled. “Vanessa, you orchestrated my death now you’re just acting! Why would you drag Blanche into this? We were in love once. Don’t you have a conscience?”
Queen Vanessa smirked. “How hypocritical of you Andrei, you’re not one to talk. You dragged our whole family into this stupid succession war.”
“I’ve instructed my personal guards to shoot flaming arrows into the castle. And do you remember what happens when the temperature of glass changes drastically?” She laughed maniacally. “Boom! Explosion!” Vanessa paused, “science is wonderful. Soon, this horrible place will be gone. Let’s see who survives to find the crown-”
The castle exploded, raining down shards of glass.