Tristis Nox

--“So, what is your and Crown Prince Carson’s relationship? You must know him pretty well if you have dropped his title.” Anita gave me a quizzical look.
“I don’t use your title, unless I’m near your ‘friends’ or out in public.” I countered.
“Ah yes, but we are close friends. You must have been close to Crowned Prince Carson at some point to not use his title, even now.” *Excellent argument Anita, but you’re wrong, I’ve always hated this man.*
“Well, I got into a fight with some thugs and ended up passing out. Carson found me and took me in. I woke up and met him and he introduced himself as Carson Vay, it wasn’t until later that day when I met his father that I found out Carson was a prince. It surprised me, but I’m not exactly impressed by titles so I never attached a title to his name. I did call Lucas King Lucas, and I must say he was so nice. Anyway, I stayed with them for a while and every time I met Carson I wanted to stab him with a fork. UGH he gets under my skin!”
“I think he likes you. I’ve never heard someone call another by pet names before like Carson does to you.” Anita grinned.
“Nah, he knows I hate it and he just likes to tease me. I spend as much time as I could away from that place, even caused a lot of trouble while I was there.” I chuckled. “This one time I came home really late, so I scaled the wall, got arrows shot at me, almost got squished by the heavy wooden doors, and then almost got into a fight with a guard. The guards were all on high alert because a ‘stranger’ got into the castle. Of course Carson pops up and almost has his guards flogged, but no worries they didn’t. Oh the stories. You think I’m bad here, you shoulda seen me when I was a guest for Carson.”
“And you were not a gossip topic there?” Surprise was evident in her voice.
“Not really, I was mostly ignored by the people who came to visit.”
“Did you have any friends?”
“King Lucas was nice to me, I got on a few of the guards good sides, and then I had a friend in town. He helped his mother with her tavern.”
Anita smiled before she hesitated to ask, “Can you tell me about how you were accused of King Lucas’ death?”
My heart stopped for a second as I twitched at the thought of that night. “Let’s sit down.” She found a bench in the garden and sat, while I paced in front of her. She waited patiently as I thought, and then I abruptly stopped and looked at her. “There was a small get together, like the ones you have with the Haron’s and Hart’s, and everything was fine. They talked, I was mostly ignored until Carson opened his big mouth, and once the meal was over King Lucas walked me to my room. I woke with a bad feeling and got out of bed to investigate… I-I found the library door… open… I entered and-“I cut myself off and began pacing again. “There was blood everywhere and Lucas was laying there dying…I ran to him… He was awake and in a lot of pain, I could tell from his eyes.” Tears dripped from my eyes, but I ignored them and continued. “I was going to get help, but he… he stopped me, he didn’t… didn’t want to be alone, so I stayed and placed his hhead in my lap for comfort… We talked a little, as he… coughed and gargled.” I didn’t look at Anita for fear I’d lose it if I saw her crying. “As He died in my lap, I sang to him. He thanked mme before passing on. I cried over his body… and the next thing I was really aware of was being in the bathtub as the water turned pink from his blood. Apparently I was soaked in it.
“I was questioned about what happened… I don’t think the interrogators ever believed that… that I didn’t do it.”
“Is that why you fled here?” Anita asked gently with a raspy voice from silently crying.
“No, I had another purpose for leaving.”
“And what was that?”
“Do you really want to know?” I looked at her seriously. Without hesitation she gave a sharp nod. “I don’t think you do.”
“Tell me, Tris.”
“Anita, once I tell you, you can’t unheard it. Things will never be the same.”
“Tristis, tell me.” She nearly growled.
“I came here to convince King Able not to believe in the ‘Peace Treaty’ and surrender to Carson.”
To say the very least, Anita was pretty mad at me and stormed off to the meeting between Carson and King Lucas. My emotions saddened, but I could not blame her for feeling angry, I told her my whole plan here was to get her brother to surrender. *Yep, I’m a low person in her eyes. I befriend her and Able only to try to convince him to give up his kingdom. I bet she feels betrayed. I’m pretty sure I’m a masochist. I walked the town quietly, lost in my swell of emotions. I’m getting too old for this, my patience and protective walls are deteriorating.* In my state I did not hear my name being called. It was not until I was tapped on the shoulder that I turned to see someone.