When there is desperation for hope, any sign of hope is strictly held onto.
The sight of Sir Rager coming with a troop behind Alvin gave the hostages hope, and most of them began to shed tears of joy, believing that this nightmare was over.
The day felt unusually long, but they would rather prefer daylight to nighttime at this point. Unfortunately, the sun was setting quickly now.
Tyra looked at the troop and then at her 'Army' all around her, who seemed to have lost their confidence for a minute as they looked at the troop and then exchanged glances among themselves. There was no more smugness on their faces at this point.
They knew that shit was real.
"SURRENDER! AND DROP ALL YOUR WEAPONS!" Alvin yelled out.
Tyra drew back with her horse, putting a significant amount of distance between her and the others.
She looked at the intruders with a calm expression and then laughed.
Alicia hated that laugh. Whenever she laughed like that, it was because she was planning something really stupid.
"Surrender?" Tyra asked him in disbelief. "You don't get it?" She looked at Alvin while pointing at the hostages. "I have the upper hand here. For every step you will take from that point, a mother and child will be killed." She said this and burst into laughter.
That caused an uproar as the mothers and children cried for their lives while the fathers, who were also held as hostages, cried out for the troop to not do anything.
Seeing the hesitation in every one of them, the rogues seemed to regain their confidence and joined Tyra in her laughter. Of course, they have the upper hand here.
Tyra turned to look at Alicia with smugness. "And what if I did all that?" She asked, referring to Alicia's accusations about planning this whole thing to take over control of the palace. "Does it make the queen any less guilty?"
"TYRA!" Sir Evan yelled.
Alicia looked at her in disbelief, just like many of them were staring at Tyra. She didn't want to believe that Tyra had also deliberately hurt Prince Harold when he had been nothing but nice to her.
"SO WHAT IF I DID ALL THAT?!" Tyra yelled back at them.
"You have always adored the queen. But what did she do? She committed a taboo and disgraced the name of the King. She had an affair with this measly thing that was but a slave!" She pointed at Damon, who was still on the cold, wet ground.
"She made Prince Harold suffer over and over again! She connived with a witch to curse Prince Harold, but she was so eager to get rid of Amber for being one. Can't you see? No one can ever be as worse as her. I am doing you all a favour by getting rid of her—"
"It was you," Alicia said quietly as it all came to her, interrupting Tyra's rant.
Everything was beginning to make sense. Her accusations were beginning to make sense. Even though she did not understand most of it, some were able to get a clearer picture.
"You... killed Beth." After Alicia said it, it began to make more sense. A part of her had always doubted Tyra back then, but she had refused to explore that feeling because it did not make sense. How come Tyra had suddenly been sick that night and stayed back? How come the maid, who had been a witness to the whole thing, was killed? How come Tyra indirectly egged them on to execute her while Harold was unconscious?
She didn't think Tyra was able to do them alone. It wasn't just her.
She remembered Damian.
"You and Damian. You planned all of this. You killed Beth to frame me. You could have easily killed me that night if you wanted. But you wanted me to be executed. You wanted the queen to be responsible for that while Prince Harold was unconscious. It was all your plan."
"That... that is... not possible." Sir Rager said, shaking his head. His whole demeanour had gone from that of a warrior ready for battle to that of a broken father who didn't want to believe what he had heard.
This conclusion from Alicia brought back shock for all of them.
No one expected Tyra to be so vicious. No one at all.
"You! Tyra... you must have poisoned Father too! It must have been your doing. How long have you been planning this? How long have you been acting like a snake?! You even dare accuse your mother of something so disgusting!" Ivan roared at her and began to cough again.
Tyra looked fed up.
While accusations were flying around, she just pursed her lips and scratched her neck, like she couldn't be bothered by any of them.
"TYRA!" Sir Rager yelled when Tyra didn't respond to that allegation.
"QUEEN TYRA!" She yelled back at the man, her eyes burning from anger and impatience.
"So what if I did all that? You can't do anything to me. You cannot hurt me. I have the upper hand here. No one can save you. Not the king. Not Prince Harold. I have the upper hand. Your lives are all in my hands." She spoke in a confident tone as her eyes looked all around.
"W-Why?" Sir Rager asked quietly, his voice broken. "Why..."
"Your stupid slave of a daughter dared covet Prince Harold?" Tyra scoffed. "What a joke."
She looked straight at the man as she said, "Why do you look angry? Your wife died while protecting this adulterer; what is so bad about your daughter dying for me?"
He let out a loud, angry growl and reared his horse before he drew his sword and raced towards her, but with one hand signal from her, three arrows went flying toward him, and one successfully hit him in his stomach, sending him falling off his horse and to the ground. The other arrows were deflected by some guards behind him before they could find any flesh to sink into.
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