14 - The Aftermath - Draft

When Prince Shar ran from the murder scene, he went to the only place where he might find refuge, the palace of the Queen.

“Your Majesty, I must talk to you in private about a most urgent matter,” the prince implored with blood still on his hands and clothes.

The Queen quickly dismissed everyone to hear what had happened to her son in law. It took a few moments for the prince to calm himself enough to speak. “I have caught Darcy in bed with Aisha. I was so enraged that I cut off her head.”

“Whose head, my dear?” Narcissus coolly asked. It didn’t matter to her but it was an important piece of information to have.

“Aisha’s,” he said while catching his breath in an attempt to calm himself. “It is tradition in my country that an adulterer be executed for their crimes.”

“Oh, good,” she said with a smile on her face. “You were simply administering justice on a fellow countryman. We can work around this in the court system. Now, what has happened to your wife?”

“I just hit her a few times. She was alive when I left.”

“Do you still want to be married to her?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then I will handle things but you must produce an heir. I don’t care if you beat her but not her stomach. We need that heir.”

While they had settled things between them, the press and citizenry were a different story. The brutality of the murder turned their stomachs. The press reported on other so called honor killings throughout the world. Feminists took up the cause since most of the victims are women. They decried the double standard of Prince Shar’s very public adultery and the lack of evidence to support the adultery of his sister. They wondered why the Prince wasn’t beheaded as well.

As for Darcy, the EMTs who arrived on the scene found her unable to speak or follow commands. She had a blank stare on her face and had to be lifted to a gurney and rushed to the emergency room. The staff quickly examined her for serious wounds before taking her to the Royal wing of the hospital.

As before, a million tests were performed but nothing could be found. She was in shock and had psychological distress according to the reports. Doctors tried everything to get the princess to recover but nothing worked.

Narcissus only inquired if she was pregnant. When it was discovered that she was not, the queen ordered them to determine if she was fertile or not. While the doctors found the queen’s questions and orders detestable, they carried them out lest they lose their heads as well.

When all tests revealed that she was able to become pregnant, carry and deliver a child, she ordered frequent, private visits for Prince Shar as well as regular pregnancy tests. Prince Shar reluctantly agreed to have sex with his comatose wife in order to keep the lifestyle that he enjoyed.

As time passed Darcy had yet to become pregnant and the citizenry grew in their anger. Within a year, the Queen had to reluctantly turn him over to the courts for trial. Without an heir and the public outcry for his head, she had no choice. His trial was swift and decisive. The country celebrated his guilty verdict and looked forward to his execution. To please her citizens and dispel with this whole affair, the Queen herself ordered that his execution be carried out within a fortnight despite his right to an appeal. Nobody came to the poor prince’s aid though and a guillotine was seen as a just fate.