Snippet #2408786

It was with shaking hands that Leonid put the scroll down. He had reread the passage countless times before but this was the first time he had noticed there were two ways one could interpret the sentence. Before he had just assumed his queen had been correct, as usual. It seemed that had been a grave error. It seemed the second interpretation was the right one. Yesterday was the day the heroes had been marked, but not necessarily the day of their birth. Their butchering the previous day had been absolutely pointless. Not only was that a shame for the children, it had also been a terrible waste of manpower and increased the ever growing unrest.

The worst consequence of this error would be Bandrial’s reaction though. Leonid realized all too well that his queen would be most displeased should she hear this truth. He considered keeping it a secret, but quickly dismissed the notion. It would only make her angrier when she would find out and Leonid didn’t doubt she’d find out eventually. These heroes would probably be making a lot of noise really soon and Bandrial should be able to put one and one together.

Besides, it was in his best interests as well to put an end to these heroes as soon as possible. He rose from his chair, cast a disgusted look at the heap of baby skulls in the corner and slowly started to limp towards the throne room. With his free hand he took hold of the poison vial in his jacket. Should Bandrial be most wroth he could always down the poison for a quick and painless death. Apparently his queen had incinerated a serving girl yesterday and Leonid disliked the notion of being burned alive greatly. Still he hoped Bandrial wouldn’t just burn the messenger. Surely it hadn’t been his fault or at least not his fault alone, he could still be useful if she wanted to rectify their error.

He paused in front of the throne room and took a deep breath before entering. When he entered he slowly knelt and tried to avert his eyes.
“My queen, I…I must bring you grave news,” he swallowed, “after studying the skulls for some time I didn’t find any specialones, nothing that could hint at any of them belonging to a chosen one. Moreover, the skulls didn't even seem to hint at the fact that certain babies had been elevated above the others. It was then that I decided to reread the prophecy and I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that we have misinterpreted it until now. While yesterday was the day the heroes were marked, it didn’t specifically say yesterday was the day they’d be born,” he concluded, doing his best to remain calm. Despite his attempts his face gleamed with sweat, “so I fear we have spent yesterday killing the wrong suspects. It is likely that the seven heroes are all still alive and trying to fulfil this prophecy…” he left the rest unsaid, no longer fully trusting his voice. His one hand closed even tighter around the vial as he continued to avoid making eye contact. Oh god, he did not want to die...