A Murderer

ATHENA’S POV

My heart was pounding as I looked at Zara’s body on the ground. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. She was dead.

I felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I looked up at Nero wondering what he would think of me now that I had taken down his beloved Zara.

He in turn was staring down at me with hatred in his eyes, and I knew he blamed me for what had happened.

I stared down at her lifeless body, my mind racing. What would happen now? Would Nero still want me, knowing that I had been responsible for Zara’s death?

The crowd too fell silent for what felt like an eternity, stunned at what had just happened. I could feel all eyes on me, waiting for my reaction. But what were they expecting from me? What could I do?

I looked around at the faces of the people in the crowd, too frozen to say or do anything only wondering what they thought of me now. Was I a hero or a villain? The silence made it hard to tell.

But then cheers erupted, signalling the end of. The joyous noise only made me feel worse. I had won, but at what cost?

As I walked down from the podium, I couldn’t help but feel like my world had come to an end. I had never been involved in such violence before, and I didn’t know how to process it killing someone. I knew that I had defended myself, but that didn’t make me feel any better about what had happened.

Tears had filled my eyes and blurred my vision as I walked without a sense of direction, my body swaying here and there from exhaustion and shock.

I felt my body start to fall and the tears kept falling, but before I hit the ground, someone caught me. “She’s dead because of me. It is all my fault.” I said sobbing without even knowing who had caught me.

The victory meant nothing to me now. All I could think about was Zara’s blood stained lying on the ground. My heart was heavy with guilt, and I knew that this burden would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“No darling, you only did what you had to do to survive, it was either your life or hers and you chose yours. There is absolutely nothing to feel guilty for.” The Queen said as she hugged me tight.

I wanted to believe everything she said but the pain in my heart didn’t want me to believe it. My mind tried to tell me that it was all okay but I was at war with myself.

I peeled away from the Queen and started to walk towards him when I saw that he had also stepped down from his chair. I wanted him to believe that I didn’t push her because I didn’t. Even though from the look in his eye I knew that was what he believed.

“Nero,” my voice said in a whisper as I tried to talk to him.

I tried to find the words to explain myself, to tell him that it was self-defence that I didn’t mean to kill Zara. But the words wouldn’t come. And all I could do was stare back at him, feeling like a monster.

He had tears in his eyes. He wasn’t just shedding them in pain but anger. He looked ready to snap and his eyes held venom and hatred in them.

But wasn’t that what I deserved? For all the pain that I had caused him, ripping out his heart by taking away the woman he wanted as his mate.

The cheering crowd had calmed down, and all I could hear was the sound of my own heart breaking. I never wanted this to happen. All I wanted was to prove myself, to show everyone that I was strong enough to compete and win his hand as a mate.

 “You killed her.” Nero said suddenly, his eyes pitch black. “All you had to do was tell her to tap out or you tap out. But you killed her.” He said, venom finding its way out of his mouth piercing my chest.

“She tapped out. You saw that, but then she came at me, what was I supposed to do? Let her kill me after I had won?” I asked.

“Yes! That’s what you should have done. You think I give a fuck about you living or dying?” he said angrily as he stalked towards me.

“That is enough Nero. You will leave her alone. She has done nothing wrong but defend herself. Zara should have let it go when she lost and not act like a crazed woman throwing a tantrum.” The Queen said defending me from his anger.

Nero looked at me one more time his eyes glaring at me and I could see him visibly shaking.

Nero said nothing as he turned and walked away. I stood there, alone with my thoughts and my guilt. I didn’t know what to do next, or where to go from here.

The crowd had been asked to leave, somehow the turn of events becoming unexpected and they slowly began to disperse. I made my way over to Zara’s body. I knelt down beside her, feeling tears beginning to form in my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her, even though I knew she could no longer hear me. “I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted anyone to die because of me.”

But my words were empty. They couldn’t bring her back.  “I just….”

I fell butt first to the ground as I was pushed by someone. The tears in my eyes made it impossible to see who it was until they feel. I blinked a few times, feeling hands wrap around my throat. They were pressing so hard my vision started to blur again only this time; someone was out to get me.

When I saw who it was, I didn’t even have it in me to struggle. I was being choked by Zavier, Zara’s twin.

“Let go of her Zavier!” The Queen screamed in panic.

Zavier wasn’t even paying attention to her. His eyes were fixed on me and they looked primal. He wanted a life for a life and he was determined to get it.

“You deserve to die you stupid bitch. She should have won and not you.”

My lunges were screaming for air, and my neck felt broken. It hurt too much to move much less to breath. But I needed air fast.

My hands found his and I tried with the very little strength left in my to pry him off. My arms flared around, needing something to grab and hit him with because my life had begun to slip out through those hands of his.

“Le….t g…o” was the only thing that I managed to croak out.

“A life for a life. She has to die for killing my sister.” He screamed as he was being pulled away by the guards. I would have thought that my vision would have cleared when he released his hold on me but it didn’t.

My neck muscles had gotten too weak to move or allow my throat take in air. The world spun around me, the voices dying down into an inaudible buzzing in the ear and I was pulled into an awaiting darkness.

I was going to join Zara where she was and my body felt ready for it.