The Conqueror and the Rose

Chapter XIV - Betrayal

That night, Roxana sat brooding on her couch, her maid giving her a massage from behind her. Suddenly she flung up and exited her chamber with an air of determination, leaving Bahar wondering what had gotten into her. Roxana carefully made her way through the dark, eery corridors, which were only illuminated by the faint light of candles. Once she was outside, she drew in a breath of fresh night air. Then she began to march through the courtyard and to where Alexander's chamber lied.

It happened so that she did not have to go far to look for him. The commander was at the location she had been wandering in that day, beside the lucid pond. He was seated beside the waters, on the bed of lilac, staring listlessly into the distance. He was not in his proper clothing, only in a linen nightshirt with a sash around his waist, as if he were a commoner. In his hand, he held a golden goblet. He tossed his head back and gulped its content down.

Then a woman came forwards. This woman was beautiful and graceful, and her silky pink dress blowed behind her as if she were a waif in the wind. The woman softly laid a hand on Alexander's shoulder, bent her lips to his ear, and spoke words to him. Alexander was crying, and he kept drinking his wine. Then she gently took the goblet out of his grasp and sat beside him. Taking his tear-streaked face in her hands, the Persian princess pressed a soft kiss on the commander's lips.

Roxana stood there, and it seemed that time had frozen for her. Her feet began to scoot backwards, and she forcefully turned her head away from the scene. Then she fled back to her chamber. She collapsed onto the bed and lay staring at the intricate ceiling until she realized that tears were slipping down her cheeks. Furiously, she tried to wipe away the tears that kept falling. Her body started to convulse with sobs, and she detested herself for it. Putting her hand on her mouth, she refused to cry anymore. Soon, she found her eyes growing heavy, and throughly exhausted, Roxana drifted off to sleep.

Roxana rose and put on her plush slippers at dawn. She walked to her dressing table and sat before the mirror. She could see that her eyes had swollen from crying herself to sleep. Roxana sighed and took the powder on her dressing table and carefully applied it to her lips. Then she took the case with the powder and flung it against the wall, staining it bright red. If Alexander did not desire her anymore, then so be it. He had promised her love, and he had given it, but he had broken that promise today. It was simple as to what Roxana would do. 

To kill, you've have had to be killed.