The following two days prince Sébastien visits the Queen''s quarter to help prepare her for the battle of truth. On the morning of the third day, prince Sébastien visited his mother in the company of princess Ellen to have breakfast together.


    The Queen was already seated in a good mood. Her mood improved when she saw her son hand in hand with his wife. Today was the day she would kill the man who murder her husband so she was in a good mood.


    "mother," prince Sébastien and Ellen greeted her when they got to where she was seated. "Come," the Queen pulled the two of them in her embrace.


    Princess Ellen was a bit surprised, unlike the last time she eat lunch with the Queen she could tell that the smile on the Queen''s face at that moment was real.


    Princess Ellen has heard of the Queen''s love for the king. She was also aware of the battle of truth. She heard that this battle was because General Thompson tried to kill the king and steal the throne for his son-in-law.


    "I am happy you came to eat breakfast with me. Who knows it might be my last meal," Queen magret said with a beautiful smile on her face. One would have expected the Queen to be sad or worried as she said those words.


    "Do not say that, Mother," Sébastien said. He was not going to let anything happen to his mother. General Thompson has hurt his family enough and prince Sebastian could not wait to collect his pound of flesh.


    Princess Ellen nodded her head in agreement with the prince''s words. She could not understand why the Queen wanted to fight a General herself when she had such an outstanding son. Was she counting death? No matter how princess Ellen thought about it she could not understand the Queen''s reasons.


    Queen magret smiled when she heard her son. "I am just saying, things may not always go the way we plan," she said.


    "I agree," prince Sébastien did not bother to argue with his mother. After all, he had made plans of his own.


    The three people finish eating their breakfast quietly.  Princess Ellen wanted to ask prince Sebastian why he was not fighting in his mother''s stand but she shut her mouth since she did not want to be seen as nosy.


    In another part of the Palace.


    "Father," Lady Catherine was in tears. She could not believe she lost her husband a few days ago and now she was about to lose her father too.


    If she knew that her running her mouth with princess Ellen days back will lead to all this incident then she would have never even gone along with the other ladies to the crown prince Quarter.


    "calm yourself, I am a General with good fighting skills. Besides, I never tried to kill the king. The gods will definitely be on my side," General Thompson said with confidence.


    Although he felt confident in his strength, he could not help worry about the king''s words. He could still remember him telling him to be as prepared as though he was going to face another General.


    " Father, are you not scared. What if the Queen asked the crown prince to fight in her stand. Forget about that. Even if you managed to kill the Queen a lot of people will still believe her words. Queen magret is a woman and your victory is also a shame to you, " Lady Catherine said.


    General Thompson shook his head. He wondered if this ending has to do with his betrayal years ago. Maybe this was a nemesis. It was said that heaven will always punish evildoers. He had stabbed his friend in the heart and planted the evidence on his other years back to create a better future for himself.


    The life of the two brothers was cut short because of his Greed. Now both his sons have perished in the war. His daughter has become a widow at such a young age. His reputation and life were hanging on a thin line.


    "Catherine, you have to promise me that no matter what happens today you will live on. Do not seek revenge. It will only destroy you. The Queen has saved your life you must cherish it," General Thompson said.


    General Thompson has been a friend to the king for many years, so he could guess why he sent his daughter to the crown prince Quarter.


    " Father, I am sorry but I can not promise you that. I already promised my late husband to avenge his death," Lady Catherine said as she clean her eyes and put on a stubborn look.


    "Do not be stupid, I may not be around anymore to protect yourself. A person who must seek revenge must also have the power to save herself. Besides your husband brought his death upon himself," General Thompson said.


    "But father.." Lady Catherine was determined.


    "no, but, I have doted on you and given you the very best in life. You must grant me this one wish. King Roderick still has sons and daughters but you are the only blood left of our family. If you lost yourself to revenge prince Julia then what will be left. Think about it, prince Julia has his father the king. That princess is nothing for him to crush but he would not dare for fear of the crown prince. What do you think will become of you, if you become an enemy to that devil" General Thompson said looking at his daughter.


    Knowing the king for so many years, he has realized that the man only likes to use people while making sure he was well protected.


    " I promise to take care of myself and not seek revenge but if a chance presents itself I will take it," Lady Catherine said after listening to her father.


    General Thompson took a deep breath. His daughter was as stubborn as a rock. He could only hope that heaven is merciful and does not bring temptation to his daughter.


    ...


    A few hours later


    The open field was filled with crowd. It was a rare occasion to have so many people gather around to watch a fight of this nature. In fact, it was the first time a woman was going to be willing a sword in Avalo for people to see, not just any woman but the Queen.


    "Do you think the Queen will win this fight?" one person whispered to another.


    "What nonsense are you saying? General Thompson has been in the front of the war for years. It is obvious this is a battle of lies and sham," the other replied.


    "Why? This is a battle of truth. The gods decide the winner in respective of the strength of the opponent," the first person said.


    "ahh! You are so naive. If the king really wanted to know the truth. Then they should have invited the oracle of truth. I just pity the Queen to have fallen for such a trick. She is too nice and kind-hearted," the second person insisted.


    "yes, she is indeed kind. I wonder how a kind woman gave birth to a son like the crown prince," the first person said.


    "ahh! She should have had him fight in her stand," the second person said


    "The Queen believes in justice, if the crown prince were to fight with General Thompsons, the general will definitely lose. The general is shameless wanting to battle with a woman." someone else joined the conversation.


    "he is indeed shameless," the other two men agreed. Different groups had different opinions about the battle of truth but most of them believe that General Thompson was guilty and shameless to want to fight with a woman.


    This has been the reason Queen magret had chosen to fight General Thompson herself. No matter what happened the General will be put to shame.


    Soon after the king, in the company of his three sons arrived. Princess Ellen was seated behind. She felt calm and peaceful. The fighting today had nothing to do with her. Although the Queen has supported back at the royal court she still did not feel any connection to her.


    Even if everyone saw the Queen as pure, princess Ellen has learned that things are not always the way they seemed. She was not looking for someone with a pure heart but so long the person has no evil intentions towards her.


    General Thompson soon entered the fighting ring. He looked very calm and composed one look and Ellen could tell that the man had a lot of weight on his shoulders.


    Soon after his arrival, the Queen walked in wearing all black. Her hair was tied into a tight bun. There was nothing soft about her look. Her killing insist was not hidden. General Thompson felt cold sweat on his back. For the first time, he believed the king when he advise him to be prepared.


    A man known as the mouthpiece of the gods stepped forward. He asked the Queen and General to draw their swords.


    After murmuring something to himself, the priest raised his right hand. "let the truth be revealed today. The pure in heart and hand will win, he stated before dropping his hands.


    The fight began immediately after the man step away. A lot of people had thought that the fight will end in the first minute but they soon realized they were wrong.


    In fate, it was not just the timing, the Queen''s skills had shocked everyone including the king. Although he was aware of her skills, he thought that wearing a dress and seating as a queen for so many years she would have gone weak.


    Yes, he heard about the crown prince training her, if only two days of training made her this swift what would have happened if she had been preparing for a month.


    "Why do I feel the Queen is deliberately going easy on General Thompson?" one general said to another. These men have been in the battle felid so they could see that.


    "you can see it too? I was about to ask the same question," the second General answered.


    "and yet General Thompson said the Queen tried to attack him in the king''s study. With this skills of hers I bet he would have been dead before we arrived that day," General Diag joined the conversation.


    "you are right, I guess the Queen is trying to give the general face. No matter what he has served the kingdom well. He just got blinded by the love he has for his daughter. I will not blame him. She is all that is left of his house," the first general said.


    " love or Greed? I bet the General acted this way because he was trying to make Prince Julia his puppet, " General Daiz said.


    " you are right, it must have been party because of his guilt.," the second General answered.


    The first General rolled his eyes. He knew that General Daiz has never liked General Thompson and so he would stop at nothing to completely ruin his name.


    "I do not think I have seen General Mason. Where is he?" the first General decides to change the topic.


    "I am not sure, he is probably running errands for the king," General Daiz answered. The order General nodded in agreement since Mason was close to the king.


    ...


    Where do you think General Mason is?