She knelt at the foot of the throne, curled over in discomfort. Gripping her hollow stomach, she groaned. I saw that she was grinning.

“You feel you’ve won, still?” I asked her, coming closer with my blade.

She appeared like a crumpled paper bag, but her eyes met mine and there was still life in them.

“I always win, boy. In your dreams, you’ll see me like this. You’ll suffer without me here. You’ll wonder why you did it, killed the last queen of this forsaken land. You’ll wish you could take it back. And I will haunt you through…”

I didn’t find out what she would haunt me through. I sliced her neck and ended the reign of the last Dark Queen. In the courtyard, the countrymen rallied at my cry.