[date:-475|flashback,x]
“My Hero,” Vapuṣmatī said teasingly, “All those years ago, in Anga, I had a palace of my own, built by my father. If you are truly the most powerful king in the world, and I your queen, then why, in all these years, have I seen nothing but the inside of a dungeon smelling of horse faeces?”
“More pretences that I am expected to uphold! Some kings build a palace the size of a city for their queens, I’ll keep mine in a cage with rats and flies. Say another thing that annoys me and I will have to dispose of you.”
“Really, you’ll dispose of me, my Lord?” Vapuṣmatī batted her eyelashes seductively.
“You are beginning to annoy me once more, my Queen.”
“Will you truly have the heart to let go of a beauty such as mine?”
“That beauty is fading already, and will last barely four or five more years. Your annoying nature will persist for much longer, if I do nothing about it.”
Vapuṣmatī laughed at first, then seemed to turn a little uncomfortable as Ajātaśatru stayed silent.
“ … you jest … right?”
It was when Ajātaśatru unsheathed his dagger that her discomfort turned into fear, to desperation, and finally to dread.
“My Lord … my Ruler … you know the affection that I have for you, how much respect I hold for you in my mind, and in reality … I beseech you, you are the hero who saved me, who won me … I beseech you, my Lord—”
Stab.
“And how am I to know that this is any different from my father’s supposed affection for me when he needed something out of me?” The Emperor’s voice was not cruel, merely cold and emotionless, and that only made it all much worse.
“I beseech you, my Lord … there is no one in these three worlds who knows you, who understands you like I do … and while even the gods worship you, they do not do so with the same devotion that I have toward you. It is not death that I fear, it is the betrayal – you know me – your company is all I have ever desired in life … I beg you, do not take that away from me.”
But all her pleas fell on deaf ears. Ajātaśatru sucked the life force of his beloved queen from the gash that he had made on her neck, and the lifeless body of the only person who had ever been an anchor to his insanity fell limply to the ground, covered in dead tears.
