The Journey

“Only good hearts that have never hurt can make you happy” Grandma Ellison words resounded with conviction. "But who exactly has a good heart?" thought Delia, looking at her 70 yearold grandmother with mixed feelings. "People don't walk around with an open chest, Naana." She knew Grandma Ellison was speaking the truth, but she didn't understand it. The royal old lady was blatantly honest, and nothing deterred her from it. She was the king's most trusted counsel, and his other advisers hated her. Secrets that ended up within the walls of her ears, we uttered with no discretion. None whatsoever. “I am too old to lie.” She’d often say. Delia had been discussing her terrible luck with love, and Grandma's ears were weary of her issues. Her husband had ruined her sanity with an adulterous affair. For weeks she had been laboring under very poignant sorrow and contemplating whether or not to kill him. Delia was not new to this, however, it seemed nearly unbearable to have him killed.

"I wonder why the men choose to marry you in the first place."Grandma uttered, turning to the window where it seemed more peaceful.

"I'm a princess. Everyone wants to marry me." She responded. 

"Well, don't forget what happened with your two ex-husbands. We both know their deaths could have been avoided" Grandma's eyes were looking out into the meadow.

She felt calmed by the beauty of the flowers and how they had blossomed. Delia paused and recalled how she had diabolically ended the lives two men she had suspected of adultery. It was a sad moment, but brief. "As a princess, I am absolved of any acts of vengeance." said Delia, her hands caressing the bowl of grapes on the table. "...But it was not vengeance, Delia. It was murder."  replied Grandma,  "...there is nothing pleasing about taking a life." Her words reckoned with Delia's logic. 

"They deserved it." Delia argued

"Yes. Maybe. But it is still wrong. And we both know you lost more than a husband that day."

"Elise shouldn't have intervened. She should have kept her opinions to herself." Delia was simmering with anger.

“Why can’t you be like your her?” Grandma Ellison asked. 

“The kingdom would be torpid if we were all like my sister.” She answered. 

"...But it would have been a better kingdom. Now she's in exile and you are here pondering whether or not to kill your  third husband." Grandma Ellison spoke her last. Looking at Delia, she missed Elise and her kind heart.

“So you have decided…?” Grandma asked. 

Delia nodded. Silently, she savored the pleasure, and thrill of watching Collins hang for his affair. It would be slow, bitter, and she would enjoy each moment of it. Time

Grandma Ellison bore a sad look as Delia smiled in delight. They both knew another murder was in transition. Death would pay Collin a visit soon.