Raj Farrago woke up in the afterlife with a start. He looked around to see slain bodies lying across field. A battle well fought, he thought to himself as he began his journey to the Divine. He had been a commander with the Murrah Army, a rebel group who believed the current emperor had no right to the throne. They were sworn to the rightful heir of the throne, Prince Gorra. Well, that was all in the past now. Right now, it was time to meet his maker and account for the life he lived while he was still alive.
Princess Katrina couldn’t believe her eyes. She had just woken up in the afterlife and was shocked to see Commander Raj Farrago walk as if he had not committed any atrocity in his life on earth. She drew her sword and charged against him. If she couldn’t kill him while they were still mortals, she can at least try in the afterlife. Princess Katrina was a member of the royal family who swore to protect the current emperor, Lord Geisha at all cost from discontented rebels like Commander Raj. It all started when the former emperor died without warning.
Emperor Gray was the most loved emperor in all of the history of the Ottoman Empire. He was deeply beloved of his subjects and revered by the rulers of the other kingdoms. He was also considered as one of the wisest emperors ever to sit on the imperial throne. As such, when Emperor Gray suddenly announced that he was going to name his heir on the morning of the Hanuka Festival Day, everyone thought he had noticed something. There was already rumours that he wanted to denounce Prince Gorra as his heir due to the prince’s reckless behaviour. As such, when the news broke out that the emperor had died of food poisoning, everyone suspected Prince Gorra.
Prince Gorra had immediately matched into the sacred temple and demanded that he be crowned emperor. The people saw this as a confirmation that he was responsible for the murder of the emperor. They immediately ganged up against him and threw him out of the capital city. When the days of mourning were over, they immediately crowned his gentle and beloved brother, Lord Geisha as emperor. Prince Gorra was angry and swore to burn the city to the ground. That was the beginning of the civil war that now sought to tear the empire apart.
Commander Raj heard the grunts behind him and moved just in time to dodge the swift slash of Princess Katrina’s sword. It was a samurai sword that showed no mercy. A single strike could end the life of its victim. Raj pulled out his own sword and braced himself for combat. He had heard that people still hold grudges in the afterlife but had never believed them until now. A direct lunge from Katrina jolted him back to life. Her sword was buried in his side. Normally, he should be dead. It was then he realised he was already dead. You can’t kill the already dead.
“You bastard,” Katrina began as she pulled her sword out of his body. “You’re a murderer and a disgrace to the samurai code. I hope you rot in hell and never find peace,” she concluded.
“What are you talking about? You are just as guilty as I am. Besides, you are the one trying to murder another person in the afterlife,” Raj replied as he turned away from her and continued his journey to the Divine. He had an appointment with his maker which he wasn’t ready to miss.
“Murder? This is justice! Justice for the murder of Emperor Gray and for the repeated assassination attempts on Lord Geisha. This is justice for my cousin Boya, who you cut down with no mercy in battle,” she shouted as she ran to catch up with him.
“First, Prince Gorra had his flaws, but killing his own father is not something he did, or can even do. Yes, we have tried to kill Lord Geisha, but that was for justice, true justice. And for your cousin, if I had not cut him down without mercy, he would have killed me,” he replied, as he thought to himself that since he was dead, either Boya had killed him or not made no difference.
Princess Katrina was stunned. Did he just mention that having Lord Geisha killed equalled justice? How dare he! She jumped on him and pushed him to the ground. She then gripped his throat with both hands, trying to wrestle life out of him.
“You are a murderer and not worthy of the samurai code. How can you say killing Lord Geisha is justice.”
“Because…,” Raj struggled to speak as she continued to choke him. “Because, Lord Geisha invited me to a secret meeting where he planned to kill Emperor Gray and Prince Gorra.”
Katrina slowly loosen her grip on his neck as he continued, “I left to warn Prince Gorra but before I could get to him, the emperor was already dead. Prince Gorra’s mistake was to demand he was crowned prince at once.”
Katrina got off Raj, stood up and struggled to hide her shame. So the rumours were true; she had been fighting for the wrong side.
The Divine and his angelic host looked down on the two of them in amusement. An angel walked to the Divine and whispered something into his ear which made the Divine smiled. Commander Raj and Princess Katrina were supposed to get married in life but in exercising their freewill, they had drifted far apart.
He clapped his hands and on the battle field, two individuals coughed to life: Commander Raj and Princess Katrina.
This is my entry for the Short story writting contests(newbie to experienced)_ by @nabstertsr
I had a longer plot in mind but the contest stipulated a maximum of 1000 words.
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