2. The Hunting Begins

At the Eastern Villages - 6:00 AM (Day 1)

The sun barely rose when Prince Marcus rode out with his personal guards. He looked like a hunter going after wild animals, except his prey was human.

Elena watched from her window as her brother left. She had made her decision last night - she wouldn't kill anyone innocent. No matter what her father said.

...---...

At the Village of Millbrook - 7:30 AM

Marcus arrived at his first destination. The village was small, maybe fifty people total. He walked through the main street with his sword drawn.

"Everyone, come out! This is a royal command!" his guard captain shouted.

Slowly, villagers emerged from their homes. Marcus studied them like he was choosing fruits at a market. His eyes stopped on a man who looked about forty years old.

"You. What's your name?" Marcus asked.

"T-Thomas, Your Highness," the man stuttered, trembling.

"Thomas, do you have a family?"

"Yes, Your Highness. A wife and three children."

Marcus nodded thoughtfully. Then, without warning, he swung his sword. Thomas fell to the ground, dead before he could scream. His wife's screams filled the air instead.

"One," Marcus said calmly, wiping his blade. "Ninety-nine to go."

He continued through the village, killing four more people before noon. A young woman who was pregnant. An old man who could barely walk. A teenage boy who tried to run. A woman who begged for mercy.

Marcus felt... nothing. He thought he might feel guilt or sadness, but there was only a strange emptiness. And beneath that emptiness, excitement. Each kill brought him closer to the throne.

...---...

At the Royal Palace - 12:00 PM

King Aldric summoned Elena to the throne room. She walked slowly, dreading what he would say.

"Elena, I've received reports that Marcus has already made five kills. Where are yours?" The king's voice was cold.

"Father, I... I can't do this. This tradition is barbaric. We're supposed to protect our people, not slaughter them!"

SLAP !

The sound echoed through the throne room. Elena's cheek burned where her father's hand connected.

"You dare question our sacred tradition? The tradition that has kept our kingdom strong for three hundred years?" King Aldric's face turned red with anger. "You will participate, or you will be executed for treason. You have until tomorrow morning to make your first kill, or I will kill you myself!"

Elena ran from the throne room, tears streaming down her face. She locked herself in her chambers and cried until she had no tears left.

...---...

At Elena's Chambers - 6:00 PM

Mary found Elena curled up on her bed, her face swollen from crying. The handmaid sat beside her gently.

"Princess, I... I might have a solution," Mary whispered. "It's not perfect, but it might save you."

Elena looked up. "What is it?"

"There are prisoners in the dungeon. Criminals who have been sentenced to death anyway. Murderers, traitors, rapists. If you... if you killed them, it would count toward your hundred. But at least they're not innocent."

Elena sat up slowly. She hated the idea of killing anyone, but Mary was right. These were people who had hurt others, who were already sentenced to die. Maybe this was the only way she could participate without destroying her soul.

"Take me to the dungeons," Elena said quietly.

...---...

At the Royal Dungeons - 8:00 PM

The dungeons smelled of rot and despair. Elena walked past cell after cell, looking at the prisoners. The dungeon master showed her the records of each one.

"This man, Harold, he murdered six people including two children," the dungeon master explained. "Scheduled for execution next week."

Elena looked at Harold. He stared back at her with cold, empty eyes. No remorse. No humanity.

"Open the cell," Elena ordered. Her hands shook as she gripped her dagger.

The guards opened the cell and brought Harold out in chains. Elena stood before him, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst.

"Any last words?" she asked.

Harold laughed. "You're too weak to do it, Princess. You're not like your brother. You're soft."

Something snapped inside Elena. She thought of the two children this monster had killed. She thought of their parents' pain. And she drove the dagger into his heart.

Harold fell to the ground, dead. Elena dropped the dagger and vomited in the corner of the dungeon.

"One," she whispered to herself. "One down. Ninety-nine to go."

But unlike Marcus, Elena felt everything. The weight of taking a life, even a guilty one, would haunt her forever.

...---...

At Prince Marcus's Chambers - 11:00 PM

Marcus returned to the palace covered in blood. He was smiling.

"Five in one day! Not bad for a start," he told his reflection in the mirror. "At this rate, I'll finish in less than a month."

He stripped off his bloody clothes and looked at his hands. There was blood under his fingernails. For a moment, just a brief moment, he remembered Thomas's face. The fear in his eyes right before he died.

Marcus shook his head, pushing the memory away. "Weakness," he muttered. "I can't afford weakness."

Tomorrow he would kill even more. And the day after that, and the day after that. Until he reached one hundred and claimed what was rightfully his.

The throne.

Nothing else mattered.

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