Immediate chaos. A few of the minor court members fainted and one even screamed. Several of the rulers shared glances from where they stood near the front. Romena fought to roll her eyes from where she stood. She had known Thanatos since she was born, and she would only ever obey her commands, but as many talents as Death had, easing into rough subjects wasn’t one of them.

A group of young women came forward. There was half a dozen of them and their slim bodies and long black hair marked them as water druids. One stepped forward and dipped her head as the rest bowed low to the Horsemen. The dark green tattoos covering this one's all to apparent body marked her as their chief.

“M’lady,” her voice was sweet like honey but had an edge that made Romena tense. Her name was Diana, if War was to recall correctly. “Are you certain?” A dangerous, dangerous thing for a lowly druid to say to one of the most powerful people in Hell, second only to the King.

“Are you questioning me, Deania?” Eh, I was close enough to her name, Romena thought with an internal shrug. Deania tried, and failed, to hide her tensing body under the hard look from Thanatos. It was well known how short of a temper the woman had. What happened to those who displeased her, however, was just a jumble of rumors which suggested you’d rather face Medusa.

In the crowd a few shifted from foot to foot while some of the more bloodthirsty ones whispered hopes for the druid to be dismembered. The general unrest and undisciplined court members were a stark contrast to those standing behind Thanatos. All the Sins stood quietly, watching what was happening with keen eyes that searched for any and all weaknesses. Disease, with his tall frame and dark hair, watched with an expression of disinterest, his hands in the pockets of his well fitted black pants. Famine stood next to him, her short wavy hair framing a face written with hatred. War continued reading the room, trying to sense for any hidden enemies who might do her commander harm. Which was a hard thing to find when almost all creatures in the kingdom wanted Death dead for one reason or another.

And finally Death just watched the dark haired woman with a straight back, loose hair and a carefully blank face. With a deep breath Deania said slowly, “M’lady, it’s just that, His Majesty is known to play pranks.” Murmurs of agreement spread through the Hall.

Lifting her head from looking down on the druid, Thanatos addressed the entire group, “This is no prank. I checked myself, King Lucifer is truly dead.”

A few intakes of breath was the only thing that broke the silence that followed. The next minute seemed to take an eternity to pass. No one moved, no one said a word. No one wanted to acknowledge what had just been said. And then-

“Who takes the throne now?” It was a small boy with scale covered skin and glowing eyes. He was a servant of Medusa, Lady of the 8th Realm, Kufir. With that one question all the silence was destroyed. Members that sat on the King’s Council and minor nobles alike began shouting, all demanding answers.

“How did he die?”

“Who killed him?”

“Is this even possible?”

“What was the voice?”

Romena allowed a slow blink as the only sign of her surprise. Stepping forward, War raised her arm above her head, her fighting leathers shifting with the movement. It took longer than it normally would, but within a few moments the Hall was silent again.

“Who asked about the voice?” At her question, the Ruler of the 3rd Realm, Thymos, stepped forward. Alecto’s short red hair, long black talon nails, and leather wings resembling that of a bat’s marked her as one of the three furies. Behind her, her tipped tail whipped back and forth, dripping poison on the no longer polished floor.

“We all heard it,” She spoke with a harsh voice that dripped with patronization, and the fury gave a head dipped that was all to shallow for Romena’s liking.

“Was it heard all over Hell?” Gabriel asked, stepping forward from where he and Luna had been standing. Disease and Famine also seemed to radiate dislike for the Ruler.

“Yes,” answered Hulda, the goddess who ruled the 6th Realm, Alzna, as she swept forward. Her head dip was equally as shallow and disrespectful as Alecto’s.

Giving a quick look at Romena, Thanatos turned and began issuing commands. All people who were in the castle were to remain there until proven innocent. As Death continued to take control of the issue, Romena let herself drift into her mind

Who would do this? No, that wasn’t the only question. Who could do this? Most creatures thought Lucifer was invincible. They’d seen him drink poison, bathe in the Cursed Pool, and have his head removed. Everyone knew that he had to have a weakness, everyone does and his sister, Nyx, had been killed several millennia ago. But only Thanatos and Lucifer himself knew what that weakness was.

No, that’s not true. Common sense dictated that Hades, Lucifer’s father, would know. Which means it could be assumed that at least some of the gods and goddesses knew how to kill Lucifer. The war general’s gaze fell to Hulda, one of the few goddesses here. But no, that didn’t make sense. Hulda was a low ranked goddess. No great gods would ever tell her such things.

A few people could play this incident to their advantage, but who would cause it? Caesar and Hitler, two of the Spirit Judges, had always hated Lucifer for not giving them higher ranks but they wouldn’t be able to orchestrate this. Gabriel and Luna, the only two other Horsemen, would never do this, they had no interest in Lucifer’s death as it caused only problems for them. The Seven Deadly Sins, as annoying as they were they wouldn’t cause such a thing. Not when they had been given so much-

But they would. They had always, always, wanted more. They had always hated the Horsemen for being more powerful and commanding them. And they were smart. They were conniving and they fed off of chaos and disaster. And what better way to cause an uproar then to kill the King? This would provide the perfect setting for a coup. Everyone would be busy looking for an outside assassin they wouldn’t think to look at the Sins.

Realizing that Thanatos had finished giving orders, Romena fell into step behind her. As she walked past them, War looked at the Sins. And Drake, Wrath himself who was never happy except when bathed in the blood of his enemies, gave her a smile that made her want to run in fear. With a jolt, she realized what this meant, what was coming for them all. Drake seemed to realize this same thing because, with mirroring smiles, they both spoke at the same time.

“See you on the battlefield,”