Part 2
The service proceeded normally enough, as normal as the death of an Empress could be. All 7 of her children were present, along with 3 grandchildren, Heather, and Hamlin. Xellma disappeared before it started, and hadn't been seen since.
"Who was that woman with the black horns who melted right before everything started?" Crown Prince Niall whispered to Hamlin and Heather.
Hamlin and Heather looked at each other before Heather decided to be the one to answer.
"Someone who knew your mother, they told us they were going to attend, but we didn't think they'd leave this quickly." Heather said, slightly confused himself. Maybe it was just too much for Xellma?
It wasn't until family members were speaking of Rebecca, and of various memories that Xellma returned. Just as Niall was saying what a kind and lovely person Rebecca was during his childhood, a voice could suddenly be heard from the rafters.
"Oh that's quite enough of that, Niall!" Xellma shouted, jumping down. "I hate when people lie at funerals."
"Just who exactly are you?" Niall demanded. "This is my mother's funeral!"
Xellma grinned, and snapped her fingers, returning to her true demon form, growing by more than a foot in the process. Exhaling black smoke as she laughed, she walked up to the stand.
"Me? I'm Demon Queen Xellma, and I'm here to tell you that the Ashen Empress was anything but kind." Xellma said, making sure to show off her threatening teeth as she smiled. "I came to pay my respects to a fellow ruler, a kindred soul with true evil in her heart."
"What are you talking about?" Niall asked. "My mother was always a good person."
"In front of you, Niall! You were to inherit the throne! You needed to be strong, and from an early age she saw your strengths and weaknesses. That's another reason she killed Countess Diana."
"She killed her?" Lena asked, speaking up. "She told us she exiled her."
"With her bare hands. She strangled the Countess in her own bedroom and had Verka dispose of the remains. Isn't that right, Princess Verka?" Xellma said, remembering a lovely memory. "You always listened to your mother Verka, always did whatever pure evil she asked of you."
"You ate her?" Lena demanded of her sister, rushing over to her. "Me and Zoya cried for days after she disappeared!"
"Yes I ate her, and I enjoyed every ounce of her flesh! I was 9, Lena!" Verka shouted back. "You can't say no to your mother at 9! Not when she's Rebecca Ashe!"
Xellma laughed heartily at Queen's Orders affecting Verka so perfectly. "So many ugly truths being brought to light. Verka, show Zoya and Lena why she was so afraid of defying her mother, show them your scars.
Verka simply nodded and undid her dress, exposing her back. It was covered in deep scarring, from long nights of Rebecca whipping her for disobedience, for daring to talk back when asked to kill people that Sergei couldn't.
"Lena, I did so many horrible things for mother, to spare the rest of you!" Verka shouted, her eyes tearing up. "Xellma is right! Our mother was a cruel person, whose depths knew no limits!"
Xellma of course cared not for their pain and suffering. It was all worth it to create the perfectly ordered Ashen Empire. Everything worked out in the end, for her at least.
"Now do you see, Niall? The evil behind closed doors?" Xellma asked.
"I do, yes." Niall replied, saddened. His mother was a cruel person after all, it seemed.
"Marvellous! Simply marvellous!" Xellma shouted with joy. "This is what a funeral should be! Do not weep for the dead! Bicker and fight over how they wronged you!"
"Is this why you came? Just to hurt us?" Zoya demanded, much to her immediate regret.
"Zoya, how old were you when you stopped wetting the bed?" Xellma asked, smiling.
"The last time I wet the bed was last night." She answered, then immediately covered her mouth in terror.
Xellma fell to the ground laughing, holding her stomach. This was entirely too much, she was 38 and still pissed the bed at night. Xellma was wheezing, laughing so hard she was crying, while Zoya stood there with a look of horror on her face as she blurted out such an embarrassing fact in front of her entire family.
Heather sighed. This funeral turned into a farce in a matter of minutes, all thanks to this damned demon. Trying to regain control of the situation, he walked over to Xellma, who was still laughing on the ground, and gave her a swift kick in the head.
"I think that's quite enough, Xellma." Heather said. "This is still a funeral."
Xellma stopped laughing immediately and stood up, grabbing Heather. "If you weren't so damn old I'd make you fight me. But I get the point."
Heather's heart was racing as Xellma placed him back down. He thought for sure his children would witness his death when she leapt up like that.
"I'll leave you with this final most insidious question, then. Niall, do you actually want to be Emperor?" Xellma said, her mouth a wide smile.
"No." He answered, as Xellma melted away into the floor.
For a brief moment there was silence, and then the room erupted into shouting, just as Xellma planned all along.