Looking up from my feet, I glance beyond the bars of my cage, ignoring the soreness my chains are bringing me. The distant horizon flashes bright, yet, it is not the power of the storm but the gusts that bring them. Shuffling closer to the bars on the other side, I hold onto them with my awkwardly held-together grip with wide eyes. My mouth opens and the signs of wind magic come back.
"B-Brewbrt...?" I breathe, unsure of what any of this is supposed to entail. He is coming for me...? Why? If he tries to stop this then my family will suffer more.
Not just them, my staff and what remains of my lands too...
Heavy feet arrive at the edge of my cage, the rattles of a key and its chain announcing it like a dreadful trumpet-led procession. Turning to the men who have arrived for me, I move to the furthest edge of the cage. My eyes go back to the disturbances in the distance but I only see the flash of lightning this time. I blink as something nostalgic seemingly moves.
However, as the men grab and hoist me up, I can't help but be confused. What is making me feel this way, why can I not take my eyes and heart off of the sky? Better yet, what is causing the storms above to behave the way they are now? They're so much more powerful than they should be and it's not whatever ritual that Bastard is pulling off.
"Don't make this any harder on yourself." a guard whispers, motioning for me to move as the hands are otherwise taken off of me. Refining my posture so that they know what I am, I do as asked and even in these increasingly rag-like clothes, I shall move with dignity. Placing my eyes forward, I take in what I can and cannot help but raise an internal brow at all that has been brought here. The chairs are filled and an otherwise grand, stately event is in progress.
I sneer openly at the man who's caused this and his mournful gaze angers me. What does this thing have to mourn? He's been planning my downfall for decades now and has been viciously pursuing it up to this day. If this is an act, it is as poor as that which he lets out after meals.
A guard waves me in the direction I must go and I am locked up inside of a gilded cage at the centre of this pointless affair. The blood of a conniving senator is on my hands, let this just be done and over with! My head will roll a bloody trail behind it regardless of anything that happens. These formalities are pointless and egregious.
I sigh, my eyes falling to my bruised hands and my mind thinks back to the one treasure I will never see again. Pulling open the top of my kimono, I take up my daughter's greatest present and bring it close. I sniffle. A pair of wet trails roll down my face, tickling it annoyingly and dragging on the soft hairs of my face until...
They fall.
My daughter's magic gently ripples across the necklace again and I look off into the distance again. I am not dreaming or deluded, there is something happening beyond the grounds of this execution and it has them captivated. Might is clashing against itself, the farmers of the mind have seeded their crop and uncertainty is sprouting. With all these powerful men and women here, soldiers and guards, one would think they'd feel safe.
After all, I am the only one whose life is forfeit today. A great gust of wind disturbs and uproots some of the decoration with servants suddenly occupied with their return. The almost immature feasting happening amongst the noble observers is ruined with the spices of dust and muck. Another flash of light, the clash of a Great Man against a Man of the Flying Storm.
Tightening my grip on my treasured possession, I pray silently for the safety of my daughter. She's spent so long away from home but it's all fallen apart right as she's come back to it. This is it for our family, whatever mistakes I have made, they have come expecting their tally and I am to meet Undwote soon. At the very least, I can meet the neck-aimed kiss of sharpened steel knowing my daughter did not meet him before me.
The man who tried to have her killed died at my hands and the thought of his blood heating the crevices of them still makes me smile. His failure will give her a chance to run away with all she has, please, gods and goddesses, make sure she runs. My fate is sealed and there is nothing she or Brewbrt can do without hurting more people. I only wish I can tell her the one thing every mother should be able to tell their child...
"I love you..." I cry more openly, hugging the necklace tight against my face as best as I am able. More lights erupt in the distance and I dread what it might mean, if it's him, then my precious little one might die too. Her magic, her power, it will prove the disingenuous Bastard right and he'll only be more able to hound her without me around. Please, Brewbrt, please!
Don't try and rescue me, do not come for me, gods and goddesses, please, let him hear!
A priestly woman approaches and kneels a the side of the cage closest to me, "Do you care for any final pleasures before you go?"
I look carefully at the pendent of Aahtha that she is in possession of, I start to shake my head, "You cannot give me what I want. I do not want a kiss, hug from a holy woman. I want to kiss my daughter's head as she falls asleep in my long-wanted embrace. A temple's coin is not for me, what I want is my daughter's expression to light up at the gifts her loving mother has given her... I want her... I want my daughter..."
The priest's hand slips through the bars and strokes my back gently.
"I will pray for them, then. Goodness willing, the Lady of Dreams and Desire will find a way to help her." she explains before rising and departing, the acts of this pointless affair now seemingly starting. I look into the sky, blinking in my uncertainty as the battle of gold and emerald is ever so finely broken by what looks to be the colour of struggling blue. Blue...