"Didn't you say he left already?" Anya whispered to Kahoot, but Ezekiel heard it as clear as a day. He smiled at her and gave her an amusing look for being too complacent.
"Too bad for you, Milady, I left something here and came back," and grinned.
"Shit---" Arcana was about to create an opening to escape but she was stopped by that dangerous presence.
I can't move. What the hell is this?
She tried to look at Kahoot, but he keeps vomiting blood. Prince Ezekiel walked slowly towards her. He raised his chin to be able to look up to see her. His face had distinct features, and he was very scary.
"The notorious thief has come to steal the tiara, I see..." he said and let her go, "Take her to the dungeon!"
Everything happened so fast after that. They are arrested and were detained in a cell for a week. They were not able to contact anyone due to heavy security, and their friends from the slums were looking for them eagerly. What they did was a grave crime. And the punishment is...
...execution.
"How the hell did they capture Kahoot and Anya?!" asked Gil, a young boy about twelve years old who admires her a lot, and punched the wall with his fist. "We need to do something! We need to save them!" he said and suddenly a girl about ten years old cried. They are very frustrated. Anxiety and worry are all over their faces.
"I know where you are coming from... but how are we going to do that?" asked Herley, who was also frustrated by the situation.
"I don't know, let's just do it!" he said, full of determination. Anya and Kahoot are like their elder brother and sister who have taken care of them since they were children. They run off from the orphanage at a very young age due to the abuse they are suffering.
Herley heaved a deep sigh and looked at their hopeless situation. When a man opened the door, his expression darkened.
**
"Hey, Kahoot..." Anya called to him. They are inside a dark cellar, and only the candle lit outside is the source of light. She gulped but this time Anya knew what she had done. No response. She did not know if he was awake or not. But she needs to say it.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into my mess," and desperately tried to find excuses inside her head, but she knows that it's all her fault. "Due to my ambition, I dragged you into hell," and she started sobbing. A pain expression was embedded and filled the cellar when Kahoot's soft voice had resonated.
"Shhhh, Anya, my little sister, don't cry," he tried reaching out so he could console her well, but he was unable to because her cellar is different. "Don't blame yourself, it is my choice to be with you,"
"B- but!" she sobbed heavily, "If I just listened to you, it wouldn't have happened!" and she continued crying until her nose was soaking with her cold.
"Shushhh, Anya, listen to me," he said, reassuring her, "Everything will be alright, okay? So please stop crying now," and hold his heart. He cannot bear Anya, who is like a little sister to him, crying because of angst. He needed to do something. Or else, this will really be the end for both of them.
"I will..." she said while wiping her tears.
At midnight, when Anya and the guards had fallen asleep, he got a stone which he had sharpened during the day and stabbed his palm. Blood dripped from it and an intricate pattern was written, starting to glow and he felt like his life force was being taken away. But then he held his breath and endured the pain while reciting a phrase.
Queen of the Dragons, I beg you
Please save my dearest, Anya
I will do anything! Anything!
He said, and the light had engulfed his body. Excruciating pain could be felt throughout the night, then he collapses.
***
The next day, the guard arrived with a scroll in his hand together with his escorts. It seems that he is a high-ranking guard. Anya scoffed because the Prince did not appear. Instead, he had sent a guard like him.
"Where is the Prince?" she asked the first thing in the morning, and glared at the guard. But they ignored her remarks and proceeded with their sentences. A dragon seal, a symbol of the royal family.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked and glared at them. "A royal order..." Anya had a bad feeling about that but ignored it.
"Anya Sundew, an adopted child of former Admiral Sundew, is accused of being the greatest and notorious thief in the capital. Various evidence has been presented and it all matches you. Is that right?" he stopped and looked as if there was any remorse in her face, but she kept it straight and remained silent and not deny it. She is trembling right now. But the Admiral taught her not to lie. Besides, she did that to survive! And no matter what she says, they will force it on her. Now that the Admiral has passed away, there is no one backing them.
And the money supposed to be used by her is confiscated by them, including the house, forcing her to live in the streets.
"Are you not denying it?"the guard asked after a long silence between them. After that, Anya grinned.
"Will there be any changes if I deny it or not?" she asked with daggers coming in her voice. "There are none, right? Because no matter what I say, you will believe whatever is written in that paper," she scoffed off and laughed like a crazy woman.
"How insolent!" says the guard behind him and that made Anya more fiercer. The moment she was put in the underground cellar, she knew her fate. All she can do is defend her honor, and die with honor. At the very least, she was known...
At least I had a good life... or did I?
The day has come. All of it happened so fast, like a blink in an eye. While walking in the execution ground with a lot of people watching her, she can feel on angst and start fearing what will happen to her.
"She is one of those kids who always get an apple in my stall! Execute her!" shouted one of the people.
"That is right! Get the other kids too! Let her set an example!"
Her body turned numb, and she started shivering. The serious expression of the Prince before her felt like a slight bitterness in her throat gushing through her.
Why is the world so unfair? Why can they eat three times a day without struggling, living in luxuries while I need to fight every day to be able to eat?
She could feel anger rising, and her tense expression was changing. Her eyes were full of anger.
'All I wanted was to see the crown!' she gritted her teeth while talking to herself. 'Why must this happen to me? And Kahoot?' but she remained calm and composed despite her stomach being ready to throw up such pressure.
"Do you want to die as a thief and be remembered like that forever?"
A soft and calm voice whispered in her ear. She felt like her insides were burning with nervousness, but she kept a grip on herself.
'Do I like that?' she asked back and laughed to herself because now, she was hearing things inside her head. She kept a tight grip on her hand and closed her eyes. 'Of course not! Who would like that?!' and remained her composure even when she felt like dying, when her insides were burning up.
"Are you ready to die, then?" the voice asked in a melancholic manner. She felt like her throat had been stuck and she did not know what to answer. Then she asked herself and thought about the people who will be left behind when she goes...
'Those kids...how will they be when I am gone? And how about the history of the dragons?" and started having thoughts and sort of scares about her future. Will there be if she dies?
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I DIE NOW?
People are cheering and are throwing different kinds of things at her, as she was called those bastard kids who stole from them. What's worse is that she attempted to get the tiara. The tiara possessed by the royal family.
There is something wrong. Definitely.
"No... no! This is not right! I'm not ready to die! NO!" she started rampaging and felt the rising of the heat inside her stomach. She felt burning. The guards have been alerted by her actions and are holding her in front of the guillotine.
She looked at Prince Ezekiel with those eyes of hers while he was sitting with his legs closed and fist on his cheeks. Look at that arrogant expression of it.
"Damn... you!"
Just when she was about to die from it, blinding lights filled the stage and the people had no choice but to close their eyes, and then an appearance of a humongous black creature with wings and scales appeared in front of them. The guards had immediately formed a defensive stance towards the delegates who were watching the scene.
A large dragon appeared before her. Shock was written all over the faces of the people there, including the Prince.