"Stop!" the queen's men stopped Modred on his way out of Mistress Diane's palace. "Modred Falck, the queen asked us to deliver a message to you."
Modred fell on his knees and buried his head to the ground. He waited for the queen's message with a heavy heart.
"Following the fact that a mere commoner such as yourself dares to have a romantic relationship with the princess of Sevigoria and cause tension in the royal palace, You are hereby sentenced to death by poisoning with immediate effect!" the man held out a bottle of poison for Modred.
Modred grew pale. The moment Angelus brought him to the palace on charges of being a practitioner of magic, he knew that his life had reached the end of the line.
One way or another, he wouldn't make it out of the palace alive. Elveryn gave him false hopes and sold him on the idea of a happy ending, but that was not to be so.
The grand prince didn't cut off his head, however, the queen of Sevigoria did. She used his relationship with Elveryn to sentence him to death.
"What if he refuses the order?" Elveryn appeared behind him.
Modred raised his head, with one look, he begged her to stay out of it. Her involvement would make a mountain out of the issue and get her in trouble too.
"This is the Queen's orders. Neither Modred or you are in a position to refuse," the Queen's right hand man, Sir Reginald Dexter countered Princess Elveryn's inquiry.
"I am Princess Elveryn Voss, the king's favourite daughter. Sir Dexter, don't make the mistake of issuing that order here. I will face the queen and the consequences myself but Modred won't drink poison!" she put her foot down.
Sir Reginald Dexter sneered, amused by Elveryn's attempt at sounding powerful and scary.
"The Queen has been in power long before you were born, child. She is in power now and will remain so for many years to come. You and your mother have the king's favour but what good will that do you when he loses his power?"
"You speak of treason, Sir Dexter. I can have your head for that."
"I would love to see you try," Sir Dexter accepted the challenge head on. The Queen's house was moving to change things in the palace, soon, the Voss house won't have a voice in Werthingham palace let alone Sevigoria. "I will relay your message to the Queen," he added.
Just then, Seskel arrived at the scene holding a royal decree in his hand. "All kneel for the royal decree," he said.
Elveryn and her maid, Ada went on their knees along with the Queen's men. They paid keen heed to the king's command.
"I, King Edmund Rathmore, find Modred Falck guilty of tainting the royal family by associating inappropriately with my daughter, Princess Elveryn Voss," Seskel read.
Princess Elveryn's body went pale. She grew short of breath with every second that passed. Her heart dreaded the next part of that decree.
It pained her to have to see Modred in harm's way. She went to great lengths to save him by exposing Prince Angelus and did a victory dance when she thought Angelus's head would be chopped off.
Little did she know that the mother and son duo would turn the tables and return Modred back on the death board. They succeeded in getting the king on their side from the looks of it and were taking their anger out on her.
"I sentence Modred Falck to death by beheading. The punishment will be held in two days time. This is my order!"
Seskel folded the decree and handed it to Modred. Modred accepted with shivering hands.
Death stared him in the face undeniably. The most powerful man in the kingdom issued an order for his head to be cut off in two days time and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Seskel walked away and headed back to the king's palace.
Sir Dexter scoffed. "See Princess, times are changing and your voice is losing its power," he mocked and guided his men away from the scene.
Ada assisted Princess Elveryn to her feet. Together, they walked over to where Modred remained frozen still, unmoving and motionless.
"What sin did I commit that everyone wants me dead?" he asked, tears falling down his cheek.
He was his mother's only child and the breadwinner of the family. His mother was getting old and had no way to make ends meet by herself.
With him gone, his poor mother would soon follow due to starvation. It pained him to imagine the horrors of his situation.
"I fell in love. Is that so wrong?"
"No, dear, it isn't wrong," Princess Elveryn knelt down beside him and embraced him.
She circled her hands around his upper body and tightly clung to him. Her heart ached for him.
"This is all my fault. I made a mistake by going after the grand prince and got you in trouble. Angelus and the Queen are doing all this to get back at me for what I did. I am sorry, Modred. I am sorry...sorry...I am sorry," her tears flooded her eyes, clouding her visage and blinding her.
Princess Elveryn imagined a life without Modred and she didn't feel like living the nightmare she pictured in her mind. Her brother was on the brink of death and that alone had taken a toll on her, she couldn't handle losing her lover too.
"It's a little too late for your apology. El, I love you but I can't ignore the mess you've put me in," he said, feeling the misery that was about to befall his mother.
The poor woman had no idea she was about to lose the apple of her eye. "My mother, what will happen to her when I die? How will she live all by herself? Who will look after her?"
"I won't let anything happen to you, Modred. Believe that I love you and my love for you won't allow me to see you hurt."
"Trusting you is what got me in this mess to begin with. It'll be better if you stay away from me," he pushed her off and got up. "Love got me into this, I don't want to hear about it right now," he added.
The royal guards arrived holding shackles with four metal hoops for his wrists and ankles.
"Modred Falck, you are under arrest. You are to be held in custody until the date of your execution," they announced.
Having no power to resist, Modred surrender his hands and legs to be cuffed and allowed the guards to drag him away.
"No, Modred!" Elveryn cried. "Wait for me, I'll have a word with my father and get to the bottom of this. I promise I will find a way to save you!"
"Another promise?" Modred sighed. "You are soooo good at those," He let out sarcastically and shook his head, refusing to believe her promise and get disappointed again.
Princess Elveryn clasped her fist shut until her knuckles whitened. "I won't take this lying down. You're all coming after my heart and come rain or shine, I won'tet anyone harm a hair on Modred's body."
"What are you going to do, Mistress?" Ada inquired innocently.
"My love for Modred survives every winter and it will survive this too. I just need to talk to my father."