-interlude-

...and as the light faded behind the door, the severity of my situation sunk in. The stone walls had become cold as the gentle flicker of flames no longer played freely on their surfaces. Night had fallen, and I was alone.

For a while, she had sat there; on an old wooden stool ,that was made more for appearances than actual use, and had kept me company. Though I never looked into her eyes, I could tell from her voice, that a sliver of her previous self still existed. That feeling itself had made the room seem much brighter than the tiny flame atop the melting candle she held. It was in those moments that I could forget everything that had happened. The butchering of entire villages, the slaughter of countless people in the name of the "king" of the land all seemed like nothing in the face of my blissful memories...

But those memories now elude me. The bars seem thicker than the previous night and the dull footsteps echoing through the hall have made my mind like themselves; dulled. And, even through my clouded reasoning, I retain my sense of reality and know exactly what the dawn must bring with it. "It was inevitable" I repeat to myself in a foggy daze, attempting to convince myself of the truth behind my own words. But the pain in my chest that erupts with those thoughts tell me that I am only lying to protect myself.

I didn't sleep. How could I have? The sunlight came only to greet a haggard man with reddened eyes. With it, the distinctive sound of metal on stone assaulted worn and tired ears. I could no longer lift my head, but it made no difference. Hastily, I was dragged up to my bleeding feet and carried down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door.

She was there, outside, waiting for me but I still couldn't look into her eyes. Instead I looked up at the sun and into the trees and felt rather than experienced her irritation. I was calm, and she couldn't understand why. For the gruesome ritual it entertained, the courtyard itself was full of a strange tranquility that filled me with a sense of ease. But that feeling disappeared as the "king" began to speak. I looked up, and she, the "queen" was sitting at his side. Confused, I looked around me and noticed she was still beside me as she had been the entire time. I began to fear, and refused to look up again, knowing that I may begin to see her in two places at once. The words spoken, supposedly to me, fell on deaf, or rather distracted ears.

Without any warning she had taken one of the guards spears and slammed me in the back of the head for my disrespect to her "king". Barely conscious, I didn't realize I was being dragged onto the stone. It felt almost as if I was dreaming. I saw her staring down at me. I saw the axe in her hands. And suddenly, as she raised it above her head, I felt fearful. All the calm exterior I deluded myself into thinking I had, disappeared as I saw the anger in her eyes. Regret; a feeling I thought I was rid of, sprang back to life within me for and instant, but no more.

*crack*

My fear was gone. I didn't feel like I did before. My head was no longer spinning. My feet, no longer bleeding. All my senses felt renewed, as though they had not gone through such trials and horrible experiences. And I opened my eyes and saw the handle beside my head and the split that the axe had made in the stone beside me. And finally I smiled. And she smiled back at me as she pulled out the knife from behind her back and moved it to my throat. And as my blood spilled out upon the stone, I could see a crown appearing on her forehead, and lovely gowns beginning to adorn her already beautiful figure. And slowly the image of the throne behind her, with her right hand in her king's and the bloodied blade in her left faded into the light while I descended into darkness.