[Story 4]
The next things that come to pass are simply an example that good does not always prevail. I wish I could change the past, as it affected the lives of so many. But I cannot control such a thing. How I wish I did.
-Silas
Melina:
I’m not supposed to exist.
Bess:
Cedric saved Lidia. I force the words into my brain. Cedric groans from his position on the floor. Lidia jumped up. “Guards!” She shrieks. Four enter. Lynne stares at Cedric, stepping closer to me. “We need to go. Now,” She whispers.
“Take him to the medics. Quickly,” Lidia ordered. Her eyes snapped to me and Lynne.
“Now what do you two want?” She asks sharply. I step forward.
“Lidia, you need to stop this,” I lift my head higher.Lidia barks out a sharp laugh.
“Good try Elizabeth, but I’ve waited far too long for this kind of power,”
Lynne narrows her eyes at Lidia. “Careful, or you’ll be dead within the minute,” Lynne warns. Lidia laughed. “Oh I don’t doubt it, but you won’t hurt me. Not unless I threaten Elizabeth’s life, which I have no intention of doing,” Lidia sat back down on her throne.
“Here’s a simple deal. I’ll give you Will if you, Elizabeth, will give up all rights to the crown and throne,” Lidia sat back, watching us.
“Absolutely not!” Lynne answered, then looked at me.
“Bess we came here because Lidia is endangering Malaik. We can’t make this deal,” We were both thinking the same thing. Silas is getting Will. Everything is going to be fine. I nodded slowly, turning back to Lidia. “No,” I told her simply. Suddenly the door burst open, revealing Silas. And Will. Lynne’s eyes widened. “Will!” She called. Lidia jumped up.
“No!”
Lidia:
Nothing ever goes the way you want it too! The whispers cackled. I ignore Will, my eyes focusing on Silas. My old mentor. “Silas? What? How could you…” Silas gave me a sad smile.
“Lidia, I am truly sorry. But your power cravings could hurt everyone in Malaik,” Silas tells me sympathetically. No one understands. No one understands what it’s like to be cast aside. It takes me a minute to realize it’s my own thoughts, not those of the whispers. “Guards!” I yelled to the door. Fine I’ll capture them all then. And kill Elizabeth. Two immediately answer my call. “I want that one alive,” I said, pointing to Elizabeth. “Kill the rest,” The turn, ready to follow my orders when Elizabeth stops them.
“Wait. Don’t you recognize me?” Elizabeth asks. My eyes narrow.
“Elizabeth. Stop,” I ordered her. The two guards frown.
“E-Elizabeth?” One asked. Elizabeth nods, a smile sliding onto her face.
“Yes! Your Queen Lidia had lied. I am Queen Elizabeth Aplin and despite what she’s told you I am very much alive,” The guards glanced at Lidia and Elizabeth continued.
“Can you not see the cruelty she rules with! Do you remember my rule? How it was different,” The guards nod slowly.
“Your majesty,” They say. Not to me. To Elizabeth Aplin. Elizabeth Aplin. This is unacceptable.
“NO!” I yell at my guards.
“You serve me,” I screech. One of them turns.
“Not anymore,” They answered. Elizabeth grins.
“Seize her,” She orders. And they close in on me. But they forgot one thing. I’m not helpless. I have years of Midnight Riders training on my side.
Bess:
I didn’t expect Lidia to fight back. But she did. She slid past the guards, whipping a gun from one of their belts. “Don’t move!” She snarls at one, pointing at his chest. The other moves closer. She shifts the point to him. Back and forth they go, until Lidia actually shoots one of them. He staggers backward and drops to the floor. Lidia’s jaw drops like she can’t believe she’d actually killed someone. But Lidia also forgot Lynne. Lynne was much faster than Lidia, hitting the gun from her hands. “Now it’s your turn to not move,” Lynne says. But Lidia jumps back, yanking the gun from the second guard and firing it at Lynne. I scream at Lynne to move. Suddenly everyone stops. We all stare at the crumpled body on the ground. My eyes are wide. My heart beats faster. Because the body isn’t Lynne’s. It’s Will’s.
Melina:
Home. What is home if I wasn’t supposed to be around to live in it?
Lidia:
Nobody moves, we all just stare. Lynne breaths faster and faster, then her head whips up to me. “I’m going to kill you for that,” She whispers. I move back, quickly. A hand grabs me, yanking me away from her. It pulls me from the room. I look back. “Cedric?” I cry.
“We have to keep moving. Lynne will kill you,” He assures me. I have no doubt of that.
“How did…?” I trail off. How did I manage to kill Will? He never would have been able to jump in time to block it. Cedric shook his head. “Will was coming to help Lynne, he didn’t even mean to, just accidentally went in line of your shot,” Cedric’s voice dropped.
“He would have intentionally blocked it for her too, though,” He paused.
“Why’d you do it?” He asked after a moment.
“Even if you didn’t mean to kill Will, why’d you try to shoot at Lynne? I know you Lidia, you’re not cruel. Not usually. And I think you know that Lynne didn’t deserve that,” I looked away.
“I’m different,” I told him stiffly. Cedric pulled me around a corner.
“Yeah. I can tell,” He leads me out of the castle.
“We have to hide, get out of here. Bess will have the Malaik army back on her side in no time, and Lynne will do anything to keep her promise,” We did need to get away, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that Lynne would keep her promise. That she would end up killing me.
Bess:
Silas spoke to the army. I talked to Lynne. She didn’t say much, just repeated her promise, tears streaming from her cheeks, her arms around Will’s body. “I will kill that monster for what she did,” Lynne told me.
“You’re already looking for her, right?” I nodded.
“Yeah,” Lynne stood.
“I’m going to help them,” She says, determined. I grabbed her arm.
“Lynne stop. This isn’t going to bring him back,” I pleaded with her. Lynne’s eyes flashed. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t know that I’m going to have to live every single day for the rest of my life without Will!?” Lynne shook her head. “I didn’t even get to marry him,” Lynne stalked out of their room. I blew out a breath. We’d won. Even though we’d lost Will we’d still won. We would have to heal, but that would come eventually. I looked out my window. No one would ever dethrone me again.
I wish I could say that’s where the story ended. I wish I could say that the rest gets better. Don’t we all wish.
-Silas
Lidia:
They found us. I knew it would happen eventually. Four of Elizabeth’s guards surrounded us. Two took me, the two others grabbed Cedric. Lynne is going to kill me now. I thought. Elizabeth was waiting when the guards brought us to the palace. Elizabeth met my eyes coolly. “Hello Lidia,” She said, giving me a fake smile. She didn’t even look at Cedric. Lynne was nowhere to be found. “Take her to the prison. Leave him here,” Elizabeth told her guards. The guards dragged me roughly down to the prison. Lynne is going to kill me. The thought repeated over and over in my head. I wasn’t afraid of many people, but I was afraid of Lynne Morgan, more so since I killed her fiance. Lynne is going to kill me.
Lynne:
I am going to kill her. I promised Lidia that, now I promise it to myself. Hidden in the throne room, watching Cedric and Lidia’s every move. Lidia is dragged away. Bess nods at the guards holding Cedric. They bind him then leave.Cedric and Bess are left alone. Well, except for me. “Bess-” Cedric started. Bess held up a hand.
“I don’t want to hear it. Really Cedric I don’t. Bess meets his eyes carefully.
“I’m letting you go. I can’t kill you, you know that,” Bess looked away
“So I’m giving you this last chance. Leave Malaik. Leave,” Bess says slowly. Cedric frowned.
“Lynne would have no problem killing me,” Cedric said mildly. What is he getting at?
“He’s right,” I step from the shadows. Cedric glanced my way.
“Ah. Hello Lynne,” I don’t reply. I stalk closer. Cedric meets my gaze calmly. I finger the gun at my waist. I turn my head to look at Bess. “Bess, I think I’ll go see Lidia,” Cedric’s calm features waver.
“Lynne, please. Please don’t do this. She doesn’t deserve this,” I looked him straight in the eye.
“You’re right. Lidia took Bess’s throne, attempted to kill me, and succeeded in murdering my fiance. She doesn’t deserve this. She deserves much worse,” I tell him. Cedric looks away. I turn and walk away, not looking back.
Cedric:
Lynne leaves Bess and I alone. She stares down at her hands. I know I should say something, but I have no idea what to say to her. Bess speaks first. “Cedric don’t make me regret this,” Bess whispers to me. It isn’t a threat, it’s a plea. Begging me to not betray her again. I don’t have the heart to betray Bess again, not directly. I force myself to meet her eyes. “Bess, I am so sorry. I know that it doesn’t fix anything. I know it never will, but I needed to say it. And I think you needed to hear it,” Bess’ eyes turned glassy.
“I’m sorry too,” She whispers. And I know what she means. She isn’t sorry that she doesn’t love me anymore, but she’s sorry for breaking my heart that night. The night she decided to become queen. “Cedric I take it back. I do want to know why,” I blew out a breath.
“Bess, the time I was gone, that whole year of my life was a lie. No one told me the truth. I let myself be deceived. Sometimes I can’t believe what I did to you,” Cedric mumbles. Bess bit her lip.
“You didn’t say you regretted it,” She whispered. I frowned.
“What?”
“You didn’t say you regretted that year. Or trying to kill me,”
“I’ve always regretted trying to kill you,”
“Do you regret the time you spent away?” That question was difficult. With many different answers. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully.
“Sometimes I wish I’d never left the palace in the first place. Other times I know the valuable friendships I made while I was away,” I said to her. Bess looked down.
“I wish you hadn’t left,” She whispered.
“I know,”
Lidia:
“Step aside,” A voice rang out in the silence. I sat huddled in my cell, six guards surrounding it. She’s here. Do something. I thought. There was nothing to do. Lynne appeared beyond the doors of my cell. I spoke first, “Hello Lynne, can’t say it’s a pleasure to see you again,” I said mildly. Lynne offered me a fake smile.
“I would say the opposite. I’m thrilled to see you Lidia,” Lynne gives me a fake smile. I crossed my arms.
“Since you’re here to kill me, just do it. And quickly,” Lynne barked a laugh.
“And what makes you think you deserve that,” I met her eyes coolly.
“I don’t. It’s a request,” Lynne cocked her head.
“You know you deserve so much more than a quick death, but I’m not cruel,” Lynne smiled at me, this time it was sad. “I wish you hadn’t forced this on me,”
I returned her smile.
“If it helps, I wish I hadn’t killed your fiance,” I offered. Lynne’s face hardened.
“It doesn’t help,”
Then she shoots me through the chest.
Lynne:
I watch Lidia crumple to the ground. I turn and don’t look back. I signal to the guards and continue on my way. I walk back to the throne room. Bess and Cedric are talking in low voices. “It’s done,” I tell Bess. She swallows and gives me a hard nod. Cedric’s face turned completely white. “You killed her,” His voice is disbelieving, like he couldn’t believe I would do that.
“She killed Will,” I said simply.
“And I couldn’t let her threaten Bess,” I finished. Bess walks to Cedric and cuts away his bonds.
“Leave,” Bess’ voice is steeled. Cedric turns to go, grief obvious on his face. But then he lunges for me. His fingers tighten around my throat. I grapple for my gun, but Cedric already has it. “Call for anyone and Lynne dies,” Cedric tells Bess, who’s frozen.
“Cedric. Please. I’ve lost everyone else,” She thinks this is her fault.
“Bess it’s okay. It’s okay,” I say to her.
Cedric’s eyes blaze with anger.
“Now you’re going to die. For killing Lidia,” Cedric murmurs. Bess shrieks in horror.
“Bess, you’re the best friend I could ever have” I smile at her. Then Cedric pulls the trigger.
Bess:
I didn’t even try to go after Cedric. It didn’t matter. Everyone I’d ever loved was gone. The person I thought I could trust the most, Cedric, betrayed me too many times to count. Something hardened in me that day. I was no longer the sweet, kind, considerate young queen I was before. Innocence and sweetness had gotten me nowhere. So I became cruel. I showed no mercy. People cowered in my presence. I became the villain of my own story. That was fine with me. This way I would never be dethroned again. The world had taken everything from me, now I will take everything from it.
An ending that makes me regret everything.
-Silas
The End