Chapter 36 CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW.
The stone courtyard of the Royal square was choked with the scent of damp earth and the suffocating weight of an impending death. At the center stood the scaffold, a grim wooden platform that felt like a splinter in the eye of the kingdom.
Cyrus was forced to his knees, his hands bound behind him with a rough hemp rope. The executioner, a mountain of a man hidden behind a black hood, tested the weight of the long handled axe. Cyrus didn't struggle, instead, he simply stared at the grain of the wood beneath him, his gray eyes vacant as if he had already departed this world.
'I'm sorry Rosalinda.' Those were the only words that he was able to form in his head as his death approached closer.
High above the stone veranda, King Theron stood like a statue of judgement. His crimson robes fluttered in the chill wind, his hand resting on the hilt of his ceremonial sword. Below him, tucked within the throng of commoners and nobles, Prince Valerius watched with a predatory stillness. To any causal observer, he looked solemn, but behind his eyes, a dark triumph was blooming. In few minutes, the only man who could challenge his bloodline woukd be meat and bone in the dirt, and he had his uncle carry out the execution instead. It was a victory he had always dreamt of as a child.
The herald took a deep breath as he stepped foward, his eyes flickering to Cyrus's figure for a moment. In his head, he had thought the man's sentence was unfair, but the Kings judgement was the law. He cleared his throat as he unfolded his scroll. "For the crimes of high treason and-"
Before he could finish his sentence a scream sliced through the air. "Stop! Stop this madness! Stop this instant!"
The crowd parted like a receding ride as Princess Seraphina stumbled into the clearing before the scaffold. She was panting, eyes wide, her hair a chaotic mess, her silk skirts stained with dust.
'What are you doing??' Valerius screamed in his head, but he forced himself to remain impassive.
"How are you interrupt a royal sentencing?!" King Theron's voice boomed from the veranda, the sound vibrating in the very stones. "Guard, remove her this instant!"
"No your highness," Seraphina said, still standing her ground. "I must speak."
Valerius felt his heart skip a beat. Shut up, you fool, I'm almost close. He hissed internally, his fingers clenching into his palms. He caught Seraphina's gaze and shook his head- a subtle, lethal warning.
'Stay back or I'll destroy you too.' He warned with his eyes but she didn't flinch, instead she turned to fafe the crowd.
Behind her, Princess Rosalinda, Crown Prince Zade and Diana emerged from the edge of the crowd. Rosalinda's eyes immediately flew to the scaffold, upon seeing Cyrus, her breath hitched. He was brought so low, waiting for the axe, the scene felt like a physical blade in her own chest. She took a step foward, her heart screaming his name, but a firm hand caught her wrist, she looked up to see Zade, he didn't speak, but his grip was a silent anchor.
Cyrus finally looked up, taking in the commotion that had happened. His eyes darted from Seraphina to Rosalinda, Zade and Diana. Upon seeing Diana, he instantly knew what was going on. And a surge of anger and regret filled him from within.
"I-I have a confession to make!" Seraphina shouted, her voice trembling but still held a hint of strength. She looked up at the king once more, igniting the murderous glare of Valerius who was already plotting how he could make an attack on her, but with how everything was, he knew if he acted suspiciously he would give himself away.
"And what is that?" King Theron demanded, leaning over the stone railing. "Speak up before I have you thrown on the streets."
"Cyrus.... He's innocent,"
The crowd erupted into a low, buzzing murmur. People shifted, whispers filled the air. Rosalinda attempted to take a step foward, but Zade tightened his grip, shaking his head. "Wait for Seraphina." He said, but Rosalinda was growing impatient. She then felt her father's gaze fall on her from above, she looked up, but didn't flinch, instead, she stared back at him with a look that signaled him that she knew everything he had done.
"I have proof, your highness," Seraphina said as she looked through the crowd and nodded. A young maid stepped foward, holding thick bundles of letters in her hands. Seraphina took the letters and threw them onto the cobblestones. They scattered like white leaves, the wax seals catching the morning light. "Proof that I and Prince Valerius conspired against the Kingdom of Eldoria even before our arrival. We are the ones behind the fire and we are also the ones who planted evidence in Cyrus's quarters. Every word of the accusation was a lie born of both of us!"
The silence that followed was deafening, everyone stared with wide eyes. Then chaos erupted.
"Treason!" Someone screamed from the crowd.
"A lowlife princess has proclaimed war against our kingdom!"
"Have her head!"
"Arrest the son of the tyrant!"
King Theron's fafe turned a terrifying shade of purple. He looked down at Rosalinda who was staring at him with a determined look, he then looked at Valerius who was already trying to quietly escape through the crowds. King Theron let out a shaky breath as he pointed towards the guards. "Seize both Seraphina and Valerius. Immediately!"
Valerius turned to bolt, his face a mask of pure unadulterated rage but the royal guards were faster. They moved through the crowds, but encountered some of Valerius's men who had now surrounded them, causing the crowd to scatter and some of them commoners run away in order to stay safe. But just as Valerius was about to run towards a long path where he had his horse waiting, two royal guards emerged from the shadows, slamming him against a stone pillar, pinning him down.
On the scaffold, Cyrus remained still, he stayed there watching the whole drama unfold unfazed. Seraphina collapsed into tears as two guards gripped her roughly, she turned to face Cyrus, then looked down. "I'm sorry." She muttered under her breath as they dragged her away.
Cyrus, on the other hand, he didn't smile neither did he look relieved. He looked exhausted and as if he had rather die than to witness a chaos like this.
"The execution is postponed!" King Theron's voice cut through the commotion. "Arrest them all. Cyrus, Seraphina, Valerius and take them. o the dungeon."
"But father-" Rosalinda tore her arm away from Zade's grip. "Cyrus is innocent-"
"That's my order!" The king yelled, his voice final. Rosalinda watched in tears as the guards swarmed the square, gathering the scattered letters. Her eyes lingered on Cyrus as they unbolted his chains to move him.
Look at me. She pleaded silently. Grayson, look at me.
But he didn't. He kept his head down, his silhouette receding into the crowd as the guards dragged him away alongside Seraphina and Valerius who was still struggling.
Diana who had been quiet, fell on her knees sobbing hard. "We didn't save him...all we did was to push him into another kind of war."
Zade didn't understand what she had said as he wasn't still aware of the real truth behind Valerius and Cyrus. But Rosalinda understood Diana's words clearly.
Her father wouldn't easily discard his nephew for a boy he had always wanted out of his sight ever since she was born. But right now, she was more than determined to save him even from her own family.