Chapter 62 The blurs of Death
Malrick's POV
Everything fell in blurs in moment. Amarien has shut her eyes, willing for it to be over, and the blade fell swiftly.
But to me, it fell slowly. I was fast, my hands quick. I drew out my sword in a swift motion. But I couldn't get to Amarien in time.
So I did what I could best. I flung it fast. Faster than the heavy blade dropping off her neck, and then a quick thud exploded in the air.
"Amarien…" I muttered, looking at the sack that was to collect her head.
Her body lay lifeless.
And then she whimpered as she had just recovered from the shock. The blade stood right at the tip of her skin, stopped by my blade that had landed between it and the board, giving space for Amarien's neck to still be intact.
Amarien whimpered, shaking like a bird out of water.
"Halt!" The messenger on the white horse arrives just in time.
"What's going on here?" One of the guards spat, stepping forward.
They were angry Amarien wasn't dead yet.
"The white messenger horse will deliver his message before anything else." I spat. "You lots better stand back."
Amarien's POV
Oh, the gods!
It's not a dream. I'm still alive! My body trembled at the sight of what was above me. The blade was too close to my neck. Death hung menacingly over me, brushing the tip of my skin.
I whimpered. Tears rolled down my face.
The white messenger horse! How could I not have thought about it! Nothing can or must happen until any message is delivered.
It had to be Daevir who did this. It had to be him! I knew he would come. I knew it!
I suddenly didn't care for the message anymore. All I could think of was that Daevir thought about me. He rescued me again, and he will fight for me till I'm washed off this blot on me!
"The Emperor is dead!" The messenger cried.
The whole scene shook up as if an invisible boulder had rolled off the cliff and crushed us all.
"What?!" Malrick spat. I saw simmers of tears in his eyes.
It couldn't be. I was shaking.
"At the quiet rise I'd the sun, the Emperor rose from his bed and paid homages to the gods and returned to his bed never to be awoken again."
Malrick lunged at the messenger, snatching him by his tunic. "This better not be a prank! What do you mean by 'he is dead?' He was in good healths days before!"
The messenger looked crushed under Malrick's threatening stare. He only shook his head like he couldn't control the message beyond reading it.
Malrick let go of him and turned around, his eyes burning. He looked distraught. Tears rolled down my face. The Emperor had been nothing but kind to me, yet I returned his favour with a scandal.
But then another thought nagged my mind thoroughly. It wasn't Daevir who sent the white horse.
Daevir didn't show up. My head would have been in his leather bag right in front of him, and he wouldn't show up. My heart stung.
What is going on?
What will happen to me now?
Will they carry on with the execution?
Will my child still die an untimely death?
I whimpered. Wishing Malrick hadn't stopped the blade from having its way with my neck.
"And in the light of his Emperor's passing…" the messenger continued, albeit more careful this time lest he incur Malrick's wrath. "The Emperor ordered that all prisoners set for execution should be relieved of their trial. This is the wish of the gods, he proclaimed."
My heart shook. The Emperor saved me.
Malrick's gaze swung at me. Rage burned in his eyes. The guard stood there, dumbfounded by what they just heard.
"Now we have to watch her go?" One said, disbelief in his voice.
"Shut up, Nat. It's tradition for the Emperor to forgive prisoners and sinners before his death so his soul can sail to the afterlife in peace. He wasn't aiming to forgive just her."
Tears blurred my vision, but through it I saw Malrick staring intently at me. The rage in his eyes made me wish I were dead. But it wasn't the rage that hooked me up as much as that knowing look in his eyes.
That knowing look of pain that the guards who whispered behind me were wrong. This decree was given to save me.
I was led down the guillotine and escorted back to the palace to carry on the traditional mourning process for the Emperor.
Now that the Emperor was dead, the bloodlust and anger the crowd and people of the kingdom felt towards me had subsided to solitude and mourning.
Malrick was kind enough to have me escorted away from public view, as seeing me after the news of the Emperor's death would only raise their anger further, and not even Malrick would be able to stop them from destroying me.
As I sighted the palace ahead, I wondered what was to come of me now. My heart broke in my chest. Perhaps death was preferable to this.
I could imagine returning to the palace where everyone thought 'the curse had been expunged' only to see her walking back in, flanked by a troop of guards and joining in the imperial ceremony to honour the man she had been unfaithful to.
I wanted death.
And I wanted it now.
Malrick grabbed my arms and swung me to him. "You won't be allowed to mourn with the rest of the concubines. We don't want to risk a riot in the palace. In fact, I've arranged to ensure no one knows you're back, so you better keep a low profile till all of this is over."
It felt petulant, but I wanted to ask about Daevir. I wanted to ask why he didn't come for me.
But I held my tongue. Malrick hated me. I know it.
I made to keep moving, but Malrick held me back. "You did this, Amarien. You did all of this." He said, his eyes raging, fixed on me.
"I wish you let me die."
"I wish that too. But how would I honour the Emperor's sacrifice? News came to me that he drank the red moon poison at the temple before returning to bed. He didn't die a natural death. It was suicide." Malrick shook me forcefully
I wince in pain, yet my jaw dropped at these words.
"He did it for you. To keep you alive. That darn old fool. Maybe this was the plan..." Malrick sniggered with maddened rage. "Maybe he wants to keep you alive so you'd live to suffer the misfortunes you brought on us all."
He was angry, yet I could tell from his eyes that he was hurting more. Malrick did love the Emperor like a child loves his father. It sickens me to bring this fate on him.
"Brace yourself, Amarien. You're in for hell on earth." With this, he let me go and walked away.
My heart quivered in my chest as I knew Malrick had told me nothing but the brutal truth.
Daevir! What are you doing right now? Will you save me from this ill fate that is to fall upon me now?