by A. Kingsley
“For a bit. During the night mostly, but also in the day when you were busy. It’s a story about a girl who reminds me of flames. Don’t worry her name isn’t Clare, but some might say they look and act alike.”
“Does she end up with the servant in the end?” Clare asked.
“No,” he shook his head. “She ends up with the Prince like she is supposed to and they live happily ever after,” he said as he stared at her frown.
“Why wouldn’t you write the ending you want?” she asked him.
“Because that is not the ending you want, not anymore. I thought about writing it that way, but you’re happy with him and you should be. I can’t stay hidden here with you forever Clare. I miss home. The switch must happen soon.”
“But you can’t leave now, you have to wait until the snow clears.”
“I know,” he kissed her fingertips and pushed his glasses up. “This book isn’t about you remember? It’s about a girl who’s impact spreads across the world like fire and as far as I’m aware, you haven’t changed the world, at least not yet.”
Clare smiled, “right, so if the girl who reminds you of fire wanted to end up with the servant after the story ended … if she changed her mind?”
“If she changed her mind then the servant would gladly be with her. Would you read me a chapter please?”
They read the first chapter and then the next. Eventually afternoon turned into evening and Cassius was at the library door.
“I was just wondering if I could sit in and listen.”
So he did and together they read the book until they got halfway through. The protagonist had just discovered her magic was meant to save the world. Too tired to continue reading and a little obligated to go spend time with everyone else, the three of them left the library to spend time with Gracielle and Sage. Though there wasn’t a ball and there weren’t very many guests in their home, Clare was happy to spend quality time with the people that she loved. A cool breeze swept through the room and made her shiver. Clare looked up and around in hopes to see Wade, but he was not in her line of vision. He was hiding behind the fireplace. Though she couldn’t see him, she knew her father was here, it felt just like old times.
Poisonous sun
During the rest of February the three of them finished Antoine’s book together. In the end, the protagonist had ended all war and she ruled the world with a dark haired prince as her lover, a fiery girl as her sister and a blonde boy as her friend. Clare kept the book in her room from then on, re reading it at night. She was afraid that if she let it out of her sight, the library might swallow it whole.
The same routine was starting to bore them all, but Antoine felt the most trapped.
As the beginning of March rolled around and the blizzards had stopped, he was itching to feel the sun on his skin. It was still cold outside, but there was no snow on the ground and the sun was shining bright. He was supposed to travel back to Deus in another week, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Clare and Cassius were in the gardens together, Sage was napping and Gracielle was in the war room. Antoine felt the need to step into the light and feel human again. The guards would never let him out under Gracielle’s strict orders, especially when she was around, but Antoine thought that he might be able to convince them today. He dressed a bit warmer that day, knowing he’d be able to finally feel the frost in the air. Confidently, he made his way up to a guard. He had put a large hat on and a thick blue scarf around his neck in hopes to conceal his identity. “I’d like to go outside please,” he told the man at the front door. He was expecting a fight, but the guard was new and he had been too sleepy to recognize that this was Antoine, the man that they were under strict orders to keep safe. The guard let the door open.
Glory awaited the servant.
The leaves crunched underneath his boots. He spread out his arms like a bird in the sky and relaxed as the sunshine bathed him. It engulfed him, swallowed him whole. When his skin was finally sick of it, he moved, he moved across the yard until he was at the front gate. ‘How bad would it be to peer out and see the world?’ His hand carefully grabbed the handle, silently pushing it open. When he stepped out of the gate, they were waiting for him. His mouth made no noise and a hand snatched him and pulled him to the other side of the gate.
The slouching guard’s eyes swam around the perimeter. ‘Oh no,’ he thought. Antoine was gone. The guard by the door was called to full attention by the guards outside of the gate. They were trying to reach Antoine and bring him back, but the men had already caught him and threw him in the back of a black carriage.
“Call the queen immediately!” One of the guards shouted in a panic. The guard who knew he would be losing his job, tried to save it, by running as fast as possible. He bumped into Clare on his way to the queen. “Sorry princess.”
“What is it? What is going on?” she asked urgently. She had heard the commotion outside and Antoine was nowhere to be seen.
“They’ve captured Antoine.”
Clare’s mouth fell open. She stood there frozen in time, until Cassius grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. He had dragged her out of the door before Gracielle had even been alerted. “A CARRIAGE NOW!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. There was no more nice Cassius, no more mercy. He had to save a boy that his father had doomed to his death.
A shiny white carriage arrived at once. “Someone tell the queen I can handle this,” he shouted as he helped Clare into the carriage, adjusting her dress to fit. She was too shocked to move. The carriage took off before he could even shut the door. As the door slammed shut, he noticed tears in her eyes. He couldn’t promise anything, but he would try his best to fix this and make it right. “We are going to try and get him back Clare, if my father is at the sight, then maybe I can fix this.”
The carriage was flying down the gravel, they bounced up and down, twisting and turning at unpleasant angles.
She still wasn’t responding, but there was an unpleasant crease in her eyebrows, her fists were curled.
Cassius looked to her neck. No necklace. He looked at her hand. No bracelet, no ring. “No magic okay? It's been awhile since you’ve practiced it.” His voice was firm and hard, though he was trying to comfort her, his voice sounded like he was scolding her.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she snarled at him.
It felt like the longest carriage ride that she had ever taken.
Lost souls
King Erebus stood at the end of his balcony on the third floor of the castle. He had a perfect view of Excidium’s town square. His people were gathered in masses, sickeningly curious about the day's event. Public executions did not happen often, the king preferred to keep his killing away from the eyes of the people, but today’s victim was an exception.
Queen Adria appeared from behind the double doors, her eyes sharp. “What are you doing?” she asked frantically as she rushed to where he stood on the balcony. She placed her hands on the railing and leaned over to get a good look. “Call it off now, I did not give you permission to kill him!” She placed a hand over her mouth when she saw the guards move a handcuffed figure out from a black carriage. “I said, I did not give you permission to kill him!” Adria screamed. She had not yelled this loud in years, her voice was hot, hurt and damaged.
King Erebus turned to her and placed his hand over her mouth. “Oh shut it, if you know what is best for you, you will stay quiet. We all know you are too scared to truly defy me.”
Her eyes were swollen with tears. “GUARDS CALL IT OFF!” She screamed as if they could hear her, but she was one voice drowned out amongst thousands. Erebus sat down on his black velvet chair that he had brought out to watch the execution. “Shut the fuck up and let me watch in peace. I’ll deal with you later,” he growled.
Adria turned away from him, ready to leave, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down onto his lap. “Oh no, you stay here. The guards won’t help you anymore. They’re on my side now.” He licked his lips and then pushed her off
of his chair.
She sat down next to him on the floor, afraid of what would happen if she left. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she said, her eyes were wet with tears. “Do you really think that this will make Clare love Cassius? It will not, you fool, you’ve clearly never been in love.”
“You are right, I haven’t,” he said as he glared at her. “This isn’t for that stupid boy. I’m ready to start a war and this is my opportunity to do it. Don’t act like a servant deserves rights Adria, you’re lucky I don’t publicly humiliate him first.”
The town square in the kingdom of Excidium was packed with people of all classes and genders. Families, friends and couples gathered near the center of the square. At the center of the square there was a large platform. On top of the platform was a large frame with a noose hanging from it. Dug into the ground was a trap door that was now open. It went five feet down into the dirt. This was not always present in the square, normally there was a barrel of the kingdom's famous black moon flowers over the trap door and a list of the past kings and queens, but now there was a death trap.
A line of carriages maneuvered their way through the crowds. The first held the prisoner. When the door was opened, a boy with white blonde hair was shoved out and kicked to his feet. He was crying, his face was wet and stained with tears. His hands were cuffed behind his back, his feet shackled, he was being dragged through the crowd. A white carriage was slowing to a stop when a girl with bright ginger hair clambered out. She was tearing through the crowd at a fast pace, there were tears falling from her eyes. “Stop this! Stop this! Please he didn’t do anything wrong!” Clare called out to the guards.
A few murmurs followed her, ‘princess? Why is the princess here?’
Cassius was right on her heels. He was visibly angry, but it wasn’t Clare who he was angry with.
He darted through the crowd and was quick to reach a guard. “I command you to stop this!” he shouted, his finger only a few inches from the guards face.
The guard shrugged. “You are only a prince, I am sorry, but King Erebus was adamant about this. I’m sorry, but he didn’t come down to watch, so we can't stop this.”
Cassius’s panicked eyes scanned over the scene, his teeth gritted. “My mum would have never agreed to this. You are fools!” he shouted at the guards as he backed away. ‘Was there really nothing he could do?’ Antoine hadn’t been his favorite at first, but now they were mates and his death would hurt so many people. So what if Clare loved Antoine and she was happier when she was with him. If Cassius had to suffer so that she could smile, he’d happily do it as long as there could be a scowl upon on his face. Cassius thought that he didn’t deserve someone as good as Clare. He was a prince who once slept around and took out his anger on those he loved, he came from a background of twisted politics and insane rulers. Clare was a kind soul and she was gentle, too gentle, too breakable and there was nothing he could do to stop her from shattering to pieces in front of him, in front of everyone. He was once the glass, but she had took his place and he was her breaker. Human souls were fragile and they were often stomped on and broken by other humans. Prince Cassius felt as if any other prince in the world could defeat him, that any other prince could stop this. He was helpless.
Cisily rushed to his side, her burnt orange dress gathered up in her hands. “Cassius, Theo is rushing up to your parents right now. He is going to try and stop them. It’s going to be okay Cass, Cass it’s going to be okay.” She grabbed his hand which was frozen like stone, her eyes scanned over his rigid body. “You just stay here okay? I’m going to grab Clare.”
For the first time in a long time, she saw tears coming to the surface of his eyes. “No … these are my parents. I can’t be a coward anymore. Just let me handle it, just let me handle it.” He let go of her hand and moved to the front of the platform. He ignored the confused whispers and let his sunken, broken eyes move to Clare. She was keeping up pace with Antoine, whispering words of love into his ear. She was breaking, falling apart piece by piece and Cassius could do nothing but watch.
Clare crouched down to Antoine’s height as he was dragged on the floor, she tried to quiet her sobs so that he could hear her clearly. “I’m so sorry, I promised I would bring you back alive, this is all my fault, I should have stayed away from you. I should’ve kept you at the Demetrias’s, you would’ve been safer there. They never would have hurt you there, oh I was so selfish. I am so selfish. I will visit your family, I promise, they’ll have a life inside of our palace walls, I am so sorry Antoine.” As he was dragged to the front of the platform where Cassius stood, Clare crawled toward him and held onto his bound hands.
The guards were about to yank her away, but Cassius had drawn his sword and held it above Antoine and Clare’s heads.
“No. Don’t touch them you bastards. Give them a minute.” Cassius’s eyes searched for Theo somewhere in the crowd.
Cisily looked over her cousin’s shoulder. “He should be back by now, he left an hour ago.”
Antoine and Clare had their foreheads pressed together, their noses were pushed up against one another and their lips were barely touching. “I love you Antoine,” she cried. “I am so sorry that my love has killed you.”
His lips pushed against her’s and gasps filled the crowd as the two shared one last delicate and sweet kiss. His lips still brushed against hers, his hair in her face. “You let me feel what no servant gets to feel in his lifetime, so loved. I’m sorry I have to say goodbye to you.” He pressed his lips to her ear. “You can see spirits, you’ll always see me princess. I won’t leave you alone. I’ll be by your side for as long as you want me to be.”
Cassius lifted his sword and the guards took Antoine by his arms and dragged him up to the noose.
Clare was doubled over crying on the floor, her twisted face covered by her ginger waves. Cassius sheathed his sword and threw himself on the ground, his arms held onto Clare. As they placed Antoine’s neck in the noose, Clare looked up and she read his lips. “I’m so scared.”
“NO STOP, STOP!” she screamed out, pushing tight in hopes to break free of Cassius’s grip. He was stroking the back of her hair with his hand, whispering something in her ear. He was crying.
As Antoine felt the noose around his neck tighten he locked eyes with Clare. “CLARE, CLARE!” he shouted out between gasps. The life slowly drained from his eyes. The trap door opened and he plummeted below. Normally the neck broke off, but the guards hadn’t fastened the noose tight enough. Antoine suffered from suffocation, until his soul left his body. While he lost his breath, he thought of Clare’s lips against his. He thought of all their snuggles and laughs, he thought through all of his memories with her and his family, until his heart stopped.
Clare’s fingers were burning, twitching, she felt an overwhelming heat leave her body. Cassius let go of her in pain, the heat burned him. When she saw Antoine’s body fall, she screamed so loud that the world shook. She managed to stand herself up, her body lit up in a mess of green flames, her eyes bright and menacing. A burst of heat rushed across the crowd and the people hissed in pain. As her heat spread across the world, she crashed down to the ground, her eyes closed in defeat.
Cisily came running, she pulled Clare back by her dress and let the dying flames burn her. “Get her back to the palace,” Cisily demanded.
Cassius shook his head. “No, you get her back to the palace. I have some things to take care of. Go with her Cis.” His tears were gone, his hands curled into fists, “GUARDS! Retrieve Antoine’s body and take him back to the Pax Palace, now. NOW!” Cassius commanded the Paxonian guards, who had followed him and Clare to the execution. His voice was cracked and his eyes were wet for Antoine, an unexpected companion he thought he would never have. That he thought he would never lose.
“Did you see her turn green? Cassius is going to marry a witch. She should be burned at the stakes.” Rumors and comments began to spread through that crowd as fast as Clare’s heat had.
O
nce the flames had disappeared and Clare’s body wasn’t as hot, Cisily with the help of another guard, laid Clare down in the back of the carriage. Cisily climbed into the seat opposite of her. The door of the carriage slammed shut.
Once Antoine’s body was successfully transported into the second carriage, the two carriages hurried off towards the Pax palace.
Cassius shouldered through the crowd. His eyes narrowed, his shoulders squared. “SHUT IT!” he told a group of murmuring adults as he passed them, his sword pointed towards them. The air was five degrees hotter than it had been and a few citizens had light burn marks on their arms. Cassius’s own arm was as hot as lava, but he didn’t look down. ’Natalia didn’t say anything about this,’ he thought to himself as he climbed onto the nearest horse and rode off to the castle that he once called home.
King Erebus turned to Adria after the execution, his eyebrows raised. “What a dramatic show. In fact quite spectacular. Magic in our very home and we didn’t even notice.” He laughed cynically, his voice was deep and unnerving. His eyes turned to his wife, she stood from the floor. She moved her lips to speak, to lash out, but he had drawn his sword. Before she managed to speak, he swung at her throat and in one swift motion he had slit it open. Blood rushed out in deep crimson pools. Her eyes widened and she crumpled to the floor, blood stained the wolf fur that lined the collar of her black leather dress. “You always spoke out of turn. Poor Adria, committed suicide.” He wiped his blade clean with the fabric on her dress, watching as the life quickly drained from her eyes. “How … tragic. Oh dear, you can’t stop the war when you’re dead.” He took the dagger from her belt and placed it in the gaping hole in her throat. “You look prettier dead.” He spun on his heels and was about to open the door, when someone beat him to it. Theo. “Oh Theodore, Adria just killed herself,” he said solemnly.