Vultures Circling

The throne room of Castle Alderick

My head hung unsupported, and all I could see was the blood that had spilled from my wounds pooling on the floor. I heard sharp laughter from the courtiers who had come to watch my trial. Snakes in the grass, all of them.

The Prince leaned down from his throne; a wild sneer stretched across his face, "Do you know why they call it the Dead Lands?"

I shook my head no. I could barely form a coherent thought. All I could feel was pain.

"It is a rotted place. The only residing creatures are the vultures who will pick at your decaying flesh." His sneer stretched further, from ear to ear, but his eyes remained cold. "It is said, once the vultures have finished their feast, they will carefully clean your bones and deliver them to their master, and your soul will be his for eternity." He slowly stood from his father's throne and approached me, stopping before the pool of blood that had formed around me. The man I once thought I was to marry leaned in, "I only regret I won't be able to watch as you suffer, slowly dying, begging for mercy." He kissed me lightly on the check. The blood stained his lips a crimson red.

"Fear not, dear prince," I gathered what little strength I had left and raised my head. I looked deep into the eyes of the prince, seeing only a bottomless pit. "We shall meet again. In this life or the next, you will know my wrath."

The prince straightened, unbothered by her threat, "I am finished with the traitor. Take her away!" he said with a flourish of his hand.

The two guards roughly grabbed my arms and proceeded to drag me backwards towards the grand entryway. Before exhaustion could take me, I looked up, if only to see if I had an ally left amongst my executioners. From the shadows, I saw Galen, her eyes glistening from tears. Her hands clenched the smock of her simple maid's uniform. She began to take a step towards me, and I turned my head before anyone can notice our brief moment of connection. I could only hope she understood.

As the doors to the throne room began to close behind me, I looked back to the prince. To my horror, he is no longer looked at me as I thought he would be. He was staring at the small, innocuous maid he had never bothered to notice before.

"No," my voice still raspy. I lifted my hands as if to block his line of vision. "NO!"

The doors closed with a deafening sound as the guards dragged me away from everything my heart knew.

*******

Greetings to whatever poor soul is reading this!

Thank you for taking a couple minutes out of your day to read this little story. As you can probably tell, I am not much of a writer and I would really appreciate any and all feedback. Or, just tell me about your day. I love talking to strangers on the internet.  

With love,

Maximum5