The Emperor's Concubine

B.2 Chapter Forty-Seven

Cethin looks back at me, his eyes stern and cold.
I look at the three of them, closing my eyes.
A sigh escapes my lips as I smile, nodding.
"Okay..." I whisper.
"What do you mean, 'okay'?" Cethin speaks up, his voice with a slight tone of anger.
"It's just what I mean... It's okay... I can't run from you guys. You're faster than me and would find me even if I hid... So I won't run. If you're going to kill me then it's okay." I give a solemn smile.
Cethin grits his teeth, clenching his hands into fists.
Cethin opens his mouth about to speak, but is cut off.
"How could you?" Petunia shouts, angered.
"W-What?" I stutter, taken aback at seeing her angry.
"You can't just accept being killed! You're going through all this effort to run away because he almost killed you, yet you're just going to let us kill you?" Petunia shouts, her eyes overflowing with tears.
"Petunia. Enough." Riddle speaks up, trying to calm her.
"No. You're just going to accept this? You would let your own friends kill you?" Petunia speaks, pained.
"I... I can't run or fight you guys..." I reply, doing my best to stay calm.
"Then you can tell us to help you! If we're here, you just need to tell us to let you go, or to help you, or pretend we never saw you! How could you just accept it so quickly?"
"Because... This has been my life... My entire life, people have tried to kill me... Every time I was always afraid, but not anymore... If there are this many signs that I'm supposed to be dead, I have to accept it eventually."
"We never said we were going to hurt you though!"
"But-"
"We didn't come to kill you, so don't suddenly give up! Why do you think we could ever do that to you? You aren't supposed to die here, so why are you okay with this?" Petunia sobs, covering her eyes with her hand.
"Petunia, don't..." Riddle places his hand on her back, calming her down.
"Don't, what?... What do you mean, 'I'm not supposed to die here'?" I ask, looking back at them.
Riddle and Cethin look back at each other.
Cethin shakes his head, yet Riddle ignores him.
"Luna... We aren't here to kill you... Listen, when you were unconscious, we were really worried about you..." Riddle explains.
"And?..."
Riddle takes a deep breath, looking down at Petunia.
She nods, biting her lip hard.
"Petunia was worried a lot... Her ability... She can see someone's death and..." Riddle trails off, growing uncomfortable.
"Death?... What do you mean? And, what?"
"I saw your death..." Petunia looks back at me with concerned eyes, "We were all scared you were going to die, so I used my ability... You weren't supposed to die from your injuries... But, when I saw your death..."
"Petunia... What did you see?"
"I..."
"Petunia, I need to know. What was my death?"
"His highness... His highness kills you."
"Cabel?... He kills me?" I ask, my body trembling as I listen.
"My abilities... They show me people clearly, but scene's are blurred... I'm not sure when or where you'll die... All I saw was his spike impaled through your body..." Petunia wipes her eyes as they water.
My knees grow weak as I listen to her.
I take a deep breath, resting against a tree.
"Luna... Petunia told us what she saw, after his highness asked us to find and kill you... We're not here to kill you..." Cethin speaks up, avoiding to look at me, "We came because..."
Cethin looks back at Riddle.
"There's talk of his highness marrying Esmerelda..." Riddle speaks up.
"He's marrying Esmerelda?" I ask, confused by the news.
"He is... I don't know what he's thinking, but he locked up and punished advisors who spoke against the marriage." Riddle sighs, walking over to me.

'Esmerelda... But, that's not my sister.'
"I... I need to go back to him." I speak, thinking back on everything.
"What? Are you crazy?" Cethin exclaims, confused by my words.
"I-I need to get back to him! I need to save him!" I snap back to reality.
"You're gonna go back, when we just told you he's supposed to kill you? Are you crazy?" Riddle shouts.
"Crazy or sane, I need to get back to him!"
"We're here to help you run away! You're not going back, why would you even think about going back after learning the truth?" Cethin shouts, baffled.
"Because, Esmerelda isn't my sister!" I exclaim, "It's a long story, but Esmerelda isn't my sister! She looks like my sister, but she's a witch!"
"A witch?..." Petunia repeats.
"We saw her! The sketches that the mining victims had too, were all the same beast. I got worried because I heard Cabel's injuries weren't healing, so I went back to the palace with the marquess. When we looked into his office, it was the same beast the miners saw." I explain, a wave of adrenaline washing over me.
"What? But aren't witches just a stupid myth?" Riddle asks, confused.
"I-I thought they were a myth too, but the marquess explained they were real and existed a long time ago. I knew Cabel wouldn't act like this out of the blue! The witch cursed him somehow! I don't know why its targeting him, but I need to go back and save him!" I take a step, about to run back.
"Luna, let's think about this rationally!" Petunia stops me.
"But Cabel... I need to help him!" I exclaim, the uneasiness growing more and more.
"Luna... Let's go to Xiao." Cethin speaks up, holding my hand.
"But-"
"No..." Cethin cuts me off, "We should go to Xiao and wait until we hear word back. You can't go back right now, the empire's on a strict lockdown looking for you, and if you went back right now, you'll be killed by the knights at the border."
"It's just... I can't let Cabel get hurt. What if the witch kills him?"
"Petunia's vision was that he'd kill you. We don't know when that'll be, but we know he'll be alive until then. All we know now is that you need to reach Xiao. You're still in the emperor's land, and it's too dangerous for you to stay here or go back. We don't know the first thing about witches, so how do you expect to kill it? We can go to Xiao and think of a plan, but you can't go back." Riddle speaks, giving me a reassuring smile.
"Luna... Please... Please let us take you to Xiao..." Petunia pleads.
I bite my tongue, pained as I look at their expressions of worry.
I nod, taking a deep breath.
"Okay... I'll go to Xiao..." I comply.