Chapter 71

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A.N./

Hi Darlings,

I know I have been gone for a long time, I really did not plan it, but it has been so hard, these last few chapters break my heart and make me overthink all of my decisions, it is just so hard to write when I know that years of working on this story are being culminated in those very moments. But here I am, with a maybe shorter than usual chapter, but it's a step forward, a step forward to the conclusion you have always been waiting for... without further ado, I love you guys and I hope you enjoy this. 

xoxo 

Wiki

P.S. who is excited for Bridgerton tomorrow?

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Chapter 71.

The violent kiss flung me in a state of shock. I froze. Or perhaps it was time that suddenly stood still. His lips were rugged but somehow still tasted like the sweetest honey. I wanted to scream, I wanted to push him away because this was not meant to be my last kiss. My last kiss was meant to belong to Courfeyrac. Instead, it was given to me by the man who, I assumed, loathed me. Here he was, embracing me with no hostility or disdain but with the force of a tsunami.

Dumb-stricken, I let him kiss me. Suddenly, I was transported back to the day of that rally on that brisk April day; back to that dark alleyway where we hid from the guards and where he kissed me for the first time. Back then, he did it to dissuade me from joining the insurgency. Today there seemed to be no valid reason, apart from our imminent execution. Perhaps the looming demise had been the perfect reason for expressing affection since we both knew we would never experience any of it ever again. And somehow, in this darkness and despair, Enjolras had reignited the fire within me, the fire I thought all but lost. For a short moment, his lips intoxicated me right into oblivion.

'That's enough of that!' One of the guards shouted harshly.

A sobering chill went through me as if someone threw a bucket of icy water on my head. I broke the kiss and stared into Enjolras' stormy blue eyes, confounded.

'Why-why did you do this?' I mumbled, completely dumbfounded, numb to the world around me, not even feeling the twisting of my arms, while someone bound them in shackles.

I stumbled as the guards dragged me out of the cell; I was waiting for Enjolras' response that never came. He let the soldiers restrain his arms, standing still and staring at me. His eyes seared me with an immeasurable passion that I did not comprehend. All I could do was burn for him.

'Why?' I repeated to no avail.

As the guards pushed me through the castle, I lost sight of the leader in red, but I heard him breathing close behind me. His uneven breath tickled my neck, giving me goosebumps all over my arms and making my heart pound painfully against my ribcage. His taste lingered on my lips, rendering me almost drunk. The soldiers hurried us through uninhabited parts of the castle to avoid anyone finding out that the queen decided to execute us in secret. And to prevent Ferdie, the rightful king of France, from saving us.

They led us outside, into the vast maze that was the gardens of Versailles. The sun had not yet fully risen; it was still only a faint orange glow on the horizon that decorated the periwinkle firmament. There was a silver-grey hue about the world as if someone had bleached all the colours. We stepped through the milky-white mist that thickened inches above the damp ground, the thick scent of blooming flowers raced to my nostrils. Morning birds began singing in the hot and humid air; the world was eerily peaceful. I felt like an intruder in faerie land.

As I watched the golden light flicker on the horizon, I felt my guts flip. I was not prepared for this sunrise to be my last. There was so much yet left to see and do in this world, on this earth. As much as I wished to be a good revolutionary, I was not willing to say goodbye.

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