Not your Romeo and Juliet

f i f t e e n

"You mean you have the stone right now?!" Romeo sits straight.

"I might. You threw my dress across the floor last night." I wink.

"I'll fetch it." He jumps and grabs my dress.

"This is one of my few dresses with pockets." I show him the pockets.

"And you silently transferred the stone into your pocket?" He asks in surprise.

"I did." I confirm.

"But when? I didn't see you do anything.

"Just when you arrived at the seen. I took a stone from my necklace and placed it there while removing the real stone and slipping it into my pocket. All this was done when I was facing against you." I answer.

"Why did you act like you lost it ?'

"I reduced the assumptions that I might have stolen it by becoming a victim myself. Nobody knows about your presence at the scene."

"You are incredible." He kisses my forehead.

"And that's what you love about me." I smile.

"So how do we activate it? " He tried to take the stone out of the pocket.

"Don't touch it!" I warn him.

"It radiates power when touched with bare hands. And we shouldn't activate it here." I say when he doesn't move.

"So.... What do you plan next ?" He asks.

"We run. Just like King and Matilda wants."

"But won't that effect your social prestige?"

"Not when I'm dead for them." I reply.

"Explanation please, my lady."

"King Esculas gave me a poison before the coronation. It won't kill me, but it will make it appear as if I died. I'll be in a deep sleep." I explain.

"So you'll be dead, we'll escape the palace and take the stone with us. We'll activate it somehow and then after the quarrel of power between our families end, we return." His statement is more of a question than an answer.

"That pretty much sums everything well." I nod.

"When do we begin?"

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Juliet! Open the-open the door please." The next strike on the door is harder than the previous one.

"Juliet open the door!" My father's voice is the last thing I hear when I close my eyes, the pills doing their work on my body.

THIRD PERSON POV

The guards break open the door on the command of Lord Capulet. The room is clean but the bed is a mess.

Juliet lies lifelessly on the bed. Everyone surrounds her and try to wake her up.

"Juliet, my child. Open your eyes!" Lady Capulet pleads.

"Juliet! What have you done?" Matilda rushes by her side, shaking her body to wake her up.

But Juliet doesn't move even the slightest.

"She cannot be dead!" Lord Capulet sits on the bed, near her legs and puts his hands on his head.

"I cannot handle two deaths!" Rosaline erupts.

King Esculas, along with his parents, enters the scene.

"No! It can't be! Juliet, wake up dear. You are the Queen. You need to live." Former Queen begins to tear up.

King Esculas doesn't react. He reaches her listless body and places his fingertips on her neck.

He feels her pulse. He knows she's not dead.

"She's alive, isn't she?" Lady Capulet asks the new King.

"She's not." He almost whispers.

And he decided to act in this play.

"It can't be ! Why would she do that?" Rosaline pops up.

"Maybe she felt too guilty for losing the spiritual stone. But we reassured her that we'll find it." The former King answers.

"Or maybe, she was hurt by the one she gave up her everything for." Matilda speaks, eyeing to King Esculas.

"What do you mean? Elaborate." Antonio speaks for the first time.

"I--" She hesitates. "I told her about the affair."

"What affair?" The King asks innocently.

"Your affair, your majesty. I found out about it last night. She wouldn't have killed herself had you not cheated on her!" Matilda accuses him openly.

"Do you know whom you are speaking to?" The former King roars.

"I do." She sobs harder and harder, tears running down her cheeks.

"What is she talking about, Esculas?" Lord Capulet asks.

Lord Capulet had raised the Prince like his own child. Being the top amongst the nobles, he and Lord Montague visited the palace often, teaching the young prince numerous tricks.

"Tell him it's not true Esculas." The former Queen nudges him.

"It is." The King confirms.

"You betrayed my daughter!" Lord Capulet stands up from the bed.

"I never loved her. Our marriage was solely based on political reasons. No love was involved." He justifies.

"She was the perfect daughter." Lady Capulet screams.

"Who was it?" Antonio asks calmly.

The King doesn't answer it. He accepted the accusation because it was true and needed. He owed her a better life for his stone. She has kept her side of the deal and now was his chance to do his.

Also, he might have not been able to bring up the topic in future. The sooner the better.

"Matilda?" He directs his question to his sister instead.

"Juliet's maid." She sniffs.

"It can't be! You ditched my sister, the best woman in the entire Verona for her maid?" Antonio screams with disgust.

"You never deserved her." Rosaline storms out of the room.

"You are dismissed." The King commands.

"We are at our daughter's death bed. We cannot be dismissed " Lady Capulet sniffs harder.

"She's my wife." He replies.

"You lost that right." The King's father creases his brow at his own remark.

"And you cannot be my son. I raised you better." His mother gives him a disdainful look and leaves the room. Her husband follows.

"We'll bury her in our soil." Lady Capulet says.

"Don't ! " The king speaks. "I'll do that. Give me my last chance to pay her tribute for her loyalty."

"He's the husband, much to my dismay. He has more right to than us. It's the law." Lord Capulet holds his wife's hand.

"Poor Juliet. I'm sorry. Thank you." Her mother sobs more. Lord Capulet takes his wife with him and leaves.

"You even lost the right to be our King. I'll sue you." Antonio leaves with his sister.

Once it's just him and her lifeless body, he crouches closer.

"Owing to you, I'm hated the most." He whispers in her ears and sends the guards to take her to a barren land and commands them he'll bury her himself.