Not your Romeo and Juliet

s e v e n t e e n

Romeo has been out since over a week.

I kept my promise. I waited everyday.

I survived. But he never returned.

Until tonight.

"Open the doors!" Someone screams from outside.

I don't move. I cannot. I don't know whose outside.

"Open the door or we'll burn it!" Comes another voice.

I stand up and go to my room. I take out the stone and place it in my pocket. Then I take out some expensive jewelry Matilda had given me and hide it under a lot in the kitchen.

I'm skeptical about leaving the stone in the same place. Instead, I bury the stone in the soil near the house.

The door is crashed open and sound of swords clicking are heard at a distance. I bring my knees to my chest and I try to make minimum noise possible.

"Come out or you'll be punished!" Comes another voice.

Sound of boots clicking against the marble floor engulfs the house. I'm hidden in the bathroom.

The door to the bathroom is flung open and someone grabs my hand and pulls me up.

"I found her!" He shouts.

I take out the sword I'd kept with me and swing it but he is fast to dodge it.

"You won't be able to defeat a professional." He smiles.

I'm taken aback. Who are they? Why are they here?

"Look who's living peacefully after destroying my life." A familiar voice comes from the next room.

My hands are gripped so tightly that I can hardly move. But the man comes forward himself.

KING ESCULAS

"Where's my stone?!" He yells at my face.

"The thieves stole it that night." I answer calmly though my entire body is on alert.

"You are lying! I found the thieves and they informed me that you tricked them! Tell me where's my stone?!" He shouts.

"I don't know! They are lying!" I scream this time, the grip on my hand tightening.

"Show her." He commands and the man holding my arm pulls me out of the house.

There stands Romeo, his hands tied behind and his entire body covered in bruises. I snatch my hand away and run to him.

That's when I smell something wrong.

"You are poisoned !" I gasp.

"Give us the stone and you'll be given the medicine to cure him." King Esculas answers my queries.

"Don't give it to him. He plans to kill our families." Romeo whispers.

"But you'll die." I touch his wounds and he winces.

"I'll die seeing both our families dead anyways." He answers.

"Romeo." I kiss his cheeks. "You were the best husband I could ever get."

"And you were the best wife." He smiles.

He blinks a bit too fast and I realise the poison is working.

"Give me the stone!" Comes the voice again. " He is dying."

I do the one thing I know I shouldn't.

I kiss his lips, allowing the poison to go into me.