The unexpected hero's

Chapter 22 the night before the fall

Lara sat in her cell, even though Hope had freed all the prisoners most had been killed or re-imprisoned. Lara had awoken back in her cell her arms dislocated and her body in the awful state it had been prior however somehow worse than before. Her head was pounding and beating she could feel her heartbeat on her forehead. Her legs ached and her arms felt as if they'd been torn apart but now they'd gone numb and had began to tingle . The cuts on her wrists, legs and back were covered in dried blood however Lara would pick of the blood and make them bleed again when the pain in her legs got to great and she wished to experience a different type of pain. Sometimes the pain would get so great or her head would pound so hard she'd pass out only to awake with a harder pounding having hit the cold stone floor.

Lara knew that she was going to die, she spent the evening before her execution praying that heaven was kind unlike this world, Autumn would fall in love with Aggie and forget that she existed. The final thing she prayed for was that someone would remember her at least a little, that maybe someone would see her die and maybe just maybe shed a tear and think of her as a sort of passing memory.

She knew she was nothing special only a girl who stood on the side while others experience greatness and success. No one ever loved her not really she knew she'd never been anyone's first choice only second best. She lay in the dungeon hopping that maybe one day someone would remember her and if not that Autumn would become greatly successful and she could live in her shadow.

Lara sat staring at the light from the rising sun, hearing the executioner - whoever they were - sharpening there axe. She heard approaching footsteps from the stone hallway approach her cell. It was Autumn's mother.

"You girl, Lara is it?" she said harshly

"yes, what come to laugh, to spit at me or perhaps you fancy snapping my legs" Lara said bitterly

"No, this is for you, your execution dress" she said before walking away, she threw a purple ball of magic at Lara, which caught her arm and burnt it. Lara cried out in agonising pain as the magic burnt into her skin, burning red and raw more blood dripping from her arm. Autumn's mother laughed amused at her pain. Lara started to weep, she wept and wept and wept. She'd cried like before when her and Autumn broke up, when she had told her leave, when her sister left her disappeared forever and when her parents married her off. But she felt like no one cared now she felt like she'd feel all the pain from before over and over again rather than be here, she wished for death, craved it. She wanted this to end she wished that the morning would come already and wished again that Autumn wouldn't give her a second thought. In her last hour Lara only thought of Autumn hoping that she'd forget her or despise her and wish her death she never meant to cause her pain and she always felt bad for it.

Finally after waiting for hours, two guards followed by Autumn's mother came into the cell.

"why haven't you dressed yourself!" Autumn's mother spat in Lara's face

"i-i can't" Lara said weakly

"dress her" Autumn's mother said walking away and turning her back. The guard undressed Lara and Lara looked at the wall zoning out pretending she wasn't here. They dressed her in a white dress with a little white cap.

They dragged her out of the cell leading her through the long winding halls. Each footstep felt like a relief to her, only closer to death an end to the pain.

When they reached the outside Lara saw the scaffold a man in black, a priest and the block itself. It glistened someone must have cleaned it.

The crowd hissed and geered as Lara was marched through the crowd Lara thought she saw a glimpse of Autumn but she dismissed it, an angel come to watch? Perhaps just a vision she'd bashed her head enough. Autumns mother waved patronisingly at the crowd. Finally they reached the scaffold, Lara was forced to knead before the block and Autumn mother addressed the crowd.

Lara looked up at the axe for a moment then the man holding it, she felt the nerves again but took a deep breath, ready to die.