Caged Heart

Chapter 16

Serenity hit the ground hard, her breath rugged as she lay low on the ground. Her head turned towards Godric, who was standing in front of her, but he was faced away from her. She called out his name, making him turn his body towards her, and they locked eyes. His eyes slowly drifted down, and Serenity followed his gaze, her own eyes widening the moment she saw it: blood seeping through the hand covering where the bullet had entered. She let out a scream as Godric fell to his knees, and she scrambled to his side allowing him to fall into her arms.

"No, no, no!" She held him close, putting her hand on his to put pressure on the wound, her mind flashing back to the wedding her sister never got to finish, "Godric, Godric, hey, stay with me. Stay with me. Guards!"

Her screams were enough to catch the attention of the guards making their rounds outside of the palace and inside, close to the garden doors. About seven of them ran out, seeing Godric on the ground and Serenity screaming at them. She pointed in the direction the shot had come from and told them to go, which they did; only one of them ran back inside to get the medic.

Serenity's head turned back to Godric upon hearing him sputter her name out, "Shhh, save your strength, Godric, you're going to be okay; everything is going to be okay." As calm as she was trying to seem, panic and fear was riddled in her voice.

He lifted his hand to her cheek, his touch weaker than it was before. There were tears in his eyes, but he didn't look scared—in fact, there was only one emotion in his eyes as he looked up at Serenity: love.

"Promise me," he said softly, "promise me that you'll tell Emerson how you feel; promise me that you'll be happy."

The princess' eyes were flooded with tears, her cheeks wet with them. They dropped onto her cloak which was also stained with blood as she held the dying prince close to her. She nodded, trying to smile back, "I—I promise. I promise."

"Good," his breath caught in his chest, making him struggle to talk anymore.

A small sob escaped her throat as she could see him slowly starting to fade. She sniffled and bent down, closing her eyes as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her cries muffled against them. The prince kissed her back, his heart beating wildly even though it was also coming to a stop. As she lifted her head, he used the last bit of strength he had to keep her head low, trying to whisper in her ear, but his voice was failing him.

Tears slid out of his eyes as he said, "D-Don't trust—don't—"

"Don't trust who? Godric? Godric, don't trust who?" As she looked down at him, she noticed his glassy eyes, "Godric...?"

He did not answer her, he could not answer; he was dead.

The scream that was emitted from her lips rivaled the scream that came from her when she was told her sister was dead. The footsteps of the medic and the other guards came towards her upon hearing her scream, but the medic was too late. The princess sat there on the ground, both her and the grass covered in the prince's blood, screaming and crying as she held his body close to her.

Her heart hurt as much as her throat did. The guards had to pry her away from Godric's body, dragging her back to the garden doors where her family waited for her. Her parents held their arms open to embrace her, but she ignored them and went to her brother instead.

Caleb had just returned from gathering all the people who had attended the wedding, and, upon hearing his sister's screams, he left them in the throne room and rushed towards the noises of distress. The scene that was before him seemed to trouble him deeply as he now saw another person he had loved lying on the ground dead. When his sister fell into his arms crying, he held her close, his eyes also welling with tears. Even if he couldn't prove that Emerson had gotten Genevieve killed, he would surely be able to prove that he had Godric—the man who was going to marry the woman the king was in love with—killed.

To say the king was surprised upon his return to the Kingdom Dahlia—a few hours later—would be an understatement. As he led the person he had found out to be responsible for the death of the young princess Genevieve into the throne room so that they could be interrogated, he was approached by Darius and Caleb, each of them donning a different expression. Darius' was one of hopelessness, but Caleb's was one of malice—more than he usually had on his face. He didn't want to question Caleb, so he looked at the king of Dahlia.

"What's going on?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion at their grim faces.

"Something happened while you were gone, your majesty. Prince Godric, he—" Darius began, but he was interrupted by his son.

"He was killed," Caleb said without hesitation, "the same way my sister was. Any ideas on how that happened?" He started to take a step towards the king, but Darius put his arm out to stop him.

Emerson looked at Caleb and shook his head, "No, of course I don't—" he suddenly stopped talking, his gaze seeming to go beyond them to a specific hallway. "Serenity." He mumbled under his breath.

"I'm sorry?" Darius looked from his son to Emerson.

"You'll have to excuse me, I have to go. Caleb, you know what to do." And that was all Emerson said before he took off in the direction of the hallway that would lead him to the room of the woman he desperately needed to see.