Caged Heart

Chapter 20

The princess tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she stood on the balcony with her parents, her brother, and her lady-in-waiting. Her nightmare had kept her from getting a good rest, and it was still haunting her now. She would jump at the smallest noises, failing miserably to keep her fragile mental and physical state a secret. Caleb and Nellore had been a great help to her, but she wasn't sure that they would be enough; she needed closure, real closure. And that would only be accomplished by going straight to the source: Emerson.

As if on cue, Darius cleared his throat and held out his hand to quiet his subjects, the doors opening to reveal Emerson being led out in chains to the king's side. He was forced to his knees, and he grimaced at that, hardening his gaze as he looked out into the crowd. He was more used to being in the position her father was, Serenity thought, not the other way around.

"My dear subjects," Darius projected his voice so all could hear him, "we have found the man responsible for the death of my daughter—your princess—Princess Genevieve." He was careful to leave Godric's name out of it as news had only been sent to Vithe a few hours prior and it was a day's journey there and a day's journey back, "King Emerson, the King of Hallow has been arrested for her murder, and he will be executed for his crime."

This caught Serenity off-guard. No one else seemed to be surprised— not even Emerson, whose hazel eyes betrayed his emotionless face by showing his fear—and the crowd cheered at the news. She had known that her father was angry, and she felt that Genevieve's murder should be avenged, but not in the way of murder. If they did this, they would be no better than he was when he ordered Genevieve to be killed.

"The time for his execution has yet to be determined, but rest assured that it will be soon. Dahlia will have its vengeance for the loss of our princess, and," he looked down at Emerson, a guard lifting the kneeling king's face to meet Darius' eyes, "if this starts another war with your kingdom, then so be it."

Again, the crowd cheered at the king's words. Emerson was lifted to his feet, being dragged back to the doors to head down to the dungeons once more. Serenity got only a glimpse of him as he was led back. His hair was a matted mess, his black shirt had rips in it and he seemed to be covered in dust and dirt, his knuckles were bruised and bloodied as if he had been punching the concrete or banging on the bars to his cell, there was a purple bruise forming on the right side of his face— he had to have gotten into a tussle with one of the guards—and he was no longer wearing his crown.

As she observed him, their gazes met and locked for a split second before he disappeared. The one thing she noticed was that he no longer had fear in them, but he was pleading, and he wasn't just pleading anyone: he was pleading her; he wanted her to do something. But what could she do?

"Father," she heard herself say as they all walked back inside of the palace, "you cannot execute him."

That stopped Darius in his tracks. In fact, everyone had stopped to turn and look at her. Caleb shook his head at her and mouthed the word "no" while Nellore looked at her as if she were crazy. Her mother stared at her with a blank expression, although Serenity knew that there was a look of anger under that mask.

"And why can I not do that, Serenity?" Darius asked, still staring ahead and not looking at her.

"Because if you do, you will be stooping to his level."

That made the king turn around, his eyes blazing with a fire she had never seen in him before, "He killed my daughter—your sister—and Prince Godric— your fiancé—and you wish to stand here and speak to me about being the "better" person?"

"Violence should not be a cycle, father. Doing this will change nothing, it will only ruin us more than we already are. Please, do not go down this route," she took a cautionary step towards Darius, "for I fear you will not be able to come back from it if you do."

"Why are you defending him?" Caleb asked, head tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed.

Looking at her brother, she scoffed, "I am not defend—"

"You are. You are trying to stop justice from being served; you are trying to keep Emerson alive. Why?"

At that, Serenity paused. She opened her mouth to speak, but could not find the right words and closed her mouth again. She did this only a few times more before her father spoke.

"Answer him Serenity." His voice was authoritative; he was no longer speaking to her as her father, but as her king.

"I—I don't—It's because I—"

"It's because she is in love with him," Queen Violette said, glaring at her daughter, "is it not?"

Serenity did not answer.

"My god," Darius removed his crown and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at Caleb, "You were right, my boy. He poisoned this home more than I thought." With that, he turned sharply on his heel and then walked away; everyone followed—even Nellore, who looked back at Serenity with sad eyes as she shook her head, her prophecy ringing in both of their ears.

The princess broke her gaze with Nellore as she quickly walked away, heading down a familiar hallway. Her brain was running a million miles an hour and her thoughts could hardly keep up with the motions of her feet. She soon found herself standing in the middle of a room. But it wasn't just any room. It was Godric's.

She only came to her senses a few moments later, and upon noticing where she was, she gasped softly. His room was cleaner than it had been when she last saw it. It no longer looked like a tornado had blown through it—which she now knew happened because of his indecisive thoughts—and the only thing that was a mess was his bed; it felt like no one had been in the room since that fatal night. She walked around the bed, fingers running along the velvet green fabric he used as a comforter, allowing the memories of his smile to wash over her. Maybe if she were to find some sort of peace in here, she thought, then she would be able to think a little more clearly.

Her breath came to a halt when her eyes found their way to Godric's piano. Again, her head flooded with memories, and she saw him there playing his favorite song to her, his head bowed, and his brows furrowed in concentration as he let the music flow through him. She slowly walked over and sat down where he used to, feeling the urge to cry—one urge she'd had for the last few days. Allowing her fingers to ghost over the keys, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. She had wanted to throw something when she first ran through the halls, but now that feeling was gone and was replaced with wanting to be comforted.

Promise me you'll be happy.

Her eyes opened as she remembered the sound of his voice, and the promise he had made her make. That promise was his dying wish.

I love you, Serenity, and it's because I love you that I'm letting you go. You deserve to have happiness.

A small smile made its way to her lips. Even when he wasn't around, Godric was still finding ways to help her. She whispered a thank you and got up from the seat, walking over to the door. Before she left, she took one last look at the room, smiling as she did. She knew it wasn't real, but she had imagined Godric standing by the foot of his bed, in all his princely glory, waving goodbye to her. She waved back before turning and walking out of the room, her smile leaving her face instantaneously. Taking a breath, she headed down to the one place she was dreading going, but somewhere she had to go. She was going to see Emerson.