The World Cannot Know

Chapter 31

Matthew Wild

The cold, damp stone of the cell floor bit into my knees as I was shoved inside, the iron door slamming shut behind me with a final, echoing clang. I stumbled forward, barely catching myself on my hands as I fell, my body trembling with exhaustion and fear. The darkness of the cell closed in around me, a suffocating void that seemed to swallow all hope.

I stayed there for a moment, on my hands and knees, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I tried to process what had just happened. The King's words rang in my ears—executed at dawn. The finality of it hit me like a punch to the gut, and I felt the tears that had been welling up spill over, running hot and fast down my face.

My hands curled into fists against the cold stone, my nails digging into my palms as I fought to keep myself together. But it was impossible. The terror, the despair—it was too much. My entire world had just crumbled, and all I could do was fall apart, piece by piece.

I had tried to stay strong, to hold on to the hope that somehow, this nightmare would end. But when I looked into Sebastian's eyes as they dragged me away, I saw the same fear, the same helplessness that I felt. It shattered something inside me, leaving me feeling raw and exposed, like I was being torn apart from the inside out.

I forced myself to sit back, leaning against the rough stone wall. The chill of it seeped through my clothes, adding to the cold that had settled deep in my bones. My chest heaved with silent sobs, the weight of what I was facing pressing down on me until it was hard to breathe.

I didn't want to die. The thought clawed at my mind, a desperate, primal fear that gripped me with icy fingers. But more than that, I didn't want to leave Sebastian. The memory of his face, contorted with grief and desperation as he tried to reach me, played over and over in my mind. I could still hear his voice, raw and pleading, echoing in my ears. I love you, Matthew! I love you—please, don't take him away!

God, I loved him too. More than anything. And now, because of that love, because we hadn't been careful enough, I was going to die. I squeezed my eyes shut, the tears still falling, and tried to focus on the sound of his voice, the feel of his hand in mine, anything to hold on to him in these last moments.

But it was impossible to block out the thought of Katharina. Her betrayal was like a dagger in my chest, sharp and merciless. I never thought she would say anything, not after the danger she knew it would put us through—me through—her own brother through.

I had foolishly believed that would keep our secret, that she wouldn't risk her family's reputation, or Sebastian's happiness, by exposing us. But I was wrong. She had known that revealing our relationship would not only destroy me but also shatter Sebastian. I couldn't understand how she could be so cruel, how she could turn on us so completely. The pain of her betrayal was almost as unbearable as the fear of what was to come.

...

I didn't know how much time passed as I sat there, lost in a sea of fear and despair. The minutes seemed to stretch into eternity, each one a fresh agony as I waited for the dawn that would bring my death. All I could think about was Sebastian, and how I would never see him again, never hold him, never tell him how much he meant to me or that I loved him too.

Then there was a shuffle at the gate, the heavy iron scraping against stone as the guard turned the key in the lock. My heart lurched in my chest, dread and hope warring within me as the gate creaked open. The dim light from the corridor outside spilled into the cell, casting long shadows that danced across the cold, stone walls.

A figure stepped inside, and I blinked, trying to focus through the blur of my tears. It was my mother. Her face was drawn and tear-streaked, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She looked smaller than I remembered, as if the weight of the world had crushed her down, leaving her fragile and broken.