Savior (A Yogscast Fairytale)

Chapter 11

"You each have 15 minutes to talk to him before he is taken to Springfeld." The lead guard says. The other two drag me into a side room, tying my hands to a post behind me. I am stuck, standing in the corner of the room. Zoey is first, and she closes the door tightly, locking it. I look at the floor, and she pulls my head up and slaps me. I can't help but smile. "I guess I deserved that." I say, avoiding her eyes. I see her smile, and she suddenly pulls me into a hug. I stiffen, and she pulls away, frowning. "I'll do whatever I can to keep you from being executed, Rythian." She says. I look down again, sighing. "Zoey, I deserve to die. I deserve to be killed. My mother stole some silver, was accused of a murder she never committed, she didn't deserve to die. But I do. I killed 6 people, Zoey! I should have died when I was 7! I shouldn't have even met you!" I say, yelling at the end. "Rythian, you deserve to live! I'll miss you!" She starts yelling as well. I refuse to talk to her for the rest of the time. The guard comes in, ready to take Zoey away so her mother can come in. "Rythian... Goodbye." She says. I look up one last time to see her eyes shining with tears. "Goodbye... Zoey." I say. She nods and runs out of the room, and I look down again.

The queen walks in, but I don't even look up. "Hello, Queen Lomadia." I say, looking at my shoes. "Rythian, how did you kill all those people? You were only 7." I sigh. "Pull up my right sleeve." I say, still looking down. I feel my sleeve going up, and she gasps. "Rythian, you are a magic user?" She asks. I frown. "Yes. I got the scar the day that I appeared in your garden, when I ran into Xephos. I teleported away from the guards, twice. The first time, I just teleported down the street, and they caught me and marked me. Xephos already knows, but Zoey doesn't." I say. She puts her hand under my chin, forcing me to look up at her. "Rythian, how did you kill them?" She asks. My face is toward hers, but I avoid looking into her eyes. "I made a lightweight sword. The executioner was a slit throat, the other were stabs to the heart, stomach, or head. I dropped the sword when I realized what I had done, and I ran away. Someone found the sword, still in the last guard's chest." She drops her hand, and my head falls again. The guard comes, and I look up one last time. "Goodbye, Lomadia." I say. "Please, call me Hannah." She says, smiling. I smile as well. "Goodbye, Hannah." She turns and leaves the room.

Next is the king. "Hello, Rythian." He says. "Hello, King Xephos." I respond, looking up. "Just call me Lewis." He says. I simply nod. "Rythian, I know you, and I know that you don't give up like this. I know that you have a plan, and I hope you will return to the castle after your execution. Goodbye." He says. I simply nod, and he leaves the room. The king is wrong. I don't have a plan for escape. But when he realizes that, I will already be dead. I sense another figure in the room, and I am shocked as a man, about a year older than me, appears in front of me. "Rythian, you will not die tomorrow. Xephos is wrong. You do not have a plan, you are prepared to die. But I have a plan for you, and you will see Zoey again." Then the mysterious man is gone, and the guards enter the room again.

I am untied from the wall and taken out of the castle. The custom for an execution in a bordering kingdom is that the prisoner has to ride through both kingdoms, from castle to castle. I am well known as the princess's guard in Blackrock, so being a prisoner on death row will be very strange for the villagers we pass. My hands are tied together in front of me, and I am sitting on a black horse named Deathrade. There are two guards on either side of me, and one in front, holding the reins of the horse I am riding. We set out from the castle gate, and all is quiet. Everyone is staring at me, they know what the formation means. We ride in complete silence until we reach the gates to Springfeld. Waiting for us at the gates is the one and only Prince Lalna.

The guards dismount their horses, and one pulls me roughly off of my horse as well, pushing me to the ground in front of Lalna, who grins. "Hello, Rythian. Ready for your death?" I don't react other than to scowl under my mask. Lalna doesn't notice, and two of the guards grab my arms, pulling me off the ground. They carry me to Springfeld castle, home of Lalna and Queen Nano. I see Queen Nano briefly inside the castle, she looks sad. But Lalna ignores her and we continue down to the dungeons. I am thrown into a cell, my hands unbound. The cell door clangs shut with finality, and I let my mind wander. Somehow, my thoughts turn to Zoey. I swore to be her protector until she no longer needed me, and I am now breaking that promise. That thought completely breaks my hope. Even if I do live, Zoey knows my secret. If I don't, I broke my life-long promise to Zoey. If I live, I'm going to leave the castle, leave everything, go to Prince Nilesy's kingdom or something. But whatever happens, I'm not going to try and stop the execution. Because I deserve to die.