The King's Magician

Prolouge

"Are you sure that you're ready? Once this is done, you know you can't go back."

She stops herself just before she snaps at the healer. I know that it's kind of polite to make sure this is what I want, but why can't he stop asking me that?

Taking a deep breath in, she nods, squares her shoulders, and scrawls her signature along the bottom of the document. "Yes. I'm sure." She stands up from her seat at a small table, and glances up at the man, their size difference just as visible than when she was sitting. "Thanks for being so patient with me Lance. I can't imagine that this has been easy for you."

His eyes widen in suprise. "Marilyn, what you have decided to do, and done, today has to have been one of the hardest decisions of your life. I can't imagine what these past few weeks have been like for you."

They both look over to the bed where an older woman, maybe mid-sixties is laying. She is thinner than a rail, her eyes unopened and her breathing labored. She seems to be clinging onto life. "She won't feel a thing, you know." Lance adds gently. "The potions will keep her completely asleep. It will be as gentle as a drop of rain hitting her skin."

Marilyn nods. "I know. You told me that when you explained all of this last week. She's been gone for months, ever since the day of the accident, and it's clear to me that she will never wake up." She sighs quietly. "It's time for me to let her go."

"Don't you have any family that you want to be here with you?" the healers wife, who is also present in the room, asks curiously.

"The ones that should be here are gone, and the others aren't worth mentioning. I don't want them here and neither would she." Marilyn states with a tone of venom in her voice. "In all honesty, we were all each other had."

The woman flushes in slight embarrassment. "Right, sorry." Her apology made, she quickly flees the room.

Lance winces at the interaction. "I'm sorry about that," he said, "we've only been married a few week you know,  and I hadn't fully informed her about all the details of this....predicament."

Marilyn nods slightly. "I can imagine that it's hard to explain to your wife exactly how your oldest friend was 'trampled by a horse'.  Or any of the other secrets that you have been keeping from her."

He glares at her, but only for a moment. "Do you need me to explain what I am going to do one more time?"

"Lance, if I hear it one more time I'm going to lose it. Just, please, let me let her go. Give my grandmother the poison." her eyes fill with tears as she drinks in the sight of the still form breathing. I won't ever get to see her like this again, she thinks. Stepping next to the bed, she presses a slow kiss to her grandmother's weathered cheek. "I'm sorry," she says. 

Lance doesn't respond, choosing instead to lean over and gently pour the mixture he holds in his hand down the old woman's throat. He massages it gently for several moments to ensure it all goes down, then he also kisses her cheek once it is clear that the vial is empty. "Rest easy Marianne." he whispers as he pulls away. Marilyn moves to take hold of the hand on the bed that is nearest to her, and determines not to let go until it is all over. 

The pair of them watch her in silence for several minutes as they wait for the concoction to take affect. It didn't take long for her breathing to slow, and then it stops without so much as a warning. Marilyn watches the scene through weary, tear-filled eyes. "You added belladonna," she says. It isn't a question.

"It made it faster, and therefore less painful."

She smiles slightly. "Thank you."

Lance sets the vial on the table, then reaches down to cover Marianne's body with the sheet that had been lying on top of her. Turning to her granddaughter, he places a hand on Marilyn's shoulder, and looks into her eyes. "Don't worry about summoning the coroner, okay? We'll do that. I understand that you already have the funeral plans in place, so it's all taken care of and you don't have to worry about a thing."