Blackbird

†Chapter Eighteen†

I did not sleep that night; haunted by the millions of possibilities, what choices I would make, if we could make it out of this alive. I thought about a future that felt distant and beyond reach. I thought about Axel. 

When the sun began to warm the sky, I slowly sat up, dropping my face into my hands. I sat like that for a long moment before I felt Axel's fingertips gently stroke my arm. I lifted my head to look over at him, his face showing no signs of sleep. "You couldn't sleep either?" I asked softly. 

He shook his head, and we said nothing after that. We didn't need to.

Today was the day. 

Breakfast was silent, hands were held tightly under the table, the air was heavy. The Prince's personal, most trusted servant would arrive within the next couple of hours to accompany us to the castle. A small company of just four of us: Naomi, Victor, Axel, and me. None of us knew what would happen, and that, for me, was the most torturous. A shadow of doubt began to grow and loom over me as the realization of what was about to happen sank in. I would stand before the King today; the man responsible for the death of my family--the family I had buried myself. 

A familiar feeling of fire sparked in the pit of my stomach. I looked at everyone sitting at the table, wondering what was going through their minds. I wondered what the slaughters had done to them. I wondered who they lost. 

Mikhael sat closer to Skye than I had ever seen, and Skye suddenly looked much older with the lines of worry that creased her beautiful face. She glanced up at everyone else, and I could almost hear her thoughts: Who else will I lose today? 

Axel and I helped clear the table after breakfast, still quiet, almost as if everyone had begun to mourn. I helped Skye with the dishes, Axel wiped down the table, gently touching my arms or the small of my back whenever he passed. Naomi sat by the window in the kitchen, watching everyone move about as if it were a normal day. 

Victor sighed loudly as he entered the kitchen. "I can't take this depressing silence. Someone crack a joke before I lose my mind," he said, walking up behind Skye. "Even our beloved matriarch has gone quiet!" 

Skye turned around, holding a wooden spoon in her hand. "Victor, hush. Today is a serious day." 

"Exactly why we shouldn't be so serious right now!" he exclaimed. "Our first shred of hope and here we are acting like we've been found out and we're being sent to the gallows." 

"Because if this goes wrong, we will be," Naomi muttered. 

Silence again. Victor watched Naomi for a few long moments, and then sighed once more. "Very well, expect the worst then. I guess I'll be the only one holding out hope for it going well." And with that, he left the kitchen. 

Naomi and I made eye contact for a moment, her words still haunting the back of my mind. Life doesn't have a happy ending, Blackbird.