Kiss me

Final chapter

⚠️ TW: abuse, torture and death ⚠️
Dear diary,
It's Monday morning.
Jen had packed us multiple meals before we left, so we spent the first few hours awake eating and discussing about how our new life would play out.
I told her I wanted to own a small flower shop much like Claudia's and sell whatever royal clothing we have left along with my wedding ring.
Billie was more than happy to agree.
Common villagers usually wore similar clothing, it wasn't uncommon for women to wear pants like men did so she could dress how she wanted freely.
We both didn't know what to expect upon entering an entirely new kingdom but we were more than excited to explore for the first time hand in hand. We even spoke about owning a dog so she could halt her fantasies of petting koi fish.
We also read a little more of "Romeo and Juliet" before leaving Act 5 scene 3 for our voyage to another kingdom.
While eating, Billie gathered multiple vibrantly colored flowers and wove them together making two crowns, placing one upon my head and the other on hers.
"What's this?" I giggle while chewing on my food.
"I'm the king, and you're the queen. In this kingdom, we rule together and we can do whatever it is we please." She stated proudly.
"Well my first order as queen is for you to sit down and finish your meal." I demanded while shaking my head.
"My first request as king", she said while sitting beside me and grabbing my hand. "Is to ask for your hand in marriage."
I gasped and looked over at her wide eyed, not a single word being able to leave my mouth.
"No?" She frowned.
"YES BILLIE I WILL MARRY YOU!" I squealed before tackling her to the ground and kissing her soft face all over.
"I'd marry you a million times if I could." I admitted whilst rubbing our noses together.
"And I would propose a million times if I could." She grinned as she sat up and adjusted my position on her lap before grabbing my hand and sliding  a small ring made by flower stems on my ring finger, covering the golden band that was already there.
We shared one more kiss then packed our belongings once again, flower crowns still resting gently on our heads.
As we placed the bag over our shoulders, I heard a group of foot steps make their way over towards us and my heart dropped straight down into the depths of my stomach. The color of my face faded as we turned around, expecting to be face to face with royal subjects with their swords drawn, ready to behead us.
Instead, three women around our age dressed in all white watched us.
I looked over at Billie who had a dagger out, pointed toward them as she demanded for them to tell us who they were.
"Don't mind is we're only making our way back home. Are you two lost?" One of them asked. They spoke so smoothly, giving me the peculiar sense of comfort.
I assumed Billie felt this way as well judging by her decision to put her dagger away.
"We're looking for a loading dock for a ship that is supposed arrive by tomorrow." I said while gripping onto Billie's hand tightly.
"We were just on our way to our hide out which is not too far from where you're headed!" The second one stated.
"Hide out?" Billie questioned.
"We're criminals." The first one spoke.
"What's your crime?" I asked.
"We're a coven of witches." The second stated proudly before the first hit her arm.
"Oh. You don't look like witches." Billie announced.
I hit her arm for being so openly rude, earning a wince from her.
"What's your crime?" The second interrogates us.
"We're-"
"Lovers." The last one cut me of, a mysterious and eerie look in their eyes.
"Aww~" the other two cooed.
"Well let's not wait any longer if you have a boat to get on by tomorrow! Follow us." The second exclaimed as they made their way their way through the forest.
Billie and I followed them, holding each other ever so tightly as we made our way through the dense tree filled world.
Eventually, we made it to a small little house with wooden steps that led to the door. A black cat sat on the third step and purred as it got up, stretched, and made its way down to greet us.
Billie was more than excited to pet the cat and even tried to mimic the noises it was making, claiming how she "knows how to communicate with cats."
I giggled at her foolishness but the witches took her seriously and asked her if she was a clairvoyant, to which she responded no with the saddest look upon her face.
The cat never left our side. It kept rubbing its head against our legs and by the time the sun went down and we were given our own spare room, it jumped onto our bed and fell asleep.
"You're so warm." Billie hummed as she held me close, curling us into a ball so we wouldn't  disturb the feline sleeping at our feet.
"I'd be dead if I was cold." I giggled.
"No don't joke like that." She whined.
"Like what?"
"Like you'll die."
"I will die, that's how life is."
"I can't imagine a world without my heart's gleam in it."
"I know we can't die at the same time but we'll meet again eventually. I promise." I assured her while cupping her cheeks and kissing her nose.
"How?" She questioned.
"Remember that philosophy you told me about. Recognition?"
"Reincarnation."
"That. We can meet each other again."
"Yes, but it's nothing but a philosophy."
"There's truth to everything. Even philosophies. Now let's get some rest before we miss our boat and have to wait another week before there's a chance we can leave again." I ordered.
And with that, she fell fast asleep, arms tight around my waist.
I studied her face as best I could in the dark before mumbling to myself.
"When she shall die,
Take her and cut her out in little stars,
And she will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wake up darling." A soft voice hummed against my ear.
My eyes fluttered opened as I faced a back full of black fur and my chest vibrated as it purred against me.
"What is it with this beast." I rubbed my eyes and sat up carefully, removing the cat off my chest and onto my lap.
"I believe she has adopted us." Billie smiled while reaching out to pet it.
"Where are the witches?"
"They told me they went out to get goods from an underground trader." Billie answered.
"What's the time?" I asked myself while getting up, handing the black cat to Billie and looking out the small window of our very small room. "Should be noon." I answered.
"Can we read please, I don't think I can wait much longer to find out what happens next." Billie begged.
"But what about on the voyage to the nearest kingdom, we'll be on board for weeks with nothing to do!" I challenged.
"Yes but we can just read it over again, besides I'm sure they have more things to do on the boat. Please!" She begged once more, her eyes large and pleading.
How could I possibly say no to her?
I nodded and made my way back into the bed and into her arms as she reached into one of the bags and pulled out the book.
"Now where were we?"
"Act 5 scene 3." I replied while nuzzling into her chest, enjoying the sound of her steady heart beat.
"I'll be Romero you'll be Juliet!" She suggested.
I giggled and nodded and she soon began.
"O my love, my wife!
Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty." She gasped as she read his long and passionate goodbye speech leading up to his poisonous death.
"O true apothecary,
thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." She stated at the page with a blank expression before crying out.
"NO! THEY WERE WRITTEN IN THE STARS!!"
"Hush now it's my turn to read." I took the book in my hands and started.
"O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips.
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative-" Billie cut off my reading with a quick kiss and blushed.
"Romeo did you rise from the dead just to kiss me?" I cocked a brow.
"Continue!" She demanded.
And so I did.
"Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger,
This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die." I finished off, stabbing myself with an imaginary dagger and pretending to have passed away.
"So, they both pass in the end?" She questioned.
"Like true lovers! Now-" I trailed off when the entrance to the small house creaked open then slammed shut.
"They must be back." Billie started to get up and make her way towards the door before the sound of deep steps surrounded the house, shaking the wooden panels that made up the floor.
She looked back at me, a hint of fear in her eyes before she quietly opened our door, just enough to peek and see who was in the house.
"WE DEMAND FOR THE THREE OF YOU TO GET OUT NOW OR ELSE WE WILL BURN THIS HOUSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT!" A booming voice declared.
My heart leaped through my throat as I quietly begged for Billie to shut the door and come back in bed.
"wheres my dagger?" She whispered.
I opened all three bags and found nothing but clothing, jewelry, blankets and food.
"It's not here, please Billie just come back to bed and remain silent." I hoped she'd listen, and to my surprise she did.
She sat beside me and held me close as the heavy footsteps made their way around the house, eventually stopping at the front of our door.
I gasped and jumped a little as the door swung open, revealing four heavily armored men with large swords and metal shields.
They walked in and surrounded Billie and I.
"Where are they." One of them demanded, hand on the handle of his blade.
"We don't know, we're only commoners waiting for the next boat to the nearest kingdom." Billie spoke.
My hands trembled, begging to touch her, to hold her and feel safe.
"Do not toy with us. Where are the three witches? And what is all this?" He gestured toward our clothes and jewelry sprawled out on the bed.
"It's our belongings." She replied.
"How is it that commoners such as yourselves were able to afford such affluent luxuries?" He let out a half hearted chuckle.
"It looks like you two are little thieves, making their way to the next kingdom to terrorize and steal from good people." He assumed.
I shook my head no but remained silent.
One of the men never took his eyes off me, studying my face and observing my every unsteady move.
"Sire, correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe that is the queen and the kings sister." The observer spoke.
Bile burned at my throat as I tried to remain calm, my heart beat so loud it bang through my ears.
Billie grabbed a hold of my hand and squeezed it tightly, digging her nails into my palm.
"I believe so." The first man said.
"We've been searching for you everywhere." He let out a sinister laugh.
"Tie them up. Let's take them back to the kingdom and show them what we do with sinners."
"But what about-" one of the four protested.
"We'll come back for the other three." He assured the group as two of them grabbed a line of rope and tied our wrists together tightly.
Billie tried to fight back.
She screamed and kicked, warning  that she'd have their heads cut off  once she had the chance to speak to Finneas, but I did nothing.
One of the men hit the side of her face with a quick blow, stopping her resistance but not stopping the cusses from under her breath.
They dragged us out with the rope, burning our wrists with every pull. Every time I looked back at Billie, the left side of her face got even more swollen and even started to bruise.
"I'm so sorry Billie." I mumbled as tears started to well in my eyes.
"What for?" She looked up at me as they continued to pull us.
"NO TALKING!" The main man demanded.
"I shouldn't have had any of this happened. I should have just stayed in a woman's place and remained silent and married to your brother." I spoke, hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
As I looked at her, I noticed a large brown vessel float across the water from behind.
The boat.
Our boat.
"Don't apologize my culver, I will never repent for what has happened between us-" she began.
"I said SILENCE." The man yelled before pulling at the rope with such force that we both fell onto cobblestone.
We were at the bridge already, and the palace stared back at us.
It was larger than what I had remembered.
The walk back to the palace felt much longer than the walk away from it.
My wrists were bruised and started to have open wounds from the harsh tugging and rope burns.
As we got closer, a large crowd came into view.
The same crowd from days earlier.
With pitchforks and torches in hand, they cheered as the knights emerged from the side of the palace with us in ties.
At the front of the crowd I noticed Jen and Rory, next to each other but awkwardly spaced out and apart.
Jen was more red than ever, crying violent tears as she shook her head once she was able to see it was us and not the three witches they were originally seeking for.
There was a stage already prepared with three nooses, hanging lifelessly and only moving when the wind blew hard enough for them to sway.
We were guided up to the stage harshly and immediately had the nooses tied tightly around our necks, cutting off airflow already.
I couldn't stop crying, my eyes stung from the hot salty tears flowing down my cheeks like streams in a river.
I could hear Billie sob as well.
We were hopeless.
The clergyman made his way up on stage.
" THIS EVENING, THESE TWO CRIMINALS WERE CHARGED WITH HEINOUS CRIMES. ONE THAT DEFIES GOD, AND THE OTHER THAT DEFIES THIS KINGDOM." The clergy yelled as the crowd screamed in agreement.
"OUR QUEEN HAS NOT ONLY FALLEN FOR THE LIKES OF A WOMAN, BUT HAS LEFT OUR RISING EMPIRE TO ROT! BOTH KILLING THE KING AND RUNNING AWAY WITH HIS SISTER TO HIDE IN A NEW IDENTITY!" He accused.
"I did not kill Finneas!" I yelped as best as I could.
"HUSH DEVIL CHILD! AS PUNISHMENT, NOT ONLY WILL THE BOTH OF YOU BE HUNG TO DEATH, BUT YOU WILL ALSO FACE ETERNAL SUFFERING IN HELL FOR YOUR WICKED CRIMES." He declared.
"Darling." Billie croaked out. "Look at me." She managed to say.
I turned my head, wincing at the burning sensation of the rope against my skin.
"Find me." She whispered
"What?" I sniffled as the tears in my eyes blurred my vision.
"Find me." She said just a little louder, her labored breath altering the way she spoke.
I nodded, sobbing as I tried to reach out for her hands with mine tied up.
"Promise me."
"I promise to find you Billie. In any world, in any time, in any place. I will find you."
Before I knew it, the platform below me opened up and my weight dragged me down as my head hung from the rope.
I could hear Jen's blood curdling screams while I kicked my legs, struggling to breath as my airway cut off completely.
I felt every part of my body go numb, starting with my toes, then my legs, followed by my fingers and eventually my whole body.
But my head was on fire.
I looked over to Billie, but any sign of life from her was gone. She swung slowly as the wind blew her hair softly.
I could feel myself turn blue and my body go cold as the world around me got darker.
Vivid images of moments from when I was younger flashed before my eyes.
I saw my mother, my father, my pet fish that I buried in the garden. I saw the library filled with literature that drove my ambition to become the first king, I saw my dead mother, followed by my dead father. I saw the sorrow in Finneas' eyes as he said the words "I do", and I saw the light on Jen's face when she saw Rory the night of the party. My final vision was Billie. The sun kissing her velvet skin, the ocean living in her eyes, rose petals forming her soft warm lips as she lay her head upon my lap. The words "I love you" played in my head over and over as I watched her laugh, frown, pout, read, eat, sleep, live.
I would've done anything to give her her life back.
I could've done anything to avoid this outcome.
But there was only one thing I can do now as I saw a bright light fill my sight.
Let go.