stjorthotic Chapter 203: Exposing The Witch Among The Royals
Chapter 203: Exposing The Witch Among The Royals
Chapter 203: Exposing The Witch Among The RoyalsAve was about to part her lips and speak again when she heard the loud voices of the crowd coming from below. Looking down, she noticed it was because the witches were being dragged to the execution center. There were many of them tied with chains and being dragged like animals, from adults to kids alike.
"Kill the witches! Kill them all!" The crowds were chanting angrily as they threw things at the witches, who looked resigned and calm; however, the children among them were terrified as they looked around the crowd in horror, and the sight reminded Ave of when she had watched the people of Gina get killed, and her fingers involuntarily balled into fists.
From the other side of the building where there was another balcony where the Emperor and Empress sat, the Emperor stood up and raised his hands to silence the crowd, and immediately, everywhere went quiet with everyone looking up at the balcony.
"People of Pendragon, listen to me! Today, we stand here together to protect our land from the evil that has tried to hide among us. These people have chosen a path that goes against everything we believe in—they have chosen darkness, causing harm and spreading fear among the innocent."
The Emperor looked around, his voice steady and strong as he saw how attentive the people were.
"These people betrayed our laws and our faith. They turned to forbidden, unnatural powers, breaking the trust we hold dear. They have hurt our families, threatened our peace."
The crowd murmured in agreement, some nodding, some even throwing stones at the sinful witches who had turned to darkness and brought nothing but bad luck to their lands; because of them, many people had died, and even some royals had gone missing. They brought nothing but misfortune!
"Today, justice will be served. Today, we take back our peace by ending the darkness they brought into our world. This is not just punishment; it is to protect every mother, father, and child in our Empire from the same fate!" the Emperor announced, his voice rising in anger as he glared down at the witches who looked back at him with hatred. He didn’t care about their resentment; they deserved to die for the losses they had caused him since the time he had become the ruler. He hadn’t just lost his mother to their kind, but had been cursed with an illness that was slowly killing him.
Now, because of them, he had to face the Banzai, whose daughter they couldn’t find no matter what they did, not to mention his first son’s condition. Alden was in a state between life and death because of them.
"So look upon them and remember: we will never allow such evil to live among us again. Justice is watching, and no one can escape it!"
The Emperor raised his hand, signaling the execution to begin, and the crowd responded with shouts of support, feeling reassured by his words as they all turned to the platform where the men in charge of the beheading were pulling the witches up one by one. Those who hadn’t reacted to the smoke had been left behind in the palace and would be given away as slaves to the other kingdoms, while the ones here were the ones who had tested positive as witches.
The first person to be dragged up the platform and forced to her knees was a beautiful teenage girl who was shaking all over and looking around in horror,
Alaric thought about it for some time before he nodded his head and spoke up, "Very well. You have my word, point the witch out in exchange for your life."
Ave went as still as a rock as a shiver went through her spine when the woman agreed to point the witch out. She felt her stomach twist in nervousness, and her heart began to throb loudly in her ears to the point she could no longer hear anything around her but the ringing alarm bells in her head. Should she run? Even if she were to run, where would she go at this point, where the woman’s head was slowly turning towards her direction, and everyone was watching closely and waiting to see whom she would point at.
Everything happened so quickly that Ave didn’t see it coming when it did because she’d shut her eyes when the woman’s head finally stopped in their balcony’s direction. All she heard was a loud gasp and the shocked exclamations of the princesses around her, and for a moment she thought she had been found out until she heard,
"Oh my Lord! Why did he do that?!"
Why did who do what? Ave thought as she peeked open one eye to see what was going on, and when she saw it, she gasped as well and opened the other eye in surprised disbelief at the sight below.
On the platform where the woman had been kneeling and running her mouth earlier, she was still kneeling there; however, her head was off her shoulders, and Lucian stood above her with his sword held high after beheading her, with blood splashes on his clothes and face. His expression was dark and murderous, and his interference made everyone begin to question why he did it when the Emperor had stopped her execution.
"Lucian!" yelled the Emperor in displeasure as he slammed his fist against the rails and glared at his second son. "How dare you act without my orders?!"
Lucian dropped his sword and turned to his father with indifferent eyes, "She was running her mouth too much with lies, Your Majesty. She was stalling for time to draw a spell on the floor with her fingers." He gestured towards the ground where the woman’s hands were tied in front of her, but her fingers were able to move to draw a spell. In truth, she hadn’t drawn any spell; it was Lucian who had with his eyes before he beheaded her.
He wasn’t going to stand by and watch her get his wife into trouble right before his eyes. Lucian watched as his father’s displeasure fell away as he noticed the drawn spell on the ground, just like everyone standing around had. Meanwhile, the Empress’s eyes narrowed down on Lucian instead of the drawn spell, and her fingers clenched around the arm of her chair.
"The second prince saved us from her evilness!" chanted the crowd as they all believed she had been drawing a spell, and they all cheered for Lucian as the Emperor announced the end of the execution ceremony.
Ave let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding back as everyone began to leave. She looked down at her hand and saw how they were still shaking. She had been saved by Lucian, she cried in her head as she watched him turn away and mount his horse leaving the execution grounds. He didn’t look at her, and she totally understood why. As she watched him ride away, her heart swelled with warmth and love for him, and she made a mental note to thank him specially when they returned home.