The Key to Ruling a Broken Kingdom (Girl x Girl)

41: Megan

King Charles shot Venus' fiancé at her wedding, and he is to be executed.

I stood with the rest of the commoners, awaiting the execution of the king of Charlissa. Persephonie had told me about it the very next day, and she had been in tears. She was scared for Princess Venus.

I was standing in the crowd, awaiting the execution, with John, Pa, Elizabeth, and Samantha. My eyes searched the royals and I found Persephonie, looking scared out of her wits.

Two guards pushed forward a man whose head was covered with a sack. I, and everyone around me, gasped as they knew this bagged man had to King Charles of Charlissa. What I did not understand was why he, of all people, would do something like this. He is the ruler of one of the most successful empires of my time. Why is he willing to give up everything for something as petty as revenge for a broken heart?

King Patrick cleared his throat and called for our attention. But before he could start talking, an arrow whizzed past the crowd, and shot one of the guards holding King Charles, in the chest. The guard staggered back, and fell to his knees, then his side.

He did not move. The crowd waited in anticipation for something to happen. For a sign that this poor guard had not just died. Suddenly, King Charles wrenched his arm out of the grip of the other guard who was holding him, and took the sack off his head, revealing his albino features. His pale face almost blended with his snow- white hair. The only splash of color on him seemed to be his green eyes.

More guards advanced on him, but more arrows whizzed past the confused crowd, taking out nearly all the guards. King Patrick looked around, confused. "Ambushers! Show your faces!" he demanded. A man standing behind me moved to the front of the crowd, so did many other men from different locations. The 'Ambushers' lined up at the front of the crowd.

The front row consisted of men with bows and arrows, and some other had knives. King Charles proudly walked to stand in the middle of these men. He turned and spoke directly to King Patrick. "These men have come here of their own accord to save me from my cruel fate. They have come because they do not want their king to die. They have come because they love their king, and are willing to sacrifice themselves to protect him.

"Now, you highness, would your subjects do the same for you?" King Charles asked King Patrick, a smirk forming on his lips. He turned to address the crowd, where he asked, "Are you, the subjects of the kingdom of Crotis, willing to die in order to protect your king?"

No one said, or did anything. I glanced to the Royals and Nobles sitting at an altar, and saw Princess Venus' angered face, and Persephonie's scared one. King Charles began to chuckle, and my eyes shot to his face. "I am willing to die, not only for my king, but my queen, prince, and princesses as well" I declared.

"I am too!" I heard John yell.

"Long live King Patrick! Long live the Crotition Royals!" Elizabeth said.

"Long live the Crotition Royals!" A different man yelled. "Long live King Patrick!"

More and more people started joining in on the chant, and King Charles looked around, defeated. I looked back up to the altar and found Persephonie's black eyes, filled with pride and gratitude. I flashed her a grin and she smiled back at me.

My eyes moved to find King Patrick, who looked glad, but lost. I heard a man yelp in pain and looked to the front line to see one of the archers fall to the ground, with a knife in his back. The chanting immediately died.

King Charles' eyes filled with fury. He looked around frantically, and his eyes stopped on a man, slowly backing away into the depths of the crowd. He whispered something to one of the archers, and in an instant, an arrow flew to hit this man's chest, dead center.