Chapter 69- To the Gallows

^^ T.T ^^

"Death may indeed be eternal but the love we share while living is eternal."

Chapter 69

To the Gallows

River's POV

Sam's mouth opened and closed a couple times before a single word fell out, "she?"

I nodded, " for the time I knew...Noah, she was going by the name Alice."

A momentary grunt gargled his throat as his hand reached up to brush against his prickled chin.

"Ah."

I did not how to respond so instead I played with my fingers, peering downwards, watching as a cockroach nibbled on what was left of my loaf of bread. I wondered, momentarily, if it was the same one that would come every day after each meal. I wouldn't know, all cockroaches looked the same to me. Though, this one was quite smart, always knowing the right time to come to my cell. Quite like clockwork.

"Strong little fella, isn't it?"

"Hm?" My head tilted upwards.

Sam sent me a cheeky grin.

He licked his bottom lip and bent down, "did you know that cockroaches are actually pretty indestructible?"

I quirked a brow, "really?"

He nodded and peered down at the dirty, little creature.

"Once, there was a cockroach in our house. Matthew found it sitting right on his dinner plate, eating away at his half-cut chicken. He didn't want to step on it and get its juices all over so he threw it off his plate and into a bucket of water. Came back nearly half an hour later, dumped the bucket, and it was moving around like a man on fire!" Sam raised his hands. "It survived, holding its breath for nearly thirty minutes. Freakin' insane."

"Wow," I breathed, "what did you do? Did you...kill it?"

"After all of that?" Sam scoffed, "thing's a freakin' warrior. Would've taken a poor-hearted man to kill it after it worked so hard to survive. Nah," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I took it in my hand and let out through the door." He let out a deep sigh, "It wasn't evil or nothing. It's only crime was wanting to survive, y'know?"

I nodded.

Its only crime was wanting to survive.

My fingers brushed lightly against the swell in the back of my head. The gaping hole had long since healed and now all I had as a reminder of that horrid day was the acute pounding I got at random times from the small swell that still remained.

That's all it was, wasn't it, Luna? You just wanted to live. That's all.

I almost thought I could hear a low whine in the back of my head but before I could make sure of it a loud click filled my ears. I peered upwards, just as the cell door screeched open and Alastair's tall figure filled my gaze. His hazel eyes locked on mine. His bottom lip was tightly pulled between his teeth as he crossed the cell in mere seconds and pulled me into his arms.

My fingers knotted into the back of his shirt as my head rested against his shoulder.

No words were spoken, which frightened me as he silently rained light kisses against my shoulder blades. His lips brushed against my ear just as a choked sob escaped his throat.

"I'm so sorry."

A shaky breath escaped my throat. My hand released its tight hold on Alastair's shirt to cup my mouth as tears bunched around the edges of my eyes. No words would escape me. None could.

There was no explanation needed. Those three words were enough.

I was to be killed and Alastair could do nothing to stop it. He may be king but he wasn't above the law. No king was.

I took a deep breath, holding off my tears as they fought the right to fall. I wouldn't allow it. I needed to be strong. One of us had to and by the sound of Alastair's broken sobs, it wasn't going to be him.

For once in my seemingly short life, I was going to be last to crack. The last to cry.

I released my hand from its sanction around my mouth and instead rose it to Alastair's tear-stained face. His face buried in my neck, tears wettening my skin as his arms held me tightly against his chest. My fingers ran lightly against the side of his face, pads gently encircling the planes of his sorrowful skin.

"It's alright, love," I struggled to keep my voice even, "we both knew this was going to happen. It was only a matter of time."

His body tensed against mine. His sobs silenced and head whipped up from my neck. His solemn eyes locked on mine as a shaky breath broke past his tightened lips.

"N-no," his voice shook, "this is not alright." His brows pushed together as his eyes narrowed, "how could this possibly be alright?" His voice rose as his grip tightened on my arms. "You're about to be taken from me. Forever. And you think that it's alright?" His breath came out shallow, his eyes drowning in his own sorrow.

"No," I shook my head, "it's not. But what else am I supposed to say, Alastair? There's nothing that can be done. It's over. I'm...over." My eyes held his yet internally I was breaking, shattering by the minute.

How was one meant to react in a situation such as this? Crying wasn't going to solve anything. I learned that long ago.

It would only cause Alastair more pain to watch me fall apart.

And what would be the point of that?

Alastair shook his head. A deep breath fell past his tight lips as his thumbs lightly brushed against my cheeks. His eyes searched mine and after a few moments, his head dipped and his lips brushed softly against mine. His movements were slow, careful as if at any moment I would shatter and I almost felt as if I would. My fingers dug into his scalp as his kiss deepened and tongue wrapped gently around mine. A pleasant sigh escaped my throat as his arms gently cradled me to his chest. His fingers rose to cup my face as a breathy sigh of his own floated between our shared heat.

We sat like that for what felt like forever, wrapped in each other's embrace, merely feeling each other before my lips carefully pulled from his. My eyes slowly opened, locking on his darkened gaze.

"Alastair," my voice shook as my hands roamed over his broad chest, "how much time do I have?"

His thumb lightly traced the outline of my lips before a sigh pulled past his lips, "until nightfall."

"Nightfall," I gasped, "tonight? I'm to be hung tonight?"

"Yes," his eyes glistened, "they want this be done behind the prying eyes of civilians. They want it to be done while everyone's in their home sleeping. Our people...they don't know. They don't know of your crime."

"They don't know," my voice fell as my fingers raked through my hair, "then what's going to be their excuse when it comes out that I'm dead? Without knowing my crime, it'll be nothing but a cold-blooded murder."

This was ridiculous. Absolutely ludicrous.

"They're going to claim you died of a plague. That you fell asleep tonight and never awoke come morning. It's common enough," he breathed.

"And then what?" My voice rose, "no one will ever know? It'll be forever known that I died of a plague not even a year into your kingship? And no servants or guards will say otherwise?"

"Yes," Alastair nodded, "and I will be known as the poor king who ruled the rest of his kingship without a mate."

I couldn't breathe. This was...unbelievable, really. Just like that, they'd cover their tracks. Just to keep the royal name untarnished, they'd play such a crazy display of lies and secrets.

"And the servant, the guards?"

"They're under oath not to speak a word. One word of this and their families will be sentenced to death by the royal court," Alastair sighed, shaking his head.

I clicked my tongue as I rubbed my temples.

"All of this just to protect the royal name," my voice shook. "They have a law, too old to actually apply to today's day. Knowing that, instead of molding it to the shape of now, they'd rather just hide the problems that come with it and get rid of any baggage that comes their way."

Alastair remained silent. His brows pulled together and his mouth formed a line.

"Don't you see, Alastair?" I laughed humorlessly, "with a court like that your kingdom will never strive. Without change, there's no progress. There's...nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing but a kingdom stuck in the same place for multiple periods of time. There will be no creations, no inventions, no times of splendor." My head shook, "no. With a law like this, you hide who you truly are. You disconnect yourself from half of who you really are. How are you to rule a kingdom, to bring prosperity to your people when you don't even fully know yourself? When no one truly knows themselves."

Alastair's teeth dug into his lip as his brows pulled tightly together.

"Do you hear what I'm saying?" My voice lowered as I searched his face.

Alastair nodded.

"Yes," he swallowed, "loud and clear."

I bit my bottom lip before bobbing a slight nod.

"Good."

I lifted myself from the ground and Alastair copied my movement, following me as I led him to my bed.

"Would you sleep with me? Just one last time?" I asked as I lowered myself to the bed.

His eyes softened as he crawled in right next to me and wrapped his arms securely around me.

"Just sleep?" He playfully nipped at my ear.

I swatted at him while laughing, "yes, Alastair. Just sleeping. We have an audience in case you have forgotten," I pointed to the guards by my cell.

Alastair eyed the men in armor with a sigh. He nuzzled his nose against my cheek.

"Can't they give us privacy? It's our last time together," he grumbled, "I want to make love to you. Just one last time."

My cheeks burned as I hid my head in the crook of his neck.

"Me too," I whispered against his neck.

He let out a huff and took to laying soft kisses down my neck.

"We may not be able to go all the way," he whispered between light pecks, "but that doesn't mean I can't still make love to you."

"Hm," I hummed low in my throat as I tilted my head back. His lips pressed lightly up my neck as his fingers lightly swept up my chest.

My hand wrapped around my mouth in fear of being heard by the guards.

Alastair's fingers and lips rememorized my entire body. Both exchanging when one wouldn't suffice. My head laid back, eyes watching through the corner window as the sky darkened and my death grew closer by the minute. I couldn't truly get myself into Alastair's lovemaking. As good as it felt to have his lips against my skin, I couldn't help but feel like a heap of ice was spreading within me, freezing me to the bone. My death was coming sooner than I expected and I still had so much more that I wanted to do. There was so much I wanted to change. And somehow, I felt that without me it would never change.

Perhaps that was too vain of me to think but no matter, I worried.

I was a worrier. Always was and always will be. After all, I was never quite the optimist.

A light chuckle escaped my throat.

Alastair rose his head, brow raised quizzically, "did I miss the joke?"

I shook my head, "It's nothing, love."

"Glad you can be so optimistic," he sighed as he fell next to me and closed his eyes.

Optimistic, huh?

I shook my head and turned, burying my head against his chest as sleep wafted me to a land of darkness, a place where neither life nor death existed. Nothing besides the imagination itself.

If only, I thought, I could stay here forever and never awake.

☾

(Listen to this song with the following scene.)

☾

I awoke to shouting. My head pounded along with the pulsing of my startled heart. I lifted myself slowly from my bed, eyeing the scene before me. There stood a group of guards, each with eyes of annoyment and before them stood an equally as peeved Alastair.

There he stood, arms folded as he stood between me and the large, armored group.

"You will not touch him," he spoke slowly and through his teeth.

"We were ordered to take him to the gallows now," one spoke up, the largest of the group.

"In which case," Alastair's eyes hardened, "I will take him. You may all feel free to follow as you wish." He left no room for a reply as he turned his back to them and reached down to scoop me into his arms.

"Alastair," I whispered up at him.

He remained silent as he pushed my cell door open and took large, powerful strides to the jailhouse door, ignoring the company behind us. The guards filed after us, their gazes obvious on our backs. Alastair merely adjusted me in his arms and continued walking with no care.

I turned my head, eyeing the group behind us yet one familiar face was missing.

"Where's Sam?" I asked over Alastair's shoulder.

They peered at one another before one spoke.

"He asked to take off for the night," the guard's eyes turned from mine, "after all, his job was over."

My eyes dropped, head turning from the group.

I couldn't blame him. We had grown close over the last few days. Of course, he wouldn't want to have to stay witness to my death.

I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

"Alastair?" My voice shook as the gallows grew closer and more visible by the minute.

"Yes?" His eyes dropped to mine.

"You know," I swallowed, "you don't have to be there. To see me die." Alastair's brows pinched. "It's something you'll never be able to unsee and-"

"You think that I would abandon you during your own hanging?" Alastair's voice came out breathy and full of confusion, "is my love for you that unclear?"

"No," I gasped, "even more so because of your love for me. To have to watch me die-"

"Have to?" Alastair's voice hardened, "River, I would never leave your side even in death. I will be right in eyes view. Right where I always should be."

I swallowed, taking a shallow breath before nodding and peering forward.

"Where did that come from?"

"Sam. He...took off tonight."

"Sam? Your guard, Sam?" His voice came out uncertain, confused.

I nodded.

"I'm not your guard, River." Alastair leaned forward to leave a light kiss between my furrowed brows, "I'm your mate. And I love you," his voice was so strong, so certain.

I sniffed, containing my tears as I nodded once again.

Alastair stopped in place, eyes lifting from my face. His eyes hardened and arms tightened around me. My eyes lifted as well and like that, my heart stopped. My breath caught in my throat as I eyed the stage where I was soon to stand and the noose that was soon to strangle the life from my very body.

Alastair took a shallow breath and slowly ascended the stairs up to the stage. A few minutes passed with Alastair's arms wrapped protectively around me before the executioner cleared his throat and Alastair was forced to lower me to the wooden flooring. Once my bare feet hit the hardwood, Alastair bent down and wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face into the crook of my neck.

He took a shallow breath and laid a light kiss against my neck. My nails dug into his back, face pressed hard against his chest as I breathed in his scent, enjoying the way we fit together so perfectly like two pieces to a puzzle. With love full in my heart and Alastair's arms around me, I let out a heartbroken sob.

So this was it.