1 The Royal Queen's Ascent (1)

"The time has finally come, sister," Arian almost cheered.

"The time for you to meet your end," Mirian added.

Leyon raised her her head from up, to look at the twins she had at one point considered her sisters. They whom had shed tears as the knights of her father's house dragged her to the dungeons, stood before her with glee in shining in their eyes.

She looked at them, too shocked to say a word.

"My, my, sister. You look at home down in this dirty and wretched place," Arian looked her up and down.

"Exactly where she belongs and where her and her mother should have stayed," Mirian continued.

Arian crouched down before Leyon and grabbed her chin so they were eye to eye, "It has taken us so long. But finally, finally the stain you and that whore you called a mother will be removed from our family's name."

"It's actually quite a pity the prince King couldn't make it. You could have out on a show for him and make him comfort you, Arian," Mirian had stayed leaning against the bars of the cell and whined.

Leyon watched on, but felt like she was trapped. Trapped in her mind, where she was only a spectator of the scenes before her.

She could feel her lips move and hear her voice but she was confused by her own words, "Why? Why are you happy to see me like this? I'm your sister, you should be crying, not smiling."

Her words resulted in a slap to the face from Arian, "Don't you dare to bring up false relations. Just because you and that cunning mother of yours slithered your way into our lives, doesn't hide what you really are- a common prostitute's daughter."

A guard came to the gate, "You have two more minutes before I take the prisoner," he said then he was gone.

"I suppose it's time for us to confess to you," Mirian sighed and Arian agreed.

"You see, Leyon, your mother didn't die of heartbreak from father's death. We suffocated her with the pillow father was supposed to lie on then forced a concoction down the throat of her corpse."

Mirian stood beside her twin, who had much darker hair than hers and bright blue eyes that contrasted to her forest green, "The same concoction we tried giving you, sadly you just didn't take it. Oh and Duke Oscar married Miri because he thinks that you have slept with half the young noblemen in this region of the empire: courtesy of us, of course. Hm. Miri can you remember anything else, I am almost positive there is more."

"Ah! Yes. The maids that were applied to you by father were suggested by us." Mirian smirked at Leyon's horrified expression.

She had always thought it weird that anytime either of those maids were around her alone something bad would happen: her being shoved down a flight of marble stairs, a closet setting afire as she dressed, specks of glass being in her juice- they were all planned. All those 'accidents' were planned to... kill her.

Apart of Leyon watched all the memories flash before her eyes, as she continued to watch, feeling like an intruder in her own body.

As if just realizing something, Leyon gasped, "You- you set me up. You killed my husband." The sight of Leyon's husband, Count Richard, all bloodied and a knife in her hand appeared before her mind's eye.

"I almost forgot that, but yes we did. " The guard chose that time to come back, Miriam and Arian came closer to me, both holding a hand and forcing me to my feet, "Now you'll die for something you didn't even do."

Leyon almost tripped over the chains around her feet and attached to her hands and fell in the arms of the guard.

She was dragged to the execution field by the guard who ignored her hisses of pain as her bare feet brushed over the rough and jagged surfaces of the ground since her death was near.

She looked around the field seeing there were about twenty persons present. She only faintly recognised some of them.

The priest came and stood before her, "Leyon for the crime of murdering your noble husband, Count Richards, you are sentenced to death at the stake." The priest whom Leyon can distinctly remember offending once, said a few prayers for her soul before going to sit down. He had no pity on his face.

She couldn't struggle against the persons who were tying her to the wooden post. Under the small platform on which she stood, piles of wood were grouped. A man in armour had a torch in hand as he walked towards her, he placed the well lit torch under the platform.

Her heart accelerated with every passing second as the fire beneath her feet rose higher and higher. Leyon focused on the faces around her to help distract her from the pain the fire was inflicting on her feet. All the faces she could recognise and none had pity or sadness, some were visibly happy while others had neutral expressions.

'What kind of life did I live?' she thought.

As the fire got wilder from the air fuelling it, the pain became hard to ignore. A scream tore through her lips as the fires consumed her.

The fire had started licking at her abdomen making her screaming unstoppable. She screamed and screamed. Leyon felt the heat in her head, all her efforts she made to try and get away from the ferocious fire or to somehow lessen her pain were futile.

With her eyes half closed, she saw her sisters hiding their faces behind their fans and she couldn't help but curse them. Leyon cursed their families, their entire generations to suffer in the depths of hell.

The world around her became blanketed in darkness and her pain became null.

*

Leyon's eyes shot open open with a frightened gasp for air. She sat up and looked around her, it was early morning and she was still in her bed in her room at the Count's house.

'Was it a dream?' Her hands felt up her legs and waist and though they felt fine she couldn't forget the heat and agonizing pain that felt so real.

Her body shuddered, 'No it was a premonition.'

Leyon removed the sheets, got up from the bed and went to stand by the window. She wrapped her arms around her as she watched the sun rising.

"A premonition that I'll never let come to pass. Ever," she swore to herself and the sun.