She stood quietly on the furthest point of the castle walls, as if standing on the edge of her mind and the boundaries of her childhood.
Tears streamed over the curves of her cheeks as she looked over the crops worked by the blistered hands of the people; her fathers people, or at least they were. Now her father – Their King, was laid out in wake and his people were left in wonder.
She knew in her heart that he would come for her, and they in turn would come for him.
Death was inevitable, and reality was an unfathomable truth.
She turned to look at the guards walking closer to usher her to her chambers that now despite their gold finishing and finest silk has become her prison cell.
She laid awake that night thinking back to the previous day that had lead up to her present circumstances: Oh, if she could only be heard. But it is hard to say your peace and proclaim your innocence if you are deprived an audience.
Her thoughts took her back to the cold winters Wednesday morning just one day prior that now seemed like an eternity ago.
Everything was still so familiar…
Sneaking past the guards were easy if you knew where they were, she had done this so many times before, she smiled in defience as she snuck through a narrow opening but that smile faded into a momentary frown as she tore her dress in the process: “Not again” she quietly said to herself.
There was an untamed excitement boiling over inside of her as she made her way to the forest, she HAD to see him.
She was short of breath by the time she reached the waterfall, and decided to sit down on a rock beside the mauling water stream that it fed into, she cupped her hands and scooped up mouthfuls of the icy water to quench her thirst, then splashed some of the icy liquid on her face.
She did not want to linger too long, she didn’t want to miss a single moment that she could spend with him. She pushed herself up to her feet and continued to follow a narrow pathway that lead to a hidden cave entrance. The entrance point was quite small, but once inside the mouth of the cave extended into oversized hallways with large cavities proceeding from them.
The little light that seeped into the opening of the cave was barely enough to guide her through the first ten steps, thereafter she eased her hand towards the sides of the cave. The feel of her fingertips sliding over the rocky moist cave wall somehow made her feel invigorated and she knew that she was getting close which made her heart skip a beat at the mere thought.
In the distance, she saw the feint sparkle of a fire that seemed to grow in size as she got closer. Only when she reached the edges of the cavern in which the fire was burning could she completely grasp its immense size. It always astounded her in the most fascinating way that a fire of that enormous size only illuminated the cavern dimly and did not radiate excessive heat as it burned continually and fuellessly suspended above the floor.
Then she saw him, he was curled up on the opposite side of his hearth. She immediately walked towards him memorised as always by his sheer size and the flickering flames reflecting in his calm eyes. She placed her hands on the scales of his cheeks and allowed herself to lean forward until her head rested against his.
“Oh Abraxus, how I have missed you my dear friend” as she felt the Dragons breath on her skin.
It has always been the one place that she had felt completely understood as a person. Here there was no judgement and no prejudice, only warmth and wisdom.
Abraxus was her one true confidant and only friend and also her secret. They both knew that if the people of the village had to find out that there was still one live dragon in their midst they wouldn’t think twice before coming after him.
She hardly noticed the time and it was almost dark by the time that she realized that she needed to get back to the palace.
“I have to go Abraxus” the princess exclaimed as she hurried to leave.
“Your highness, one last thing before you go, be careful of the black night” Abraxus said in his slow toned voice.
“I’ll be careful Abraxus, I promise” she said as she was making her way towards the cave exit.
Princess Rebecca ran all the way to the castle wall and snuck in just as she had snuck out, just as she reached her chamber, one of the castle maids approached her and asked “Where have you been your highness? The king has been calling for you all afternoon, hurry up change your clothing, he requested your presence in his parlour”
The princess did as she was told then went straight to the kings parlour entering without announcing herself. What she saw that moment was a sight that would change her world forever.
Her father, the king laid lifeless on the parlour floor in a puddle of blood, a man was bent over him with a dagger in hand, she could not make out his face but he appeared to be wearing a knights attire that appeared to be black in the unlit parlour room. Abraxus’s words came to mind “…be careful of the black night…”
She ran towards the man but after a short struggle he managed to escape, Princess Rebecca turned towards her father and noticed that the black knight had dropped the dagger, she picked it up then knelt down besides her father and cradled this lifeless body tightly against her chest as she cried. It was that moment that the guards walked in.
Tomorrow was a day that she was definitely not looking forward to, her fathers burial was to be held in the morning and she would not be allowed to attend as during that time she would be readied to be hanged.
Tears were streaming down her face, and eventually she cried herself to sleep.
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