Their eyes bore into me, standing tall—with my head held high. I’d sooner walk myself to the gallows than yield to a monster. The iron shackles heavy, tearing into the raw skin of my wrists. My nails dug into my palms, the knights at my back. There was no escaping this.

“You keep the king waiting, bend girl!” The knight behind me pushed me forward roughly—nearly slipping, the muck caked to my bare-feet allowing no friction on the marble floor. Bow? My singular laugh echoed through the daunting hallway, the gasps from the crowd a symphony of disapproval.

The monster rose from his golden throne, his dais raised above all, so he could loom over the people of his court.

“You test me, My Lady.” His golden crown glimmered with the reflection of colorful light, that shone through the stain glass windows. Midnight hair framed his face—one might call him handsome. A chiseled jaw line, eyes of green emeralds. Pleasant features were wasted on such a monster.

I was once considered pleasant myself. But the journey here as a prisoner dulled any beauty I had once before.

The monster wanted but one thing, to make plead for his forgiveness for the crimes of my parents. The crimes the king deemed as needing punishment. Burning down my home, slaughtering them in cold blood before me—all because they refused to bend. It was not I, that needed to beg for forgiveness.

The king raised his hand, a knight brought a young boy onto the dais—a blade pressed to his throat—Matthias!

Moving forward—hands on my shoulders—holding me back. Swinging my shoulders side to side, I couldn’t shake them off! My heart pounded; bile rose in my throat.

“He is a child!” My shouts bounced off of the walls.

Matthias shook in the knight’s grasp. Tears fell down his cheeks, he dared not breath with the steel at his throat.

“The last heir of the Terdorian Kingdom. He is a threat to my realm.” The monster took two steps down from his dais. Green emeralds locked onto my unrelenting sapphires.

“You would kill an innocent child to satisfy your ego?” My voice cracked; the stubborn bravery vanished as my heart drummed.

“I would kill a child to protect my realm. Perhaps your parents should have done the same 500 years ago.”

“Bend your knee, and I might spare him.” He smirked at me.

The king glanced towards his knight; the blade drew his blood. Matthias squealed out in terror. His small hands grasping at the bastard's arm that held him! His blood dripped down the crook of his neck, staining his dirty white tunic crimson—

“I YIELD! Spare him!” My chest rising up and down rapidly, the king’s head still inclined to his knight, only his eyes shifting to look at me. He stayed still—waiting.

Taking a deep shakey breath in, holding it in my lungs. Armor-clad hands left my shoulders. A trail of wet mud left behind me as I approached the dais. My knees met the white floor, the chains tying my ankles together clanked to the marble, “Your Majesty…I apologize for my parents transgressions to you and your kingdom. T-they were fools to reject your…generous…offer to unit with your realm. I swear my fealty to you, My King.” I bent my head forward baring my neck, my palms on the ground as I bowed to him. My clipped feathered wings spread in submission.

“I accept your sincere apology, Princess Leina.” The king spoke and I lifted my head.

The king nodded his head…once—the knight slit Matthias’s throat and his blood cascaded down in a waterfall. I tore a bellowing scream from my lungs, my rage and pain filled this hall of hell.

I crawled over to Matthias as the knight let go of him, his body rolling down the steps. Pulling him into my lap, clutching my hand over his neck—it did little to stop the bleeding. He gargled, drowning in his own blood, his sapphire eyes mirrored my own. He was waiting for me to tell him he would be okay.

I placed my bloody hand on his cheek stroking my thumb soothingly against his chilling skin. My tears fell one by one on his pale cheeks, “Shh, shh, I c-can fix this. I always fix it—remember my p-promise?” I forced a smile to my face—the light left his eyes. Hugging his limp body to my chest, rocking back and forth as I screamed my sorrows.

The monster was wrong. Terdoria hasn’t fallen yet; Matthias wasn’t the last heir. For the blood of Terdoria sat there clutching the last remaining family she had. The monster will never forget Leina, for she would be the beast the monster would fear.