[ WP ] You stand in shackles before the king . `` You have angered the gods for the last time ! '' his high priest declares . Stubborn as you ever are , you look to the sky and defiantly reply , `` Prove it . ''

Swirling storm clouds and the faint smell of something so familiar. 
 
 The cracked tile beneath my knees shifted uneasily as I found myself trying to remember. Where have I smelled this before? 
 
 `` Treasonous cretin.'' 
 
 I paid no attention to the man draped in black, with his tall hat and crooked nose. He spat vehemently and knelt down to meet my eyes. 
 
 `` Do you know who I am?'' 
 
 I did, but paid no mind to him as I looked elsewhere, to the crowd beyond him. It smelt of her. It smelt of the only place I wanted to be. 
 
 `` Do you understand what you've done?'' 
 
 I turned my head to face him and pierced his gaze. 
 
 `` It was n't my fault.'' 
 
 His wrinkled skin pinched together into the scowl of a demon. 
 
 `` You're going to burn for this. I'll make sure of it. Gods be willing I'll light the flames myself.'' 
 
 He motioned to the men that stood at my side. 
 
 `` Take him back to where he belongs.'' 
 
 The dungeon awaited me, as it had for months now. An iron clad fist came down upon me and brought with it a blinding flash. I felt the warmth of blood flooding down my face as they picked me up by my matted hair and dragged me across the tile floor. 
 
 Between the blur of my vision I still searched the crowd for her. 
 
 ~~~ 
 
 The dungeons seemed to treat me worse each day. Today it was the rats who gnawed at my ankles. Yesterday it was a crowd of guards who decided to ease their boredom with a little violence. The day before that I tried to escape and lost two fingers to a swinging blade. Still, I had n't given up. 
 
 It seemed like an eternity before they finally called me to the throne room. 
 
 Do you confess? Do you repent? These were the kind of questions the tall hatted fool asked me. The king sat to his side as always, thick bearded and full of shit like the rest of his lot. He was to kill me today, for I was n't about to give in to his game. 
 
 My mind wandered as it came again, the smell. The smell of her perfume. A smell like every sweet memory. Rain. Clove. Rosemary. Fresh pine. A shack along the penthine river and glasses of wine. Freshly cleaned sheets. Two bodies. The kind of smell that slowed down time. 
 
 The same way my heart slowed down when she walked into the throne room. 
 
 The way she walked could only be described as gliding, so graceful and poised. Her dress flowed behind her like blood through water. She sat on the embroidered throne to the king's left. 
 
 The queen. 
 
 The silence in the room was deafening. The atmosphere thick, sticking to my lungs and leaving me speechless. 
 
 She was with child. 
 
 The king saw my eyes upon her gut and heaved himself to his feet. The sun shone in from the window behind and left him as naught but a silhouette. 
 
 The priest spoke again. 
 
 `` We know not who you are. You seemed to just appear overnight and sweep the peace of our noble house out from under us, like some vengeful spirit.'' 
 
 His voice shook, but his face was twisted with hate. 
 
 `` You deserve to die like the nameless wretch that you are. Quietly in the dungeons with the rapists and murderers and thieves.'' 
 
 His voice was shrill and rough to the ears. 
 
 `` Are you going to keep ratting on, old man? If so I'd rather take my chances down there.'' 
 
 His eyes opened wide. 
 
 `` This is a holy city. You came through our gates and brought with you the intent to ruin the very birthplace of the voice! Well, you have angered the gods for the last time!'' 
 
 I spat far enough to mark his robe. 
 
 `` Prove it.'' 
 
 The voice of the king drowned out the shriveled jester's retort. 
 
 `` Do you know what will happen to the child?'' 
 
 He gestured to his betrothed. 
 
 `` I had hoped she would give me an heir. Instead she's brought me the bastard of a dungeon rat.'' 
 
 I felt the world drop from beneath me at his next words. 
 
 `` It will die nameless, taken from the womb and thrown down the garden cliffs. It will know no love. It will know nothing of life. It will breathe its last only moments after its first.'' 
 
 Ryna, the queen, did n't even flinch. She kept her eyes forward. I scanned her for something, anything. But all I saw was the silent threat of the king upon her face. 
 
 He turned to her. 
 
 `` You pass judgement. I wash my hands of this affair.'' 
 
 Only then did I see fear in her. Panic. And then understanding. 
 
 She took a deep breath, eyes closed. 
 
 When she opened them they were empty again. And then she spoke. 
 
 `` Stranger, you have brought nothing but problems since you came to our beautiful city. You have sinned in the eyes of our gods and attempted to usurp the throne with your seed.'' 
 
 They were just the words of the king spoken through her, but the voice was soothing still. 
 
 `` You will greet the blade two moons from now and lose your head.'' 
 
 Mercy. A quick death, or enough time between to try another escape. 
 
 The king looked to her, his eyes full of rage. 
 
 `` No. This man deserves a slow death.'' 
 
 Her eyes welled up with fear again. 
 
 `` Beat him.'' 
 
 The first legion, the eyes and fury of the king, slowly circled. Their fists and blades came down upon me like rain, each hit bringing me closer to the end. 
 
 I hope she finds happiness. 
 
 I felt my arm severed from the shoulder. 
 
 I hope she finds happiness. 
 
 I felt my throat fill with blood. 
 
 I hope she finds happiness. 
 
 I felt myself drift into the dark. 
 
 I hope she finds happiness.
