Rule the World

"You are the one I'd give my life for. You are the one who is haunting my dreams. Oh, how I long to be yours forever more. For all time. Our love shall be prime..."
~~~~~~~~

My conscience rose slowly from the peacefulness of sleep. I was warm and comfortable, wondering when my bed had gotten so nice....Wait.

My eyes fluttered open, finding myself in Roy's bedroom. Again. I sat up and saw I was still in Elena's dress. What time was it? Roy and I had stayed up until the early morning, talking.

"Good morning," Roy said, from his chair beside the fire.

"Is it still morning?" I asked.

He smiled and got up from his seat. "Its only ten."

I smiled back at him; he came and sat on the edge of the bed. He touched my face and focused on his throat. "I--I had a great time last night," I managed to stutterer out.

"Me too," he whispered.

He kissed me softly and my heart wanted to rise out of my chest. When we pulled apart, I swallowed hard, hoping he couldn't see how weightless he made me feel.

"I should probably get to work..." I said, keeping my eyes close, keeping the memory in my head.

"You don't have to."

"I should. Or else Elena might send a search party for me."

Roy chuckled. "If you must."

|

I was scrubbing the kitchen floor, my hands calloused and wrinkled. I swept the hair back to my face, planning on how I was going to tell Rosin about my night. The smile on my face never seemed to faulter. I hadn't been this happy in so long.

SERAPHINE!

The harsh suddeness of Ulver's voice made me wince and drop my brush. I looked up, seeing his hulking, black body skulking into the kitchens, making one of the maids scream and jump aside. Even I was scared by the flaming look in his eyes. I crawled backwards as he advanced on me, snarling.

I tried to say something, anything, but my throat seemed to close.

You need to come with me, he growled, his voice not at all calming like it'd used to be. It made my blood turn cold.

I got up shakily and followed him out of kitchens, down the hall. "Ulver..."I whispered. My voice wouldn't get any louder. "What's wrong?"

He let out a growl. Everything.

"W-what?"

You and Roy! I should have stopped it when I had the chance. I shouldn't have provoked him in the first place! Dammit!

"What are you talking about?!"

You and Roy!

"What about us?"

With terrifying speed, he'd whirled on me, crouched down. Roy is using you. He has been since the very beginning.

I blinked at him. "W--what?"

His muscles were twitching. He's been using you for his own purposes. Since you met, its been only for him!

I just stared at him, his statement unable to sink in. "I don't believe you."

He growled and slinked down the fall. Fine. Let Roy tell you himeself.

Every step I took, my feet seemed to be made of cement. I didn't want to know what Roy was going to say. It couldn't be that horrible. It couldn't be what Ulver was saying. Roy wouldn't use me. He...he said he loved me.

The study door loomed in front of me. Ulver opened it, looked back at me, and walked inside. I reluctantly followed him.

Roy was sitting at his desk, shuffling through papers. When he heard our entry, he looked up. "Ulver, Sera--"

Tell her.

Roy looked at Ulver, his eyebrows knitting together. "What?"

Tell her the truth, Roy. Tell her why you've been taking advantage of her.

Roy shot up in his seat, his teeth gritted. "I have not been taking--"

You have been, Roy. Don't lie. Tell her the truth.

"There is no truth!"

I told her you were using her! You know its true! Tell her about what happened! Tell her about Edane!

At the new name, Roy froze, his brown eyes freezing over. "There is no need--"

There is every need. Especially since you can't let her go.

"Yes, I--"

"Roy," I said, my voice steadier than I thought it would be.

He looked at me and I saw...fear in his eyes. Fear and loathing. Longing. Pain. But I kept my eyes locked with his, hoping my lack of wanting to know the truth didn't show.

I took a deep breath. "Who is Edane?"

He looked down at the desk, the pain seeming to turn into agony as his fists clenched. He didn't say anything.

"Roy, who is she?" I demanded. Roy flinched at my voice. "Tell me!"

"She was...my...I was in love with her."

"What does that have to do with me?" I asked, shakily.

His eyes dropped from mine. "You...look just like her. Sound just like her."

My eyes widened. That wasn't what I was expecting. "I look just like her?"

He opened one of his desk drawers and dug around before holding something up. It was a wrinkled, weathered picture of...me. Same hair, same eyes, same...face. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Its true, Sera.

With Ulver's voice, my own returned. "What happened to her?"

He looked up at me and I saw the sorrow in his eyes. "She's dead."

Another blow. Dead?

Roy

She was in the same predicament as Sera's parents. Poor and simple, unable to barely support a family. She took a job at the castle. At first, it was to gain information and sell it to North America. I found that out too late. But it became more than that. We loved each other. She realized that and stopped giving information, but the deed was done.

One of the guards discovered what she had done and arrested her. I had no choice. She had to be taken to trial.

The room was crowded, filled with the taunts and jeers at my beautiful Edane. But she stood in the center of the room in silence, wrists chained to her ankles. Her chin was raised in defiance, her eyes level. We were waiting for what the jury would say. If she was found innocent.

Or guilty.

"Milord." I turnd to my advisor, Cyril.

"Yes?"

"You know what to do in the moment she's found guilty."

My skin crawled at the horrifying thought, but I nodded, keeping my face blank. "Of course."

He smiled and nodded. "Good."

My eyes went back to Edane. She still wasn't looking at me. The jury filed back in and I waited, tense to the point I couldn't move. Cyril spoke with one of them, nodded, and then approached me. His voice whispered in my ear. My brain didn't want to process it. I swallowed, my mouth bone dry.

I stood slowly and the room fell silent. I looked down upon Edane and finally, her eyes met mine.

I sucked in a breath. "Edane Lys has been found...guilty." Her head dropped in defeat and I heard her mother cry out in grief as my voice echoed off the walls. My eyes closed. "She is sentenced to death."

Two days of harrowing grief and I was back in my undeserved thrown, high above the crowds awaiting the execution. Three 'criminals' stood on the stone platform, the pale sun shining upon them. A murderer, a rapist, and Edane. She didn't belong in their company. She wasn't a bad person. She was innocent, only wished to save her family from death. Now she was paying for it.

The three of them were allowed to say some final words. The murderer begged the people to not judge his family on what he had done and the rapist's statement was repulsive. It came to Edane. She had been as still as stone until then.

Her head rose and she looked at me. She smiled and my heart ached. "I just wish to let the king know not to feel guilty. I'm the one that's guilty and I deserve what I'm getting."

Several people laughed at her, said she was stupid for thinking that the king would feel guilty. I didn't feel guilty. I was devastated.

Her eyes never left mine. As the final seconds ticked by, her face softened. "I love you," she mouthed.

"I love you too." No sound left my lips, but her smile broaded.

The executioner stepped up to her. I should have stopped it. I should have done something, but I couldn't. I just sat there like a coward as the gun was pressed to her head.

Crack!

Her body jerked back. Blood splattered the platform. Her body hit the ground.

I rose and left, walking back into the castle. My heart was shattering, its jagged edges cutting into my insides. I couldn't breath. Her final moment of life...

"Milord!"

I turned on Cyril. "Get out."

He looked at me in shock. "Milord?"

"Get out!" I shouted. "You're done here!"

"Wha--"

"OUT!"

He stepped back and then quickly retreated down the hall. I stagged only a few more feet before sliding down the wall, collapsing in a heap on the floor. Tears rolled down my face. She was gone. Dead. I didn't do anything. I'd let her be killed. I was king! I should have done something!

I would live with that burden, every day, for the rest of my life. I'd loved Edane. And I'd let her die.