My feet felt as if they were weighed down by lead, but they moved automatically as they shuffled against the cold dirt beneath me. I looked up at the raised seating around me that encircled the small enclosed area. Civilians spectated silently with far away looking eyes. I looked up at the raised throne where a man in silken robes and a golden crown resting upon his temples eyed my disdainfully. I returned the favor to that damned tyrant. It was his fault I was ere right now. It was his fault I had even attacked my supervisor in the first place. It was unfair how he was treating us.
I felt myself falling as the man behind me pushed me down. I landed roughly on my knees, trying to hold my head up to show I wasn't scared. In reality, I was terrified. I straightened out the dirtied robe I was wearing with shaky hands and looked in front of me. Before me sat a concrete block where only a few days ago my brother's head rested. I had watched, frozen, without a protest as my brother's life was snatched away by death's greedy claws. Now it was the citizens' turn to watch quietly. My hand lightly touched the block, fingers coming off stained red. The blood was still warm. That would explain why i had heard a short scream when I was waiting in a holding cell just a few minutes ago.
The citizens still looked on, having been forced to attend by the tyrant. I noticed their pale skin, hollowed stomachs, and pale skin adorned with bruises. Their chapped lips seemed to move nervously, though none spoke. They had suffered abuse living and working in such harsh conditions. The tyrant had plenty of men to enforce his rules, but they were more animal than human in the way they carried out punishments so brutally and without so much as a second thought.
The executioner had been made to be one of these brutes. I remember his name on my tongue. Clyde. He used to be a baker and had a little shop in town with his wife. His wife was amiable, plump woman who always seemed to have flour on her hands and sometimes slipped in a cookie for me. Clyde was kind too, smiling at my brother and I whenever we had purchased a warm loaf of bread for the week. He had changed whenever he had found his wife in the town square one quite morning with her throat opened by a thief's dagger, the culprit long gone with a purse jingling with coins. From then on, the smiles were gone and he always seemed to be unfocused and quiet. When the tyrant killed the true king and stepped into his place, Clyde had been one of the first to join the pack of loyal followers. Maybe he did it for a coin or two, to save his hide, or maybe he had truly gone insane. I wondered if he felt anything when his hand pushed my head onto the block. I wonder if he had remembered my smiling face or the conversations we had on pleasant summer days. Probably not. He was a broken man now.
The blood on the block stained my cheek and white hair. I remembered when my mom had braided my hair as a little girl, using nimble hands as she hummed. Too bad illness had stolen her away last year. My family has never had a good relationship with death. I heard the gravelly voice of Clyde behind me, his words escaping from his layers of black garments. "Natasha Elenari has hereby been sentenced to death for her treason against the king."
All I had done what fight back when a supervisor at work hadn't let me mourn the loss of my brother. That was all. I wish I had managed to do more. Dread suddenly filled my gut as I realized he was about to lower the axe. No, no, no! This couldn't be the end of me! My pulse quickened and my blond ran cold. What could I do? Oh wait...my powers! I had refused to use them since my mother warned me I would be burned at the stake if they were ever discovered, but what would it matter. At least when I burn, I could be glad I had managed to do some more damage. I prayed that this would work and closed my eyes, focusing. I heard the executioner ready his axe and his breath as he began to use force to swing it down.
I tensed and heard a collective gasp. I kept my head low, but removed it from the block. then I raised it and saw the executioner's axe was frozen in place. I got to my bare feet and wiped the blood from my face. It had worked! The king had stood up as well. "Executioner, why have you disobeyed my command to kill the girl?"he asked angrily.
"I..I haven't, your grace. The axe is being held by some sort of unseen force."Clyde stammered.
I laughed, a dark sound. I had the power now. The axe was pulled from Clyde's grasp and raised into the air. the crowd looked to be in awe, wondering what was happening. the king looked dismayed as he looked to the armed guard beside him. "I thought you had found and killed all of the bloody magic users!"he hissed.
The guard looked confused. I lifted a hand and made the axe move back and forth, building momentum as everyone looked on. "I sentence the tyrant, Robert Tamoshi, to death for killing the true king and abusing the civilians."I said with a strong voice. the civilians cheered and the blood drained from the king's face, his sapphire colored eyes filled with more fear than disdain now. I mentally pushed the axe towards the king with surprising speed. The blade found its mark in the king's throat. Blood gushed off of the blade and dribbled onto the lap of the king, his eyes permanently widened in fear. His head rolled off and landed in his lap. I found myself smiling as the civilians rushed forth and chased off the executioner and guards, sending them off of this territory. Then, to my surprise, they all knelt before me. I walked over to the dead king and plucked the crown off of his head, setting it on my own. I faced the people and grinned. "I see you have chosen me as queen. Well."I said, pausing for effect. "Let's get things sorted out here, shall we."