Chapter Text
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The bells were ringing, singing the fanfare for a king on his funeral day. The drums were rolling out a steady beat, the march of the soldiers reaching it's end.
I shuffled along the cobblestone road, surrounded by hundreds of people. They all hated me, each and every one of them. I didn't know why. I didn't know a lot of things.
I heard a shout and turned my head. Someone threw a rock at me. It hit me hard on the cheek, bruising me. The crowd cheered and I stared at them, blankly. They threw more rocks and it hurt but I didn't care. One hit my crown, knocking it to an angle. A soldier near me told them to stop - they wouldn't want his highness to look anything but his best now would they? The crowd jeered. They did stop throwing rocks though.
The world was hazy, noises dulled and light dimmed. The numbness that had been my life for a while now stayed with me, my only companion in a sea of black, white and gray. Nothing mattered. I couldn't remember what came before this and I didn't care to know what would come after.
The procession kept going for a few more minutes. The guards, my escort, moved in perfect synchronization, their feet slamming to the ground as the drums sang. The crowd started to clap in time with them too.
We reached the palace. I looked up at its tall columns and arching windows. It looked so majestic, so powerful. I was like that once, I thought. Then I wasn't so sure. Was I ever anything except this?
We stopped moving and the drums stopped drumming. The bells kept going though. I was pushed roughly up the steps to the specially built platform. I looked at the rope, at the knot, at the noose that would soon be around my neck. For a brief moment I felt a detached sense of fear but it quickly disappeared.
I was vaguely aware of a person standing next to me. They were saying something but I didn't know what. It was just a noise, a sound without meaning. They stopped talking.
Someone tore off my crown, my robe and my shirt. They whipped me, ripping my skin and causing blood to dribble down my back. It dripped onto the floor. People were laughing, the kingdom was laughing. Those who weren't laughing were turned away, afraid to look.
I nearly wondered why.
They shoved me forwards and slipped the noose over my head and around my neck. I looked out over the crowd, emotionless. They tightened the knot and slid it up, under my chin. There was silence, the only sound was that of the far-off bells.
The floor fell out from underneath me and the rope tightened around my neck. I couldn't breathe, I didn't try to.
A breeze caressed my face.
*
The bells were ringing, singing the fanfare for a king on his funeral day.
What king?
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