“Girl, your life is forfeit. You wouldn’t want anyone else hurt, would you? If you resist, others will suffer. Florido, take her away. I leave her disposal to you.”
“As you wish.”
“Wait! Please, wait!” Despite being before the King, I screamed, unable to understand what was happening.
Why? What is going on? How? Why!?
Sir Florido didn’t wait for me to understand. He roughly grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the door.
“Your Majesty, what did I do!? Is my only sin losing my power!?”
No matter how much I begged, the King had erased me from his thoughts, not even sparing me a glance.
“Let me go! Please! Someone, help me!”
Though I struggled for my life, I could neither shake Sir Astorga off nor stop him. Even screaming as loud as I could, no one came to my aid. Instead of the extravagantly decorated halls, with carpets over polished marble, I was dragged through a thin hall of cold stone.
But still, I kept screaming, hoping someone would hear, “Help me, Sir Celes!”
My voice wouldn’t reach anyone.
Yanked out of the long hallway, we went down a stone staircase, to a small door leading outdoors. Unlike the first door I went through, it was made of stone as well, making an ominous rumble as it opened.
Out through the door, I saw densely growing trees. Between the unkempt trees, I could see a single thin path stretch, with a carriage waiting. On the door of the black wooden vehicle, there was a bolt... It was obviously a carriage for criminals.
Sir Astorga was silent as he pushed me inside, and he donned a black, hooded mount that had been hanging from the seat.
“Wait, please, where are you taking me!? Please, stop!”
My pleas once again went unanswered as he coldly slammed the door, locking the bolt.
The inside of the carriage was pitch black. Unlike the one from our journey, there were no big windows. The only thing that could even be considered a window was a thin crack, and what little light it let in wasn’t enough to see anything. The crack was filled with glass, and no matter how loud I screamed, no one would be able to hear me outside.
Why is this happening? The carriage started moving with a loud bang, as I sat alone inside, at a loss.
What did I do? Was it really so bad that I had lost my powers? Was I in the wrong for being ordinary in a group of extraordinary people? Was status really that important? Was I really just disposable, even though I was a human just like him? I didn’t know.
Everyone had said that we were companions.
Miss Maria had said that I was her best friend.
His Highness had accepted me.
Sir Agliardi, Lord Reynard, Sir Gaius, Eric, they had all thanked me.
Sir Celes had chosen me.
✦ ✦ ✦
I couldn’t tell how far we had traveled. After I had lost all sense of time, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.
“...Get out.” I looked up slowly at his emotionless voice. Sir Astorga’s face was hidden by his black hood.
From the sky I could see behind him, I realized that it was dawn. The reason I found the color of it before the sun rose terrifying was probably because I knew what was about to happen to me.
As I sat motionless, looking up at the sky, he yanked me out of the carriage. I hit the ground hard, injuring my arms and legs, but I didn’t feel any pain. The lukewarm, late-summer breeze blew between us. The wind caught Sir Astorga’s hood, blowing it off. I could see his ice-blue eyes, wavering slightly.
“Is this...really the end...?”
The voice that came out of my lips was terribly raspy. I idly thought about how dry my throat was.
“It’s the King’s orders. The Astorga family will do anything that the King commands — even getting rid of our savior.”
Though his eyes wavered, his stiff voice didn’t, and I realized this was where I would die.
A dry gust of wind blew by us. Collapsed on the ground, I vacantly looked up at the sky spreading out behind Sir Astorga. It went from bluish-purple to light purple, weaving into scarlet before showing just a glimpse of blue. My favorite color. The color of my beloved’s eyes. Ah, today is going to be a sunny day. The laundry will dry nicely.
All I wanted was to be with him. That was it.