Anniya: Execution
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"...............You cannot put me in bloody chains! I am Kyrria's last hope, I am a member of the royal family of Kellia, who's country has been at peace with yours for years," Robert shouted angrily, twisting out of the guards grip.
Tears streamed down the Queen's face, but King Jerrold's remained stone. His eyes glittered angrily.
" Peace, is it? Do you call attempted assassination peace? If Count Fallon hadn't warned us of your treachery and your little spy who has been charming our son, you might of succeeded. He told us about how you were planning to frame him. He told us lots of things, and I think it is a bit far fetched to think of him as betraying our country! He has been by my side for more years then you have been in this world! As we speak this moment, he is guarding the scullery wench who tried to kill Char."
The guards at last managed securing Robert's bonds. His heart sank. The Count had done it. He had managed to twist everything to his advantage. Now Robert was being held captive by the very people he was trying to help, and Esperanza was with the Count. Anniya and West were god knows where, but they were their last hope. As the guards began dragging Robert away, he called out to the Queen one last time.
" Why would I want to hurt Char? I grew up with Char! Why would Kellia wage war against Kyrria? What would we have to gain? Nothing, that's the answer, except a little bit of land that would be unmanageable because the ogres would over run it! But what would the Count have to gain? He would be the next for the throne.........," Robert shouted hoarsely as the doors closed on him. One of the guards knocked him down, and Robert's head hit the floor. The world temporarily blurred, and Robert really didn't remember putting up a struggle as they made their way down to the dungeon.
It was not Robert's first time in the dungeon, although it was his first time imprisoned there. A cell was swung open and Robert was shoved inside. The iron bars slammed into his face.
" The mercy of the royal crown will be on you if you release me," Robert told them half heartedly. As if they would be foolish enough to release a royal prisoner. Even if he was unjustly accused.
Damn the Count. Damn the Count, the king, the country, the people, the world. Especially damn the door, and West while he was cursing. If West was here, he would be able to figure out how to pick the lock. Robert wished he had listened to some more of West's boasts of escaping the captivity. At least half of the time, West owed his escape to his uncanny ability to pick any lock, no matter how carefully crafted.
" Cheer up, milord. It'll not be you who will hang this eve. I can guarantee that no matter what the outcome of this, you'll live," a guard told him. Guards often struck up idle chat with their prisoners. But of course, there was nothing else to do.
Robert wiped the sweat from his brow, and ignored him. He could care less about some petty thief at the moment.
" Most of us are surprised that the monarchs are going to execute a lass. It's not like them, them being the kind folks they are. Aye, it's a pity the wench you hired will have to die, but at least it won't be you."
Robert didn't hear him correctly at first. He arched an eyebrow, and glanced at the guard, giving him his full attention. " Repeat that."
" I said it's a pity that the wench you hired is going to hang tonight, but at least it won't-,"
" They're going to bloody hang Anniya!"
Robert leaped up and grabbed the guard from inside the bars, catching him off guard. The carefree expression left the guard's face, and he gulped as he opened his mouth to no doubt scream for help.
" Do not say a word," Robert said softly, but the threat was there. " When is she to be hung?"
" Sometime this eve, that's all I know, I swear."
" They can't! She's innocent, don't they know it? Why won't they believe the truth," Robert raved, knowing all too well that he sounded like a madman. He relaxed his grip for a moment, just long enough for the guard to jerk out of his hands and scream for help at the top of his lungs.
" Guards! Guards!," he shrieked. After several moments, guards poured into the area. Robert turned away from the door. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore, now that Anniya was to be killed.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Freezing water was splashed onto Anniya's face. Her eyes flew open; all of her senses were on the edge. Her mind was clear, although she saw darkness. Anniya abruptly became aware of the coarse material on her face, and realized that she was blindfolded. The affects of the drug had warn off. Her last clear memory was being in a torture chamber. It troubled her though; what was the whole point of drugging her if she didn't stay drugged?
" They have no intention of hurting you if you cooperate," a calm voice told her. Anniya sat up straight. She didn't know who it was, but it sounded as if he may have a semblance of a soul.
" Am I going to die," she asked him immediately, ignoring his previous statement. She didn't plan on cooperating.
The voice hesitated before speaking, as if he was searching for a lie to comfort her. It assured her suspicions.
" So I should expect to die sometime in the near future, correct," Anniya said, answering her own question. Something else occurred to her. " Who is 'they'?"
The voice didn't hesitate this time, and it seemed surprised. " Why, their royal majesties the King and Queen of Kyrria. For treason, attempted murder, thievery, the list goes on."
Despair was perhaps the worst of the feelings one could have. Anniya had been expecting death, but she had planned on dying for a noble cause. Instead, she would leave the world as an unjustly accused criminal. Well, except for the thief part.
" When do they plan to execute me," Anniya asked quietly, sitting perfectly still. She wasn't happy about her fate, but throwing a tantrum wasn't going to get her anywhere. It would just make them more likely to believe that she was exactly what the Count wanted her to be.
The voice was full of pity this time, and Anniya could tell that he didn't believe she had done any wrong doing. " Sunset. The Prince of Kellia was suggested to be strung up as well, but the Queen and King flatly refused."
Anniya didn't have to ask who had come up with that brilliant idea. The Count had apparently been on Robert as well. Robert, herself, and Esperanza were now all neatly underneath the Count's thumb.
Except for West. West was their last hope, but he was god knows where.
" How long is it until sunset," Anniya asked the voice her final question.
" It's midday now. We'll leave for Frell within half an hour."
The voice paused as the sound of boots clicking on a stone floor came from down the hall. Anniya stiffened. She knew who it was. She reached in her shoe and pulled out the letters she had taken from the Count's study.
" Give this to Char please," Anniya begged, thrusting it in the general direction of the voice. No hand came to take them. " Please," she begged again as the boots approached. " I know you don't believe I plan to kill the prince, and I know that I didn't. I have nothing to gain by his death. Please just take these to him, and he'll see what's going on. Please."
The man must of finally heard the desperation in her voice. The letters were snatched from her hand just as the door swung open.
" Out. All of you. Prepare for departure to Frell."
Boots were heard, and the door clicked shut. There was a lapse of silence before the Count spoke again.
" My original plans have been changed, as you might already know. We won't be able to finish our little 'session' together. Not that it's a bad thing. You're a bug I've been meaning to squish for a long time now, and I can't say I even have the slightest idea who you are. The day I let you get away from the healers is a day I regret profoundly. But I will not make the same mistake twice. As sunset you will be hung in the center of Frell, and you will die with the knowledge you have about anything you have seen."
Anniya said nothing. She remained still.
There was a soft chuckle, and suddenly a burning heat was in her face. Anniya jerked back as far as the chains would allow her, her face sweating.
" You can't scare me," Anniya told him softly. " You can't scare me, but I know the real reason your getting rid of me. It's because I scare you."
There was yet another low chuckle, but Anniya couldn't find any hidden meaning. But the heat moved away from her face.
" You are an intelligent girl. More intelligent then most men, I must say. You would have to be, in order to come as far as you have now. I'll admit it, if it makes you happy; I was disturbed when you showed odd.....signs, I will call them, of a magic that has not been seen in centuries. But I have successfully drugged you and doused your power for several days. And my dear, in several days I can't say I really care what sort of power you will have, for you'll be dead by then."
Anniya involuntarily flinched, and against her will, panic overcame her. She had been counting on her magic to get her out, even in the midst of her despair. She bit her lip, but it was no use as a sob came out. Anniya didn't want to die, and if she had to, she didn't want to die a criminal's death.
" But before we leave, I must say, I need some answers to a few things," the Count continued. She heard the snapping of his fingers, and as the door opened, the sounds of the guards filed into the room. Before Anniya could comprehend what was happening, she felt herself being strapped down in a laying down position. The calling of a loud ox startled her; what were they planning to do? Anniya lay there in the darkness, dumbfounded.
" Well now. I want to know exactly how you figured out how to get into my study."
" Go to hell!," Anniya spat through her tears, wishing that he would take the blindfold off. The oxen made a noise, and Anniya felt her body go in two directions. She withstood the urge to cry out. They were stretching her.
" Let's try that question again. How did you get into my study."
" Go roast in bloody hell! I'll die before I tell you anything," Anniya hissed at him. Words spoke louder then actions, unfortunately. The oxen gave a sharp jerk, and this time Anniya screamed. Her body wrenched with the pain of being pulled apart.
" For the last time. How did you get in? I must say, I'm losing my patience."
Anniya remained silent.
" Very well then. How far can she go without dying," his clipped voice asked.
" Oh quite a bit, milord," a guard replied.
" Then by all means, do your work."
In the next moments, Anniya had a beautiful dream. She was sitting around a campfire with West, John, Robert, Esperanza, Char, and Gleex. There was lots of chocolate, and Anniya saw fairies dancing in the distance. She could no longer feel her body, she was so far into the pain.
A voice was suddenly in her ear, one that was real. " I must say, I am curious. You are a pebble in my shoe, but yet I do not know your name. It would be most interesting to at least know the name of the worthless wench I am inflicting agony on."
Through the intense spasms, Anniya would never really know how she got the words out. Maybe it was her fierce desire to live. Maybe she reached into her energy stores. Whatever happened, it saved her life.
" Anniya Fredericka of Estalen," she gasped proudly.
After several seconds of silence, the pain abruptly ended.
" Say your name again," the Count demanded.
" Anniya Fredericka of Estalen," Anniya repeated, more strongly this time. It occurred to her that the Count had no idea who she was.
The blindfold was abruptly ripped away, and light blinded her. Anniya found herself face to face with Count Frederick Di Fallon.
Steel gray eyes read her emerald ones clearly. Apart from her eyes, the texture of her hair, and the shape of her ears, Anniya was a spitting image of her mother. The Count saw that too.
" Anniya Fredericka of Estalen died when she was four years old. Anything that resides of her is in an ogres stomach," the Count said harshly, but continued searching her eyes. Anniya held his gaze firmly.
In that small moment, everything changed. The Count stared at her, then stepped back. He opened his mouth to say something, and Anniya read the emotion in his eyes.
" Should we release her, milord? Have plans changed," a guard asked. The Count seemed to snap out of his reverie.
" No. Put her in the carriage, and prepare for Frell. All of the country will want to see this wench hang."
He spun around, and strode out of the room. A guard moved toward her, and Anniya reluctantly realized what was about to come for the hundredth time in her life. A sword came down, and she blacked out, her last thought being that she would be executed in less then seven hours.
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**Author's Note**
I know this is a pathetic, uneventful chapter, but if I don't get it out now, you guys might have to wait another month or so. The finale is coming up soon. I don't think I can stretch it out further then 5 chapters after this one, not including the epilogue and my gigantic author's note/thank you chapter. It's really close to the day I started writing this story, so I am way excited! I'm almost at 700 reviews now! Just think, only 300 more and I'll be at a thousand! I'm hoping that I'll be able to reach at least 800 by the stories end, since I've never seen a story with that many reviews on it before. Thanks for reviewing guys!
About my bio: Whoah! People actually read it! That sort of freaked me out, considering how much of a nerd I sound like. To those of you who have realized that I can't exactly put 'faerie_gurl' as the author( hehe), my first name is Kira, last initial V. I'm not posting it on ff.net for fear of seeing it in a bookstore a few years from now with someone else's name on it! If you want, tell me you want the first chapter. But it's pretty different from Anniya: for one thing, it's written in first person in two different points of view. One is the richest unmarried aristocrat in the land, Duchess Eleila Di Eabelle. The Second is a thief half fairy, half human girl with an unnatural talent for fencing, called Talia. Anniya shows up later in the story. She's pretty much exactly like I describe her the story now.
But anyway, if your still convinced you want to read it, I'll send you the prologue, but I can't send you anymore. Thanks for asking about it though! I'll babble about it to anyone who will lisen!
~ Faerie_gurl