Prompt: Write about a change that someone ends up being grateful for.
No. Emma watched as the bird of prey flew into the moonlit distance, her best friend in its talons. No, no, no! It was supposed to have been me!
She had thought it out. This was the only way. Heather… Heather, why?
Heather had pushed her out of place. Sacrificed herself. The Scribe of the Cause was now being carried away to the High Bleaks, where she would undoubtedly be killed.
When Garten learned that the pact she had made with him had been broken, his rage and indignation would be upon them. Emma curled up on the ground and began to sob, even as she heard Picket coming up behind her.
–Four Years Later–
"You know, Heather dear," Emma said as the two of them stood upon the ramparts of the palace and looked down over Newcity, "that night, so long ago, when you found me on the standing stones, and you forced the plan I had made to change… at the time, I thought we were done for. I was devastated at the loss of my best friend, and for a moment my hope faltered. But now that I look back, I am grateful that my plan was hindered. Because you went in my stead, you were spared the execution I surely would have received. You then went on to help save Akolan. You saved my brother. And…" Emma squeezed her arm with a smile. "And you saved me from having to be Queen."
"Yes," Heather laughed. "I suppose I did. It was a change that turned out for the best, wasn't it? So much of what we did, we didn't want to do, or plan on doing it. It's funny how it all worked itself out in the end, isn't it?"
"It is indeed," Emma agreed, and she wrapped an arm around her sister.