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Chapter 11 – This Be-eth Not Happening
"Well?" he asked impatiently. "Make a choice. I need to tell the servants whether to prepare for a party or a funeral."
She gulped. When he puts it like that… "Fine. I'll marry him."
"Good."
He roughly pulled her out of her cell and threw her into Mulder's. "We have some far worse criminals coming down here. Usually I wouldn't care who I was mixing, but I'm sure the old Lord wouldn't want his lady damaged…" Shrugging, he turned to leave. "See you tonight, Dana."
The instant the door closed behind him, Mulder turned to Scully and began to protest. "Scully, how could you agree to that? I can't believe it. We have to…"
"Shh," she said softly, putting a finger to his lips. "There's nothing we can do now. This way, we both live at least. You can swear your allegiance to the king, keep working, maybe do something great. Maybe even get home. And I… Well, I could learn to be happy. I'm adaptable. Maybe…"
Mulder looked at her sadly. "You look so hopeless, Scully. It hurts for me to see. What happened to being confident that we could find our way home? What happened to not giving up? To fighting the future? Um, the past. You know what I mean. Just don't give up on me now. Please."
"It's not really a choice, when it's that or death…"
"I'd rather risk death alone than a life without you." He froze at this. It sounded so typical of a line you would here in some epic story, not something that any ordinary person could actually feel. It gave him a shock to realize the strength with which he felt this.
He gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "I think we have a chance."
"How is that possible?"
"I'm friendly with the guard who's coming on duty in about five minutes. He likes me and, more importantly, my money." He pulled a small pouch from his pocket, opening it slightly to show off the sparkling gold coins that filled it. "Good thing I grabbed these just in case, eh?"
"Just in case we got locked up and sentenced to marriage or death? Mulder, your mind works in mysterious ways, I have to say. For once, though, I'm thankful for that."
He gave her a tight smile, then continued explaining his plan. "He can let is out, and we can escape into the forest. From there. Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it, so to speak. For now, we just need to focus on getting out of here safely."
"Okay."
"Hear those footsteps? That's probably our friend the new guard. Let me go call for him."
"Mulder, wait one second."
"Yes?"
He turned back to her. She rested a hand on his chest and said softly, "In case anything goes wrong. I want you to know." Her voice began to waver again.
"I know." He put his arms around her and pulled her close. They shared a brief but tender kiss before he pulled back. She gave him a shaky smile as he stepped to the cell wall and called the guard.
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It had been almost too easy. Sir Rudolph had been eager to help them after seeing the pouch. He had even gone so far as to distract the guards in the castle's outer chamber as well.
Now, Mulder and Scully were in the forest, stumbling into that well-remembered clearing. The pool in the center was still tonight, but appealing nevertheless. After listening well and hearing no one around, Scully knelt down and scooped up some water, drinking it from her cupped hands. Mulder followed suit, saying, "It was only a few days ago, I know, but it seems like an eternity has passed since the night I took you here."
"I know. Scary how time changes, no?"
Mulder opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly a strange rustling commenced in the bushes behind them. They rose quickly, muffling curses, as none other than Kerrilyn entered the clearing.
"Fancy meeting you here," she hummed, smiling. "Now, where exactly do you think you're going? No, don't answer that. It doesn't matter anyway. Oh, don't bother to run, Mulder." She lazily made the last comment, noting the twitching muscles in his legs.
"They have this place surrounded. Ugh, the incompetence. Were it not for me, they might have actually allowed you to escape. Disgusting, really. No they'll have no choice but to deal harshly with you. No matter how attractive that old coot finds you, Dana, even Lord Weatherby wouldn't marry you now. I mean, really, you both just broke out of the king's dungeon! You have to know what the penalty is for that."
Mulder and Scully glanced at each other. "What?"
"Death," rejoined a deep, booming voice. Captain James strode angrily out of the woods, followed by no less than twenty armed soldiers. "Death by firing squad."
"Firing squad?" Mulder repeated questioningly, his curiosity momentarily outweighing the fear that was slowly creeping up his spine. "But. guns aren't invented yet."
"What are these 'guns' of which you speak? A firing squad - archers - longbow-men, to be precise."
Scully's face went even paler. "Arrows? That sounds..."
"Painful?" input another soldier. "Oh, yes, I'd say so. But that's only judging from the agonized screaming of the criminals."
"George, enough!" interrupted Captain James. He looked somewhat troubled by this turn of events, but knew that he had to keep order. "Guards, grab them. Let's move out. We can execute right away."
"Why, sir?"
"You didn't hear? Robert Parsons got pardoned. King's orders."
The soldier coughed. "So we execute the runaways without trial and let the murderer go free?"
"Shut up, Holoff."
"Yes, Sir."
Kerrilyn went white. "Wait a second, James. You're really going to kill them? Right now?"
"Isn't that what you wanted, Kerrilyn?"
"I…"
"Well, it's what you're getting. Please, go back to your room."
"I... I'm sorry… I didn't think…" she stammered to Mulder and Scully.
"It's a little late to rethink, no, Kerry?"
Mulder put his arms around Scully protectively, trying to quell her trembling despite his own.
They were moved to a long, dimly lit alley behind the palace. There was already a row of archers lined up at the far end.
"We brought you a substitution," called the captain. "Two, actually."
He turned to Mulder and Scully. "Now, I'm not going to tie you. Know why? Because if you were to trying running, I would be forced to kill you with a broadsword, and trust me, that is far worse. Takes longer, too, depending on where I hit."
"Mulder, I don't feel well."
"I know, Scully, I understand."
"No, that's not it! There's something weird happening to me..."
The captain rolled his eyes. "Stop with this foolish nonsense! Stand right there!"
They had no choice but to move so that the bows were pointed directly at them.
"So. This is it." Mulder shook his head. "It's truly… unbelievable. I mean."
"I know. Who would have thought?"
"Ready!" yelled the captain.
"I. I love you, Scully."
"And I love you."
"Aim!"
Scully buried her head in his chest, and Mulder tightened his arms around her.
"Fire!"
Then, their world went black.
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Okay, just one more chapter to go!
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