An Ill-fated Love

Midnight

It was an ill-fated love from the start. One that should never have been.

Anna, the daughter of King Mathius, fell in love with Prince Louis, from a kingdom her father detested. Their King, Edmund and King Mathius have been feuding for twenty years, and once he found out his daughter had been seeing Louis, he not only forbade her seeing him, but he also had her locked away to be put on trial for treason.

When the trial came before the tribunal, King Mathius pleaded his case with deliberate speed, claiming his daughter was consorting with his greatest enemy.

When it came time for Anna to defend herself, she spoke of independence, love, and freedom from a kingdom where she could not be herself, but with Louis, she could express herself freely without fear of recrimination.

But the tribunal, fearing the wrath of King Mathius came to a verdict—death by the guillotine.

As Anna sat on a bed of straw, she relived every moment she had with Louis. She even fantasized he would somehow rescue her before her death would happen, but she knew deep down that would not be.

If he were found within the kingdom's walls, he surely would die the same fate awaiting her.

They would always meet in the glen down by a riverbed when she went on her daily horseback ride and they would spend their hour together, holding hands, kissing, and talking about the future they would one day live out.

Even then, she suspected that that may never happen, although his father wasn’t against his son loving a woman but feared his falling—being in love with her would still cause a problem.

Still, all the hope, all the dreams were soon to end.

At daybreak, two hours from now, her life would be forfeited.

She wanted to cry herself to sleep but tears no longer came as they first did.

Instead, she stood and walked to her window and looked down over the kingdom grounds.

No movement, no people. Quiet. The sky, nearly pitch black with a few stars twinkling about and a slice of a smiley moon, grinning at her with an almost sinister look.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself to meet her fate. She knew death would be quick, and she vowed she would die with as much dignity as she could muster.

At least she knows when she dies, she was loved.