Enchanted Captivation [InquisitorMaster AU fanfiction]

Chapter 11: Flame of Despair

Alex laid on her bed, stressed. She was completely dressed up, and even if it wasn't her execution, she knew it was going to be hard to watch.

Charli and Jade offered to come with, but she declined. If she's going to suffer, she doesn't want her friends to suffer as well. She did this to herself, she was going to do this alone. She could handle it, couldn't she? She watched as the sun crept behind the trees, turning the sky an orange and pink color. It's time.

Alex grabbed her cloak, she was going to need it tonight. As she tied it around her shoulders, she heard a knock on the door. It wasn't gentle, rather a pounding kind of knock. It wasn't Jade or Charli, that's for sure.

Alex took a deep breath, looking at the handle. She hesitated, feeling herself shake. She didn't want to go, she didn't want to go, she didn't want to go. But she forced herself to. She had to.

She forced her hand to take hold of the knob, twisting it and opening the door to be greeted by a guard. "Miss Alex?" He addressed her. Alex nods, forcing a smile.

"Yep, that's me!" she cheered. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay. But she agreed to this and she had to commit to it, it was her fault for putting herself in this situation.

The guard smiled, "Good, Zach is waiting for you." He explains. He and Alex begin to walk through the hallways. She was being guided, she knew that, but this felt more like a walk towards her own execution. It technically was, she should be the one getting burned. Or at least she thought so.

Eventually, the guard stops and ushers Alex to continue ahead. There she sees Zach and Drake, along with two witches trapped in a cage on wheels as if they were some sick kind of circus animals.

"Are you ready, Princess?" Zach asked, kissing her hand and bowing. If it weren't for the circumstances, she'd find this adorable. But dread cloaked on her back, hanging over her head threateningly. It's hard to feel charmed when your back is breaking from the weight of the sins you've committed and are going to commit.

Alex forced the sweetest smile she could fake, "Readier than ever." Stop. Don't let her go, don't let her witness her people dying, please...

Alex mentally begged for some unforeseen disaster to offset the plans, then she could fake the plague and not have to go. If only fortune stood lucky on her side.

She stepped into the carriage, sitting next to Zach and Drake on the opposite side. She leaned against the wall and gazed out of the window woefully. "Is there something wrong, Alex?" Zach questioned. Once more, wearing the false facade of a smile Alex looked to him and replied, "Nothing at all, I'm just a little tired, that's all." she reassured in the sweetest voice she could come up with. Zach hesitantly nodded and Alex went back to staring out the window, hoping for luck to bless her for once. Trailing behind them was the cage on wheels, guards riding horses beside them. Oh, only if she could sneak off and run back to the castle on one of the horses.

Quietly she prayed to any god she could think of, praying that one of them was real and heard her, praying that they could do something to stop this. But alas, nothing.

Eventually, they reached the center of town, where the crosses already stood covered in hay and sticks, two people there to chop their hair off and tie them to the cross. They stopped and Zach got out, offering a hand to help Alex get out. She took it nervously, stepping down and walking up the stairs to the stand where they could watch the burning.

She got seated, pulling her hood over her head, and anxiously waited for it to begin.

Bells rang, loudly. There stood Light and two of the guards, one being Jaxx and the other... she didn't know. He had black hair and black eyes, and that's all she could see.