Motheaten Memories [Yandere Prince x Enemy Princess Reader]

59. Back in Bocio.

After a bumpy and sleepless night in the metal wagons for criminals they arrived in Bocio. Y/N watched the flashes of buildings pass through the high barred window sadly. She kept reliving the events that had led to her capture. She had ridden into town to get medicine for Abeloni but had been apprehended by the town sheriff and several soldiers from the capital. She tried to escape, but her efforts proved futile. Scared of what would happen to Abeloni without her, she stopped struggling and told them his location, begging them to help him.

After that she had been thrown into a portable cell for criminals, at one point she had heard him screaming but hadn't seen him, she just hoped that he was alright.  She felt listless, not scared or upset, just empty. In a daze, she barely even registered that they had stopped until she was being hauled out of the cell roughly by several guards.

She didn't bother to resist, she didn't even watch where they were taking her, she just let them march her through the halls of the palace limply. She felt a strange sense of familiarity, almost comfort, when she was tossed roughly into the same dungeon she had occupied a few days ago. The only difference from then was that her hands were clamped tightly in a pair of cuffs that fit her wrists.

After some snickering and rude comments, the guards left, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Once they were gone she perked up a bit, scanning the shadowed and damp chamber for any sign of Enicia. She didn't find anything at first, the dungeon appearing deserted, but tensed up when she saw what appeared to be a slumped body in the corner.

"Enicia?" She called hopefully, when she received no reply she called again, "Enicia is that you?"

The only response was her own voice echoing off the thick stone walls. She inched forward to investigate the humanoid mound, her heart sinking with every step she took. The chain connecting her cuffs to the wall eventually stopped her, but not before she was close enough to identify what she was looking at. "No..." She whispered as she looked down and Enicia's lifeless body lying stiff and cold on the damp floor. Her clothes were dirty and torn and the skin she could see was covered in purple-green bruises and tinged yellow. Worse yet, her eyes were nothing but dark bloody sockets and her mouth only had broken nubs of teeth left within. "No, you can't be... Please..."

Y/N knelt on the floor next to the lifeless body as tears began to pour down her face, horrified by the thought of the awful torture Enicia had endured for her sake that lead to her death. "Please! You can't be dead!" She denied, clutching onto her hand that was clenched into a tight, unopenable fist. "You-you promised you'd escape with us!!!"

She began to cry harder, giving herself over to the terrible grief in her heart. For as long as she could remember Enicia had been by her side, giving her unconditional love and support, to imagine a life without her was crushing. "I'm so sorry. You endured so much for me, and in the end, I'm still going to die at the orders of the king of Luccia, with all the people I love taken from me." She felt so worthless, even after everything the older women had sacrificed for her, she was still going to die there.

Y/N breathed in deep shaky breaths, realizing that if Enicia was there she would be scolding her for crying so shamelessly instead of acting with elegance. She smiled a little at that. "Even if it was inevitable, at least because of you I got to live ten extra years..." A bittersweet expression crossed her face as she looked down at what was left of her lifeless face. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, I promise I won't forget, and... I love you." She thanked Enicia and bid her goodbye, even though she knew she was already gone.

After that she moved back to her spot next to the wall and sat down, perfectly calm. There was no more fear and no more sadness. No more despair, and no more regret, nothing but a hollow calm. All the people she loved had been taken away, why should she feel upset about her approaching death?