The Rightful Queen

Forty-seven

My head was throbbing with pain. Even opening my eyes required a lot of effort. I tried moving my body, but it seemed like I was in a pretty narrow place. It was also dark. Where was I?

All that happened came back to me and I grimaced. Hood outed me. Zain knew who I truly was. How was I ever going to fix that? I lost him forever...

Hood told me he was going to kill him. Did he do it? My heart shattered at the thought. I would do anything for Hood if it meant he wouldn't kill Zain.

I tried to lift my hands and found them heavy. Hell! There were manacles around my wrists. Despite the darkness I was trapped in, I tried to figure out where I was. It was so narrow and judging from the material I could feel, I was surrounded by wood.

Oh my... I was in a coffin. Was I buried alive? No! This couldn't be happening. I kept banging on the top of the coffin and the sides, hoping somebody would get me out. Did Hood decide to kill me? Was this going to be my end?

Tears brimmed in my eyes and soon enough, I started sobbing. I didn't want to die. At least not like that. I didn't want to meet my end when I had a lot of unfinished business. There were so many things I needed to do. I needed to apologise to Zain. I had to do it. I wanted him to know that my love for him was never a lie.

Zain.

What had Hood done to him? Did he bury him alive too? No, he didn't deserve to die young!

My sobs grew louder and I banged harder against the wood.

"Let me out!" I screamed out loud. My heart was beating so fast that it hurt.

I thought I was dreaming when the cover of the coffin got lifted and my eyes were blinded by the light.

I wasn't buried... I wasn't under the ground.

Two strong arms hauled me up, getting me out of the coffin, then threw me to the ground. My body was hurting.

I looked around me and saw Hood standing at one of the corners with a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Definitely loved hearing you scream, niece," he chuckled, increasing the anger I felt towards him.

"Is this a fucking joke to you!?" I snapped, pushing myself up, ignoring how my head was pounding.

"Well, if you're talking about making you suffer for a while, it's definitely a joke to me," he said nonchalantly as he approached me. I should have been scared of him, but I wasn't. I was only scared that he might have done something to Zain.

"Where's Zain?" I asked him, ignoring his comment.

"Let's talk about something more important." His fingers gripped my chin tightly, forcing me to look at him. "You disobeyed me." His voice grew thicker and darker.

"Zain isn't his father. I couldn't bring myself to hurt him," I admitted. There was no reason to hide what I felt.

"So you started protecting him? You fell for him?" He hissed, yanking my hair, causing me to yelp.

"He's a good man. He doesn't deserve to be killed," I insisted.

"Too bad, Sedra," he smirked and my heart sank.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" I whispered, my voice cracking. He said nothing, but his smirk turned into a malicious smile. "N-No, you're lying." Tears fell down my cheeks.

"I killed him, Nuriya. With my bare hands. I made him suffer. It was a slow death." A scream erupted through my lungs, and I fell to the ground. "Do you know what I did to him? At first, I cut him and let him bleed slowly, then I broke his arms and legs." Sobs escaped me.

No, Zain wasn't dead. He couldn't have done that to him. He didn't suffer.

"I could take you to see his body if you want, but it's completely ruined. Disfigured. I made sure to slice his face. I tore it open since you loved looking at him that much. As for his eyes, I thought about taking them out, but..." I was shaking. I wanted to die. I didn't want to live in a world where he wasn't with me. "I kept them, because I loved the look of pain and terror that he had in them as he took his last breath."

"I will leave you here for a while to mourn him. If this may ease your pain, Sedra, I want you to know that he died hating you because you betrayed him." Another sob came out of my mouth as I curled into a ball on the cold ground.

Hood locked me up in that dark room, but I didn't care.

Zain was dead. I lost him forever. I didn't get the chance to apologise and explain everything to him.

I lost the only man I had ever loved.

________________________________________________________________________________

He's dead... 

What would you do if you were in Nuriya's place? 

Published September 7th, 2022

Sara