APPLE WITCH (girlxgirlxgirl)

40. The insurrection of life

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Melora keeps her head held high as the rest bow in the presence of his excellency.

She is kicked in the back by a guard, forced into a bow, face suddenly dangerously close to the stage floor. She bites back a yell of pain and stares angrily at the floor, while the guard keeps his foot on her lower back in a subtle way of telling her to keep her mouth shut. Melora doesn't want to but she has no choice, arms tied behind her back with metal magic chains, someone forcing her into the right position. And for a moment, while she stays there with the tip of her nose touching the cold wooden stage, Melora wonders why she always has to make everything so hard for herself.

Maybe it's just her personality.

"What a wonderful day it is"

Then again, she's not the only one making things hard for herself. Melora watches from the corner of her eye as the emperor walks up the stairs of the stage, nearing his kneeling vampire son. His voice sounds genuinely happy, but there is something twisted behind his tone that sends shivers down her spine. The way he looks at Saint, not with fatherly love, but with pure hatred and amusement over having him right where he wants him. With the need to control. And Melora can't help but wonder why Saint chose this path in the first place. Why did he choose to rebel when he knew it would make his own father look at him in this way?

Or perhaps, his father had always looked at him like this. Could an emperor who oversees so much suffering truly be capable of any form of love? Melora doubts it. The entire crowd of witches and a few select vampires watch in absolute silence as the emperor walks up right in front of Saint. He takes his time, almost dragging his black boots over the floor, as the golden jewellery around his neck and hands cling with every step. Saint doesn't shy away from his father's gaze, no, quite the opposite. He stares right up at him, a fire still burning within him. He looks oddly calm for a man who is just about to die.

"My traitorous, foolish, disgusting little rat of a son- captured because of his own failure"

The emperor's voice suddenly sounds much angrier, with every word that leaves his mouth. He takes a while to just stare at Saint, his resentment growing by the second. Melora is sure that he would like to see fear in his son, see him quiver and beg for forgiveness in fear of dying by his own father's sword. But Saint is both as silent and stubborn as an ox, looking up at the emperor with just as much disgust and resentment as the father looks at him. Melora holds her breath, as does everyone else. Will the father truly kill the son, or will the prince prevail? Sin takes his spot next to Hester, suddenly looking much less smug and much more quiet than before.

Unsatisfied with Saint's unwillingness to bow and beg in front of his own father, the emperor punches the crown prince straight across the face. His head snaps to the side as the hit echoes across the fortress hall. Melora sees Adar flinch quite noticeably when it happens, even as he tries to hide his reaction afterwards. The spring witch wishes she could just reach over to him and shake him by the shoulders, tell him to give it up already. Saint is going to die, they can all see that. It would hurt less if he just convinced himself that he didn't love him. Melora tries to apply the same thought process to her own situation, seeing as Seiran is yet another royal who has betrayed the emperor. Surely she and Astra will be slaughtered too. That's when she feels the stab at her heart, and realises why Adar flinched just now. She understands. Saint on the other hand, slowly turns his face back around to face his father, a red angry bruise on his left cheek. His eyes hold no less fire than they did before, and Melora swears she sees frustration grow within the king.