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— NIGHT TAUNTED ITS ARRIVAL.
It was almost visible over the peaks of the mountain tops over looking the palace walls. The moon almost completely shining through the weakened sunlight.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Azade turned to the guard who sat next to her, both their bodies turned to the window, analyzing its horizons. She nodded; hands desperately clutching the empty cup of wine, in an array of emotions.
"Pity, I cannot seem to enjoy it."
The guard moved his shoulders back in a leaning position against the chair. His arm or clanging against the stone surface, not quite so gracefully. "Just observe its beauty, not what it brings." He tried to reassure her, watching the girl with strange suspicion
"I cannot help the taunting feeling that I will never see another day, despite my means to survive." Azade looked back at the guard. They had spent most of the day in the dining room, in a quiet silence but in the comfort of each other's new company.
She had forgotten what it felt like to feel another's gentle presence.
"You will survive."
The words seemed to effortlessly come out of his mouth. As if it were not a theory.
But a fact.
"You shouldn't have so much faith in me." Azade said with a sad chuckle, her hand covering her mouth to hide the smile. The guard turned to her with brazen eyes, coldly looking upon her.
"I should. Because it is I who collects the bodies of the dead girls each morning. Not seeing your body this morning meant something to me. The subjects of the kingdom. It meant change. It meant hope." He finished, his words never becoming so many to her ears. His words sounded bitter, but almost like a prayer.
Azade's shock was so thick, she could've held in in her palm. She was selfish. Never realizing how important her survival was to the guard, or the people. It was in that moment Azade wished she were someone else for the thousandth time, she wasn't the one to save anyone.
All she knew how to do was to save herself.
"You never told me your name."
"Is it important?"
"It is to me."
The guard tensed at the question, briefly looking off into the sky, tapping his forefinger on the cup that sat in his hands.
