The Snake Princess (Magi Fanfiction)

Chapter forty seven

Chapter forty seven

I never wanted this.

"Mom!"

A weak laugh escaped Marianna's blood coated lips at her youngest son's strained voice. He sounded so hurt, so broken and shocked. She couldn't see him. She didn't want to. To see the pain in his expression, the tears and physical injuries she'd inflicted- it would crush her. She'd rather ignore his cries, to keep the image of his smiling face in her mind uncorrupted by sadness, even if it was a lie.

I did all of this to see him smile, yet I caused him so much pain...

"Mom!"

Alex used to call her name and laugh, running away from her but always glancing back with a grin on his face to see if she was chasing after him. His bright, close-eyed, smile warmed Marianna's heart. After a while she'd catch up to him, snatching him up and attacking him with tickles that made him squirm happily.

Now, all she could imagine was herself snatching up her staff and using magic that wasn't hers, casting her son cross the room and likely breaking some bones as well as his heart.

Marianna stretched out a hand, reaching for the bright image of her and her son, growing desperate as the memory faded, blood splattering the image like paint carelessly tossed at a canvas. No...wait! Her world faded to black, Marianna numb to everything except the pain in her abdomen. She cringed, Oh, right...I'm dying. She could feel her physical body being lowered to the ground, presumably by King Sinbad. Her thoughts shifted:

I wonder...what will Alexandros think when he finds out? She knew Leonidas and Annalena would come clean with everything once they were found out. Oh, how Marianna hoped they would be spared. They were good kids- all of them. And Alexandros was a good father.

When Marianna was a teen, just a young princess learning the ropes of how to rule and the responsibilities she'd have to carry in the future, she'd spotted him in the gardens, plucking flowers from their bushes and arranging them into a small bouquet.

Alexandros was a potential suitor for Princess Marianna, one that strayed from his mentor and the king's watchful eyes to add a personal flare to his arranged first meeting with Marianna. Little did he know the princess herself had discovered him before his mentor, scaring him half to death and causing him to drop the flowers as she politely greeted him.

"Y-You! Princess, you shouldn't be here! Your father-" Young King Alexandros stammered, at the time not even considered a prince.

Marianna shrugged lightly, crouching to gather the flowers, "He won't mind. I'm sure he's busy talking with your...teacher, correct?"

Alexandros dropped to his knees, "Princess, don't trouble yourself with this, it was my mistake. Please, you mustn't lower yourself like this..." The ginger haired teen trailed off, his eyes meeting Marianna's. She raised a pale blonde eyebrow at him, blue eyes narrowing. "I-I'm sorry...did I say something wrong?"

"No," Marianna shook her head, standing with the small bouquet in hand, "you followed your script just right, actually."

"My...script?" Alexandros looked up at her, head tilted to the side in confusion.

Marianna chuckled, offering him a hand, "Stand. There's no reason to lower yourself for me." She smiled as Alexandros hesitantly took her hand, pulling him to his feet before mentioning, "I'm not sure I caught your name?"

"Oh! It's Alexandros. Alexandros Apostolos."

"Hm..."

"You don't...like it?" Alexandros wondered, scratching the back of his neck, looking down at the short princess with eyebrows raised in concern.