Moon Of Misfortunes

Chapter Fourteen: Ropes and Sisters

The Elder unlocks the cuffs and two of Elders rough grab me. They quickly drag me out of the clinic. I stare at the waves of purple velvet of the Elder's cloaks as I am forced out of the High Council's Palace. We approach the stage and I stare out into the enormous crowd. It was an occasion of sorts, as not too many people are put to death for crimes. The coarse rope of handmade noose lightly swayed due to the strong breezes of winter. There was a small two-foot tall box positioned underneath the noose. The ancient wooden box had a handle on the backside. I gulped at the thought of what the handle was for. I was lead to the box and we stopped.

"Step," the Elder to my left muttered. I nodded and stepped up.

I felt box shift under my unbalanced weight. Everyone had gone silent the moment I was pulled onto the stage. Their eyes followed my every movement, especially when I stepped on the box. I rolled my eyes at them. They were the most trivial of beings, I thought, they are really willing to watch someone die for entertainment?

I watched Rubio carefully as positioned himself at the front of the crowd. His eyes held regret - the regret that he couldn't save me as he had so desperately hoped. Rubio was true to his word that he would stay with me until the very end, which made me happy. My eyes also scanned the crowd for Nikolai. I was relieved to see that he didn't even bother showing up. I slightly smirked at the thought that he would feel me die and it would physically punish him since I was technically still his mate. My eyes did, however, land on the Queen. She still seemed to remain unsure of me as if she was questioning my identity like she was during my appeal. The two strange guards still hovered next to her.

The rope was pulled over my head and I could feel the grit of the rope against my neck. I glimpsed back over to Rubio and smiled.

"Ready," an Elder yelled out.

I felt the rope tighten in due to the slight amount of tension being applied as they anchored it down. I was forced onto the tips of my toes to keep from choking. Two Elder walked behind me and grabbed the box's handle. Goddess, I hope this breaks my neck and kills me fast, I thought, if not it will take three minutes for me to asphyxiate. I shivered at the mere thought.

"Any last words," an Elder spoke.

I tried to look at Rubio and barely made eye contact with him.

"I hope we will meet again in another life, my friend."

And with that, the two elder behind me ripped the box from under me and I was in a brief free fall before I began choking. I looked around frantically, my eyes landing on the Queen. Everything appeared to be in slow motion, as I began gasping for air.

The two guards she had beside her lunged forward; one grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her, and the other pulled out the long silver dagger, the exact one I was accused of stabbing her with a half a year ago. The guard clutched a handful of her silver locks, effectively exposing her neck, and slit her throat. The crowd began to scream and panic.

"That's from Rosia, you dumb old bitch," the guard yelled as he spits on the Queen's body.

Rubio took the opportunity and leaped onto the stage. I felt him wrap his arms around my legs and lift me up. I gasped for air and weakly pushed the noose off of my neck, freeing myself. I collapsed against his body, dropping myself over his left shoulder. Rubio began to run into the palace, bobbing and weaving through all of the chaos. He ran until we reached a grand staircase. Rubio stopped in his tracks. I pushed myself off of Rubio and I traced his line of vision to see what had him glued to the floor.

"Who are you," he barked out.

The woman lightly laughed, as if Rubio had told her a joke. She was dressed completely in black, wearing some type of combat wear. Her long blonde hair mocked mine. She had a medium length scar that ran down the side of her face. Her identical hazel eyes locked onto mine. It clicked with me who this was. This is the woman from the tapes. The Queen's true attempted assassin.

"I am Rosia Schultz, Adaline's twin birth sister."

My eyes widened at her statement. I was in utter disbelief, I never had a twin sister nor did my parents ever mention her.

"I was stolen from the hospital when we were born. It took years to track you down. I wish we could have met under better," she paused as if searching for the right words, "circumstances."

"I was almost killed because of you," I choked out hoarsely. She began to walk down the stairs slowly.

She sighed, "my men were supposed to kill the Queen and free you. I heard about your misfortunes that occurred under this roof."

She arrived in front of me. We looked at each other inquisitively. We were, in fact, identical copies of each other, our only difference lied in her deep scar on the left-hand side of her face. Her eyes traced the wound on my neck. She reached out and cupped the side of my face gently.

"There is a great power within the both of us that you have yet to discover. Just know that the Council will pay for what they have done to you with their lives, dear sister," she paused once more, scanning my face as if she was memorizing it, "we will come across each other again after everything is handled."

She dropped her hand from my face and began to run towards the hurricane of havoc occurring outside. Rubio grabbed my hand and began to pull me up the stairs that Rosia had just descended.

"We need to get to a safer place, where I can protect you easier," Rubio breathed out, pulling me towards my old room. He tossed me inside quickly.

"Go hide and I will get you when the chaos is over."

With that, he slammed the door shut and the bittersweet melody of the locks rang out. I quickly sealed myself away in the storage nook. I could hear yelling and fight from outside of the doors. I was worried about Rubio's safety, even if he is a Lycan. My mind then wondered to Rosia. Did I really have a twin sister?