Mortala: Begin the Machination

| Chapter Six |

     The castle was silent. Despite the many servants in the building, they were shushed; more so than usual, for they knew what was happening. The royal court was missing, out of their wings of the palace grounds. Not one could be found where they frequented, even the young nobles. It was odd, out of a book of suspense. 

     Past the durable walls guarding the long, standing structure, the mountain pines and lindens of the forest were grown quite close to each other. The winter trees towered over the large audience, unfeeling, unthinking, but verily, they would be eager to watch what was happening if they could. Underneath these tall florae was a group of people, waiting as patiently as they willed themselves to be. Though shushed, anticipation was as heavy as the snow coating the ground.

     The audience was full of guards and nobility who were lit up by the dainty glow of the light grey sky, ready to pour snowfall onto them all. Some servants inside the castle were on higher floors, peering out of the windows facing the audience waiting beyond the walls. They could see the tree that had a rope nearly perfectly thrown over its branch.

     Josie stood in front of the audience, guards on either side of her, her hands and feet chained. Thick strings of iron held rust from continued disuse in the chilling Semalion weather, leaving streaks of warm orange where they touched. The gorgeous green gown that she wore was now filthy and she reeked of bodily fluids: sweat, vomit, waste. They didn't give her anything to cover up with, letting the cold slip through and bite at her. The goosebumps from this hurt as her gown brushed them.

     "Any words?" The covered executioner questioned once her crimes were announced. Those very crimes which had the onlookers sneering.

     Josie, turned her head to the executioner, acknowledging him before looking over the audience who wanted nothing but to see her demise. Disgust filled her chest at their eager expressions which were full of blood lust and hatred.

     Her chest rose as she took a deep breath and tilted her head, appearing confident. Her neck held the rope hanging from a branch. It moved along with the muscles past her sickly-hued skin. The green veins were thick from dehydration.

     "May the Lattice Empire..." A wide grin overtook her face as everyone held their breath, "...fall."

     The crowd began to rumble in aversion, yelling aspersions and scorning her name. She wasn't affected, only looking satisfied with herself having riled up the group she thought little of. It was clear that the sweet fragile woman they had seen was what they had suspected---it was all an act. Who they saw ready to be hanged was who she really was, perhaps not even half of who she truly was.

     "The Purple Acon--" 

     Reena nodded to the executioner who immediately yanked at the rope, cutting Josie's attempted rambling. 

     Her feet lifted off the ground and instinctively began to kick. The hands she used to stab the queen desperately clawed at the rope as she tried to speak, but all that came out were strangled sounds. She tried and tried until drool dripped from her lips and the skin of her neck and fingers inflamed in rashes.

     The executioner yanked at the rope more, causing her body to rise higher. Her red face began to turn a bruising purple, feeling fuzzed and burnt as the already visible veins protruded around her neck and face, the small vessels in her eyes popping. It was a grueling process, something that a hanging from a high platform could've done faster. But where was the fun and petty form of vengeance in that?

     Such twisted nature of the crowd to begin to chat in excitement, ignoring how barbaric this may have seemed. Death was before their eyes and they didn't care, they almost rejoiced! This woman had almost killed the queen. It wasn't just the queen who was important, it was the empire. If she died like she was, it would've been thrown into a frenzy. There were no immediate plans, no heir, and there was a big family and noble community who would jump at the chance to take over.  It would've caused a war between bloodlines! This, in their eyes, was justified due to the amount of chaos she would've caused had she succeeded in her assassination attempt.