NOVEL NEXT Extra Chapter: Adeline
It was so dark, so cold, so lonely… Adeline had long lost any semblance of hope her shriveled-up heart may have had, she doesn’t remember how long ago she felt anything else but despair, but even that was gone now, and only emptiness remained. There is numbness to everything and everyone. Nothing her guards could do hurt her anymore, she had gone through it all too many times already, she had seen it all over her time stuck here.
A routine had emerged in her time here, and today is supposed to be the day the guards brought her the weekly bowl of clean water she got. She was supposed to clean herself with it to avoid any infections or illnesses that would occur from the dirt that piled onto her, but she stopped doing so a long time ago, this clean water tasted way better than the normal dirty water she got to drink, or at least she thinks it does. Her sense of taste had been gone for a while now, and everything tasted exactly the same to her.
Like burned wood and ashes.
And yet, for some reason, no water was being delivered, even her rations hadn’t been delivered yet, although she had to concede that her meals rarely appeared at the designated time. Having to bring food up to the highest cell in a massive tower was probably a lot of work they simply didn’t wish to do on most days and probably only ever did it when their superiors forced them to do it.
So for now, Adeline did what she did best these days, walk into a corner and sit there. It‘s not something she likes doing, however.
Because sitting in that corner, with nothing to occupy herself with, there was nothing but her thoughts, and her memories, and in everyone of them, her face would be there, staring at her, with that merciless glint in her crimson-red eyes. Her terrible crimson eyes.
And then the voice would come back.
"But she was nice to you~ Our mistress treated us so much better than everyone else~"
Did she? Adeline certainly believed so, in her heart, she had always held out for her to come and rescue her, she had done so once before after all, but that notion had died long ago, and now, there was nothing but those crimson eyes staring at her, those terrible, terrible crimson eyes.
Adeline doesn’t remember when exactly she started to fear those eyes, eyes that she knows were supposed to hold nothing but admiration and care in them, they had started to transform into the eyes of a monster, with nothing but a cold, merciless desire to cause anguish and pain.
"Do you remember how she took care of us, how she held us close when no one else did?“
Of course she remembers, it was the one memory she had held closest to her heart, but whenever she saw it now…she didn’t see the one she should see, instead, she saw many people, their faces distorted by darkness, while those familiar crimson ones only stared at her from a window by the side.
Adeline tries to avoid this memory nowadays, because whenever she remembers, she feels a great longing and a terrible loss, like something truly precious had been taken from her, but she couldn’t remember what.
It makes her want to cry, something her eyes had forgotten to do, and it only brings great pain instead.
As she was trying desperately not to wallow in her own misery too much, the unmistakable sound of metal against stone rang out into the silence of her cell, and as dull as the sound actually was, it was like a beacon to Adeline, bringing her out of her spiraling thoughts and back to reality.
The sound was cold and unfeeling, but it was familiar, it brought Adeline a feeling of certainty that her own thoughts and feelings couldn’t. It had gotten to the point that Adeline was capable of distinguishing which guard would come to her by the sound they made alone, which is why she knew even without looking, that they didn’t come alone today, they came as a pair, and by the way, their steps were slower and heavier than usual, so she could deduce that they were carrying their weapons on them.
There was a loud squeaking as the old wooden door opened and light flooded her dark cell, but Adeline had already closed her eyes in anticipation, Though she had grown unfeeling in many ways over her time in this cell, the sudden shift from darkness to bright light was something she was never able to overcome.
As such, she failed to notice that the pair of guards were also accompanied by a third man, clad in simple green robes and light green leather shoes, on his chest a symbol of a hand opening to release a stylised version of a pure white dove, the symbol of Sarantos, the god of freedom, and death.
There was some rattling as one of the guards got his keys, before walking over, that was something they usually didn’t do, though… as such, Adeline slowly, very slowly, opened one of her eyes just a tiny bit, it took some time, but eventually she could open it enough to actually see without burning her eye away in the bright light, and she was greeted by one of the guards fiddling with the chain around her ankle, the other guard standing by the door, his usual stoic face looking at her, and next to him, the strange man in his green robes, smiling at her, while his eyes were filled with pity and sadness.
It is said that those who follow the teachings of Sarantos closely, can never smile and are only capable of doing so when meeting face-to-face with someone, whose fate is already decided and is about to meet its end. Adeline Barley even registers the rough way she was being hoisted up by the guard, before being shoved outside her cell for the very first time in a truly long time.
All Adeline could focus on was the man, and what his presence and smile meant for her.
Not a single word was spoken as the two guards both grabbed one of her arms and began dragging her towards the door and down the spiral staircase of the tower she was being held in, the man following them, his hands crossed behind his back, that small, pity-filled smile never leaving his face.
Every floor they passed, another two guards would join them on their descent, and once they were at the very bottom of the tower and Adeline was able to feel sunlight against her skin for the first time in years, it was like an entire army battalion was there escorting her, their metal armor almost looked like it was sparkling in the sunlight, and their long spears seemed poised to skewer the very heavens themselves.
Leaving the tower, they entered a spacious courtyard, where they soon fell into formation, herself at the front with her two guards still holding onto her, the man just a single stride behind her, and behind him the battalion of guards.
If anyone was watching, they would surely be impressed, maybe even awestruck, at this display, expecting that some important noble or maybe one of the royal family themselves was about to visit the prison tower, or maybe some other kingdom noble? Why else would they make such a display of military might?
One such spectator was currently hiding in the shadows of a nearby tree. She was incapable of being spotted even by some of the best scouts of the royal army, only ever being caught once by them, and the scout who had found her didn’t survive to do it again today.
Luisa had originally been waiting here to spring an ambush on a Royal Knight named Lowen, who had his nose a bit too deep inside of business he had no right to snoop around in.
The sudden increase in security was something she had not accounted for however, she would take another time to get rid of that meddling Knight, but she elected to stay, far too interested in what kind of event would warrant such a massive display of power.
Soon the sound of hooves against stone rang out into the day, and shortly after three horses came across the threshold of the courtyard, covered in silver plating, and atop them rode three Royal Knights of the kingdom, their silver armor shining even more brightly in the sun‘s glow. Each of them carried a different weapon, one had an axe, the other a lance, and the last one held a bow and arrows. They stopped just a few steps away from Adeline, who simply stared at them, her face showing no emotions whatsoever, her body had lost the capability to do so, many days ago.
The one holding the axe was the closest to her and was also the one to speak up, and even being under his helmet, the man‘s voice rang out clearly into the vast courtyard, full of righteousness and authority, inspiring hope in those who heard it. To Adeline, however, it simply sounded irritating and way too loud to her ears that had spent who knows how long in almost complete silence.
"In the name of his Royal Highness, Adeline Strand, you are herby declared guilty of all crimes that have been raised against you, including murder, treason, high treason, breaking out of custody, and murder in association. His Royal Highness thereby declared you to be executed, may your wicked soul yet find peace in the place no living can wander."
Adeline blinked slowly at the man, she couldn’t see if her nonchalance bothered him in any way due to his helmet, but he seemed to be a professional and wouldn’t show it regardless, Adeline was sure of it. It was certainly a nice change of pace compared to most of her previous guards, who often grew quite agitated that their mocking words and painful acts seemingly bounced off of her with no effect, or maybe he was just better at hiding it than they had done.
"In his endless mercy, his majesty has bestowed on you the opportunity to choose how you may be executed and make one final request, before you depart from this world. Whether your request is granted or not is up to us to decide. Now. Choose."
Adeline, slowly blinked again, wondering how exactly something like this was a mercy? You die no matter what, don’t you? What point is there in choosing the way you die? So Adeline didn’t choose, because she couldn’t care less, it all ended the same way, did it not?
In the background, she could see the knight with the bow and arrows clenching their fist quite hard, and it seemed it was also shackling a bit. Clearly, the person was rather angry, or maybe just annoyed, and they wanted this to be over already? Either way, they very clearly needed to blow off some steam.
"L-let the one on your left do it, she seems like she needs it…"
Her voice was weak and hoarse, in her time being held captive, she certainly hadn’t had the opportunity to talk all that much, but she thinks it got the message across as the knight nodded once before stepping to the side, the other knight taking his place, an arrow already knocked back and aiming directly at her.
From the now shortened distance, Adeline could see the chest of the knight falling repeatedly in quick motions, and she was able to hear the heavy breathing as well. Clearly, the knight was quite angry and very eager to end her life.
However, Adeline still has a request to make, doesn’t she? It was clear to her that most requests she could make would be pointless, considering there was nothing left for her but death, so she might as well consult an expert on the topic.
Turning her head, her eyes landed on the nearby priest of Sarantos, still smiling his smile of pity at her.
"Priest, can you tell me… what does it feel like to die?"
Her voice remained emotionless, as was her stare, but in her mind there was a small voice, that maybe death was her way to finally feel things again. There are those who say that dying is just a way to start your new life after all, so maybe this was her opportunity to finally, finally…
The priest tilted his head to the side for a moment before answering.
"That is an answer. No living thing is ever allowed to hear Little Bird, but what I can tell you is that… it will be painful. Torture of unimaginable magnitude will come over you, but if you prevail, there is always a chance that the great lord, in his endless gr-"
"You can shut up now, that’s all I wanted to know. It’s rather disappointing that even death can not grant me a new chance…"
Adeline stumbled backwards, a great force suddenly hitting her square in the chest. Looking down, she saw the wooden shaft sticking out of her chest, and there was this feeling…
"A NEW CHANCE?!! YOU DON‘T DESERVE ANYTHING AFTER YOU TOOK AWAY WHAT I LOVED!!"
Before she could comprehend what was even happening, another arrow shot towards her, this time hitting her in the stomach. The force once again forced her backwards, then came another and another, both hitting her in the chest once again.
Adeline fell to her knees, her body refusing to cooperate with her, pain wrecking her entire body, her vision slowly growing black around the edges. There were sounds coming from all over the place, but she couldn’t hear anything, not even when she was suddenly picked up by her hair and forced to be face to face with the knight, having come down from their horse with a sword in their hand.
The knight screamed something, or at least Adeline thinks they did, not that she could answer even if she wanted to, all Adeline could focus on was the knight's eyes, now being able to see them through the helmet due to their close proximity.
They shine with an anger and hatred Adeline had only ever seen in one other person.
Was she happy to be able to see them again? She didn’t know, her mind screaming at itself with conflicting feelings and memories, both terrifying and loving. In this confusing conflict of memories, she closed her eyes, never seeing how the knight wrestled their arm free from the other knight holding her back and immediately descending it towards her, a sword aimed at her neck.
