Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Micah was near the palace gates until he decided to turn back. He gently let himself into the empty unguarded palace and led himself to the throne room. He hadn’t seen it since yesterday.

Once he entered the throne room, he felt this strange twinge of fear. Nothing seemed to have changed; but he was convinced that something was eerily different. Perhaps it was just the knowledge that his brother was the king of Quedrub that made the room seem unnecessarily evil.
He walked up his set of stairs and entered his bedchamber, where he finally changed out of the human robe Phora left for him that morning and into something more formal.

As he stepped out of his bedchamber and into the throne room, Noah entered.

“What are you doing here?” Noah asked.
“I can ask you the same thing.” Micah replied, full of hostility, “Don’t you have an innocent citizen to kill?”
Micah stormed down the steps but was stopped by Noah.
“Would you tell me what is wrong?” Noah asked.
“Stop acting stupid, Noah!” By no means was Micah going to address Noah as brother ever again.
“No!” Noah pushed Micah back, “YOU stop acting stupid! You met this girl yesterday and you insist that this is love!”
“Your ignorance amazes me” Micah chuckled, “Or is it denial?”
“Ignorance? Denial?”
“Yes!” Micah exclaimed, “Do you really not know the stupidity you’re about to commit, or refuse to accept the fact that it actually IS stupid, and might actually be considered racist?”
“How is what I’m about to do stupid?”
“Oh please! I voluntarily escort a woman to her home and you ambush her the next day and accuse her of kidnapping?!”
“What it this human to you but a stranger you met while on an emotional walk?”
“More than she’ll ever mean to you!” Micah said at the top of his lungs.
“She’s a human!” Noah said calmly, “and people of our race and stature are expected to mate with people of the same standing!”
“Is that all this is to you; a political scandal that will affect your kingship? Whether I marry an elf or not, you will still be the king!”
“Micah, there will be many elven woman throwing themselves at you!”
“No.” Micah said, “The only women that would be thrown to me are the women you have already gotten used to!”
“I don’t understand”
“Face it, Noah!” Micah said, “Father always loved you more! No; he loved ONLY you! His goal in life was to make mine a living hell! Now, my only source of happiness in years comes, and your first thought is to murder her!”
Micah brushed by Noah’s shoulders and headed towards the exit.
“You’re just like him” Micah muttered.
“Try to understand, brother!” Noah called out.
Micah stopped dead in his tracks.

Without glancing at Noah, he said in the most calm and serious tone he could manage; “Never call me that again”

With that, he slammed the throne room doors and left the palace grounds.

Micah walked through the dark grounds until he came into an empty space surrounded by market stalls. This was where all public events were held.

A high platform stood in the center of the space. On it was a large board supported by numerous cogs and gears.

Slowly, people started occupying the space, until it was nearly impossible to move.

An executioner man dragged Phora onto the stage and tied her limbs to the corners of the board.
Phora showed no signs of hesitation, but fear was evident in her eyes.

People began discussing with each other almost immediately, but Micah kept an eye out for Aevestus and Spirk.

Trumpets sounded and Noah marched valiantly onto the platform. “This woman here, has been charged with kidnapping one of royal blood, and harassing the palace guards, and therefore has been sentenced to death by belaying!”

Micah looked around and spotted Spirk standing behind the platform. The two met eyes and waved, assuring that everything would go as planned.
A hand placed itself on Micah’s shoulder, instinctively telling him to turn around, “Grohel!” Micah exclaimed
Grohel held a finger to his lips and set his eyes on the stage.

Noah took a dagger from his robes and faced Phora.

“Any last words?” Noah said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Phora looked Noah straight in the eye and spat in his face. The audience gasped, but Noah didn’t seem to notice.
Noah, enraged, raised the dagger, and with several powerful swipes, created wounds on the woman’s arms and legs.
Phora’s eyes welled up, but bit her lips tightly together.

“Let the belaying begin!” Noah said.

The executioner that dragged Phora onstage began turning a valve on the device, causing the board to separate in opposite directions.
Micah wanted to scream, but contained himself.

Phora’s screams were overpowered by the crowd’s gossip and gasps.

As the boards on the device grew further apart, the cuts on Phora’s limbs grew deeper and wider.

Noah came forward with a small leather bag. He reached inside and produced a small green lemon. Using his green dagger, he cut it in half and squeezed it directly over Phora’s wounds.

Phora’s wounds bled severely, and Phora’s screams were inaudible.

Every time a wound became visibly deeper, Noah cut a new lemon and squeezed the juices onto the new wound.

The board Phora was on was almost its original length apart, and that was the only time Grohel took out his small metal circle and tossed it with all his strength, and landing somewhere in between the metal cogs supporting the board, stopping the device.

“WHAT?!” Noah exclaimed.

The executioner attempted to turn the valve once more to no avail.

The crowd gasped in almost perfect unison, then Noah spoke, “Just a temporary setback”

Phora’s heavy breaths were audible all throughout the crowd.

As Noah and the executioner circled the device, observing the gears and such, A puff of smoke erupted onstage, revealing Aevestus.

Noah and the executioner took quick notice of this and rushed back towards the device.

“Get him off the stage!” Noah yelled, while stubbornly forcing the valve to turn.
The executioner carried Aevestus off the surface and tossed him off the stage.

“NO!” Micah yelled as Aevestus hit the earth with a solid thud.

Noah forcefully pushed the valve one last time before it broke off the device.
The gears and cogs began spinning again, but on their own this time, and much faster. The Board began moving again, followed by Phora’s terrified screams.
Blood began to appear  around her shoulder area.

“Somebody do something?!” Micah ran towards the platform, “please!”

Spirk began climbing the wooden support beams of the platform as Micah forced his way through the crowd.

Noah and the executioner backed away from the torture device as it began to operate faster and faster.

As Micah was forcing his way towards the platform, his eyes caught Phora’s, and for that moment, time seemed to stand still. Both their eyes were filled with tears, and both of them said goodbye.

Phora gave out one last scream as her bloody right arm tore from her body and the rest of her body fell forward, leaver her suspended, dangling from only her left arm.