The Devil's Temptation!

Chapter 10: The Execution II

A ray of hope suddenly glistened in the eyes of Annalise as her thoughts wandered on Adryan. Ah yes! Adryan! The thought of Adryan shocked her a bit too quickly, how could she possibly have skipped someone special from her mind??

In spite of feeling a little guilty about forgetting someone as important as the prince of Euphrasia, it didn’t stop a slow revealing smile from tugging at the corner of her lips as she met Calista’s gaze with an expectant one.

“Did he.....did he say he’s coming for me?” She asked in a rather shy tone, causing a relieved smile to form on Calista’s lips as she happily nodded, holding onto Anna’s cold hands as a tear glistened in her big brown eyes.

She knew mentioning her brother’s name would be enough to lighten the mood of Annalise, it always worked!

“Yes, he’s coming so you don’t have to feel bad about anything, I have a lot of faith in my brother and I’m sure he’ll be able to convince father to withdraw the execution.”

She reassured in a convincing tone, which made Anna’s heart flutter in response as she looked away. King Olis had a son and he was the closest to Annalise, he helped her escape from most situations in the palace and always stood up for her, but he left the kingdom three years ago due to some important events his father wanted him to handle in the neighboring kingdom.

Adryan always showed more affection towards her and gifted her with stuff, it made her grow extremely cautious of him back then so she always refused his gifts, that was until he confessed his feelings for her. Although she never accepted his request, Adryan would force her to secretly meet him in the garden and being the prince of Euphrasia, she couldn’t refuse and they would always end up spending quality time together.

.....

He even promised her marriage once he returned from the quest assigned to him by his father.

No one else knew about this except for Calista. Since she hasn’t accepted his request yet, they decided to let it remain hidden and agreed to wait for the right time before disclosing it to the King.

“I told you, all hope isn’t lost.” Calista assured her once again while Anna tried to keep her smile intact.

Yes, she liked Adryan but despite being with him, she couldn’t get rid of the void which told her something was missing. She assumed it was due to his absence but strangely, that empty void in her heart has been there since she was a child, like there was something missing, except she couldn’t figure out what.

“Now stop worrying,” Calista’s voice immediately pulled Anna from her strain of thoughts, “you’ve grown so thin and I’m sure you wouldn’t want my brother to meet you in such a state.” She half teased, wanting to cheer up the dark atmosphere in the dungeon and once again, a smile returned to Anna’s lips.

“You’re right.”

With a clap of her hands, two maidens made their way into the chamber, holding a tray of fresh fruits along with some poached eggs and avocado.

Calista ordered one of the guards to open the cell door, which he obediently did while the maids proceeded to drop the food inside.

“Make sure to eat them, you need to regain your strength okay?”

Annalise stared at the delicious meal presented before her, the sweet aroma made its way into her nostril, tempting her to eat it right here and now but instead, she clasped her hands together while looking at the princess with a grateful gaze.

“I owe you my life for the kindness you have shown me, I’ll never forget it.”

She wholeheartedly showed her appreciation, causing Calista to shook her head with a look of disapproval, “you’re like a sister to me, so there’s no need to thank me for it, you’ve equally been very helpful to me while growing up and I won’t forget that either, if you really want to show some appreciation, make sure to eat everything on this plate okay?”

Anna nodded politely with a smile.

“Sadly, I’ll have to leave now, I’ll come by tomorrow along with the physician. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight princess.”

Calista walked out after that along with her maids while Anna smiled relentlessly and shifted her happy gaze to her meal.

~

The night was unbearably slow, most especially for Anna who was scared of going back to sleep but once it hit Dawn, Annalise was already out of the dungeon, standing before the King in the royal hall who surprisingly called for her attention.

“Greetings your majesty.” She bowed politely, giving her respect to the King who tried not to show any emotions due to the situation at hand and spoke up.

“Annalise, your execution is almost near, I called for you in case you have any last wish that you have in mind to fulfill.”

Annalise raised her head up a bit before enunciating clearly, “I appreciate your kindness, his majesty is indeed kind although yes, I do have one wish to fulfill if truly, you don’t mind at all.”

“As long as it is something within my limit, then speak.”

“I wish to visit my parents’ tablet.” She announced softly, meeting the gaze of the King who was rather amused by her request. He hadn’t even expected that but yet again, wasn’t completely surprised.

“Your parents tablet?”

She nodded, “yes, I’d like to see it one more time before facing the death which awaits me.”

There was no fear or guilt in her voice as she spoke, rather he found it difficult to sense her emotion and it confused him greatly.

“Anna...”

“Hold on.” The deep voice which resonated behind her made Anna’s eyes pop out slightly as the voice sounded familiar. Not just familiar, but too familiar.

She swirled around, turning to look at the person who had that voice and to her surprise, someone stood at the entrance way, hiding himself under the shadows, dressed in a warrior outfit while folding his hand behind his back. His neutral gaze locked on Annalise.

“I’ll escort the lady to go see her family’s tablet.”