Alphas Mate The Villainess

Four heavily armored guards escorted me through the dungeon and through the halls of the castle. Each person had a chain linked to the shackles that I was wearing on my wrists and feet, the guards at the front pulling on them if I lagged. They did not stop walking until we were in the middle of the town square, which was filled to the brim with people from all walks of life. There weren't usually this many people in attendance, and I'd heard there weren't many executions open to the public. But this was a highly controversial case.

It's not every day a highborn gets tried and executed in the reign of Henry the Young, first of his name, King of Aldervolf, Protector of Men and the Occult, One True Heir of the Greater Volfenheim Empire. The Crown erected bleachers to accommodate the public. I saw a bunch of my old classmates among them, whispering to themselves, pointing at me. Some were sneering, thinking I deserved it. Only a handful of people looked like they pitied me.

I stuck my chin up in the air and looked ahead to appear nonchalant, but it was a terrible mistake. I saw the three gallows in the middle of the town square. Each wooden structure had five men hanging by their necks, dead, feet swaying in the air as if swinging along with the breeze.

I was shocked to my core, but quickly adjusted my expression. It was a harrowing sight, but I couldn't take my gaze away from the bodies. I couldn't tell who was who. The executioner had removed their head coverings, revealing their puffy, purple faces, bulging eyes, and dangling tongues. They had twisted necks, and their heads were bent at an unusual angle. And if that weren't horrifying enough, the corpses were disemboweled, presumably while they were still alive, and their entrails were left hanging from their bodies.

My heart was pounding hard on my chest, my vision blurred and spun, and I felt my strength and resolve leaving me as my knees folded. I collapsed on the muddy path, dry heaving. Bouts of laughter erupted from the crowd and I shut my eyes tightly, face red in shame.

I was going to die.

I will suffer the same fate as my friends.

Everyone will see, and everyone will cheer as I die.

They would leave our corpses in the town square for weeks, months... until the strain of the rope, our weight, or gravity ripped our heads from the necks. Our rotting bodies will be a warning to anyone who will even think about defying the will of the king. They will defile and inter me in an unmarked grave, never to be found again. I will forever be remembered as a traitor—a kingslayer, even though I failed...

"Get up!" I heard a guard roar at me, and when I didn't budge, they pulled on the chains of my shackles, further damaging my raw wrists.

This is it, I thought. I reached the last moments of my brief life. Defenseless, friendless, weak... while my enemies sneered and cheered. I was scared, really terrified. But I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry and break.