“Bring out the girl,” A hoarse voice scratched into the silent night. A crowd had been gathered around to watch an execution of a young, dangerously magical girl.
She stumbled out into the crowd with a man tightly holding her by the arms. She was hideously dressed and sweating madly with fresh drops of perspiration covering her face.
The moment was unbearably tense. Muffled whispers of pity and mercy traveled around the crowd quickly. “Mercy, the poor child,” A women cried to her husband. The man with the hoarse voice was sharpening his ax and getting prepared.
The rigid, freshly sharpened ax rose into the sky gracefully. Just a little above the girl’s head. She closed her eyes shut and tried to steady herself, as the ax came rushing down and…
*******************************
“NO!” I shot up with a jolt. I felt my hair wet with sweat and my back was damp. Everything felt cold and feverish.
“Calm yourself, Sephora! It was--just a bad dream, a nightmare,” I murmured to myself, “Just a dream—just a dream—a dream—it was a dream!” I continued to say this out loud, hoping that by maybe continuously repeating this phrase, I would begin to believe it and return to reality. My breathing was intense and my chest rose and fell rapidly. I leaned over my bed to the metal pitcher and poured myself a glass of water and sipped all of it down in three noisy gulps, to calm my hammering heart.
A long passageway was ahead of my cell; it was dark besides the little light the torches shed. The other prisoners were in deep slumber. Almost all had committed horrific crimes against the kingdom. “I didn’t do anything, I’m innocent,” My voice echoed off the walls emptily. I did not know if I wanted to get over with my execution and rest my soul in peace, or hold onto everyday as my last.
“Is everything alright Sephora?” The guard, Billy, pressed his nose through the metal bars. He seemed to come out of nowhere with a torch in his trembling hand.
“Yes, everything is fine. I think I just had a bad dream. I’m scared Billy, that’s all. Just—go away,” I waved him away with one hand and cupped my head in my hands.
“I’m sorry Sephora.” His head lowered in shame, “I wish there was something I can do, but I’m just as helpless as you are,”.
“I know Billy, do you see me complaining? I’m strong, I can do this, besides, it’s in my fate and nobody can change that,” I let out a deep heaving sigh.
“No Sephora, you must fight for your freedom. If there is anything at all you should be doing right now, it is that. Don’t give up fighting for justice. There is someone who has come to meet you, should I send her in?”
“Who’d in their right mind want to meet me?” I sat up straighter, bewildered almost.
“I want to meet you,” A distant voice responded, it was a woman. A young woman. Billy was looking at this woman as if she were some kind of God in human form; he smiled happily while he undid the lock. The young woman returned the smile appreciatively. It was almost as if the two shared a secret and I wasn’t about to figure it out anytime soon.
“I can only give you an hour, good luck,” Good luck? Good luck with what?
“I understand that was the deal,” The young woman replied mischievously, and then finally turned to me when Billy had walked away down the dark tunnel.
“Hi, Sephora, did anyone ever tell you how beautiful your name is?” She bent down while placing both her hands on her knees, a torchlight shined over her as we studied each others faces. I could see she had strong features, almond shaped eyes that were an icy gray, a strong jaw and a long pointy nose. She was thin and curvy like a long perfect hourglass, in other words she was a beautiful woman. I snapped back to her question, yes, someone did tell me my name was beautiful. My mother had picked it even before I had been born, or so I had been told. But I wasn’t in the mood to continue the conversation any further, “No,” I lied halfheartedly.
“Well, now I have. My name is Ophelia, do you know what it means?” There was an awkward pause for a moment or two.
“No offense or anything, but I honestly don’t care what your name means, or whether or not someone complimented my name before you. I think it’s reasonable enough to believe that names really are the last thing on my mind right now,” I realized after I had finished speaking that it had been rude and very unlike the person I thought I was.
Ophelia nodded understandingly.
“I know this is hard, Sephora. In fact, I’m surprised at how well you’re taking it. You’re an extraordinarily strong girl, and I’ve heard a lot about you. Every living breathing person in Olivia has only one word and only one name on their lips, ‘Sephora’. As for my name, the one less spoken of--I’ll just tell you myself what it means. My name means ‘Helper’, Sephora. I’m sure you can use a bit of me.” She joked. My eyes must have cut through her, because she quickly fixed her gaze at a random spot on the wall, “I just want to tell you little about myself,” She hastily continued, “I am a jurist, specializing in Magical Creature Rights, MCR for short. Before I came to you, I’ve been trying to gather some information. It was not difficult, knowing that everyone is speaking of you, and that is how I stumbled across Billy. Keeping in mind that he is a guard of the cells, I knew I could rely on his information. Billy only gave me the basics but it was enough to drive me insane with questions and wanting to know more. I can tell there is some sort of injustice being done with you. I want to help you—
“You can’t help me. Period. If I couldn’t help myself, then no one can, you’re wasting your time—
“How I spend my time should be my concern, I’m going to ask you to tell me everything—
“I’m not going to tell you anything, it’s pointless. I’m doing this for your own safety. By bringing yourself into this you’re jeopardizing your own life. Jerald will eat you alive,”
“Besides his status as king and his knights in shining armor, he is merely just another man we have to overcome!”
“We? I like the way you think, Ophelia. You’re very determined and strong willed, but you’re right, you really are driving yourself insane. I suggest you go home.” At this, Ophelia paced my cell up and down, not knowing that I wasn’t even considering—or hoping that a young amateur jurist was going to knock onto my cell and whisk me away to safety.
“You have nothing to lose, Sephora. I need you to believe in me.”
True. I had nothing to lose; somehow those five words planted a little hope in me. I sighed. “How much do you know about me?” This made her stop pacing, she reflexively turned to face me and I could see brightness, a hope in her eyes.
“Well, I know that you’re being executed, due to the king of Olivia’s command. Except no one really knows the reason, I must’ve interviewed nearly hundreds of Olivians, and all I ever get is a shrug or something. You should know?”
“Ophelia, I don’t think it’s safe for you being here tonight. I think Jerald is going to send someone to patrol the corridors besides me and send me home. You should come back tomorrow morning. You ladies get anything done?” Billy appeared looking hopeful.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Don’t worry, Sephora. I’m coming back tomorrow, and I’m coming everyday. I just need you to cooperate with me, I can do this if you can.” She walked over to me and gently cupped my chin in her hand; she bent down and planted a kiss on the top of my head. A swoon of emotions took over me then, I wanted to get up and hug her as tightly as I possibly could and not ever let her go. After feeling so unloved, cold and alone, Ophelia truly seemed like a god sent.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” Were her last words. I watched her walk away quietly.
*******************************************************************
I woke up the next day from the pleasant chirping of birds. There was only a little blob of sunshine that managed to squeeze into my dark cell, creating a little warm corner by my bed. I stared out the little window as I saw a little blue bird fly across in a flash. It was amazing how something could be so close, the sun, the birds, the smell of fresh morning air and yet be so far away.
“Good morning!” I quickly turned to find Ophelia standing across my cell while Billy fidgeted with the lock, it cracked open and Ophelia walked in. There was a basket in her hand and a small metal kettle. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier, but I thought you’d be asleep and also I was busy baking for you,” She smiled warmly and set the basket down next to me on the mattress.
“Baking? For me? Ophelia, you didn’t have to, but thank you. I feel incredibly special,” I looked away from the basket at the tray on the floor that I received every morning, a plate of burnt toast and a glass of warm water.
“You’re not going to eat that from now on,” Ophelia followed my gaze.
I sat up straighter, feeling safe and blissful as I bit into the warm blueberry muffin, “This is really good, I haven’t had something like this in a long time. I sincerely want to thank you,” I could almost feel tears well up in my eyes.
“Don’t worry about it, silly! What are friends for? Anyways, we don’t have time for all this, are you going to tell me everything about your past, or not? It’s the only way we can figure out what we need to do as of now,” She helped herself to a muffin from the basket and picked out a cup and poured me some tea from the kettle,
“Sephora, I need, and want to learn about you as much as possible. The more I know, the more I can help, isn’t’ that right? I’m not going to sit here and interview you. I’m going to be your friend and we’ll try to solve this together. So please just trust me. Just remember, you have nothing to lose,”
“I trust you, Ophelia. I’m going to tell you everything as best as I can. My name is Sephora Leonard. I’m 17--
“No Sephora, tell it to me like a story.”
Ophelia came everyday in the morning for one hour, the blueberry muffins and the tea had become like a ritual.
“Your story is like a hidden legend, Sephora, a legend in the making,”
=) Any feedback/comments/critique is greatly appreciated, is this something you see yourself getting hooked to? Is this something you would like to continue reading? Please let me know! Thanks in advance, and thank you for those who took the time to read, means a lot!
