Almost two months later, it was Naremia’s national holiday. The whole Naremian army was dressed in their grey outfits and en route to the capital by foot. I walked right behind Jessica; her bright red hair contrasted against her grey outfit and was kind of a beacon. Despite the monotonous grey of our uniforms, all of us formed a colourful pattern thanks to our hair colour.
We arrived at our destination and marched towards the main street. We turned into the street and suddenly stopped. At the other end was a wooden platform with a throne on it, and there was also a wooden frame with a rope hanging from it. At the end of the rope was a noose, big enough for a head. I also saw the lever next to the frame. What was going on?
Suddenly, I noticed Oscar standing in the street. He was dressed in his official outfit and was sad, his mouth formed a small line. What was he doing here in the street? Shouldn’t he be sitting off to the side? He walked towards us, his eyes scanning over us. Jessica glanced over her shoulder at me.
“I think he’s searching for you. Go to him,” she whispered.
I pushed myself past her and the other officers, who were clearly confused and surprised. Eventually, I reached Oscar. His facial expression was definitely grim.
“What’s going on?” was the first thing I asked him.
“Something has changed. It’ll be a public execution.”
“Whose execution? Why?”
“Do you remember The Selection and the girl who was missing?”
I even remembered her name: Maggie Bonn. Now, I saw a girl in a black dress being pushed onto the platform. She had a black bag over her head, so I didn’t see her face. Her hands were tied behind her back.
“Maggie? What about her?” I asked.
“She has broken the law by not showing up. I can’t do anything. But you might. She’s human, you know.”
I heard through Oscar’s words what he meant. He knew Mysaulia took in Naremians, especially if they were human, and he didn’t desire her to be dead. It was clear to me that he was hoping I would intervene.
“Yes, I’ll arrange it.”
While I walked past Oscar towards the platform, King Henry of Naremia also climbed onto it. His facial expression was hard as steel, but I wasn’t the least impressed. With fast, confident steps, I walked towards the platform and stepped onto it. Of course, the king noticed me immediately, and I firmly put my hands on my sides.
“Madison. It has been a while since I last saw you,” he spoke.
“Would you like to tell me what’s the meaning of this? Executing a girl publicly? Really? Are you being serious?”
It was so old-fashioned to do public executions. This kind of thing hadn’t been done for centuries anymore. Why must he create such drama around it? What had she even ever done wrong? If the only reason wasn’t showing up for some stupid Selection to compete for the hand of the prince — which was also old-fashioned, and I hadn’t known it was still done — then it was insane to kill her. The Selection might be sacred to Naremia but were we still living in the Dark Ages? Our time might resemble the Dark Ages a lot since we lost a lot of technology, but we were so much further ahead and better than that.
“She has broken the law. She’s an example to everyone,” the king answered simply.
“Remove that bag from her head,” I ordered the hybrid who stood behind the girl.
He looked at the king, who now came to stand right in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes. “Don’t get involved here,” he warned me. "I won't allow you to stop me and Naremian justice."
I was getting so sick and tired of all of this. Did he forget who I was, speaking to me like a common peasant in his kingdom? I might be in his country, but I was the future queen of Mysaulia. He’d need to learn how to deal with me.
“What’s the alternative? Are you going to threaten me with a war? All of you always use that as a threat. Well, I’ll do that as well, but in my own way.”
I raised my left hand, reaching towards the sky. A bright, yellow lightning bolt lit up the grey sky.
“You know who I am and what I can do. I can make sure there won’t be any more storms in Naremia, not as long as I live. I can also cover Naremia under snowstorms which will last for years.”
Storms were important because the lightning bolts were turned into electricity. Without them, it would be impossible to generate power. In the meantime, a couple of snowflakes started falling down.
“Remove that bag,” the king ordered reluctantly.
Then he stepped back and let himself fall into the throne on the platform. The hybrid pulled the bag off the girl’s head. She first looked at the king and then at me, clearly scared, her eyes wide. I went to stand in front of her.
“I presume you’re Maggie Bonn. Repeat after me if you want to stay alive,” I spoke to her.
She nodded.
“I, Maggie Bonn, hereby give up my Naremian citizenship,” I started.
Her eyes widened even more when she heard the words, but she repeated them.
“I do this because I want to take on the citizenship of Mysaulia,” I continued, and she repeated the words. “With this, I’ll become a Mysaulian citizen from now on, and I solemnly swear I’ll obey the laws and rules of Mysaulia.”
Again, I waited until she had repeated the words.
“Mysaulia is my heart, and my heart belongs to Mysaulia,” I concluded.
She repeated those words as well. It was complete. I placed my right thumb against her forehead and for a moment a dark purple dot appeared there. Dark purple was the colour of the current ruler of Mysaulia — my father. Maggie Bonn was now officially a Mysaulian citizen.
“Untie her hands and make sure she can safely go to Mysaulia,” I spoke to the king.
“That’ll be taken care of.”
“Mention my name at the border. My full name is Madison Eleohnora Marion Perrault Stone. If you do this, they’ll let you pass and help you,” I told Maggie, who nodded.
“Untie her and get her off this platform,” King Henry ordered the hybrid who still stood behind Maggie.
The hybrid obeyed immediately.
“Well, now there won’t be a show,” the king said to no one in particular.
“Do you want a show? You can get that and then you’ll also get some electricity for free.”
“I now notice what my son sees in you.”
“I thought I was chosen by you or that I had won The Selection,” I replied.
“Originally, yes. But Oscar wanted you to participate and when it was clear who you were, he still wanted you to marry him.”
I shrugged. King Henry hadn’t told me anything new.
“The only question is if I’m a good match for him.”
“There’s no better match.”
Huh? Thank you for the compliment, I thought internally.
I spread my arms and threw my head back. Bright-coloured lightning bolts lit up the sky. It was almost like real fireworks. I closed my eyes and let myself be carried away by the music of the lightning. For me, it was music; for others, it was something terrifying.
I was pulled out of my trance by someone snapping their fingers in front of my face. I moved my head, opened my eyes, and looked straight into the grey eyes of Oscar.
“Oh wow, you were really far gone,” he said, grinning.
I had used almost all my energy to create a storm with only lightning, without thunder and rain. My legs were shaking. I couldn’t remain standing anymore. I collapsed to my knees, and Oscar caught me in his arms.
“Are you okay, Madison?” he asked worriedly.
Tired, I shook my head. I was vaguely aware it was slightly raining; I felt the drops on my skin. Shit. I had no control over the weather anymore. With all my remaining willpower and strength, I tried to force the rain to stop so it’d stay dry. There were so many people gathered here, and they couldn’t hide anywhere. The storm couldn’t break through. With the last bit of energy I had, I changed the weather so it wouldn’t rain. The threatening storm disappeared; the pressure lessened.
My body complained and hurt, definitely not happy with what I had done. My head pounded, and my mind threw all kinds of horrible images at me. Images of demons flashed through my thoughts. The wall I had built to protect myself against my psychopathic tendencies was about to collapse. I was about to lose total control over myself. I wasn’t aware of my environment; I only saw the red mist and the images of demons.
I was vaguely aware of my one hand touching the metal hilt of a sword. Not aware anymore of what I was doing, I grabbed the hilt and started pulling at it. I distantly heard my name being called. Was it my name? I couldn’t tell for sure. I pulled harder, I needed a weapon, so I’d be able to defend myself and fight against the demons. They must die.
“Madison!”
The hilt slid out of my grasp, and I felt myself being shaken.
“Madison, please come back.”
Back? Why did I need to come back? I had never been gone.
“Madison, please. Say something. Respond.”
I frowned. Who was talking to me? I recognised the voice but couldn’t place it.
“Damn it, Madison. You aren’t your grandfather! I refuse to let it come so far! Come back, damn it!”
My grandfather? Who was my grandfather again? What did he have to do with this? I was too exhausted to even think. I barely knew who I was. Who was I? My brain was asleep, refused to work, and my mind started giving up. The red mist and images changed into pure darkness. Everything went black.