Let him watch it die. Watch me die in a brutal way.
The executioner adjusted his grip on his long sword .The crowd had grown still and quite—no jeers and no laughter now. Only the sound of the wind blowing and the sound of red banners and of falling snow.
I lowered my head slightly, not to submit but to give the executioner a good cut.
I was listening for the voice that once called me Li'er in the quite of our bedchamber. For the man who once said I was the sword at his side, not behind him. The one who kissed my palm on the morning I was crowned and said, "This empire is safer with you in it."
But that voice was gone.
All that remained was the cold, ceremonial silence of his judgment.
I let out a breath when the blade lifted, a memory came to me.
I remember on jade steps in robes of crimson and gold, holding the imperial phoenix seal in trembling hands.
I remember kneeling in our private garden underneath beneath the plum blossoms, his fingers brushing snow from my hair as he swore, "If ever I doubt you, I will doubt the stars first."
I stood in chains for the first time, lips split, while he stared down at me as though he had never known me, held me and whisper promises to me.
Time stood still while the blade began to fall, I lifted my head—just slightly—and whispered:
"I will remember everything"
The words were soft. Too soft to be heard, but he heard them.
Zhao Yunxie suddenly stood.
But it was too late.The sword had struck
Pain exploded down my spine like lightning while my vision flashed white, then red, then black. Something wet splashed across my chest—my blood, its warm even as the air turned it to ice.
The ground rushed up to meet me but I felt nothing.