The Dragon's Kiss

"Proceed!"

It was the signal to commence with the execution.

To be a foreign hostage princess carrying out the sentence of one of the empire's criminals, Kel was certain there would be much discontent among the emperor's men.

She quickly scanned some of the knights standing in the background, but if they were upset about the outsider doing such an important job, it didn't show on their faces.

It was a relief, at least, that she didn't have to worry about open hostility from the Serins, seeing as she was about to bring the hatred of the Subterrans upon herself.

Her hands trembled as she gripped the midnight black hilt even more tightly.

After all, she was just what she'd thought of moments ago.

An outsider.

An imposter, standing between people who thought she was a princess and people who thought she was their long-awaited hero.

Nobody within miles had an unskewed perspective of her, yet here she stood, prepared to land the final blow to the fate of the Subterrans. Either they would surrender here, as the emperor had planned, or they would die.

Kel pictured her blood-covered hands pressing against Lila's motionless chest, the woman's mouth unable to speak her final wishes. Then she thought of Alaia's lifeless eyes, still widened in pain.

Would the rest of the Subterrans soon be like that?

Unfinished.

Unremarkable.

People who lived and died without anybody else noticing.

Or would the emperor's plan work?

Trust the emperor, Kel reminded herself. He's the only thing here I can trust.

She took one last shaky breath before finally sending the blade on its descent.

CLINK!

A collective gasp traveled through the crowd as the sword bounced off the ground in front of Soren.

No. There was something Kel could trust more than the emperor.

Herself.

And right now, regardless of whether they were right or not, there were countless innocent people looking to her as their savior.

This time, she would trust what her chest was screaming at her to do.

Ignoring the sarcastic snort from Soren, the decisive glares of the Serin knights, and the rioting Subterrans, pushing against the wall of soldiers with all their might, Kel swallowed and bravely opened her mouth.

"People of Subterra!" she called as loudly as she could. "Please listen to me!"

A gradual hush fell over the Subterrans at the voice of their idol. Soon, everyone was again watching Kel intently.

Suddenly feeling uncertain at being the center of focus once again, Kel glanced toward the emperor. His eyes were glued to her as well, but held no clue to his thoughts.

Was he angry?

Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. Since she had everyone's attention, she figured it was better to take advantage quickly, before someone jumped in to stop her.

"You've all been hiding down here," Kel addressed the Subterrans. "Just like your parents and grandparents and ancestors whose bones have long turned to dirt."

There was a stir through the Subterrans at the mention of their decomposed ancestors. It was only natural they'd hold their predecessors in such high regard as to view Kel's blunt remark as an act of disrespect.

Continuing on, Kel raised her voice, "You've been waiting for some kind of hero.. someone straight out of a fairytale to come back and build a better world for you."

She couldn't help but scoff at the irony of what she was saying. She knew better than anyone that the kind of person they were looking for--with blonde hair and the power of a dragon--wasn't as far-fetched as she had made it out to be.

It was unarguable, though, that the Subterran people's devotion to the idea was fantastically excessive.

"But I say, it's time to stop waiting!" Kel declared, feeling her confidence grow with each word. "Stop waiting around for someone else. You can build a better world yourselves!"

"I've seen what you are capable of," she went on. "You eat food miraculously grown far away from the sunlight. You survive and thrive down here with knowledge and skills learned through generations of struggle. Skills the likes of which, the surface has never seen!"

It was true. The unique techniques of the Subterrans she'd witnessed so far were incredible. And she was certain that, in her short time there, she hadn't even scratched the surface of what the odd underground people were capable of.

"You don't need someone to lead you!" Kel turned abruptly, pointing an accusing finger at Soren. "Because you've been sitting here doing nothing, look what happened! Look who became your leader, and look at what he's led you to!"

A murmur filled the air as Kel denounced the Subterran leader. She couldn't tell if the people were mumbling their agreement or starting a new wave of protests.

Looking past the end of her finger, she saw Soren smirking disgustingly at her. Did he think she was making a fool out of herself?

Maybe she should have separated his devious head from his slimy body, after all.

The room started to become hazy as Kel's mind ran away with panicked thoughts. Her gaze shifted around wildly, trying to process everyone's reactions.

Finally, in the midst of her alarm, her eyes landed on Thane, still standing on the balcony, Lucy slumped at his side.

When their eyes locked, Thane gave her a smile followed by a sheepish thumbs up.

Her head immediately began to calm with the cheerful knight's simple gesture. Somehow, it was the perfect amount of assurance to counteract Soren's taunting.

Clearing her throat again, Kel spoke over the top of the hum of Subterran voices.

"So please," she yelled. "I'm no more powerful than any of you, but take my hand and come with me to the surface."

This time, it was the Serin soldiers breaking out in low-toned complaints.

"Surrender now," Kel continued, "and go build lives for yourselves. Make the world better in the ways you can."

Her throat became tight as she thought once again of Lila and Alaia.

"Don't live and die for the futile dream of your ancestors," she insisted. "Live for yourself.. And die only after you've made memories worth leaving behind."