Jun was forced to be dressed by servants he tried to get rid of. No matter how much he tried to scream at them, threaten them, or fight through them, they all refused to leave because of the King’s orders. When they weren’t paying close attention to him, he dashed out of the room only to find himself being heavily guarded. Having no choice but to follow his father’s orders, he went back to his room depressed. After having to go through a series of tantrums, he found himself being dragged to the middle of the courtyard while the other servants went to work on the platform.

The display was no different when he had witnessed his first execution when he was a child. The King’s and Queen’s throne were on the top most while his and his sister’s seat were just below them. Circling around them were fences so if anyone tried to save the criminal, they couldn’t get through. And the platform was still the same as it was. There was fire at the sides to illuminate the criminal’s face and an anvil in the middle for his head to be chopped off.

Jun looked away. As a kid he alway anticipated executions, but today he just couldn’t stand to see a single wood from the platform. Images of Nino being slain flashed through his mind, enough to anger him and trash everything around him. Knights had to come and hold him to stop, while the servants came to fix the damage he had caused.

“Let go!” Jun hissed, reluctantly pulling his arms away from the knights. They refused to listen to him, however and just continued to hold like a criminal while he felt everyone’s eyes on him. That’s right, he was losing his mind because they all were anticipating for this to happen too. He could see from the corner of his eyes, a little girl approaching the fences. She looked just like any villagers but Jun remembered her. Elbowing the knights, he ran to the little girl and scooped her up.

“Prince... is... the man going to die today?” She asked him in a soft whisper.

Jun her silky, smooth hair, smiling and telling her he would save him. He saw a small smile form on her lips while her arms tightly went around her small bunny. Just as he had thought, Nino wasn’t just a thief. Seeing the way this girl was dressed, Nino must have felt bad for all the poor children in the world since he was once one of them too. He remembered back during the town meeting, half of the kids had sullen looks on their faces, but he was too ignorant and ignored them. Putting the girl back down, he held her hand and told her to come with him. She was shy at first but eventually came along with him. Once he was inside the castle, he found his father and his mother sitting besides each other while whispering. They didn’t notice him at first until he coughed, and bowed; the girl doing the same thing.

“My, who’s this?” His mother was the first to talk, getting up from her seat and picking up the girls in her arms.

“It’s ok,” She cooed, “Don’t be scared. What’s your name?”

“A-Aoi...” The little girl stuttered, her eyes on her bunny instead of his mother’s.

“Well, Aoi, what brings you here? Did the Prince offer to play with you?”

“No,” Jun answered for her, “I have a reason for your majesty...please listen to what I have to say.”

“Son,” His father sighed, “the last time I listened to you, it was something unreasonable. Now leave and go back outside, take her back to the village.”

“But your majesty--”

“Jun, please go,” His mother cut him off, “Your father is already angered.”

He was about to protest when he saw how serious his mother was. Taking the girl in his arms, they went back to the courtyard together, telling the little girl to gather all the boys and girls for later. With a smile, she nodded her head and ran back to the village. If she was able to bring them in time, his father might want to hear his reason and stop the execution. However, the time wasn’t so kind to him as villagers were already crowding near the fences. They all seemed to be amazed with the setup but Jun hated it. He wanted to set it on fire, tell people, or announce to the world he was in love with the thief. But he didn’t have the guts to that as he sat down his seat, hoping that the children will show up.

When he thought that the children had arrived, instead the King and Queen, followed by his sister, came through the entrance. They all had grand smiles on their faces while he just sat there staring at his father with a frown. They certainly took their time to take a seat, and Jun was starting to get impatient. Of course the little girl wouldn’t make it in time since gathering children up with her small feet, she must have been tired already. Losing all hopes, he sighed and closed his eyes.

He opened them again when he heard clamoring, thinking that it was the children trying to cut in. However, he saw from the left side of the castle, knights and more of them, emerging to the middle while dragging a person with a sack over their head. Jun knew who it was. He was about to get up when his sister grabbed ahold of his hand. He glared at her, hoping she would let go but didn’t. Having no choice but to listen to her actions, he sat back down. At the same time he sunk back into his chair, he heard the floorboards creak behind him, and his father cough. All the shouting stopped and all eyes were on him.

“Men and women, all alike, are here gathered today for the thief’s execution. You may have all wondered why we went ahead with the execution today instead of tomorrow, but I had reasons to push the date. So, with all the wait, I present to you our famous executioner!”

Then the shouting became loud again as a chubby man came to the middle of the platform. He was shouting along with them too, raising his bloody axe in the air. Every moment his eyes were looking at this scene, he had the urge to snap and take a knight’s sword to kill the chubby man. However, he felt his sister’s hand tighten and his mother’s hand gently hold his shoulder. He knew they were just trying to keep him calm, but seeing the love of his life in the middle, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. As the cheering became quiet, the chubby man smirked before pulling the sack off of his head. He sharply turned his head to the side, knowing that his beautiful eyes were on him. How he loved seeing them sparkle while he was looking at him, but he just couldn’t bring himself to look.

Jun hesitated and finally, dared to take a look. Nino’s eyes were now closed, a bitter smile on his lips. The chubby man had a hungry smile on his face as he walked behind Nino. He gripped at his hair, wincing in pain as he watched, and the chubby man raised his axe in the air. Jun could no longer contain his calamity. Pushing his sister’s hand away, he stood up from his chair and ran as fast as he could. He felt all eyes on him, and the gasping from the villagers can be heard. Meanwhile, his father was shouting for the knights but he ended up fighting them all off.

As Jun ran, the thought of dying along with him didn’t seem bad. Despite his feet being so tired, it wouldn’t matter anyways since he’ll die along with him. It wasn’t such a bad thought. Getting closer and closer, Jun opened his arms wide and soon found Nino in his arms. He curled up against his body, getting ready for the chubby man to take their lives together. Instead of something sharp pain going through his neck, he heard shouting and the chubby man fell to the floor. Blood, too much blood, was seeping out of him while he was gagging and struggling on the floor. Jun watched in horror as the man slowly stopped moving, and his rash breathing can no longer be heard.

“Jun, run away... I don’t want him to hurt you...”

“Wha--” He didn’t have the time to ask Nino what was his reason, but he found out as soon as a man in a white cloak appeared behind Nino. It was him, the same man who tried to break Nino free yesterday. He was just about to get up and kill the man himself when he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder blade, and realized that the man had thrown a knife at him.

“No! Jun!” Nino yelled. “Please! Run...”

Jun didn’t listen. He just smiled and continued to hold Nino even tighter as the pain on his shoulder became unbearable. He felt Nino tremble in his arms, and then he heard him sniffle a little bit. Pulling away, Jun grabbed his chin and kissed his lips before falling on his back. His eyes just refused to close for him as he stared at the stars above him. They were shining, and bright, giving off many colors that Jun couldn’t name in a few seconds. Finally Nino can see them too. Turning his head to the side, he could see the man in the white cloak swiftly cutting the knife from Nino’s wrist. Jun smiled. At least Nino can live freely again without having to go through anymore of this. As Nino got up, he could see more knights coming in until they were completly surrounded. He saw Nino picking something off of the ground, a sword Jun had pulled from a knight earlier. The last thing he saw was Nino raising the sword in the air, and advancing towards the man in white cloak...

TBC