Chapter 6 The Headless Horseman
THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN
Rib-breaking sobs echo throughout the abandoned castle.
It stirs a strange feeling inside of him. A sensation he was sure had turned to ash in the face of his molten rage. His chest aches both with this unwelcome sensation and from his efforts to ignore it.
In his heart, he longs to go to her and offer the one thing he knows she needs: comfort.
When he had come upon her in that room, had she really intended to jump? Even as his prisoner, the girl he knew never would’ve sought such an end. It made no sense to him. Why would she seek her death when she had not spent this last month writhing in torment as he had?
His suffering was her fault. How dare she seek to end herself before having atoned for it?
He never really knew her at all. That is what he must remind himself of.
No matter how much of it was real for him, sometime during those years, she became a liar.
Perhaps she was one since the beginning, and liked how far she could get him to stray to please her.
He had paid the ultimate price for her in the end, and she saw him put down like any other animal.
The pain comes roaring back, fresh and unyielding.
It nearly brings him to his knees as he remembers the agony of the earl’s blade and his broken limbs. More than anything, he remembers her words. They were the last things he read before the final blow was delivered. He still had that physical reminder in his pocket now, and it strengthened him.
The Headless Horseman would not go to her. Not now and not ever. She could cry herself ill for all he cared—sob until her nose bled and her eyes burned. She deserved every moment of pain and fear.
It was she who kindled this rage in him. Their betrayal had been one thing, but hers—it had twisted his soul in the end. She was the reason he became this vile creature. Vengeance would be the only absolution afforded him. Her words had put him on the path to ruin.
In the end, it was her words that had echoed in his mind as the sword was raised, and it severed the head from his shoulders.