“Otto?! Gisela?!” Liesel gasped, coming upon the scene and pushing to the front, attracted by the commotion and the crowd that was continuing to grow. “What is going on?”
“Liesel!” Otto called out to her. “Please, go get Freida…”
Henne got closer to Alwin in the chaos, leaning over his twitching figure and blocking out Otto’s pleas.
“I can make it stop,” Henne whispered. “All you have to do is agree.”
Alwin groaned, too agonized to speak, only able to shake his head into the bloodstained ground under his cheek. He heard a single croak in the distance, like a cry.
Henne grabbed his face with vicious fingers. “I’ll kill them then. All of them. I’ll start with Otto, and then I’ll raze your precious kingdom to the ground. Everything you care about I’ll take, and leave you in the ruins of it.”
Not again, Alwin’s heart wept.Not again.
He’d sworn he wouldn’t allow anything like it to be repeated. He would protect those he loved like he couldn’t before, no matter the cost to himself.
His eyes found Otto, begging for forgiveness. He was already staring at him, his tearstained face making Alwin’s eyes sting with phantom tears of his own.
He did his best to convey everything he’d never get a chance to say. All his love, even if it had to remain unspoken. He didn’t want Otto to question it when he looked back.
“Very well,” he whispered.
The pain had cleared his mind enough that he could feel the tickle of magic at the back of his mind, the dripping of the well echoing back to him, waiting for a request.
Blue eyes widened in panic, and Otto began shaking his head and struggling more. “No, Alwin. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t! Please don’t.”
Henne gasped in shock and triumph, his eyes sparkling with victory. “Get him up. Now, you fools! Didn’t you hear me?!”
He was dragged back to his feet, just dangling there between them with no strength to stand on his own. More people whispered around them, pointing.
“Ask,” Alwin said.
“I want to be known far and wide for my deeds. The most famous man in all the land. More famous than the queen herself!” Henne said in a breathless rush, eyes alight with his fervor.
“Let it be known,” Alwin said, and the whole crowd hushed, holding their collective breath. “In exchange for the safety ofOtto and Gisela, Henne asks for fame and recognition, his name spread across the kingdom far and wide.”
“Alwin,” Otto whispered, heartbroken.
“And so shall it be,” Alwin continued, feeling the brilliant hum fill him up. “His name will be in everyone’s mouths; a day will not go by without it passing their lips. Henceforth, he will be known as Henne the Traitorous, a healer who poisoned his village to get what he wanted, living in infamy and recognized for all his deeds, just as he wished.”
Gasps and whispers rang out, and Henne’s face drained of color. He whipped his head back and forth. “No, no, that is not what I asked!”
Possessed by magic, the mutterings didn’t stop, and Henne grabbed the front of Alwin’s bloodied shirt, spittle flying into his face. “You tricked me, you filthy monster!”
“I simply granted you what you asked for,” Alwin stated plainly.
“Take it back!”
“The deal has been made. Your name is spreading far and wide as we speak.”
“Then I’ll kill you to break it!” Henne declared, desperate in his madness. “Kill him! Kill him now!”
The blows came down hard, blanking out his vision for a second.
“NO!” Otto screamed. “Do something! Someone, please. He helped you. He helped all of you! You heard him. Henne is the monster!”
The crowd shifted some more, conflicted and unsure. A few stepped forward, looking at each other. Alwin could hear croaking in the distance as more blows rained down on him.
“Faster!” Henne screamed. “Kill him!”
