At the first chime of the clock, Lilyanna threw a piece of rope over the beam. Aunt Marian was holding the chair Lilyanna was standing on in place. She knew there was no way to change Lilyanna’s mind, she could see it in her eyes – stubborn and determined. Ever in her life she had never experience the kind of love Lilyanna and Nicholas shared, but now she got to witness it.
By the tenth stroke, Lilyanna had tied the rope tightly and was lifting up her head to fit into the loop. With a thud, the chair was kicked over and she was hanging in mid-air. The older woman let out a quiet wail and didn’t dare to look up; she heard no gagging, struggling or screaming, just silence, deadly silence.
After a while, Aunt Marian called in Sir Scott and Sir Thomas to help her carry Lilyanna down and lay her down on the freshly made bed. Strangely enough, Lilyanna looked like everything except for a dead body. She seemed like she was sleeping peacefully, her long eyelashes closed and her cheeks were still rosy pink with a single drop of tear on her cheekbone.
“It’s all right, aunt. She’s with Nicholas now, in heaven, a place without anymore suffering and pain.” Sir Thomas comforted, but he couldn’t stop his own tears from falling down.
Sir Scott wiped his face with his sleeves and jumped up when he heard the sound of horse’s hoof approaching.
“Come, we can not let anyone harm her body.” Sir Thomas followed his friend outside the draw out his sword.
Nicholas was sure that he had rode the horse half to death as he dismounted. “Lilyanna?” He called as he pushed open the half closed wooden door and came face to face with two sharp shining swords.
The two men with the blades gasped in surprise. Neither of them believed in ghosts, but Nicholas was standing before them almost as if he was...alive.
“Are you here for Princess Lilyanna?” Sir Thomas asked hurriedly.
At that moment, Nicholas knew he was too late. Lilyanna was gone. He stumbled into the room, feeling light-headed and as if half of himself was lost. Aunt Marian screamed out in surprise and fear as Nicholas entered the bedroom and kneeled down next to Lilyanna’s lifeless body.
"Lilyanna, I’m here angel." He whispered; his voice filled with pain. Now he knew the reason why it felt like half of him was missing. Lilyanna was gone. She would be forever missing, along with a part of his heart and soul. It was at that point that Nicholas stopped caring whether he lived or died. Because as far as he was concerned, the main thing he had lived for was gone. He reached down and held her in his arms, he hug her tightly as tears streamed down his face.
“I was never the perfect lover, I was never there to protect you from life’s harms, and couldn’t give you security. Even as of now, I was late on our last date. What will you do when you can’t find me in heaven? You’ll be alone and scared, but I won’t let that happen, not anymore. I’ll never let you be lonely again, I promise. I’ll take you to a place, a place where there will just be the two of us.” He mumbled as he picked her up in and walked out the room with her in his arms.
Aunt Marian was too afraid to stop him and neither did Sir Thomas and Sir Scott. They all watched in a daze as Nicholas climbed on his horse and pulled Lilyanna into his embrace. “As it had turned out to be, there was nothing that can separate us. Nothing, not even death could do that now.” He whispered into her ear as he clicked his heels and the horse sped off into forest.