Cara Lugo [Complete]

Epilogue

[Note: Refer back to Prologue, this is a continuation.]

. . . She would be fiery until the very end, but that end seemed closer every day. . .

"Threats must be removed, huh?" Her answering laugh was more bitter than she had ever laughed before. "Then remove me, you coward."

"My dear," he leaned forward. "I do believe you have a death wish."

"And I have for the last decade. Welcome to my world, it's no surprise." She opened her arms wide. "Stand down now and run while you can or accept whatever fate shall come to you in the future."

"You're acting like a prophet come to tell me of my doom. None of that now. Be an adult."

"An adult? Very well then. I have some last words to tell you. Then I'll turn around and go, for today at least. Don't doubt I'll be back though."

James turns his attention to the boy-toy next to him and quickly whispers out something or another before returning to Cara. "I don't doubt it one bit, Cara. That was why you got mixed in. Perhaps a mistake on my part. One cannot tame the wild one, after all."

"Whether the power has gone to your head or whether this was your plan all along, the outcomes doesn't change." She raised her voice, commanding the whole room with every syllable. "So, thank you for teaching me a lesson of trust. I have learned it quickly. Thank you in proving what, in all your benevolence, you have become a dictator of the worst kind. The kind that wraps around its prey in a hug and squeezes them to death."

He smiles, seemingly unperturbed. "A hug? You flatter me, you really do."

"Ah, true. Forgive my ignorance. It's those sweet words you speak that seep into the world and poison all that is good. Once you've opened your mouth and found your target the poison will spread into their bloodstream, undetected, until they keel over in what seems like their own volition. And now you have the whole kingdom to do that on. Congrats."

The boy shifted nervously, but James calmed him, and Cara couldn't stop watching the fingers he traced up that arm and the way he smiled. Notice how the bodies leaned towards each other and neither could she stop the idea from hatching in her own crazed head.

"I do believe you're the one with the pretty words here, darling." He finally says. "You speak with too much melodrama infused into every sentence."

The room did not ever shuffle or titter, instead they hung onto Cara's overexaggerated words like they birthed life themselves. As if Cara could give them the answer, but in truth, she was just a young writer with the call to freedom pounding through her with every heartbeat.

"No, I don't. You killed my brother and I have every right to say what I did. You are toxic, and you know it. You relish it."

He waves his hand dismissively. "No, the king before me was. My brother was. I have now taken care of that threat and everyone is better off because of it. I am the newer king. The change that brings in a newer, even more, beautiful era."

"Not every form of change is good. This certainly isn't. Perhaps for you in this very moment, but not for long. I'm going to take you down or breathe my last breath doing so."

"If that is your last wish, then I can deliver."

Then Cara took one step forward, And another and another until she was running full tilt and pulling the knife out of its sheath. In her peripheral, she saw those step in her way as she ran to the throne. Perfect, she thought and side-stepped them all neatly without missing a single step.

Everyone whirled, surprised, trying to reorganize themselves. For all the tales they've heard, never would they have thought that Cara Lugo was actually reckless enough to attack the king in his own throne room. Never would they have guessed the sheer lack of self-preservation she had ingrained deep inside her. Stories of a crazed rule-breaker didn't even come close to watching her grasp the weapon so tightly her knuckles went white and run like her life depended on it.

All the king's men regrouped and tried to put themselves together again, but she did not care for the ringleader. No. She'd much rather watch his face of surprise then physical pain. Dying was quick, dying was easy, and she knew now how quickly one horrible man was replaced by another. She'd much rather cause him pain otherwise, and if not, just make him live with the knowledge for the rest of his life that not even he could figure out the enigma that was Cara Lugo.

So, she ran a circle around them and stuck the knife deep into the heart of the nameless boy and smiled.

A smile that did not once drop. Not when the guards took her away, not when they threatened her and told her the fate that was awaiting her, not when they hit the killing blow. A smile that would be displayed and haunt the minds of generations to come. Haunt even those who had not seen it themselves but felt that power inside them.

In her last moments, she did let herself wonder if she did her mother proud. If she did Robby proud. Wondered if she had left enough of a mark.

In the end, none of that mattered to her anymore, because she ceased to exist, at least on this plane at that moment. Then maybe for another hundred years. But soon enough she may come back or maybe another child would burn with a passion too and take down the stones of the castle one by one.

Cara Lugo, a force to be reckoned with.

Now, in the end, she too died. Take that as you will.