The Queen stood there without shedding a single tear, even as the stones kept striking her one after another.
Each hit landed with a dull, ugly thud, some bouncing off, others hitting hard enough to leave marks. What started as blunt impacts slowly turned worse. The stones had become sharp, jagged enough to break skin, and little by little, they began cutting into her. Thin lines of red appeared, then more, until blood started to run down her arms and face in uneven streaks.
Still, she didn't cry.
She didn't scream. She didn't even flinch the way anyone else would have.
She just stood there and took everything.
It almost felt like she had already come to terms with this ending long before any of this began. Like she had already accepted that this was where her path would lead, and there was nothing left to resist.
That thought alone made it hard to watch.
I couldn't believe it.
So this was really happening?
