My heart stopped as I recognized that Rian was one of the prisoners being dragged up to the stage. I heard a terrified squeak next to me as Lilac came to the same conclusion as I did. I reached over and took her hand. "What are we going to do, Lilac? What are we going to do? We can't just leave him!" 

Lilac's eyes began to fill with tears. Her voice quavered. "We have to, Van. There's nothing we can do. Rian made his own choice." 

Next to her, my mother had gone pale. She, too, was horrified. "Mom, what can we do?" I asked "You can't possibly think that we should just not do anything!" My voiced trembled. 

My mother just shook her head sadly and turned back towards the stage. It was clear. The three of us could do nothing, but watch Rian be executed by the king. The prisoners finally made it to the stage and were shoved on by their guards. 

The king addressed the crowd once more. "Here are our traitors. They were responsible for the deaths of five of my advisors." He paused, letting us absorb his words. "Thankfully, they were caught before they could do any more damage. And now, they must face punishment for their crimes! Rebel movements such as this will NOT be tolerated in Ostbourne, not now, not ever." 

With that, the crowd burst into cheers. I was stunned. How could my best friend possibly be a murderer? Rian was too soft hearted to hurt anyone. There must be a mistake. They have the wrong man. 

The king raised his hand again to signal silence. "Now, as always, I am nothing if not benevolent. So I will permit the prisoners to say any last words." He looked at the prisoners being held by guards and waited. "Well, anything you would like to say in the last minutes of your life?" 

Rian and the other prisoner looked at each other. I recognized that look; Rian used it whenever he was hiding something. Then, in unison they shouted out, "Long live the revolution!" As soon as they said that, more people rushed out from the crowd and onto the stage. 

Someone fired a gun at the guards holding the prisoners. And with that, Rian and the other prisoner leaped off the stage, into the crowd, and disappeared without a backward glance. It was complete pandemonium. 

The king and prince looked outraged at this escapade. They released their magic on the crowd. Darkness filled the air, making it impossible to see. People rushed about, trying to reach the exits. I reached for Lilac's hand and she grabbed our mother with her other hand. I tried to lead us to the exit, but we were shoved every which way by other people. I had no idea what was happening; no one did. Screams and cries filled the air. 

I had no idea where the exit even was at this point. Then, the sound of a gunshot cut through the chaos. Then, another, and another. I realized that the guards had begun to fire into the crowd. Another scream pierced through. This one was much closer than the others. Belatedly, I realized that it came from Lilac.

I turned back towards her. "Lilac! What happened!" 

She was sobbing. "A bullet got Mom! She's on the floor! I can't tell how bad it is, because I can't see anything!" 

I crouched down, trying to find where my mother was. When I found her, I shouted, "Mom, Mom, can you hear me?" I tried nudging her. I picked up her wrist and tried to feel for a pulse. Nothing. 

My eyes burned with tears. "She's gone, Lilac. She's gone." I took Lilac's hand once again and pulled her away from my mother's corpse. "We have to get out of here." 

My sadness quickly turned into rage. How dare they come and take my mother away from me? How dare they? You must stop them. I started. There was a voice inside my head that was not mine. I didn't have time to dwell on it though because suddenly my vision cleared. I was able to see through the darkness. I looked around and realized that no one else could see yet. I saw the exit and pulled Lilac towards it. We were stopped however, by none other than Prince Rolland Flior, himself.