Pixie: 21
Dawna: 24

And in the end
I'd do it all again
I think you're my best friend
Fall Out Boy; Kids aren't alright

The dotted woman was very nervous as she entered the pup, greeting the concierge that was smoking a cigarette at the door.

'Good evening, my Lady Pixie,' the man spoke while bowing his head. Pixie recognised the man immediately.

A laugh left her lips as she rolled her dark eyes. 'Oom* Martin, it's so good to see you. How are you?'

Her oom simply smiled at her before pulling her smaller frame in a hug. 'I'm great, never been better. Businesses are booming, apparently everyone needs soap these days.'

'Or they simply like yours too much, don't be so humble,' the raven-haired woman spoke, breaking the hug. 'Has everyone arrived yet?'

'Most have, they were all waiting for you as far as I can tell. Do you have any news worth sharing?'

'I do, actually,' the dotted woman spoke with a whispering voice. 'It's not good news, oom. It's very bad. Someone Lady Delphinium found out about my role in the resistance. Honestly I don't know how long I have until she kills me.'

'What?' he asked with worry in his voice and fire in his eyes. 'We're getting you out of there, tonight if necessary. Schat, you cannot play with your life like this; they will kill you and you know it. If you flee now, we can make sure for you to vanish and chance identities.'

'I knew you were going to say that,' Pixie said with a sad smile on her lips. 'But I can't, oom. This is my mess and I must pay for what I have done. Oma might have been the one that wanted me to join the resistance, but I was the one that continued helping and that eventually accepted the role as leader. I'm the one that created this mess, so Ill be the one that must pay. Running away will only make me look over my shoulder for the rest of my life and I don't want a life like that.'

'Have you told the rest of the family?'

'No, you are the first and only one actually. Someone had to know, and I know that I can trust you not to tell the others. Papa trusted you too, you're his brother so I know that you won't rat me out. Right?'

The man frowned before a sign left his lips and he nodded. 'You can count on me, but I don't think it's clever to hide this from your folks. Their hearts will be broken when you die.'

'Believe me; I know,' Pixie mumbled while swallowing. 'I know and I feel horrible. Tonight, will be the last time for me to speak to the others and I want to make a few things clear before I go out. Hopefully they will continue doing the right thing. Lately Ive been doubting whether the monarchy must come to an end. I really thought that I could make Dawna see the world differently, I really thought that she would help others because of me.'

'Perhaps she would have done all those things,' her oom said. 'If you would have had a little more time.'

'Time isn't the enemy here,' Pixie spoke before opening the door, feeling guilt wash over her once again. 'My bad decisions are.'

The dotted woman did not bother to wait for a response, instead she entered the building and walked straight to the bar where she climbed on and clapped her hands, causing everyone to look up.

'Good evening, everyone!' her voice greeted them, and directly they all came a little closer to the bar.

It was no secret that everyone respected the dotted woman, she was their first female leader and the first that refused to kill the royals, yet everyone listened to her.

'It's so good to see that so many of you showed up,' the dotted woman spoke with a smile on her lips. 'Thank you, all of you for showing up because tonight is going to be a very important night. I'm going to prepare you for the royals downfall in case you lose me.'

A silence fell in the group as everyone frowned with confusion. A little over forty people had showed up that night, which were quiet a lot for a regular night. This only meant that more people would hear her words and that more would be able to carry on the way she wanted them to.

'If I die, just in case it happens, I want all of you to not choose a new leader. If you want to end the monarchy you all must be able to play a role, and no one should be the almighty leader.'

Her eyes searched the room to find her sisters eyes and her oma in the room with her. The looks on their faces said more than words ever could and they knew that something was wrong.

'Queen Dawna will never say this out loud, but I know that she fears us. She fears the resistance, yet she is perfectly capable of killing everyone in this room within seconds. If we, you, choose to exploit this fear you might stand a change. Our Queen if much stronger than us and she can kill us all with a blink of the eye, so perhaps its time to do things differently. Dawna isn't a bad person; she is simply a broken soul looking for a right direction. Perhaps, we could try to convince her to support her people more.'

'Are you seriously defending her?' a voice called out from the back, causing the dotted woman to shake her head.

'Of course I'm not, I'm merely trying to show you that there is another side to this story. I've seen Dawna caring about people, I know she is capable of doing it but not if we continue giving her a reason to hate us. We must show her that we demand chance and a better life for all of us, minus the violence. Personally, I've had enough of it. Weve tried violence, weve tried to assassinate her multiple times; but it didn't work. So perhaps we should kill our problems with kindness, or at least give it a shot.'

'Why are you saying all of this?' a woman in the front row with long, dark hair asked her with a confused look on her face. 'Is something going on?'

Pixie shook her head before her eyes drifted off to her oma in the back. 'No, everything is just fine. I'm afraid that I cant make it to come to every meeting so I'm trying to make sure that youll do fine without me.'

'Well,' a young man spoke. 'You've given us so much inspiration and so much to live for. You give us hope.'

'Hope is the most powerful thing, some might say. So please, hold on to that feeling and fight for those you love. This fight is not over, nor will it be in a while. You just got to keep hoping and praying for a better life. I want my son to grow up in a world where everyone is equal and where everyone has a change to develop him- or herself. All we've got to do is fight for this life, without violence but with love and care. Its not too late for us, I know it isn't.'

In the back of her mind, the dotted woman knew that is was too late for her now. All she could do was hope that the resistance would not be foolish enough to plan another attack anytime soon. Pixie would doubtlessly die within a few days and this thought forced her to make sure things ended well for the ones that had to stay alive after her death. Her son was at the top of her list, but so where the lives of everyone that had ever considered her important. The resistance was her second home, she had never belonged to any group until she met the people in the resistance. They shared her anger, her need to change things and they were willing to fight with her.

'Thank you, all of you, for giving me hope and acceptance. I know that your hearts are filled with love and kindness and I wish all of you the very best. Thank you, all of you,' the raven-haired woman spoke before climbing off the bar.

'No, thank you,' someone spoke before everyone in the room bowed before the dotted woman.

Pixies heart stopped beating for a moment as her eyes noticed that all of them were on their knees before her; showing their respect and appreciation for her. Her dark eyes were filled with tears as she noticed how their eyes glanced to her. This, right there, was something no one could take from her. She was loved and heard by all of them, this thought alone was enough for her to feel the need to protect all of them.

However, it was too late at that point to warn them for what was coming. The only things Pixie could do was warn them for their Queens power and hope that they would listen very closely to her words. She could not protect them for their Queens anger, and she could not stop them from igniting the flame of hate in Dawna's heart. All she could do was hope for the best; for everyone.

'What was all of that about?' a worried voice sounded, causing the dotted woman to turn around in fear.

Both her oma as her sister were standing at the bar next to her with a hurt expression in their eyes. They had caught her massage and they undoubtfully knew what was about to happen to their beloved girl.

'How did she find out? You were so careful; this isn't possible. How could she have figured it out?'

With she, they meant Queen Dawna. Pixie could not help but to feel the little coal in her throat grow at the thought of her friend. Dawna's heart would break into a million pieces and she would express this feeling of betrayal and hurt through anger. There was a fair chance that she would burn some villages down or kill the entire realm in anger. It would all be the dotted woman's fault if she did. She had been the one to awaken the heartbreak.

'Dawna didn't, actually,' Pixie spoke before torturing her bottom lip with her teeth. 'Lady Delphinium did, however. She is the one that figured it out and she has given me an ultimatum: I can either choose to tell her the truth myself or Delphinium will do it for me.'

'How long do we have before this ultimatum ends?' her sister asked with worried eyes. 'Pixie, we can't lose you too. What will happen to Thijmen? He has already lost his papa and mama will he heartbroken to lose her child too. We can't let this happen; you must flee.'

'Then what? Say I do flee, where will I go? I can't live my life running away from my own decisions; I want to belong somewhere and if I choose to run, I will never belong anywhere again because I will always have to leave. Not trusting anyone is a faith worse than dying.'

'What if we plan an attack? Queen Dawna won't see it coming and we will be able to free you again,' her sister proposed with tears in her eyes. 'We will free you and kill the Queen.'

'She doesn't want too,' her oma suddenly spoke. 'Pixie can't kill her, nor does she want us to do it for her. Right? You are sacrificing yourself for that woman. You want her to stay alive and you want her to be safe. That's what this is really about, isnt it?'

The dotted woman could feel her cheeks burn as she tried to avoid her omas eyes desperately.

'You care about her?' her oma asked with raised eyebrows. 'Don't you now?'

'Do you really want me to answer that question?' Pixie answered eventually. 'Because if you do, please know that I never meant to.'

'Of course, you didn't, but it happened, and now you have to pay for it with your life. This game of yours if foolish, lieverd, you are not only playing with your life but also with your sons'. Who is going to take care of him after you're dead? Loöys will be an orphan and he'll be all alone.'

'Please, don't start about my son. You are the one that wanted me to join the resistance, oma, you are the one that wanted me to do all of this so don't you dare to say such things to me about my son. It kills me to know that Ill have to leave him behind, and I'll always loathe myself because of it.

'I wanted you to join the resistance; not to become the leader! You were the one that accepted her offer and moved in with her.'

'I can't do this,' oma, the dotted woman spoke with tears in her eyes. 'I can't fight with you, not now. Delphinium is going to kill me before, during or after my son's birthday party and there is nothing I can or will do to stop her. This is my punishment and I'll not try to fight it. Please, take my advice and do the same.'

Tears were streaming down her sisters cheek before she pulled the dotted woman in a hug. 'What if we can't?'

'You must,' Pixie whispered before wrapping her arms around her waist. 'For me, but most importantly for yourself.'

'We won't let this happen,' her oma suddenly spoke. 'You know we won't. If necessary, well kill her. She will be vulnerable and that is our one and only chance.'

'No,' the raven-haired woman sneered. 'You can't kill her; not when she is at her weakest and not when she is at full strength again. If you do, you are just as bad as they are. I wanted to recreate the resistance in order to make people realise that killing is never the answer, because it really isn't. It never is.'

'That isn't going to happen,' her oma spoke with fire in her voice. 'We won't let them kill you without a fight.'

Pixie could not help but to feel the guilt devour her stomach again. It really was not fair what she did to the other woman, and she had to pay for it. Attacking her during one of her weakest moments would make her no better than her papa. He had made mistakes, but that did not mean that she had to make the same ones.

'Please,' the young mother spoke. 'Don't do anything stupid or radical. She is human just like us and she has feelings too. Besides, if things go wrong all of you will die. Dawna wont spare a single soul if you do try to assassinate her and fail.'

Her oma nodded, but Pixie could tell that it did not matter what she said anymore. They had made her mind; just like she had.

*Oom: the Dutch translation of Uncle.