Elise had never truly been injured before, not in a life-threatening way, nor had she been subjected to the force of offensive magic the likes of which Valence had thrown at her. There was nothing she could to dodge the lightning, and it aggressively jumped from her sword's blade into her arm, proceeding to course through her entire body. She shook violently, as every piece of her erupted in pain unlike anything she'd ever felt. The tightening of her muscles prevented her even from screaming; she merely stood still, the agonizing magic sapping all the strength she had left in her.

	When it ended, she was left with just a brief moment to gulp in a breath, and blink the unbidden tears from her eyes. She wavered in place, her sword easily slapped from her hand, and it flew to the ground, clattering against the ice. Her limbs trembled from the surging of energy still reverberating through her, making it almost impossible to control herself. Elise would have fallen quickly enough regardless of Valence's next attack, but it came anyway, and she could only watch.

	The hilt of the sword smacked into her face, bloodying her nose and wrenching her head back. For an instant she blacked out, unable to see or feel anything, but when her senses returned, she felt herself falling, her legs having been swept out from under her. Her back collided painfully with the ice, and she cried out, arching her back away from the ice and trying to brace herself with a gloved hand. One of her ribs had most certainly cracked, leaving rippling agony throughout her torso. She couldn't even move her hand well enough to clutch herself, however.

	Her breath came in gasps as she writhed on her back on the ice, the chill of it cutting through her. She was still clearly trying to resist, trying to roll over or get up or strike at him, but her body wouldn't obey her. She could only lie upon her back, her limbs twitching this way and that, spasms shaking her body every few seconds. Blood ran in lines down the side of her face.

	Elise's imminent death began to set in fully. Somehow she'd known this would be the outcome, with her lying defeated under her mother's killer, soon to be her killer as well. But she had to try. If she hadn't, Valence would've disappeared, surely. He could not show his face in Vale again without being attacked by any soldier in sight. He would've retreated to his home or somewhere else. This was her one chance for justice.

	And she had failed, costing her own life, and further damaging the future of her kingdom.

	He knelt down by her, setting his sword down by her head and reaching out to touch her face. She recoiled from him as best she could, tried to reach for his sword, but her arms refused to obey her, and she grimaced with the effort. She heard the drawing of a knife, and struggled harder, managing to almost roll over slightly, but the move put weight directly upon her broken rib, and she choked on a gasp, forced to roll back. Tears streamed from her eyes, from pain and grief in equal measure. She ceased her struggling, now only twitching from the jolts still going through her limbs and body from the electricity's after-effects.

	He was saying something to her, but Elise didn't understand, at least not at first. Perhaps the pain was causing that. Something about her mother. [i]Proud[/i], he said. He wanted a message, last words. Did he want her to beg? No, his eyes spoke otherwise. He was sorry to be killing her. He really believed he needed to. Elise desperately tried to get a decent breath, so she could speak, but her breathing was ragged, the taste of her blood thick on her tongue.

	"My father," she managed. "I'm sorry..." It was all she could think to say, as her eyes wandered to the knife, and then up to his eyes again. Elise swallowed, trying pointlessly to steady her breathing. If she was to die, she wanted to die unafraid, as the daughter of a King should.