Sweet Serenity

She was beautiful. Dark, flowing hair that brushed her ribs and caressed her back with every step. Eyes like twilight, full of sun and stars and impending night. He had watched her for months, compiling mental lists of every moment he wished they had shared. He wished there had been more than stolen smiles in passing. If he wasn't such a coward, he would have proclaimed his love to the world and asked her hand in marriage.

She was beautiful. She didn't waver once as she glided up the stairs onto the platform. He watched as she faced the crowd. She had sweet serenity in her smile and lullabies in her voice as she spoke one final word, even as the ropes caused her wrists to bleed. He locked the image of that peaceful smile in his mind as he turned and walked away from the crowd gathered around the gallows.

She was the most beautiful witch to have ever graced those stairs.