Georgiana tended to her cooking as usual one particular night, stirring the boiling carrots and mixing in cabbage along the way. Her favorite food was cabbage, which she prepared often. She used the biggest pot in her small home to cook as much as possible for the evening meal.

Georgiana was short as a tree stump and thin as a twig, yet her nightly cooking routine was the same as always. She herself did not eat all of that cabbage alone -- she always cooked for two.

When the pot of cabbage became fully cooked and steamy, Georgiana prepared two bowls. She set one bowl on the kitchen table and carried one through the house, down the hallway, and under a secret floorboard in her bedroom. She carefully navigated the food through the dusty entryway before shutting it. The underground compartment was lit by candlelight, meaning Cyrus was awake.

‘And he didn’t even come up to say hello.’ Georgiana sneered internally. She walked around the wall that separated the entryway from the rest of the space and found Cyrus asleep in his hay bed.

“I have dinner for you,” Georgiana said softly. “Now why haven’t you been upstairs to visit?” The change in her tone startled Cyrus, causing him to fly around and face her. Georgiana stood with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She looked frazzled.

“I’ve been asleep. I live in a basement to keep hidden from Meera, what else am I supposed to do?”

Georgiana glanced away and pushed a stray strand of her long golden hair behind her ear. “Sorry.” She held the bowl up to Cyrus (as even in a sitting position he was much taller than she) as a peace offering and he took it graciously. “Ya know, you should come upstairs and eat tonight,” she said as she walked back upstairs.

Cyrus made his way to the dining room shortly after she left and sat next to his housemate. It was Cyrus’s first time sitting upstairs in a long while, and he was glad for a nice visit with Georgiana. They had a filling meal and they cleaned up together.

“Thank you for dinner, great as-” Cyrus stopped dead in his tracks. Outside, not far from the edge of their yard, sat one of Meera’s soldiers. He was watching, waiting, his eyes set on Cyrus and Cyrus alone. “Georgiana.” he said monotonously.

Georgiana looked up and peered around Cyrus, straightening her gold-wired glasses on her nose. Her eyes widened with realization of the situation that would soon unfold. “Cyrus..” she said softly, “walk away as if you never saw him. Go back to your bed. Do not come out.”

Cyrus complied and went back down into his space. Soon the soldiers were busting the front door of the house and harshly interrogating Georgiana.

“I haven’t seen a centaur in years,” she said. She had been Cyrus’s caretaker since she was replaced on the throne by evil Empress Meera, who ordered every last centaur slaughtered upon the beginning of her reign. That wasn’t enough, though; the soldiers were searching the house and Cyrus had nowhere to hide. His life was reaching its end.
Cyrus was correct; the soldiers found his room and sedated him upon sight. When he woke up from sedation he was in -- what he thought -- a castle chamber. He stood, but found his hooves and arms chained to one tiny spot, restricting him from any and all movement.

“He’s awake!” A guard hollered. In a single moment, Cyrus was being transported again, but this time they didn’t bother to sedate him. He was walked by chains down a seemingly endless hallway that was void of any light whatsoever. A grand door lay at the end of the hall. It was gilded with bright jewels and gemstones adorning its curvy shape. The door seemed to light itself up.

Upon entering this door, Cyrus’s chains were connected to longer ones that swayed from the ceiling. The swinging chains were linked with his own and he was yanked off the ground and flipped upside down. The stone floor beneath him split open and he watched in horror as a pool of bubbling magma became visible. Empress Meera stepped out of the shadows of the chamber and to the edge of the magma pool under Cyrus.

“You were supposed to be dead a long time ago,” she said, “but I guess if your demise is now, I could have fun with it. Lower him!” Meera shouted. Cyrus began to lower into the pool, the ends of his mane fringing from the heat.

“Let him go free!” a voice rang from the doorway. It was Georgiana.

Georgiana charged at Meera, wielding nothing but a small paring knife. The two fought and struggled between themselves until Meera was on the edge of the magma pool. She looked down and then back up at Georgiana with an evil grin.

“Drop him!” She growled. Cyrus was free from his chains, but was falling into the magma pool quickly. Without a thought, Georgiana shoved Meera into the magma where she served as a landing pad for Cyrus, who swiftly sprang from the pool. He landed hard on the stone floor of Meera’s chamber and collapsed.

“Cyrus!” Georgiana ran to his side, “Are you alright?”

Cyrus sighed. “I almost died. How am I supposed to be feeling right now?” Looking up, he smiled at her. He never knew this petite woman had it in her to kill the Empress, but he was eternally grateful she did.

The two wearily returned to their cottage and rested. Cyrus cut his singed mane and Georgiana held a small gathering to celebrate Cyrus’s un-death. Cyrus was even able to move out of the basement, and no longer lived in constant fear of death. Georgiana hoped that one day she would be able to return to her throne, but all was well. And that’s all that really mattered.