Chosen

Chapter Thirty: Athena

I was unconscious most of the way to wherever we were going.

I didn't remember much, but I did remember that Julian and Scarlett hadn't been taken with me.

And now they were there.

Scarlett was passed out; she had a black eye and several cuts in the process of healing. Julian seemed unharmed, but he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

The door of the carriage jerked open. "Ge' outta there," an obviously drunk man slurred. He stumbled away from the carriage, laughing. Two other men pushed him away. They seemed slightly less drunk than the other.

"You heard him, din'cha? Ge' th' hell ou' o' th' damn carriage," said a tall skinny man. There was another shorter skinny one who leered at us.

"We did ge' a good batch, din' we? We go' a leech, a half-demon, an' a prince. One o' them expensive ones."

"I be' we'll ge' a good fortune for th's group."

"See th' leech? She's th' daugh'er of th' Queen!"

"Looks like we'll b' ge'in' goo' moneh, eh?"  

I watched the three drunk men converse and laugh in horror. "You drove us here?!"

"Oh, shaddup, li'l girly, if y' know wha's good fer yeh."

"I will not-"

"Wha' di' ah say, girly? Weren' yeh lot tol' teh ge' ou' o' th' damn carriage?"

I looked around at the others. Julian showed no sign of wanting to get up and Scarlett showed no sign of waking.

"What the hell did you do to them?!" I demanded. 

"Oooh, this one's go' quite the tongue on 'er!"

"We di' wha' was necessary," another said.

"Poisoning the Queen's daghter, how much trouble would that get you into, hm?"

"She go' a poin'," the tall skinny man said.

"Yeh, I say we kill 'em all. An' tell the Queen 'at we foun' their dead bodies on the roa' lookin' for 'em."

"I'm afraid," said a loud, booming, familiar female voice, "that it is too late to lie and tell the Queen that they died."

I recognized her face as soon as I saw her.

It was Scarlett's mother.

I swore at her and tried to use magic, but something prevented it. The Queen just grinned.

"I see that the drug I gave these incompetent men worked, at least." She then turned to the drink men. "Who gave you lot permission to get drunk with such an important load?" she snapped.

"W' weren' expectin' teh capture 'em. Or teh e'en fin' 'em."

"Mm," the Queen hummed. "Either way, you caught them. Servant! Throw them in the jail. I'll handle this lot."

There were protests from the drunk men, but they slowly got quieter as they were taken away.

The Queen turned to us, grinning. It was an evil grin, as if she was planning something against us.

"So we meet again. Carry the leech. The boy should be waking up just about now and he can carry himself."

Sire enough, Julian was starting to sit up, his gaze now with more life than before.

"What did you do to them?" I asked again.

"I have not harmed them permanently. That's all that concerns you."

"But-"

"Come on, now!" the Queen said with a cheerfulness that sounded too fake. Julian looked stunned and angry, but I shook my head and motioned for him to follow. Then I picked up Scarlett in my arms and followed.

Scarlett's mom lead us through the castle to a large room full of scary weapons such as whips and even swords and hammers. I shivered.

Something seemed to wake up in Scarlett and she failed around, almost falling from my arms. She screamed. Her nother frowned at her like Scarlett was a fly buzzing in her mother's ear.

"She's realized where she is. Woken up sooner than I would have liked, though. Dearest daughter," she said, turning and smiling menacingly at Scarlett.

Scarlett had started crying. I set her down on her feet; she wobbled and swayed for a moment, then stood up straight. She wiped her face and then all signs if her tears were gone. Her face was blank as she glared at the wall.

"Always the actress!" her mom chuckled. "Well, let's get down to business. Who, pray tell, turned you into a leech?" Upon saying the last word, her voice changed from feigned sweetness to disgust and anger; the smile remained plastered on her face.

"You know who did it," Scarlett said with a coldness in her voice I hadn't known was there before. "You sent her to do it yourself."

The Queen raised her eyebrows. "Impressive. Very impressive. Well, to our next question. When was it ever okay to run away? It hasn't been, ever, now, has it? And you've done it twice. Right under my nose."

"It was a life or death choice. Both times," Scarlett said, coldly calm.  

"Running away is a coward's move, Scarlett. I didn't raise you up to be like that. Did I?" All the cheerfulness was gone from the Queen's voice.

I felt angry. To do this to her own daughter! And she even admitted to it. She wouldn't have...unless...

Oh.

She was planning on killing us herself.

"Maybe I'm a coward, then," Scarlett said. Her eyes were turning red, but the Queen didn't seem to notice. She just laughed.

"Maybe?! Maybe I'll punish you. Maybe I'll punish your friends with you. But," she said, laughing. "But! I have one more question."

Scarlett was clenching her fists. Julian was pale, glaring at the Queen and standing in such a way that he looked like he was about to attack her.

"Who said it was okay to kiss a girl? Shamelessly? Without regret?"

"Who said it wasn't okay to love who I love?" Scarlett demanded. "Who said that you can be punished for love? Who said that love doesn't matter if you like the same gender?! I'd like to meet them."

And then Scarlett lunged at her mother, tackling her.