His to Serve

Chapter Sixty-Five - The night

After clearing the hall, we all walked up to Brand's office and stood inside. No one moved or spoke, it's not like we didn't know it was coming, but I guess we had all wished we had more time. I stood by the window as I watched the sky, but all it did was mock me, not a single cloud in sight.

I knew by the morning the first snow would have fallen, it seemed like a cruel trick, luring us into a sense of false hope by giving us this beautiful night sky. The gods was surely laughing at me,

Bethany stood next to Hyde as he pulled her close, her face not showing any emotion as her eyes met mine and I sighed. I walked over to the drinks as I picked up the bottle and pulled off the lid, taking a big gulp. The alcohol burned my throat as I swallowed deeply and looked around the room.

Evelyn and Brand watched me as I turned to them all, "So what now, we all knew it was going to happen at some point. There is nothing else we can do now, than just be prepared" I said as Damien looked at me and grimaced.

"Don't look at me like I'm about to die, all of you. We knew it was coming, and I've come to peace with it, it's time you all do as well." I said as I took another big gulp from the bottle, everyone dropping their gaze from me.

I was lying through my teeth. I hadn't come to peace with it. I felt I was being robbed of so much time, so many memories, of my life. But there wasn't anything I could do now; it was happening tomorrow whether I wanted it to or not, there was no running away this time.

Brand stood up from his chair as we watched him, "We will not let them win, I am the king, we are all the leaders here, we cannot let them rip apart our lives or our kingdom. I won't and you all won't let them. We must protect what is ours, and all this is ours, fair and square" he said as we watched him,

"The throne is mine and Lillian's and I've worked too hard for it, and I have protected each one of you since I have had that throne. Lillian has sacrificed too much for us to lose now as well. These are our people, and we won't let them be ruled by these maniacs. I will not allow it" he said firmly as I placed the bottle down,

We all nodded as Evelyn crossed her arms, "This place is my home. You gave me a family when I needed it most, and you are my family, all of you. I will not let some rogues destroy that, over my dead body" she said as she picked up a glass and sipped,

"Let's give them the fucking welcome they deserve" she said as I smiled at her,

"We have been preparing for ages, we have powers and abilities they have no chance of even coming close to and I know we can do this with the least amount of casualties possible. We just need to stick together." I said as looked around and Hyde smiled at me,

"You're right, we are a family, and families stick together, always. No matter what we have gone through, we need to do this together. And not just for us, I will not let my kingdom fall further and I will not let the people suffer more" I finished as Bethany smiled at me,

"I think the best thing now is to try and get some rest. We can move early in the morning, take the battle away from the town, we don't need the civilians getting hurt. Let's keep the fight contained and just between us" I said as they all nodded agreeing and began to leave the room,

I caught Evelyn's arm as she went to walk out, and she turned to look at me, a slight fear in her eyes.

"I know you saw more than you are telling me Evelyn, tell me now. As your best friend you owe me it, and as your Queen I demand it" I said quietly as she shook her head, "I cannot Lillian, I'm so sorry. I need to go and get some rest" she said as she slipped out of my grasp and walked out leaving me alone with Brand and Damien,

I turned around filled with confusion and fear as I saw them looking over the maps on the table in front of them. I walked over and leant on the desk, "I'm going to go and get some sleep, but you remember what I made you promise me?" I said as they looked and me and nodded in unison,

"Good night" I said as I walked out of the room, my dress flowing behind me through the empty corridors,

As I walked towards my room I saw Bethany look around and sneak out of hers and head for the roof. I slowly followed behind her as I kept quiet, trying to not be detected. She snuck up the stairs and out into the night sky as she walked along and sat on the wall, looking out at the night sky, her head in her hands.

I slowly walked over as I sat next to her, saying nothing. She lifted her gaze to look at me and rested her head on my shoulder as I smiled, stroking her hair gently, a rush of memories coming back to me.

"Lillian, I don't want to lose you, your all I have, I thought we would have more time than this, so much for one day free of death or drama" she said as I placed a soft kiss on her head,

"Hey, you'll never lose me, okay. We are sisters. Nothing could ever take me away from you, and I don't think we were ever going to get a peaceful day, it's just not in the cards for a Silverback. Our entire existence is filled with chaos." I said as she snuggled into me and I let out a deep sigh,

I thought back to my birthday, which felt like centuries ago, and I smiled. That was the day that had gotten us all into this mess, ironic that the sunset had started this, and now here we were, watching the moon and stars, preparing for the end of it all.

''isn't it beautiful" I said as she looked at me and smiled, her head still resting on my shoulder, "I wish we could just stay here forever; I wish time hadn't already caught up to us" she replied as we both smiled, remembering that morning together.

"Mother would be so proud of us and so proud of you" she said as I stroked her hair and smiled, "Yes she would be. She would also be proud of you Bethany" I said as I felt a tear fall onto my thigh,

"I wish she was here with us, once again I wish we had more time together. seems to be our curse, a constant lack of time" Bethany said as I pulled her closer, "You know she's watching us Bethany, she's always here with us. If we are lucky she's right here next to us, definitely telling us off all the time, especially now, she'd be yelling at us to get off the roof." I whispered tapping her on the nose as she giggled lightly and we both looked up at the stars and smiled

"Lillian, I'm begging you. Please let me fight tomorrow. Just like the good old times, we can fight together, I don't need protection, you know we are much stronger together, we can protect each other, it's not right that you are going out there alone. You know I can do this, you don't have to always protect me, I can protect myself." she said as I continued to stroke her hair,

"Bethany please don't. As I have said, wear the armour, just in case, but I'm not sending you onto that battlefield. There is something not right here, and I do not need to be worried about you the whole time I am on the field." I said as she frowned at my statement, "Cyrene thinks something bigger is afoot, and I cannot risk them manipulating us together at the same time. You are my last resort, the biggest and best backup I could ever think of." I said as she sighed pulling back to look at me,

"Bethany this is a battle, something we have never ever experienced before, the good old days were us infiltrating houses and buildings and always having the upper hand, I don't think we will have the upper hand this time, battle was not what we were trained for." I continued as she looked at me,

"Fine, but if I get a mind link or any feeling of distress I will be there whether you want me to be or not. I am not sacrificing you just so I can sit safely here, if it all goes wrong I would rather fail with you all than wait to find out the news" she said as I smiled and placed another kiss on her head and pulled her close,

"Gods I love you so much, even though your so annoying sometimes" I said ruffling her hair as she giggled and leant back on my shoulder,

"Lillian what's going to happen with the erebus. I know you were lying earlier about it being okay. I don't want that to happen to you, we have barely lived, we haven't had the time to do everything we want to do, we have so much life left to experience. And I want to do it together. I just want to really begin to live together. I'm not ready for you to change, I think you are just fine as you are" she said as I smiled my pain showing on my face,

"It's okay Bethany, we still had some good times didn't we? We may not have had as much time as possible, but I have treasured every single moment we have had, and remember at the end of the day, we are Silverbacks. Our names strike fear into everyone who hears it, let it never be forgotten that two women could have taken down this world together, if we really wanted to" I said as I winked and she grinned,

"We are strong and fearless, and we are more dangerous than anyone realises. And I know tomorrow is not the end of our story, I think we have a lot more ahead of us than either one of us realises." I said as she smiled yawning widely,

"Come on then, let's get you to bed. You need to get as much sleep if you want to do a warmup and do some practice before we leave tomorrow" I said poking her as she quickly leapt up and rushed to her room,

I laughed as I watched her go and I turned to the sky one last time, watching the stars and the moon as I grit my teeth.

We were going to win, no matter what. Tomorrow was the day for new beginnings, and while I was terrified to my core, I knew it was just another growth within my journey.

I was going to set everything right. I was going to become the queen the people needed, and I was going to be the leader they deserved. This world deserved so much more than it was currently getting, and I had not even started yet.

I wasn't going to be forgotten no matter what happened. The Silverback name meant much more than the young scared little girl that killed people for a living. She had become a beacon of hope, for everybody.

Tomorrow was just the beginning of my story, and I knew it was not going to get easier, but I would do whatever it takes. For Bethany, for Brand, and for my kingdom and all its people.
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- im so excited lol

please lemme know how your feeling, any predictions?

thank you so much for reading I love you all x