Chapter 13: A King

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We ran the horses until we started to see the sun peek over the horizon. Reael finally slowed her horse, and Allister followed suit with his horse as well. Everyone was completely silent, and we got down off the horses. When I slipped of the horse, I collapsed from the pain in my leg. Allister lunged over and caught me before I could fall to the ground. "Bring her over here" Reael said, and Allister helped me walk over to the trunk of a tree. Aditi was standing off in the distance completely paralyzed by fear. Allister was helping me, but a haunted shadow was lurking in his eyes. Everyone sat down around me and we were all staring at the ground. There was a wretched pain in my leg, and my wrist was throbbing. Everyone's face was covered in cuts and dirt and they all looked exhausted. I took a deep breath, "I'm a mixed blood. My mother is an elf, and my father is a gifted one. I go to a school in the mortal realm, and it was attacked by Styx who want to kill mixed bloods, like me. Reael saved me from them, and brought me here so I could be safe in the Elf castle. I am no royal Elf, nor do I know much about Elfish ways. I grew up as a mortal in another realm." I said, and I felt the weight lift of my shoulders. "Styx attacked you?" I heard Aditi ask in a really quiet voice, and I flinched knowing how shocked she must be at the truths I had revealed. "Just because Styx attacked me, doesn't mean that all Styx are bad" I said, and I saw the tears building in her eyes. "All Styx are bad. I'm just the one who realizes it and gets to hate myself" she said, and I shook my head. "Just because people around you are one way, doesn't mean that you are destined to be that way" I said, and she shook her head. "It's just a matter of time before I turn out like them" she said. I shook my head, "No it's not" I said. "Esme, we are in horrible condition just let everyone be upset" Reael said as she put something that viciously stung on my bullet wound. I barely contained my scream and glared at her once I got my blurring vison under control. "If you want to wallow in your misery then that's fine, but not everyone enjoys being miserable" I said. They were hurtful words, and I didn't mean for them to be so harsh, but I was at the end of my patience. "You think that I wallow in my mystery? No. I let it in instead of pushing it away. I let it in so I can move on and not have it floating around me. That's your issue! You push things away until you can no longer handle them and then you collapse! Have you ever thought that maybe building up all that emotion could be bad?" she asked, and I glared at her. "I let it go and never let it consume me! I do it so I can keep my head clear and not act on my emotions! You are always acting on what you feel and not ever by what you reason out!" I said, and she shook her head. "You, Esmeray Spinder, are oblivious to your surroundings. You don't observe other people enough and you are so focused on what's at hand you never let yourself relax. You torture yourself by letting things hang over your head, and you never let it go. I know you're worried about your friends, and I know that you have been thrown into a world you don't understand. Since you haven't embraced these feeling they continue to press into you, and you will never be able to ignore them! You are slowly killing yourself by doing that! Did you ever wonder why you are so stressed and panicked after only a couple weeks in this realm? It is because you have yet to learn how to absorb things and keep moving forward. You are weak and untrained in controlling your emotions! You won't last if you refuse to embrace the new world and let go of the past! We aren't in Florida anymore, and you aren't some normal teenage girl! You are being hunted and people are going to die! Embrace that you may be the reason, or you're going to die!" she yelled at me, then stood up and walked away. I watched her walk away, and swallowed. My mouth was completely dry.

Everyone fell asleep upset, and on edge. I was still recovering from Reael's yelling when we all woke up the next day. "The Elfish kingdom is about a day's ride from here" she said, and we all listened in silence. "Allister, are you sure you want to come to the Elfish kingdom with us?" I asked him, and he gave me a nod. "My grandmother's dying wish was that I help you, and I intend to do that to my full ability" he said. I nodded at him. "She would be really proud of you", I said, and I put a hand on his shoulder. I could tell he was holding back tears, so I decided to change the subject. "We should get there as soon as possible." I said. Reael didn't even make eye contact with me as she got onto one of the two horses we managed to escape with. Aditi got onto Reael's horse and I hopped on with Allister. Reael had pulled the bullet out of my leg earlier that morning, and it was one of the most painful things I had ever felt. The bullet had hit me in the thigh, and it was horribly painful. Luckily, Reael had a lot of experience with these things and she was able to put some herbs and natural medicine on it to help it heal and feel better. I had thanked her and she had given me only a small grunt back. I had a feeling it was going to take a lot more than time for her to start talking to me again. We rode the horses all day, and by midday, by butt and back were so sore I could barely walk. That wasn't even counting the bullet wound in my leg. Allister had a bad cut on his upper arm, and Reael a deep cut on her cheek, but other than that there weren't any terrible injuries. I was thankful that no one had gotten any other injuries. I felt responsible for all of them, and I could barely handle it. We stopped for lunch and we ate some of the bread we had from the pub. Allister grabbed some jams he had stuffed into a satchel. The lunch was good, but it was tasteless to me, and I was distracted by the pain and soreness my body was dealing with. We rode for the rest of the day until the sun was starting set. Reael said we were a few miles from the Elfish kingdom. Those last few miles were the longest miles I had ever experienced. I felt like passing out when I saw the gorgeous kingdom on the side of the mountain. "Aditi, Allister, Esmeray... Welcome to the Elfish kingdom of Enedeithel" she said, and we were all awestruck. Enedeithel was a gigantic castle sitting on a huge mountain, overlooking the ocean. There was a small village surrounded by a wall, and hiding in the shadow of the huge castle. The only word to describe it was breathtaking.

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