Broken, but Not Defeated

Chapter 73 (Wesley)

     A servant leads Juliana out of the arena. I catch Caldina's eye and we both follow after her. We trail them until they enter a room.

"What do you think this is about?" I ask Caldina.

"I have no clue, but I bet he does," she says, marching towards the servant. The man pales and stumbles back. "Where were you leading her?" Caldina snarls.

"She's-she's talking with her father." The man stumbles back, practically crying.

"Why?" I bark.

"I-I-I don't know!" the man yells falling to the floor, "please, I have a family." Caldina bends down and wraps a hand around the man's throat.

"Then I suggest you tell me everything you know about their little meeting."

"Nothing! It's not my job to ask questions."

"Well, I suggest you start asking questions," I tell him, walking past them. I lean back against the wall opposite of the door. Caldina joins me.

"What do you think he wants from her?"

"I don't know," I mumble, "Nothing bad."

"Nothing good, either," Caldina mumbles. A few seconds pass and then Caldina goes still. Her hands curling into fists at her side.

"Cald—" I start, but then the door is practically ripped off its hinges as Juliana stands in the entrance. Her eyes, which I used to think would never lose light, are now devoid of any emotions.

"Juliana?" Caldina asks.

"Don't!" she hisses at us.

I jerk back, my back connecting with the stone wall behind me.

"You two always have to be my two little bodyguards don't you. News flash, I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON"T NEED A MATE! AND I DON'T NEED FAKE FRIENDS!" Juliana screams at us, then pushes past Caldina. Caldina raises her eyebrow at me.

"Bodyguard?"

"I guess because we always go out of our way to protect her we're bodyguards," Caldina deduces, then she drags her gaze to the monster in the doorway.

"Ah, you're the father."

"And you my late wife's mistake," my father says, his body going as straight as an iron pole. Men can be brave and strong, but they have nothing when it comes to Caldina's death glare. I've only met one person who doesn't melt under Caldina's gaze. But then again Levindal has his own glare to match her's.

"Yes I suppose that's what I am. Considering my mother tried to keep me from the witches for so long. Yet here I am, a full grown witch, who, by the way, is really considering pulling you apart just so I can see exactly what my mother saw in you, because it certainly wasn't looks. Though maybe it was considering Wesley not hideous looking."

"Thanks," I comment.

"You are most welcome, brother dearest. Now where were we? Ah, right! We were talking about your death, were we not?"

"You cannot hurt me, witch," my father spits, his hazel eyes scouring the hallways for a way out.

"Really, father, we both know she could," I correct, pushing off the wall,"but in doing so, we would lose the trust of the people."

"I rule these lands! No one will disobey me ever!" he seethes.

"Pride cometh before the fall," Caldina mutters as we both leave him to wallow in his self pity.

"So your pretty little girlfriend might actually be useful," Caldina says, smirking at me.

"Please, she's not my girlfriend. She probably hates me at the moment because Julia does."

"So when one is mad at you, the other will be too?"

"Yup."

"Must stink."

"Believe me, it does." We both fall into content silence.

Guards immediately reach for their swords the minute they spot Caldina. "Does it ever get old?" I ask after the hundredth guard snaps into a fighting stance.

"What?"

"The stares and whispers, guards immediately thinking you're a threat."

Caldina stops and looks at me, before she sighs and continues walking.

"Let me tell you something."

"Okay?"

"Wesley, I'm different therefore I am a threat. Rowan and Levindal are different therefore they are threats."

"So you're saying the more different you are the more of a threat you are? That's stupid," I state.

"Stupid as it sounds, it's the truth. People who are different tend to want change, and people who hate change then view those people as threats to the order of things. But remember, just because you're different doesn't make you less than anyone else. Be who you are called to be, and don't try to change who you are to satisfy others, it will get you nowhere. Believe me, I've tried."

"The witch court?"

"Yes, I would try and act like the other girls to be accepted, but eventually I gave up and you know what happened. The day I acted like myself I felt freer in a way."