King's Cage [Completed]

Chapter Twenty

Cal carries me towards the battlefield. I feel every step he takes vibrate throughout my body. I'm pale. I'm faint. My head is pounding and I can barely breathe. With watery eyes I look up at Cal. I'll admit it, I'm afraid. Not of the pain. Not of Maven.

"Don't let him take me." I whisper but I know he heard me.

Cal looks at my for the faintest of a second. "I'm not going to let that happen." Cal faces his brother again, steadily moving towards him. "You are with me now, everything that came before and what will come after today... I'll face it with you."

I bury my head in his chest and squeeze my eyes shut, which makes two hot tears escape. What could I have done differently to escape this moment? This day. This year. This life.

Cal and Maven stand merely feet apart from each other.

Let the games begin.

♥

Maven stands angry. He has a whole fleet behind him and all the power in the world. Yet he doesn't move. Out of my squinted eyes I see him stare, open mouthed, at me and then glare hard at his brother.

Cal holds me gently. One arm around my shoulders and neck, the other holding my legs. I lean into him, needing his warmth. His stance is sure, cocky, and I can bet he's wearing a smirk on his face. He knows how his brother plays... He knows this game like the back of his hand.

"Hey Mavey." He says first, loudly.

Maven shakes his head. "Cal." He says after a seconds hesitation. "Come to deliver my wife?"

I close my eyes, not being able to bear the sun's brightness. But I can still hear them talking clearly.

Cal laughs at Maven's question. "No, I assure you, I'm not. I'm here to show you how much pain she's in. Do you have anything to do with that?"

Maven is silent and I don't know whether or not he looks guilty... or proud. "Yes. I'm, in fact, very much the perpetrator. If you give Mare back to me I assure you she'll be fine."

Cal immediately responds, aggressively. "Or you could stop hurting her. She'll die if she goes on like this."

"You'd never allow that brother. Give her to me."

"You'd never risk it either." Cal replies, ready to call his bluff.

My headache intensifies and I cry out. Cal's body heat magnifies for the briefest second.

"Maven." He growls. "We both know what's going to happen here."

I hear Maven huff. "If you don't hand her over you all will die." He says, sounding like a small boy. And he is. The boy king.

I moan again, turning my head toward Cal. I open my eyes and see him staring hard at his brother.

"Then I guess Mare will die along with me."

I pass out while he carries me back to the Lakeland border.

♥

I wake to the sound of gunfire. Cal's instructions echo in my ears. He's yelling at someone and ducking his head as the window besides him explodes. Glass shatters everywhere, cutting my skin. Cal covers me a second too late.

My headache is gone for the moment. "Cal." I shout, gaining his attention. An explosion goes off somewhere outside. "What do we do?"

Cal sits next to me. "We wait. He'll stop, eventually."

I sit up and stare at him. "Really? We're going to do nothing?"

Cal looks at me like it's obvious. "You could pass out any moment, Mare. He won't let you die. I know that."

"I feel so useless." I mutter, rolling my eyes.

Cal pauses for a moment as another bomb explodes. "We could..."

"We could... What?" I prod.

Cal looks at me with a sad smile. "We could go out there, in the center of the action."

I laugh. "And why would we do that?"

Cal stares at me and I finally get it.

"Let's go." I say, grabbing his hand and interlocking fingers. "We have a king to disappoint."

♥

I stand there, in the middle of all the gunfire and explosions. I shoot lighting bolts into the air and Cal sends flames after them. We are untouchable. We are invincible.

Maven meets us here, ready to attack. Ready to take me. But when he sees us he stops short. He smiles. He raises his hand in a wave.

Then we are surrounded by bullets. We are enclosed with fire and Cal tenses up. Things aren't going according to his plan. The tables have turned and once again we are trapped. But we're playing with fire. And with fire, we're sure to get burned.

Hey guys! Let me know if you liked this chapter, as I'm second guessing it! :/ I know there are a lot of Marven fans out there hoping that in the next chapter Mare goes back to Maven.... And there are some MareCal fans who are dreading it.... Hmmm what to do, what to do? Thanks for reading!! :)