The Scions

Chapter 7

The king was in a rage. He paced around the throne room, muttering to himself. Emile looked at us apologetically, as if he was sorry that he had brought us back to him.

The king through all of his rage onto me. "You brought this on my child. It was a mistake to bring you here. I never should have agreed to this. And you," He rounded on Zander, "I knew you were a bad influence on my son from the start. There's a reason that the Scions don't interact anymore. All they do is put each other in danger."

Aleyn ran at his dad. He shoved him onto the throne. "You're wrong." He said. "Without them, I would be dead. If they hadn't tagged along Belle would have killed me. The only reason she let me live was because Merlyn wouldn't let Belle treat her wounds until she treated mine and Zander's."

"And you wouldn't have gone at all if they weren't here." The king replied.

"Yes I would have. It was my idea. Merlyn didn't even want to go, but I made her. It's my fault. I just wanted to make a difference for once. And then I heard about the army coming to Camelot, and I couldn't stop myself.

The king's whole attitude changed. "The what coming for where?" The king held Aleyn's gaze. "Why is this army not the first thing you tell me about when you arrive at the castle?"

"You didn't exactly give me a chance," Aleyn responded, meeting his father's gaze.

The king looked outraged. "But you said when you found out, implying that you knew before you left, and you still left. This is where I am confused. What makes you think that three barely trained teenagers would be more effective than an army? The girl barely even knows how to control her powers, and can't even tell the full extent of them, much less fight with them, and Zander doesn't tell anyone this, but his visions give him awful headaches. He can barely stand when he's having them. You went out there with a couple of worthless kids that couldn't have your back if they wanted to."

Aleyn snapped. He took a step closer to his father, and then, staring at him with an intensity that scared me a little, Aleyn spoke with a perfectly calm voice. "You're wrong. Just because you chose to distance yourself from other Scions doesn't mean we all have to. We help each other, the way it's meant to be, not the broken way you've taught yourself."

I hid my grin. He was going to make a great leader some day. Aleyn took two steps over to us. "These are my friends, and these are the people I choose to fight with, and these are the people I will fight for, every second of every day, and nothing you say or do will stop me."

I took a step up to stand next to Aleyn. "And I will fight for him, to the best of my ability, which, admitidly, may not be much right now, but he's the one I choose. And him." I linked arms with Zander and Aleyn.

The king laughed at our little show of rebellion. "You kids are cute," he said, "but I will lock you in the dungeon if I have to. If I even hear a whisper of any plans for you to run off again, you'll be down there faster than you can get the words out. And, of course, I can't have you three being a distraction to each other in training. You will all train seperately, to ensure you get the most out of your sessions." The king clapped his hands. "Dismissed. Guards, escort them to their quarters. They are not to leave, except for training and meals. Got to keep up appearances, you know."

The guards came into the room and dragged us to our rooms. They slammed the door in my face, and when I tried it, it was locked.

I was a prisoner. I wasn't in a cell, and I had lavish accomodations, but I was still a prisoner.

I got into bed and sulked. They hadn't even let me meet my father yet. I had so much I had to talk about with him, but they wouldn't let me.

Thoughtful, I let a shield bubble up above me. What was it the king had said? Can't even tell the full extent of them. What did that mean? What wasn't he telling me? Then it hit me.