𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄
COMPLETED
❝She's the girl with the magic finger,❞
❝and you're the boy with the magic mind...❞
Unable to return home, Caron and James must live life on the run. An unexpected complication rips the pair apart as they have...
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"IT'S GOING TO BE DANGEROUS," CARON MUTTERED, PATTING THE WHITE HORSE IN FRONT OF HER. It had been a gift from a nearby village who, through some deliberation, had agreed to aid financially and in goods such as swords, bows and shields.
"I have to try something," Aerona replied. "I promise you I will return safe and sound."
"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep."
Aerona took Caron's hands in her own, looking into her sisters' eyes. "He's our father. Even though he has done all this evil and inflicted so much pain, I have to believe there's some way to change his mind. And if I can't prevent the death and slaughter of so many innocent lives, I will do so willingly."
"Do you truly believe he can change his mind?"
Aerona mounted the horse, holding the reins before she murmured, "No. But if I don't at least try, how can I hope it?"
Nodding, Caron stepped away, allowing the horse to gallop away from her, Aerona's blonde hair billowing in the wind.
Aerona glanced back only once, heart racing as she searched for James in the open windows. He was watching her go, arms crossed as he waited patiently for her return.
"I will come back," she had muttered. "I just need to know if he's worth saving."
"Any man who locks you in a tower all your life can't be worth your forgiveness."
"I'm not looking for forgiveness," she said, pulling on her riding gloves. "I just need to know if the man I knew was ever my true father after all."
Pushing the memory out of her head, she stared straight ahead, determined to return home before dark. If anything were to happen to her, she couldn't guarantee her spot as the princess would save her. And even if it did, nothing was worth getting captured.
It didn't take long for the castle to appear in front of her eyes, walls just as high and formidable as it was when she had left. The blue flag – her family's crest stitched neatly in the middle – now hung above the door when she knocked.
It was a symbol. A promise of danger and threat. A place of no return, no safety. The possibility of death.
The knock seemed to reverberate around the empty courtyard, the heart of the castle ripped away in a time of war. No guards were posted out the front and no servant dared cross the windows. Perhaps it was a tactic. A way for straying rebels to fall right into Abaddon's trap. Yes, that seemed more like the man she had come to know.
"Remember, Aerona." His whisper still swept across her brain, the remnants of his voice not daring to escape. "Fear is powerful. It can stop mountains, break rebellions and rip a soldier to shreds. There is no place for fear in your heart, nor any sort of emotion. If you are to be truly strong – if you are to be my daughter and heir – you must be able to walk through fire and come out unscathed. Can you do that?"
