Little Queen

5

I wake up in the morning to Maxen banging on my door.

"Idalia you know you're not allowed to lock your door! Let me in!"

I take a thick book from my nightstand and chuck it at the large wooden doors, "Leave me alone!"

Maxen growls my name, I knew he was starting to lose his patience.

Luckily I have books lining the back of my nightstand. They each pelted my bedroom doors one after the other silencing his knocking.

"I don't want to see you Maxen, can you please just get Gunner and Ranger."

Gunner and Ranger are as dangerous as their nicknames suggested and they're inseparable. Both had grown up in the projects and enlisted in the army at 18. The two men were built large and only got larger with their workout regimes. Gunner was one of my favorite people in the world, always happy and joking around. He was one of the few people able to lift Ranger's serious mood. They were usually only my guards when Maxen had to leave for business but there was no way I could look at Maxen without breaking out into tears.

Last night had been magical, like one of the fairytale movies I had watched over and over. The same ones I forced Maxen to suffer through while I gushed about how I wished to be swept away. Draven and I sat in my garden talking for hours before Maxen stormed in to drag me home.

Maxen came rushing into my gardens and in the same second Draven was standing with two guns pointed at Maxen's chest and had managed to yank me up behind him.

Maxen had frozen for all of one second before blowing up.

"Idalia are you insane?! Gil hai mostrato questo posto? Avrebbe potuto ucciderti! Avrebbe potuto approfittarsi di te! I can't believe you could be so STUPID! You just wait until your father hears about this- put that goddamn gun down Kingston. Andiamo stupido bambina, lo giuro su Dio."

I stood shielded behind Draven's large body, right where he had placed me. Draven kept me protected from potential bodily harm but Maxen, sweet Maxen's words cut so deeply.

I just wanted to make another friend, any other friend and I had. Draven was one of the nicest people I had ever met but in Maxen's eyes, I was stupid and naive. I had thought he liked Draven, maybe I was wrong. Clearly, I was wrong. All of these thoughts sped through my mind confusing me even more than the scene that had just played out in front of me in a split second.

Where was Draven even hiding those? I didn't see an outline of a single gun, much less two.

Draven slowly lowered his weapons, "You will never speak to her that way again or so help me god I will rip your tongue out and force it down your throat while you choke on your own blood."

I rapidly blink my tears away, clutching the back of Draven's suit.

"It's okay, I should be getting to bed soon. You seem to have worn me out on the dance floor tonight. Thank you for a lovely evening, Draven." I whisper walking towards Maxen.

Maxen reached for my arm but I flinch away. There was no way he would be touching me after what he just said. I hurry through the woods, running as fast as I can to get back to my room.

I could hear Maxen calling after me, his footsteps heavy on the fallen leaves and twigs. My steps were lighter and more familiar with the path. If he really wanted to catch me he could but he knew I was upset and I knew these woods much better than he did. I broke from the tree line and sprinted all the way to my room holding my skirts up to keep from tripping.