One of the servants came to me and said I had visitors. I was confused because the only people I was seeing today were the ones outside. She said it was urgent and they were waiting in the library so I went in.
Inside there were two red Tieflings that I had seen four years ago. "Hello Willow," Crimson said, flinging her orange hair over her shoulder.
"Get out," I growled at them both.
"Drusila darling start the drawing please?" Desmadona asked their daughter.
"Daddy I don't want to do it anymore," she said.
"It's alright dear, your sister is still a baby when she is old enough she can help too," Crimson said to her daughter as she started to draw on my floor which angered me. And sister? Now that was new I remembered Drusila as an only child.
"Get out of my castle!" I yelled at the two.
"You see, we can't do that, Princess," Desmadona laughed, "I mean, Queen."
"Oh yeah why can't you do it?" I asked him.
"Because we came here to make a deal," he said.
"I don't make deals with cults," I told them. "I won't be your puppet."
"You will make a deal with us," Crimson said.
"Oh yeah? Or what?" I asked them. "You'll imprison me, hurt my friends? Sorry to tell you but your little plan isn't gonna work on me."
"Oh you will do what we say, work for us willingly or not," Desmadona said.
"Or, We'll have to hurt your friends, starting with your lover, the Wizard, Wallace yes?" Crimson added. "Oh and after that we could go onto your Blue Tiefling buddy Alec, or should I say Alexandria," Crimson laughed.
"You didn't know that about them?" Desmadona said. As a matter of fact I did know that about them, I didn't know their birth name but that never mattered to me. I didn't need to know it, that's not who they were anymore. They were Duke Alexander of Calamus now.
"That's none of your concern and-" I started when Clerik barged into the room. The conversation fell silent.
"Clerik the Vip, catch Vippy, no, bad," I couldn't get the right words out. Vippy flew into the room, I knew Alec could see both leaders sitting there.
"What is this?" Clerik asked me.
"Just a meeting, uh don't worry about it, I'll be back," I said trying to shoo him out of the room. "Get Vippy out," I said and I pushed on him a little to get him out of the room. I wished I wasn't so small cause maybe my push could have done something.
"Out," Clerik said sternly to Vippy who scappered out of the room quickly. Clerik closed the door behind him intending to stay. I told him to go. Many times. Till finally he went. Unwillingly though.
I turned back to Desmadona and Crimson "I am not my father! You can threaten me and my friends! But I will never be your puppet!" I screamed at them. They all stood in the picture that Drusilla had been drawing on the floor.
"I suppose it's a war you wanted," they said and Desmadona drew the last line of the circle. A bright light shone in the room and they disappeared as Clerik and some of the others burst into the room.
Everything after that was just a blur, there was yelling and I tried to explain myself. But they thought I was working against them. And I didn't know what to do and all this yelling it was stressing me out. I had to get out, I had to get out.
"Everyone just stop!" I screamed and left the room. I went outside for some fresh air. I didn't know where else to go. I sat outside for a while. I tried hard to keep it inside but it was proving difficult.
I went back inside. Clerik had left, Pan and Isabelle were leaving. It was their last day here anyway and I ruined it. I stood by the library door trying to decide if I wanted to go in or not. I just listened. "I could go in, disguised, I could collect information, I'd be undetectable that's what I was trained for," I heard Wallace say, I choked, he was gonna go.
"Wallace I don't think that's the best Idea," Alec told him.
"I can do it, I'll be out of harm's way," he said.
"Not entirely," Alec countered. I could hear my heart in my throat. He was gonna go in by himself. And he was gonna leave me alone wondering if he was dead or alive. I moved away from the door and tried to compose myself.
I opened the door and they stopped talking, "Willow are you alright?" Alec asked me. I didn't say anything he held out his arms for me to hug him but I shied away. I could tell him my actions had hurt him but I couldn't do that or I'd crack.
"What do you think our best option is Willow?" Austerius asked me.
"Our best option is to stay here, build a defense and carry on like usual to show our strength, that we would make it through no matter what they tried." I told them, though I felt like I had little strength left.
They decided that's what they would do on Queens order. I left and I wandered the castle, shying away from them all for the rest of the day, even Wallace. He seemed the one most hurt by my actions too. But he'd try to pull me close till I struggled away again. I knew he just wanted to keep me safe.
That night I sat in bed with a book but I couldn't focus on reading. I kept breaking a little, I'd let out a few tears then pull myself back together. I didn't know what was going to happen now. I went back to trying to read. Wallace came into the room and he came in and sat with me. "I'm fine, you can go now," I told him.
"You're not love, so I'll be staying," he replied. I got up out of bed.
"See fine," I said, and like Alec said earlier I wasn't a good liar, my voice broke on the word fine. I just stood there in front of him.
"Love I'm a man of lies and illusions, I know when I see them." he told me.
"Doesn't matter if I'm fine or not does it? I have to be queen first. Strong right?" I said and I didn't sound at all convincing. I stood there in the cold and started to shake.
"Not for me. For me. First you are my wife." he said. I just stood there shivering, the ground was cold under my feet everything was cold. I felt the unseen servant wrap me in a blanket and push me to the bed towards him. "My little wife burrito. That's what you are now. Now tell me what's wrong before I take a bite out of you," he said and gave me a kiss on the forehead pulling me close to him and so that I was laying there while he was holding.
I let out a small laugh but I started to cry right after that, "Wallace they threatened you, and Alec and you were really going to go in alone? What if you died and none of us ever knew, you just, disappeared?" I said trying to not sound like the shattered mess I felt like.
"I won't just disappear honey. I can leave the owl and when he leaves either I'm dead or in a serious situation. I wanted to go because I don't want this coming back to you. They can't detect me with most magic. You know I would be fine. It's what I have been doing my entire life. They won't get to us. They're losing love, that's why they're threatening us. Because they can't act directly. Fear is their greatest weapon. I'm here for you." He told me and gave me another small kiss on the forehead.
"Don't leave me here without you, please?" I asked him, I knew now with my condition he wouldn't let me go, but I had to go. I had to help tear down this thing that ruined my life. I stuck my arms out of the blanket and grabbed onto him.
"I won't, Not while we can fight them as we have been." He wrapped his arms around me holding me tight, giving me a squeeze, and another kiss.
"Can we please go to sleep? I don't want to talk anymore and I still feel sick." I asked him.
"Okay Honey," he said. We laid for a while he held me close. "That's it love. Come with me," he said. He picked me up and carried me downstairs.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"The lab," he said "This is part of my motivation for this device, just trust me?"
"No please?" I begged out of breath, "Just put me back in bed," I started to panic. I didn't want to be in there; he would just keep working no.
"You'll like this, I'll be there with you," he said. He tried to put me in this contraption, I didn't like it and was panicking even more now.
"No, no don't put me in that, no!" I yelled. I hated small spaces I couldn't be put into something.
"It's okay love," he said.
"No Wallace, please no, take me back to bed please?" I begged in a final attempt to get him to listen to me. He kept holding me.
"This'll be good, please just trust me on this Willow, please?" Wallace asked me.
"No I don't want to go in that thing, just take me back to bed or I'll go myself, I don't want to be part of your experiments, please just take me back to bed," I cried and begged. I didn't want to be carried around anymore. I just wanted my bed. Wallace slid to the ground, his back against the contraption.
"It's not an experiment. But. Ple-" he sighed "Okay, go," he said and let go of me. I sat there and started to sobb.
"I can't do it Wallace, I hate small spaces, please don't put me in there. Please take me back to bed?" I asked in one last fatal attempt. I held up my arms keeping the blanket over them for a hug hoping he would come while I cried.
"For you I hold no lies or illusions that I do not make you aware of, but you don't trust me," he put his head in his hands. I crawled forward and pulled his hands away from his face and pushed my forehead against his.
"I do trust you, I can't go in there because even though I am so small myself I can't go into a space that small, i'd run out of air, like I seem to be now, please?" I begged him again.
"It's not small once you're inside." he said to me.
"I can't even get into it without panicking about the size," I started to feel the bile rise in my throat. I crawled away from Wallace as far as I could get before getting sick all over the floor. I sat down and cried more. I was so embarrassed, the Unseen servant cleaned it up.
"Okay. I'm going to go to sleep. If you want to see me there get in. I wanted these to help you," He said and started to get up.
"No, Wallace please no, don't leave me here, please take me to bed, please?" I begged holding onto him.
"Okay," he said softly.
"Please I need you?" I cried.
"I know he answered softly," I wasn't going to let him go, he couldn't go, I just wanted him to take me back to bed. He lifted me up again.
"I promise I'll try another time, just, not right now please?" I said as he started to move back to our room.
"Okay," he said softly. I squeezed him tighter.
"Please don't let me go?" I asked him, holding on really tight.
"I won't," he said and opened the door to our room. He laid me down on the bed and got in and pulled the covers over us. I cried for a little longer, he held me not letting go and eventually I fell asleep.
***
Sorry this so late/early, I got really emotional writing this, I don't expect anyone else to be as emotional as I was, it hit kind of close to home for several reasons with me. I hope you all like it. <3