T/W mention of abuse and blood
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3rd POV {In Esteban}
The castle seemed quiet as the days went on.
Two weeks had passed and not a sight of Marley was found.
The queens were desperate to get her back, but no one could find any trace of the dragon.
Currently Heather was on her balcony with Lea they were cuddling on the chairs trying to feel comfort in each other's arms.
Demitri was elsewhere claiming that she had something important to do though she didn't say much else before running off.
The day was slowly setting and the sky turned to a beautiful mix of orange and pink, lighting up the darkening sky.
Though the light did little to comfort the two queens, they both knew that without Marley the three were incomplete, they never felt the pull of their fourth mate so strong until now.
Now they wanted nothing but Marley, and without her the days seemed longer and boring.
All seemed silent until Ambree burst through the balcony doors.
Startling the two.
"Apologies for rushing in so suddenly but you two are needed, come with me it's about Marley,"
Hearing her name the two were quick to get out of their chairs.
Ambree began walking away, the two quickly fallowing her.
They walked fast through the corridors almost as if they were running at a slow pace.
Once they finally reached their destination Ambree opened a set of two large wooden doors.
Inside was Demitri, Zion, Sovia and a large group of palace guards.
"Demitri what's going on?"
Lea asked as she looked around the room and back to her wife.
"We believe we might be know the location of Marley,"
"What!"
The two queens said as the walked around the table to stand next to their smaller mate.
"I remember a while ago Marley mentioned that she had fought a creature called a dafta, though I knew nothing of it since I don't dabble in dark magic, but knowing the abilities of myself as a witch, I figured that it was creatures of dark magic that took Marley,"
"How does all of this relate to finding Marley?"
Lea asked, her face contorting into one of confusion.
"Well I was able to tap into some dark magic using my own power, and because of that I was able to sense other dark magic users,"
Heather widened her eyes slightly as she began to understand where Demitri was going with this,
"So I scanned the lands, I was able to send out a wave of power across the kingdoms, and upon doing so I found one area in particular that had an extreme amount of dark magic from it,"
Demitri stopped for a minute as she rolled out the map that was before, by her side.
She rolled it on the table and on the paper, was an area that was circled in black ink.
"This,"
Demitri said while pouting to the area that was circled
"Is where the energy was coming from, I also was able to match the energy from the scorch marks on the walls to the same one as the magic found here,"
Lea seemed to finally understand what Demitri was talking about because she looked down at Demitri disbelief and excitement found in her eyes, Demitri kept her gaze forward on the map,
"I have heavy reason to believe that this is where Marley is,"
"So then what are they doing here?"
Heather asked referring to the guards.
"They are going to help us, them and other groups of royal guards from the other kingdoms that offered to help look for Marley. I sent them a letter about a week ago and they all agreed to help find Marley and stop what ever force those magic users are,"
"When do we leave?"
Lea asked
"Tomorrow night just after the sun sets, the other kingdoms already know of the plan, we simply need to follow through with it."
Demitri said her voice stern and her tone focused on the task at hand.
Neither Heather nor Lea said anything else as the meeting continued. Eventually everyone knew their part of the plan and what to do.
They all exited the meeting room, Heather and Lea waited by the stairs for their mate to finish talking to Ambree about something.
Once the finished talking Demitri waved goodbye to Ambree and made her way to the stairs.
She could feel the tension between the two, they were still processing everything.
The three said nothing as they made their way to their shared room.
As Demitri turned around to close the door she felt a pair of arms hug her from behind.
She recognized the person as Heather and she leaned closer to her wife.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so proud of you for finding her."
Heather whispered quietly to Demitri her voice cracking slightly, small tears threatening to spill.
Demitri smiled as she gestured for Lea to join in.
And she did.
She hugged the two as well sharing a moment of happiness before they pulled away.
"Now let's go to sleep we'll need to be ready for tomorrow,"
Demitri said as she began getting ready for bed, the other two following right behind.
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3rd POV {with Marley}
The morning went by slow, Marley was in the cell, watching the ceiling, counting the small cracks in boredom.
She was bored out of her mind as the sun rose slowly from night to mid-morning.
She slept little that night, afraid she would never wake up again if she slept for too long.
Eventually she was taken by two men, to a room that was familiar to Marley at this point.
The day went on, more experiments were done and by the time they were done, the sun began setting.
Marley sat in her cell a large new cut across her shoulder and a small one right under her jaw. Both were bleeding slightly.
A new bruise forming on her right wrist.
The bracelet like chain still on her left wrist.
Her knuckles were red and purple.
Some bleeding a little.
Marley looked to her small window. Letting her aching body rest as she watched the sun transform into the moon.
It was full and Marley could see the moonlight as it entered her cell.
Reflecting off the rusting bars.
Marley closed her eyes, hoping sleep would swallow her and let her tired body rest.
But fate seemed to have other plans, minutes later Marley heard the sound of footsteps and a sword being released from its position against someone's armor.
Marley figured it was the same men so she closed her eyes tighter hoping they would disappear, only they didn't.
Because the sounds didn't come from the men.
Marley didn't open her eyes until she heard the sound of a sword clashing and energy being released onto her cell bars.
Marleys eyes went wide and she turned quickly wincing at the sharp pain that me with the quick movement.
She looked up and saw a hand offering to help her.
She looked at the person and saw the official seal of an Esteban guard on their armor.
Confused, Marley reached her hand out and let herself get pulled into the guards arms.
Her body was weak but she was able to stand.
"Miss, can you walk?!"
The guard asked quickly the sound of yelling and multiple footsteps could be heard.
Marley simply nodded and stood up taller, no longer needing the help of the warriors to keep her upright.
A second Esteban guard came around the corner
"Here take this, run down the halls and up the stairs, get away from here as quick as you can, we'll deal with these men!"
The guard gave Marley her sword to which Marley smiled slightly at but it was gone once she heard the door to the cell room open.
"Go, we'll keep them busy!"
The guard yelled at Marley.
Marley nodded and started limping away.
She used the wall to help her get up the stairs.
Her sword used to help keep her up as well.
She could hear the sound of swords clashing and she hoped the two warriors were able to get out alive, she would like to properly thank them.
Marley eventually made her way up the stairs and she began limping down the halls.
She turned several corners, she didn't know where she was or where she was going but she knew she was getting weaker.
Her body hurt and she was weak. Her muscles felt like they were on fire.
She needed rest now.
She looked around and noticed a room, carefully she opened it.
Upon seeing that no one was in it she looked around the room more.
She figured the room was used for storage.
It was filled with chests and other furniture pieces all scattered around the room.
The window was shut but the moon was able to shine through some cracks in the wooden shudders.
Marley moved some of the furniture around and surrounded them around a couch in a small corner of the room, closest to the window in case.
She laid down on the couch, It was slightly dusty but Marley wasn't complaining, it was better then the cell floor.
She laid her sword near her as she rested. The furniture around her hiding her on the couch.
No one would be able to see her if they entered the room.
At least not unless they looked around first.
Feeling tired and needing rest Marley closed her eyes, letting sleep take over her.
After some time had passed Marley woke up again.
She looked at the window and realized that it was still night.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
She grabbed her sword and stretched slightly, careful to not injure herself further.
She knew she wasn't going to fall asleep on her own after she had just woken up.
She slowly made her way towards the window and opened the shudders attached to the glass behind.
She opened the window and felt the warm air of the outside hit her face.
She breathed in the fresh air and settled her breathing.
She looked up at the moon and concluded that she had been sleeping for about 2-ish hours.
Marley suddenly remembered the guards.
The were Esteban warriors which could mean that the queens were behind her escape.
The idea of them fueled Marleys energy and she walked towards the door.
She wanted to leave and try and get out of that place, to try and make her way back to the three.
Marley closed the door behind her quietly and began her walk/limp down the hall.
But she stopped when she heard voices.
Footsteps could be heard and Marley saw the small orange glow against the wall from a torch. By the way it was glowing brighter Marley had to say that whoever it was, was getting closer and closer to her.
Marley made her way to the corner of the hall.
Holding her sword in her right arm.
Her grip tight on the weapon, she seemed to go into her warriors mode.
She put her back to the wall, and waited until the people got closer for her to strike.
Once they got closer Marley took a breath in and out to calm her down, before she saw the shadow of someone turning the corner and she reacted.
She grabbed the persons hand and managed to grab the other one and pin the person to the wall with one arm, while she put her sword close to the persons throat with the other arm.
Her breathing was heavy and her eyes looked fierce, she didn't want to be taken back to the cell, she would fight her way out of here.
Marley looked up at the person only to meet eyes with them.
Marleys voice came out in a whisper, she wasn't even sure if the person could hear her.
"Heather?"
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Sorry if this chapter was super long, I had to get it all in before the next chapter, I'll be updating soon thanks to anyone reading.
~Grace B