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I turn to Leathan, "Wait here," I whisper, before kissing him quickly on the lips. I wanted to stay like that forever and just forget about the fight. Forget that William is fighting for his life after being beaten and whipped to near death. Forget that I watched Leathan kill Richard right in front of me. Forget that this is my parents doing. "Before I go, what does grae mo chory mean?" His piercing blue eyes meet mine and he smiles softly.
"Grá mo chroí mean love of my heart," he whispers back. "I'm going in there with you, grá mo chroí, and you cannot stop me," he states firmly. I simply nod.
I look at the guys behind me and feel a sense of pride. Each one of them looks tired and some have blood splattered across their clothing. They look like warriors. "Thank you," I say to each of them. Before hugging them.
Leathan takes hold of my hand and gives it a firm squeeze. "Trust me when I say you will know when to come," he chuckles to his comrades.
I push open the doors, and walk into the Throne Room, as expected my parents are sitting in their rightful chairs not even appearing scared my the fact that their castle is under attack. Neither of them flee to me in happiness or seem happy at all that I am safe. There are guards lining the walls. Leathan readies his sword beside me, watching each soldier with anticipation. But my eyes are glued on my parents. I take in my mother's golden brown locks that are neatly brushed, her crown sitting perfectly on top her head. Her emerald green eyes hold nothing, but anger for me. I'm finding it hard to look at, but I must. Her face is stoic. Then, I gaze at my father, his red hair is speckled with age, his face holds the same wrinkles that I use to find endearing. His smile isn't one at all, but a well-designed sneer. That is when it hits me they have always looked like this. I was blind to it. My love for them blinded me from their wickedness.
"Welcome home, my dear," My father speaks up, opening his arms wide, as though expecting me to run to him and hug him. Something I use to do all the time. I feel a tear fall from my eyes.
"How could you?" I say firmly looking at him with all the betrayal I felt.
They look at each other with confusion and then back to me. "How could I, what?"
"Must I truly name all the deceit to you. Are you really going to act so ignorant to the plague you have bestowed upon me as well as my people!" I practically shout at them.
"My dear, before you went outside that wall, you were happy. You lived in comfort, how do you think we were able to provide that for you? You knew all along," he said, smugly.
"You are wrong. I was not happy here. I was trapped here. I wanted to leave, but you wouldn't let me. You both feed me lies about the people outside. You said they hated me, but they don't. They've welcomed me with open arms. It's you they hate. So today I will give you a choice. One that you never gave me. You have the option to leave the Kingdom and never return."
It's then that my mother starts laughing. "Oh, heavens child, I really have been an awful mother if you believed that was going to make us leave. This is our kingdom, and not you or anybody else is going to change that."
"Then you will die, for something as silly as a title," I say shocked.
"You seem so sure that it will be us dying, and not you and the filth you dragged in," she replied. I felt Leathan tense up beside me, but I squeezed his hand to stop him from acting.
"There truly is no talking to you two, is there? What happened to your hearts? How did they get so cold?" I question, but I knew I would receive no answer.
"I've had enough of this. Guards bring the boy to me," he orders. Four guards start moving in on us, Leathan makes a loud sound. Suddenly, the doors slam open. Davison, Aster, Aiden, and many of the other men from the battle have joined us.
"Finally, I was getting antsy in there," Aiden chuckles, running into join us. "Hey, Queen Bitch, and King Di-"
"Aiden, try to show some class. We are about to kill them," Davison says, stopping him from spouting any more profanity. Aiden looks at me and winks.
"Guards! Attack! Don't leave one breathing!" He orders.
"Arabella, I'm going to try not to kill, but I can't make any promises this time," Leathan remarks, reading his sword. I take mine out.
"Aster, how many would you say there are?" Aiden asks.
"About forty," Aster shrugs.
"Care to wager a bet?" Aiden asks.
"Fine, but if I win, you owe me," he says.
"Good for me," Aiden chuckles to himself. I can't help the smile that is on my face. I haven't the slightest idea what the bet is until the chaos begins, and I start to hear them counting. A man, comes towards me and I shield myself with my sword blocking the first attack, but he is strong. I try to push back against him, but it doesn't work. Suddenly, Aiden appears behind him and plunges his sword through the guard. "Eight," Aiden calls. There's a man behind me, so I duck. "Nine," Aiden grunts.
I turn to the scene, we are winning! Aster is fighting one man and another guard is going behind him holding his sword at the ready, so I rush to him and without even thinking I hit him with the blade of my sword. The man tumbles to the ground. "Oh god!"
Aster turns to me, gives me a quick nod. As if telling me it's okay. "One," his says to me. We fight to tell the end. No guard is left standing, but my mother and father are gone. They have fled the castle. We release Idean, and she rushes to give me a hug. I can't take it all anymore. I cry into her shoulder, as she rubs comforting circles into my back. The men are cheering, as they should be. We won. The Kingdom is ours. But for right this second, I cry for what was lost upon achieving that. I have seen more death than I thought was possible. My parents.
"You did so well, sweetheart," Idean said. "I am proud of you," she adds, giving my shoulders a light squeeze. "A young man is standing off to the side, and he keeps staring at you. I believe he wants to talk to you." I look up and sure enough, Leathan is standing by Aiden, who seems to be arguing with Aster. Leathan's eyes are glued to me.
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Hey, fellow bookworms! They won the fight! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to drop a comment below, I love hearing from you all, and if you did like the chapter, be sure to click on that star and vote! Thank you for all of your love and support! There is one more chapter left, so hang tight I will be posting it on Tuesday.
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