They were inside the castle now. Madeline couldn't help the surge of familiarity when she passed those massive doors, even though hordes of enemies followed close behind them. They won't be giving up, she realized. They would follow them until their lives have been taken, that was for sure.
The sound of battle was horrible to the ears. Madeline wanted so much to hide away from it all; tear off this wretched armour, don a beautiful dress and hide away in her bedchambers. Had it not been for the fallen lycan lying just ahead of her, she probably would have. Madeline hurried over to the wounded lycan, not bothering to spare another glance at her surroundings. She knew she was being protected, even if her protectors now numbered three. She couldn't think about her safety at the moment. Right now, her mind should be thoroughly trained on helping this man.
Madeline sat her cloth of medical tools and herbs beside him. "How are you feeling?" she asked him, even though she knew his answer.
A pain filled groan was his reply. He was clutching his side and when Madeline removed his armour and pulled his under clothing aside, she saw the result of a sword in his abdomen. She tried not to grimace lest it frighten the man. It was fixable, he may survive, but the sight was still nasty.
"This is going to hurt, okay?" The man nodded, biting his lip to hold back another cry of pain. His tangled blond hair was dripping with the scent of blood and sweat.
Madeline picked up a tiny vial. Inside was a mixture she learnt how to make in Arcadia, something used to numb the skin so that patchwork was made easier. She uncorked it and made sure to only tip just a little. The man's scream joined the sound of dying persons all around her. She held him down as best as she could, but he was a man and a lycan. She could do very little.
Around her, her vampire protectors were never at ease. Even when the man settled down and the wound grew numb, they were hard at work ridding the area of enemies, giving her the space she needed to do her work. It was only until Madeline had pulled the final string on the wound, ready to wrap it up, did she notice that their presence was gone.
"This is not good," she whispered, pulling out the long white cloth for bandaging. She never faltered in her movements, but her heart pounded fearfully at being so exposed. The vampires were either dead or brought off course. Either way, she was in the open and she wasn't done with that she was doing.
They were coming after her. She saw them, watched them make their approach. She was still bandaging and her sword still hung untouched at her hips. They were coming for her and Madeline was painfully aware of the fact that, in a matter of seconds, she might die.
But she would go down trying. "Madeline!" she heard someone call for her. It was Saenar, in the distance. Madeline didn't look at him. She set the man down gently, then rose to her feet, pulling her sword out in the process. Her hands shook in terror.
When the first was upon her, she didn't have any time to prepare for it. Saenar's advice sounded in the back of her head. They won't wait until you are ready. Be ready. She had to be ready. She parried his attack, never thinking twice before she counterattacked and pulled a bloody sword from his heart.
Madeline stopped and stared at the dead man. She killed him. Her first death. She could hardly believe it. In the back of her mind, she knew more was coming but she was stunned by her actions. She killed the man, and she would have to kill others.
A sword came at her. It was close, very close, but suddenly it was blocked off and the wielder was dead. Madeline looked up in shock to see Barron before her like her knight in shining armour.
"Barron!" she exclaimed.
"Do you intend to stand there and let them kill you?" he asked her, slicing through another man. His hair was held up but a few wisps fell from its hold. He was sweating hard and he wore the same armour as the men they fought. A frown of concentration fell onto his face but when he looked back at her, it smoothed away and he winked.
Madeline's heart soared. Grinning, she knelt back down at the lycan to finish what she had started.
**
Saenar breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Madeline's rescuer. He no longer had to worry about her now, since he knew Barron would rather die before he allowed anything bad happen to her. Hale had run off to find Mynera, Reginald and Lute were still caught up in the battle, although he could see it was beginning to dwindle. And the odds were in their favour.
Now, he had to find the king.
Saenar took off down the hallways he ran in countless times as a child. The very same hallways he grew up in, except it was now filled with people he didn't know. All the memories, all the good times he had in this castle were covered in blood and treachery. It would never again be the same, but Saenar fully intended for things to go back to normal. That hole in the air would never be closed, not with the dead of so many, but there was no way he would allow the hole to get any bigger.
This was where it ended.
He sliced through an enemy who decided to follow him, then continued on his way. He was almost there, just one door away. But then his steps faltered. The world slowed down. Time stopped. His eyes landed on the woman pacing before him, standing before the door of the throne room where he sought the man he despised.
The very woman he thought was dead.
She was still as beautiful as he last remembered. Her hair still flowed like orange silk down her back, straight and gorgeous. Her eyes were alight with worry, those beautiful eyes he could spend hours drowning in. She was dressed like a handmaid, but that never hid the body she possessed, the long legs, the pearly skin.
When her eyes fell on him, time sped back up again. They were both running towards each other. They came to a stop, simply staring. Saenar with disbelief and shock, Charmaline with love and happiness. She smiled but he couldn't. He was stunned into immobility. He simply stared. This was the woman he mourn for a year. This was the woman he thought was dead, the woman he had put aside in his mind, in his heart, in order to make space for another. The very woman he never thought he would recover from.
He couldn't believe that Charmaline the ghost, was never a ghost the first place.
**
Mynera came to a sudden halt, almost making Hale collide into her back. At once, her heart clenched when she saw Saenar staring in the eyes of his past lover like a lost man. Was past lover even correct in this instance? Did everything they went through mean nothing as of this moment? Was she about to be tossed aside for the woman he loved first?
"Mynera..." Hale came up behind her and before she knew it, his arms were banded around her. She froze.
"Hale, what are you doing?" Her hands came up to his, to tug them away, but she was too weak with shock and fear.
Hale tightened them at her touch. He stared ahead at Saenar and Charmaline, knew that this was as good a time as any. "I need you to know something."
"Hale, this isn't the time."
"It is," he insisted. Quick as lightning, he whirled her around to face him. Mynera saw the heat smoldering in his blue eyes, the intensity, the seriousness. Whatever he was about to say, she didn't think she would like it.
"Hale..."
"Mynera, I've been in love with you from the moment I laid eyes on you."
"Hale, please..."
"I've wanted you ever since, but I never could find the right time to tell you. While I watched you get your heart broken over and over by Saenar, I just stood by and I couldn't say anything. I know we're in battle and this is probably the worst time, but I had to get it off my chest. I had to tell you I love you."
"Hale, stop this. Please..."
"He doesn't love you, Mynera. Look at him." He turned her back around to face the couple. "Look at how he stares at her. He doesn't love you, you were fooled. I would never treat you that way."
A tear slid down her cheek. One single tear was all she allowed herself before she wiped it away and turned to Hale. "Hale, I love you too. But -" his hopeful smile fell, "I don't love you that way. You have become a dear friend to me over these years and I love you for that. But nothing more."
Something changed in his face. Mynera saw a shift in his features, something subtle yet a bit scary. "You're going to him?"
"That's none of your concern, Hale."
"Tell me."
"Hale -"
"Tell me!"
It was rage. That was what she saw. She didn't recognized it because she never saw such an emotion on him before. Mynera stepped away from him. "What has gotten into you?"
Hale's jaw clicked with unchecked anger. Beside him, his fist opened and closed and his eyes sought the man before him. Mynera placed a hand on his shoulder and his eyes shot back down to her. "Hale, we don't have any time for this. We have to keep moving. Come," she took his hand, pulling him forward. The rage in his face never diminished but he moved nonetheless, allowing the woman he loved to lead him.
Mynera never took her eyes off Saenar as she made her way to the two. Even when she released Hale's hand, even when Charmaline looked at her and she felt nothing but superiority radiating off her, Mynera kept her eyes on Saenar. Not once did he look at her.
No sooner did she reach, did Barron and Madeline make it up to them.
"Why is everyone standing out here?" Madeline demanded. "Is he in there?"
"We think so," Mynera answered.
No time to think about Saenar. Think about the usurper.
"What's the problem then?" Madeline inquired. "You!" she pointed to Charmaline. "What are you doing here?"
Charmaline made a small smile. "I was speaking to Your Highness, Your Grace."
"What business would you have with the prince?"
"He...." Charmaline looked up at Saenar. A smile flitted across her face. "He is my lover, Your Grace."
Mynera almost lunged for her. She would have too, if it weren't for the douse of shock that froze her feet to the ground. The harlot! How could she say such a thing so publicly? Mynera looked at Saenar to see his jaw had fallen open at those same words.
Charmaline, however, was over the moon. There was no way he would deny her, even if it was before his mother and his betrothed. He loved her, this was their chance to show them that. She couldn't wait a moment longer. Charmaline curled her arm around his arm and laced her fingers with his. "This was not how we planned to tell you," she continued. "But I don't think I could allow him to go in there without letting everyone know where we stand. We ask for your blessing, Your Grace."
Madeline was just as surprised. Her wide blue eyes sought Saenar. In fact, everyone was staring at Saenar, waiting for his say.
Seconds stretched on. The sound of battle was still present in the distant, making everyone very much aware of the situation they were in. Yet, no one moved as they waited for the prince to speak. No one more than Mynera wanted to hear his words, even though each second that clocked by had her heart sinking further and further into despair.
Is this is it? Am I going to lose him?
Saenar's eyes landed on her. Mynera stared back at him, begging him silently to deny Charmaline, to come back to her. Finally, he spoke. "I'm sorry, Charmaline. My heart belongs to another now."
Slowly, he pulled his arm out of Charmaline's. He turned his back to her, blocking Mynera from the hurt gasp that came from the handmaid as he faced his love. He held his hand out to Mynera and said, "My lady, shall we take back the Nations?"
She took his hand, smiling. "We shall."