A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed! I run on reviews so the more I get the more motivated I am.
Lots of love
I do not own the Red Queen Series.
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I force myself to stop crying and get up as a cold voice rang out.
"People of Norta, the punishment will now begin."
The Arvens release me from their silent clutches, the familiar tingle spreading through my body. Panic courses through my veins at the sensation, reminding me of the Sounder. My hands shake with the memory and I try furiously to remain calm. If I didn't, I would be the reason Gisa and I died.
Although, I doubt Maven would let me.
My lightning is slow to return, and even harder to control. I try to force out a lightning spark, but instead they twinkle on the tips of my fingers and dance on my palm.
I shove Gisa behind me as the door on my side slid open. Three silvers step out, their wide smirks greeting me. A strong arm, a nymph, and...
I growl, my fists turning into claws. Ptolemus winks at me, grinning when I glower back. Anger collides with the electricity racing beneath my skin.
It is a dangerous mix.
The feelings helps coax the lightning out, the electricity curling along my hands.
Plotemus killed Shade without a thought, without remorse. I'll do the same for him.
Lightning races up and down my arms as I take a defensive stance. Behind me Gisa shakes like a leaf, her hands clenched into tightly.
The nymph is the first to attack, using the water from a bucket I hadn't noticed before. She lashes out at me with a whip of water.
I push Gisa to the side and jump with her, the water missing us by a hair.
"Gisa," I whisper into her ear. "Go, follow and stay behind me."
I throw her a strict nod before attacking the nymph back. But before I can strike her, shards of metal fly down on us.
Gisa screams and I shoot up lightning. I manage to deflect most of them, however a few sharp pieces rain down. They cut through my ragged clothing and Gisa's bare arms. She lets out a cry, grabbing the small wounds.
"Mare!" She gasps.
"No time," I groan as I rush to the opposite side of the room. As I go I strike Plotemus's armor with a quick lightning bolt. It races up and down his metal coverings, stunning him momentarily. The crowd roars with displeasure, booing me as I hit him over and over as Gisa and I run. The magnetron tries to dodge them, and I can tell him is getting both tired and angry.
As Plotemus attempts to rip the electricity off, the nymph and strongarm advance toward us. I throw a ball of lightning at them, one of the spheres grazing the strongarm. He stumbles slightly. The nymph glares at me before retaliating with a wave of water.
I tug Gisa to the right, trying to get her to safety. She screams something unintelligible before pushing me forward. Terror fills me as I fall in front of the nymph. She laughs at my small form, raising her hands above her slim figure. The water follows her, and before I can move she claps her hand together.
As the water engulfs me, I claw at it and cry out.
'Bad mistake,' I think as the cold liquid fills my mouth. It's pushed down my throats and into my lungs slowly.
The agony is indescribable.
My eye clench shut as pain expands through my chest. I try to push the water out, but she just forces it back in. Gagging, I thrash on the ground pathetically. Water slips through my fingers as I try to push it way.
Anger joins the fear in my stomach as I try to understand why Gisa would push me in front of the Silver. She knew I was trying to get us out of the way of danger, yet...
I push the thoughts away. I can be mad at her later, right now I need to get away and save both of us.
I can vaguely hear the crowd screaming in excitement as they watch the scene before them. They beg for my flithy red blood to be spilled, for the strongarm to tear me apart limb by limb.
To the left, I see a blurry Gisa being backed into the corner by the other two silvers, Plotemus leading. I shake in frustration and terror. The thought that he may take another one of my siblings makes my efforts to get out even more frantic.
I try desperately to sit up, but the water pressing down on me increases. As black edges into my vision, I thrust my hands above me into the water and let out a burst of electricity. It courses through the liquid and into the nymph's hands. She shrieks, losing control for a split second. The water sloshes away, leaving me gasping and choking for air.
I flail, managing to grab on to her ankle. I pull her down and twist until I hear a loud crack. I cringe, the nymph wailing in pain. She reaches down and claws at me. Her sharp nails scrap against my face and I grunt as they come back bloody. I shock her with a grunt. The nymph's screams die quickly as she passes out.
The Silvers in the stands glare at me in hatred.
"Killer!" They shriek. "Get her!"
I gasp for breath, letting go of the nymph's broken ankle. Tiredness engulfs me suddenly as I force myself up. My lungs throb and my sparks dance weakly beneath the skin. Groaning, I stumble over to Gisa.
The Strongarm looks back at the sound, chuckling. He glances down at the fallen Silver, his face turning to stone before letting out a cry of rage. The Strongarm is strong and fast, but not coordinated. As he runs toward me, I stepside quickly. He passes me and I reach out and touch his arm. I shock him and he falls, smashing his face into the ground. The Strongarm groans and to my pleasure doesn't get back up.
"Mare!" A shrill voice screams. I turn to see Gisa knocked into the wall with so much force the wall has little cracks into it. She falls to the ground and doesn't move. I freeze, my heart stopping as red blossoms underneath her.
Blood.
As Plotemus raises his blade above his head to stab her, I snap into action. With as much strength as I can muster, I hit him with lightning so harsh it blinds me for a moment.
His body moves in jerky motions, the muscles clentching as electricty races through them. For a split second I can feel his every nerve, I can feel everything that the lightning does. I make it tear through his body, channeling the pain of losing Shade, and possibly losing Gisa.
However, before I can go on and rip apart him apart from the inside, my lightning seems to evaporate. Plotemus falls to the ground, shakes racking his body. Doors open and Wren runs in, attending to him first.
And then, as the haze of rage fades I notice the silence. Not just the Arven's powers pressing down on me, but the Silver's in the stands. They're screams of hatred have died down and are instead replaced with looks pure disgust.
Shrinking slightly from their gaze, I glance up at Maven. He has the smallest smirk on his face, which is quickly replaced with a look similar to those of the Silver's above me.
'Look what you've done,' Their eyes scream.
Beside Maven, Evangeline struggles to remain calm. I wink and she stifles a shriek before stalking out of the room.
I breath in before rushing to Gisa, trying to ignore their pressuring stares.
Kneeling before her, I know she's not going to make it. I push a few strands of tangled hair back from her face. Her eyes flutter open. It takes a minute for her to notice me, but when she does a small tear falls from her eyes.
"I'm s-sorry," she cries quietly. "I-I thought...the Silver wa-was going to h-hit you..."
She tries to continue but I quickly shush her.
"It's not your fault, Gisa. If..." I stifle my cry. And to think I was just mad at her. I should've known she would feel guilty for it. "If I had hurried gotten out if there faster I could've prevented this."
A soft sigh escapes her lips and she reaches up to grasp my hand.
I lean down to hear her speak. The words are as soft as a feather but as heavy as slabs of silent stone.
"In the end," she whispers. "...you couldn't save either Shade or me."
It feels like I've been stabbed. My eyes go wide and I drop her hand.
Gisa would never say that. Come to think of it, she would've never pushed me toward the danger, toward the nymph. My head throbs as I try to grasp the situation. As the tears stop flowing, I am hit with an idea.
I glance down at her hand. It had fallen down on my bloody knees, her fingers curled toward me gently.
Her right hand. It's flawless, no scar to be seen. It's perfect.
Too perfect for a hand that was smashed and broken by a Silver.
Before I can investigate further I am pulled away ruthlessly. They turn my away from her and smash my face into the ground. Rough hands force my arms behind my back and I let out a cry as they twist them painfully.
Cuffs are locked onto my hands tightly and I am dragged up by the Arvens.
I look back, managing to catch a glimsp of the body of the supposed Gisa being thrown carelessly into a bag. Despite the possibility of it not being her, it hurts to watch.
The guard slaps me to turn me around and I do it without a fight, the image of a bloody Gisa burnt into my mind.
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I lay on the floor surrounded by blankets as thoughts race through my head. There's no possible way that that was Gisa.
Gisa would never push me into possible danger, and she would never say that Shade's death was my fault.
Then how did it look like her? Was someone manipulating behind the scenes?
If someone was, where did they find a red girl willing to die?
I sigh because I know the answer.
I gave myself up to for the Scarlet Guard and my family, knowing there was a possibility I could die. Many people that would do the same for the sake of their friends' and family's lives.
Although my head says it wasn't Gisa, my heart says it was.
As the thoughts rage throughout my mind, the doors are thrown open with so much force they splinter.
I gasp and sit up, my wounds protesting.
"You bitch," Evangeline growls.
I scramble back, sensing the red hot waves of agony radiating off of her. Teasing her and making fun of her is entertaining, but I know when to lay off.
She continues to stalk towards me despite the Arvens ordering her back. One of them even tries to grab her arm but she pins him to the wall with metal knives.
"Evangeline..." I warn nervously.
In the blink of an eye her hand is wrapped around my throat. It rests above the collar, squeezing my neck lightly.
"You. Almost. Killed. Him." Evangeline whispers, her dark eyes wide. She presses her thumb in the middle of my throat, increasing pressure with each word.
I choke, clawing at her hands. Arvens slowly inch in, but they're too scared to touch their future queen in fear of punishment.
The restriction increases with each second until all I can do is lay there with my hand wrapped around her wrist weakly. Tears make trails down my cheeks as I gasp for air. Just as I'm about to pass out from lack of air, Maven appears in the door way.
"Enough." His clipped footsteps stop in front of me.
Blue eyes bore into mine and I find myself reaching toward him. If the Arvens wouldn't stop her, who would?
Maven rips Evangeline away from me and I collapsed onto the floor panting, my throat and lungs aching deeply.
"You were ordered not to touch her without my permission. She is my property." He hisses.
She jerks her hand out of his grasp, glaring at him.
"She almost killed me bro-"
"Almost. However, she did kill my mother, who was Queen. You're brother is not near that title." Maven shoots back. I can see Evangeline is trying not to fight back, and apparently so does Maven.
"Evangeline," He warns sweetly. "Remember your place. You aren't Queen yet."
A threat lays beneath it and she heard it as well, bowing before sulking out of the room. The guard pinned to the wall was released as she passed, and he refuses to meet her eyes in fear.
With a flick of the wrist Maven emptied the rest of room.
It hurts to breath, especially from what Evangeline did. My cheek burns from the cuts and bruises; my wrists ache from the cuffs and brands. Overall, I was in pure hell.
My eyes are blurry with tears and my head muffled from the lack of air. I blamed that on what Maven did, what I allowed him to do.
He watches me for a few seconds, tucking my hair beneath my ear and stroking my head softly, as if I was a pet. Despite being a burner, his touch was cold.
It must reflect his heart.
To my disbelief, Maven begins to make the bed. He does it slowly, letting me watch him. I'm too tired to protest, allowing him to do as he pleases.
When he goes to pick me up I become tense. He chuckles lightly, grasping my jaw gently and turning my face to his.
"I don't bite." Maven smirks. We both know that's not true.
He bites, he hurts, and he burns.
I am layed down on the bed softly. My cheeks flush red in embarrassment as he pulls the sheet over me.
He notices, smiling smugly as he pulls up a chair and sits in it.
"I've come to propose a...deal." Maven whispers after what seems like hours.
After getting no snide comment or arguement from me, he takes that as a sign for him to continue.
"I won't search for your precious Scarlet Guard or the rest your family, if you give me one thing in return." Maven says, his arms crossed. I bristle at the mention of my family and he smiles darkly. The topic is still a fresh wound, especially after seeing a Gisa-look-like die and Shade's death.
I frown, closing my eyes. Dread settles in my stomach, weighing me down. In exchange for their safety, I know I would have to give him something that I would never want to. Waiting a moment to respond, I reply quietly.
"What would you want, Maven? I have nothing to give you, you've taken it all away."
The young king laughs, the dark kind that leaves you shaking.
"Ahh," he begins. "But you do."
"And that is?"
His hand wraps around my wrist, across my brand. I wait impatiently for his response, and when it comes I want to scream.
"You're complete and utter devotion."