Broken Wings

Chapter eleven~ "You do take after your mother."

Chapter eleven,

“Vi, tell me what's wrong!” My mother commanded. She had started to call me Vi more often now. The only time she called me Anna was when I didn’t respond. I shook my head stubbornly. Telling Eliyn what the petal had showed me would mean making her worry about me as well. I knew she didn’t need that; she already had enough to worry about, like her kingdom being destroyed by war.

We were sitting in the longue at the left wing of the castle. I’d never been in this room before. Miranda had insisted I wore a dress fit for a queen, and Eliyn had said I should dress like a queen until I actually was queen. No one pointed out I’d only be queen when she died, but it was clear the words were in each of our minds.

Miranda had picked out a long snug fitting golden dress completely covered in sparkles and sequins. Whenever I moved they would send out a magnificent glow, it made me feel like a princess.

Whenever I said that Miranda would point out I was a princess, but I just laughed, I was a daughter of a queen. I was not a princess.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly got tense as everyone wondered what was wrong with me. Eelii was sat on a small chair by the door in the smartest clothes I’d seen him wear.

“Eelii, what did you do to her?!” Miranda threw an accusing glance towards him. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off by throwing my hand up to silence him.

“Would you ever send me to fight?” I asked Eliyn and she looked utterly shocked. The image the petal showed me looked like she had. Sent me to war, with very impressive armour.

I knew if she ever did send me, I would be wearing armour like that, she would insist.

“Vi! Why would you think I would do such a thing?!” She gasped and pounced on me, engulfing me in a motherly, insuring hug. I hugged her back but I still had doubts about the petal. Surely I wouldn’t need to go to war but all the evidence pointed towards it being true.

She pulled away and gave me a suspicious glance, but I couldn’t stay here. Not with the worry and the anxiety I was drowning myself in. So I smiled, excused myself from the room and walked onto the balcony the held the only view in the palace of the kingdom.  I was starting to feel as if I actually lived here. Earth was somewhere far away now.

I sighed; the shouts and the screams of the Myllic fairies broke my heart. I might not be the queen yet, but I definitely felt like I needed to protect the people here. I felt like it was my responsibility to save them.

Well, Leo had said that I was only brought back here because it was foretold I would stop this war. But I didn’t like the idea of having to win it for a side. I didn’t want to kill innocent Trys warriors to win this for Myllic and end the war.

I held my head in my hands and looked over the land. I’m sure this was all beautiful before the war started, and it would be beautiful once I’d stopped this madness.

“I see you’ve made yourself cosy here.” A voice that sounded like Leo’s chuckled from behind me. I spun around in excitement before I realised that he and I were no longer friends, we were at war with each other. 

And it turned out that it wasn’t Leo at all. It was someone I was even more fearful of. Leo’s father. The king of Trys.

He hadn’t come to my welcoming ball so I hadn’t any idea of what he looked like but I recognised him as Leo’s father pretty quick. He had the same features as Leo, but his were more defined, sharper and more sinister. His voice was almost exactly the same sort of velvety soft as Leo’s.

He stood, valiantly, opposite me. I noticed that he had shut the balcony doors. He chuckled at my shock.

“Princess Vi, I thought you would be more…” He stepped closer towards me, making me feel intimidated, “Special, powerful, scary…” He sighed as he examined my face and gave me a look that told me he was disappointed.  As I pushed the fear away, I gulped and let the confidence of a queen overtake me. I laughed silkily, tainted with bitterness.

“King of Trys, I had expected you to be more…” I mocked him, stalking around him like a crow waiting for its target to die. “Like a king… and not a stray dog…” I said. I was referring to his hair and messy appearance. He laughed and I stepped back so he was facing me.

“I must say, you do take after your mother.” He nodded, stroking his hands together like an old man waiting for the clouds to pour out rain.

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”  He chuckled. The fact he despised my mother was clear, but he showed no sign of hate for the Myllic kingdom. He had probably declared war for personal reasons; it had nothing to do with independence.  What a stupid thing to do…

“Could I ask why you cared to come visit me, your highness?” I said, teasing him with his royal status.  He smirked and started to walk around me like I was prey, he was now mocking me.

“The Trys kingdom is offering you a deal.” He smirked, “You come to our kingdom, rule along with our family and we will put an end to this war.” His words reeked with venom and lies.  Laughing, I shook my head. Did he really think I was so dumb and mindless?

“Vi! Thif, get away from her!” My mother came rushing towards the glass doors. As she tried to open them she realised they were locked. From the outside.

 I glanced towards the king of Trys, who I presumed to be Thif. He held the keys around his finger, and twirled them around mischievously. The queen banged against the windows, screaming at him to get out of here and leave me at peace. But the words went into one of his ears and flew right out of the other one.  Thif stepped forwards, revealing a dagger on his belt.

He removed it from its buckle and used it to make me shuffle backwards, towards the balcony railing. He pressed the knife’s edge onto my neck and made me lean further over the edge.

“Vi!!” Eelii shouted from inside. I looked to him, my eyes full of fear. I was now panicking. Things had gone from playful threats and royal talk to having him push a knife against my throat.

As Eelii threw himself at the glass doors, trying to crash threw them, Thif laughed.

“You listen to me, princess, you’ll regret staying with Myllic.” He uttered. Eelii made a crack in the glass. “Myllic will burn to its death; you can burn with it if you wish.” He whispered into my ear as Eelii crashed through the doors, drawing his sword to Thif. Thif stared at me, still hoping I’d come with him to Trys. When I stared back, just as fierce, he realised it was never going to happen.

As Eelii reached him and swung the sword for a fatal blow to the neck Thif disappeared just like Leo had when I met him on earth. Eelii had to pull his sword back quickly so it didn’t hit me.

I let out a big breath and dragged myself off the railings. My mother ran straight at me and nearly knocked us both off the balcony with the power she put in her hug.

“Vi, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have let you out here alone! I’m so glad you’re alright!” She babbled, she then turned to Eelii and dragged him into one of her bear hugs. He looked a bit shocked to be hugged by the queen.  “Thank you! Thank you so much, you saved her life! How could I repay you?!”

“You don’t need to repay me, your highness; it is my duty to protect the princess.” He said matter-of-factly. My mother shook her head and after a while of debating what to give him he ended up presenting him with a golden broach with a silver sword etched onto its surface. 

Something told me that my mother liked the colour gold.

Eelii looked completely in awe at the broach, placing onto his jacket immediately.  He wore it proudly, almost with arrogance that the queen had presented it to him.

(A/N: YEY. IT'S NEARLY CHRISTMASSSSS.)