Taking Back

The Honest Truth

Anaka could only pace back and forth between her companion and Eddie. She knew it would be a while before either of them awoke, but she couldn't help but nuzzle against their hands. Anaka looked up to hear silence from the castle as if they never knew what had occurred.
Come on, wake up, growled Anaka. She bounded towards Eddie's face and licked his face. He groaned a bit, but other than that no reaction. It was as if his body had gone comatose.
Anaka could do so much with her abilities. She shook her scales, and they glowed a vibrant green. She nuzzled against the ground, making a free patch of grass. She looked up to see new life growing in the woods.
The hatchling looked back at Alisha and began poking Alisha's face with her muzzle. Wake up, please, come on.
Alisha moans.
Your mom is going to worry about you. Wake up, Alisha. If I were my full size, I'd carry you both on my back and take you inside myself. Anaka patted Alisha's cheeks. Now, wake up.
Alisha moaned again and turned her head in her sleep.
Ugh. I have to do everything myself around here. Anaka rolled her eyes and opened her wings before taking off toward the castle. Anaka found the gates of the courtyard wide open as she flew inside. The smell from the kitchen allured Anaka toward the side door, finding the doors open. Anaka took a few left turns down a few hallways and discovered the nurse's office. Anaka slowed down to land on the desk but skidded against the wood, leaving scratches. 
"Are you alright, Anaka?" asked the nurse. Anaka looked at the nurse before pulling on the nurse's sleeve. "Where are you taking me? Where is the princess? Isn't she supposed to be with you?"
Anaka released her hold on the sleeve as she took off toward the door. She stopped to see the nurse following Anaka. "Anaka, I wish you could tell me what's going on, is your companion hurt?" 
Anaka whined in affirmation.
"Okay, do I need gauze or not?"
Anaka blew smoke from her nose.
"Okay, so no one is bleeding. Got it," replied the nurse taking a note. "Are there any bones broken or sprained?"
Anaka yawned.
"I'll take that as a no. All right, this will be a long shot, passed out?"
Anaka zoomed in a circle in confirmation. The nurse grabbed the stretchers that leaned against the wall.
"Okay, blink once for the princess, two for His Highness, or three for both?"
Anaka blinks three times.
"I'll need an extra set of hands if that's the case," replied the nurse as she hurried out the door.

Alisha moaned before she slowly opened her eyes. She was relatively comfortable, which she found odd.  Alisha didn't see a blinding light greeting her eyes, but the light reflected off the ceiling of her room. She sat up from her bed and looked over to her balcony to see the sun rising over the horizon.
"It's morning," gasped Alisha. "How long have I been out?"
The rest of the afternoon, a voice piped into her thoughts. Alisha glanced ahead to see Anaka lying at the foot of her bed. You also slept through the night. Everyone was worried about you both. It took the nurse and a couple of servants to get you inside. She did a quick medical exam before she sent you to separate rooms.
"and Eddie?"
He's fully recovered from the injuries you healed. I don't know if he's awake or not. The nurse hadn't left his side for the whole night.
"It felt like a nightmare yesterday."
Your mom wants to know what happened out there.
"I'll let her know," sighed Alisha. The Raven crossed her mind; his strangely encouraging words, but something stuck out to her.
Prince? She never got her confirmation from Eddie yesterday and was more than enough to pull herself out of bed. It was time to get answers, no exceptions.
She dressed in her red dress and brushed her hair out before putting it in a silk ribbon. Anaka flew from her spot on the bed and onto Alisha's shoulder. Alisha barged from her room and headed toward the guest bedroom.
Alisha took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She tapped her knuckles on the wood and heard a scream from the room. She then opened the door to see Eddie shrieking in pain, his body writhing and steaming as if its body were on fire. The nurse was on the other side of the room, scared and concerned about what was happening. She turned to see Alisha and ran towards her. "Your Majesty," she said in a panic. "You've awoken! Hurry, we need water and fast!"
"What's going on here," Alisha asked the nurse. "What's happening?"
"I have no idea," The nurse answered, terrified. "He was fine two hours ago, and suddenly he started flailing. When he opened his eyes, they were plain white, and he started screaming like he was being burned alive. I-I don't know what to do. What's happening to him?!?"
Anaka spread her wings open, and a giant blob of water hovered. She swung her neck, and the water landed on Eddie with a hiss. I have to do everything around here. Anaka descended from Alisha's shoulder and curled against his leg. Eddie needs his Fox familiar if you both didn't know that. Even I know about Chermonoan customs. He'll continue to go haywire if his fox isn't here.
"Well, how are we supposed to find his familiar if we don't know where in Chermono it is?"
Then all of a sudden, the steam coming from his body began to turn into black smoke. The smoke spread like thick tentacles, swirling and stretching out from his body as he shrieked more in pain. His eyes changed from white to red, his fangs extending, and his fingers elongated into sharp claws. Soon, a glow appeared from underneath his body. What it was, no one was sure, and none of them dared touch him out of fear of him still burning or not. Alisha took a step forward, then another toward his body. What are you doing?!? Anaka yelled. Are you mad?!? What if you get burned?!
She didn't listen. Instead, Alisha kept walking toward him and gently and carefully lifted his shoulder to see what the glowing was. And to her shock, she saw the mark of a fox!! It proved he was Chermonoan, for only they had fox marks on their bodies, but this one was nothing she'd ever seen. For one thing, it was red and black, which were not the colors of foxes. Another thing was the mark filled the room with smoke, seeming to be where it was glowing. She gently touched it and could have sworn she felt the mark pulsating as if it were alive!
FREEDOM!!! The sudden voice caused her to back away, terrified. The black smoke soon turned into the mark she saw on his back. GIVE! ME! FREEDOM! The voice grew louder as if it was coming closer to them. GIVE! ME! POWER! POW—! The smoke began to head toward Eddie's body. To their surprise, they saw Eddie grabbing the smoke as though it were tangible. Was he finally awake, or was this some sort of physical reaction?
He screamed even more in pain but soon began to grab onto the smoke more. Then he screamed. "N-no! You! Don't!!" Then, his left eye became visible again as he took his hand and stabbed the face made of smoke. A scream broke as it began to shake and become unstable, as Eddie took both hands and shredded the smoke apart, dissipating it. Eddie gasped for air, exhausted from whatever had transpired. Then, he fell on his back again but was still conscious.
"Do I even want to know what happened?" asked the nurse.
"You and I both. Keep an eye on him. I need to talk to my mom," the princess told the nurse. "If anything, he probably knows more about what's going on and that Raven guy," the princess passed the nurse leaving Anaka with Eddie.
"N-no," Eddie hoarsely said, trying to stretch his arm out to the princess as she turned her back on him. Tears fell from his face. "P-please. Don't leave me. Not again. N-not with h-h-him. Please!"
Alisha looked back at Eddie. She felt the anger she had bottled up inside as she marched to Eddie's side. She pulled his shirt and glared at him. "You hid your nationality from me. Did you do it because of some plot your kingdom has that we should know? Why did you do it!?"
"Because I–I, I–," Eddie stuttered, choking on his tears and words.
"Answer me, dammit!"
"Because I don't belong there!!" He yelled through tears of anguish. "I-I don't belong anywhere. That's why I was in that forest. That's why I ran away. You saw what happened, didn't you? How can a freak like me possibly belong anywhere without everyone constantly looking at them with hatred and disgust in their eyes, treated like a stranger in their own home? Don't you get it?! What right does a monster like me have to belong anywhere?!? To call his home anywhere!?!" He couldn't do anything but be at her mercy, laying there like a corpse on a table, crying his eyes out to a woman who hated him for obvious reasons. She hated him, and he deserved it. That's how he felt. That's how he'd always feel around her and everyone else.
"What happened to you?" she asked as she tried recalling back on her vision about him, but she didn't see him run away from the castle.
Eddie turned his eyes away, too sad and undeserving to look at her face as he told her the truth. "I.... I ran away from my kingdom. To be honest, I'm not sure why I did. They sent my guards to kill me anyway. Death is all I've ever deserved. I was too scared to face the death they chose for me, so I ran off. Whether it was to survive or to die in a way I hoped was better than the alternative, I didn't care. Who knew I'd reach a cliff and choose to fall or the wolves? But I tripped and fell down the hills." He closes his eyes as more tears fall from his face.
"I could barely move. My injuries were refusing to heal, which was a new sensation. Maybe it was my body saying, 'It's finally time. Let's just give in.', agreeing to perish. I never once thought I deserved to live. That is until I heard your voice, and you found me."
"You're a member of the royal family. How could they? If anything, that's high treason punishable by death, with no exceptions. Instead, you ran into enemy territory. If you were lucky to walk through here alive and sail from here, you would get eaten by the Serpent living in the ocean. You should be thankful that I didn't kill you, even though I wanted to," replied Alisha, releasing her hold on Eddie's shirt.
"That's the thing," answered Eddie as he slowly looked at her, meeting her gaze. "For some reason, I am thankful. I don't know why I am, but I'm thankful for it, even though I deserve to die. Maybe, a part of me felt like it wanted someone or something to give me a reason why I 'shouldn't' just lay dead, and suddenly you showed up. It was as if, I don't know, someone or something was finally giving me a sign, telling me I needed to– no –deserved to keep living. And it was you." He then, though still weak, lifted his hand to hers and placed her hand on his throat. "But if you still feel the same about us Chermonoan people, and if you still feel like this betrayal of trust is unforgiving. Then please, just kill me, end my useless existence. Trust me when I say you'll be doing every kingdom and country throughout the lands a great act of justice. I've always prepared for this moment."
As he placed her hand on his throat, he closed his eyes, waiting for her to cast her judgment and punishment upon him. Alisha could have done it yesterday. She should kill him, the way his neck felt pleasing for her to strangle him. His people didn't want him. Then she would be a hero in their eyes. She couldn't do that; Elestelia has their rules too. He didn't do anything to deserve death, but she could do him a favor.
Alisha tightened her grip around his neck. She could tell he was fighting the urge to stay alive, and she waited until his body dropped limp. She released her hold around his neck to see his chest rise and fall.
"I'll be back," she told the nurse. Alisha left the guest room to see her mother's room.
Her mother had left the door open, and she walked in. She saw her sitting near a window reading.
"Good morning, Mother," replied Alisha.
The queen looked up from her book and looked at her. "You gave us quite the scare, darling."
"I apologize, Mother. It wasn't my intention to cause you to worry. I was heading out to the trails to draw, but-" she stopped herself. She looked down the hall. "Mom, Eddie is a Chermonoan, and his kingdom went after him to kill him. What do you want us to do?"
"Hmm," the queen pondered. "Does he wish to die?"
"I strangled him enough to make him pass out. He's helping me, so I don't think it would be a problem, right?"
"He is the enemy of our country, is he not?"
"He is, but he hasn't done anything wrong to make him a threat."
"He has nothing up his sleeve you don't know about?"
"No, we've kept a close eye on him since he arrived. We would have noticed something if he did. The fact that he ran to us for help -
"They tried to kill him, and he ran away. We should be more worried about what's happening in Chermono."
All of a sudden, they heard a crash and a shriek.
"What was that? Is someone trying to break in?"
"We should find out then, won't we?"