Abnormal Little Me (Completed)

Chapter 64: Thinking Before Protecting Isn't For Me

Hi guys! So, I thought this chapter would be pretty short, but I suddenly had an illumination and it became my longest chapter to date, I think. We are at 14.5k views now :o That's 1.1k more than 5 days ago... I can't tell you how much I appreciate your comments and votes. It makes me want to write more and more and this chapter is a proof of that. I love you all <3 Stay awesome!

The girls knew immediately what had happened between Rilos and I during those two weeks as well. I don't know whether it was the atmosphere surrounding us, the change in our furniture or the fact that they entered our bedroom and found us, half-naked and entangled with each other, sleeping soundly. Either way, they knew and I was submitted to an interrogation that left my ears burning. Most of their questions were left unanswered. After all, I wanted to keep a certain amount of privacy in my life. I would simply give them a half-smile and dodge the question.
After dinner, Rilos gave me a tour of the castle so I finally got to see the library Satie had told me about when I first arrived. It occupied the entire west wing and was three stories tall. Every wall was covered in books and the middle of the lowest room had tables and comfortable couches. The roof was made of glass and let the sunlight pass through. Since the glass was made of different colours, it created a mosaic of shades on the ground taking the form of a howling wolf.
"I don't think it was a good idea to show me this room, Elun. I might end up spending all my time here."
"I'll have to create a spot just for you, then."
"No, I'll find one myself. Let's go see the rest of the castle."
Each wings were linked by an open path which, although they were magically protected against the elements, made you believe you really were walking with no cover. Rilos said that it was particularly eerie in the midst of a snow storm.
The north wing was where the infirmary, training centre, arena and jails were located. For obvious reasons, Rilos didn't bring me down to the jails. I couldn't even bring myself to pass in front of the door without flinching. He took my hand, communicating a bit of warmth with it.
"You'll get through this, Lyra. You just have to take your time and remember that I'm there for you if you need me."
The east wing contained the staff's, guest's and permanent's bedrooms with the exception of our's and the girls' which were in the central part.
"Where do the guards sleep?"
"They have a building outside the castle adjacent to the weapon storage. They can technically do everything there, but they often prefer to train and eat with us."
Finally, the south wing had the dining hall, the kitchen and a few classrooms. The central part had, aside from our bedroom, conference rooms as well as a nursery.
"They are the children of people who work here. I give both parents eighteen months off so they can raise their child together. Ultimately, they are the ones who decide how much they take. They can have more or they can have less."
"When don't you give people a choice, Rilos?"
"When they don't follow the law and even then, they can sometimes decide what punishment they will get if it's a minor offence."
"You're a very compliant ruler," I observed.
"Not everyone would agree with you."
"Maybe they don't know you well enough, then."
"Do you have the pretension to believe that you do, sweetheart?" he smirked, pushing me against the wall.
"Yes, I believe that I know you more than most people."
He put one of his hand on my side, placing the other one beside my head. He looked me in the eyes, licking his lips. His eyes were slowly getting darker.
"Rilos, we are in public. This is a dangerous game you're playing," I smiled, looking through my lashes.
"Just say that the big bad wolf attacked the unsuspecting red ridding hood. With the way you will look when I'm done, it won't be hard to believe," he said, claiming my mouth.
His tongue started to tease mine and my knees went weak. His hand traveled from my side to my thigh, pulling it up to support me. I put my arms around his neck, pressing myself against him, and crossed my legs behind his back. Good thing I had decided to wear pants today or this would be incredibly indecent. Let's be logical, what we were doing was indecent anyway; we were in public. However, his fingers on my skin made it impossible for me to focus on anything else beside him. He had started to unbutton my blouse, gently nibbling on my neck, when someone cleared their throat behind us. Rilos growled and showed his teeth to the intruder. I turned my head and saw a half-angry, half-amused Satie standing there.
"Satie, this is the second time you interrupt us during things like this. I'm starting to consider your transfer to another castle."
"I'm all for you both having fun, stars know you deserve it, but choose the place and the moment and I won't have to interrupt. I have two of my boys that can't clean this hallway because you are... showing Lyra the solidity of the walls."
In the fraction of a second, everything around us became sparkly clean.
"There you go. Now you have no reason to bother us anymore. Tell the boys that they are relieved of this duty. If you'll excuse me, I would like to return to my soul-mate."
"I would love to let you, but you have to meet the farmers to talk about their quota for this season in 10 minutes."
He groaned, disappointment showing in his eyes.
"10 minutes is not nearly enough."
"Come on, Rilos. Don't be sad," I chuckled. "We'll just continue this... conversation later," I smiled, locking our lips.
"I'll hold you on to that. Do you want to come with me or do you want to explore a little bit more?" he asked, putting me back down.
"I want to see more."
"Very well then."
Sanaelle appeared next to us. She bowed.
"You can look up, Sanaelle. I want you to accompany Lyra while she visits the castle if you have time."
"Of course I do, your Majesty."
"In that case, I'm off. I'll see you tonight, sweetheart."
He followed Satie and I was left alone in the hallway with Sanaelle.
"So, Satie caught you doing inappropriate stuff, uh?"
"How... How do you even know these things?" I stammered.
"You are a bit disheveled. Here, let me help you."
She braided my hair while I buttoned back my blouse.
"Where do you want to go?" she asked.
"I don't really know," I shrugged.
"Why don't we go see what Balio is making for supper? First one to arrive wins!"
"That's not fair! You started running before me!" I shouted, sprinting after her.
We arrived at the same time, laughing and gasping for air. We entered the kitchen and had a pleasant conversation with Balio. Salmon was the main dish that night. Having that information in our possession, we left.
"I'll explore the rest myself, if you don't mind."
"Are you sure, Lyra? I can stay if you want."
"I can protect myself and I don't think that people would hurt me here. I'll be fine, don't worry. I can ask Rilos if you prefer."
"I would."
****
"Rilos? Can I roam around alone?"
He sighed.
"Please? I'll be careful, I promise. I can defend myself."
"Fine, but promise to tell me immediately if something is wrong."
"Yes, your Highness."
"I love you. Be careful."
****
"He said yes."
"It seems like our paths diverge here, your Majesty. It's been a pleasure to be in your presence," she laughed.
"Farewell, my dear friend. May the stars light your way and guide your footsteps."
"I like that sentence. I might keep it."
"Hey, I have copyrights on that."
She waved and turned the corner. I walked in the opposite direction, going towards the north wing. Training would be a good idea. Arrived in the central part, I heard someone running behind me. I moved out of the way and saw a small boy, that seemed about six years old, chasing an enchanted ball. A man further down the hall did not move away. The boy ran at full speed into him and fell backwards at the impact. The man turned around, picked him up and angrily lifted his hand to hit the child. My blood boiled and, without thinking, I teleported myself between them, grabbed his raised arm and threw him down. I put my foot on his sternum to prevent him from moving.
"If you ever raise your hand on a member of my pack again, I will end your miserable life," I growled.
"Get off of me, you little pest," he said using his Alpha voice.
It would have worked if I had been inside the structure, but since I wasn't a part of it, his order flew way above my head. He didn't seem to have recognized me because he would not have talked to me like that. Or he didn't care. I slowly raised my foot to give him the illusion that I was complying. When he started to get up, I pushed him back down with it.
"Oops, it seems like your magic trick doesn't work on me. Sorry but I don't like people ordering me around, especially those who abuse of their position. You are supposed to protect those under you, not hit them. You better believe that Rilos will hear about this. If you're still alive that is."
This time I let him get up and as he was about to reply, or worse, I said with my Alpha voice:
"Get out of my face, now!"
He ran away without looking back. As soon as I turned back to see if the boy was alright, he hugged me as hard as he could. I could feel his whole body shaking against mine. Poor kid must have been terrified.
"Are you okay, Xalem?"
I remembered his name from yesterday's visit. He came here after school to play while his father worked in the infirmary. He shook his head against my stomach.
"The man can't hurt you." I murmured, encircling his body with my arms. "You don't have to be scared anymore. I'm here. I'll protect you no matter what."
Once he stopped trembling, I crouched to his eye level.
"How would you like to fly to your dad's office?"
His eyes lit up and he nodded vigourously. I took his hand and made us float to the ceiling. We flew to the north wing and went down in front of his father's door. I knocked and Nerika opened it. She bowed, smiling.
"Well if it isn't my old student. What is the purpose of your visit today, your Majesty?"
"You can get up, Nerika. I'm here to see Hyphas. Is he there?"
"Yes, come in. Hi, Xalem."
I followed her, still holding Xalem by the hand.
"Hyphas! People are here to see you!" she shouted.
"No need to wake the dead, Nerika!" a voice replied.
As soon as he saw me, Hyphas bowed as well.
"Hello again, your Majesty. What brings you back so soon? Are you hurt?" he asked, concerned.
"Don't be stupid, Hyphas. I trained her so she can most probably take care of her own wounds."
"Raise your head, Hyphas. I am very well. I brought back this little man who had quite a fright moments ago."
Xalem ran into his father's arms, clinging to his coat.
"Hi there, pup. What happened?"
"The Queen made me fly!" he smiled, excited.
"Did she, now? Is that why you got scared? Did you almost dropped him?"
"Hyphas! She wouldn't do something like that!"
"It's alright, Nerika. His son passes before anything. I get that and agree with him. I didn't almost drop him, Hyphas. Levitation is a power that I control completely. He was safe."
"It was the bad man. The one you told me to avoid. I ran into him by accident. He raised his arm. He was going to hit me, but the Queen did something really cool and he went down on the ground. She told him that she would kill him if he tried to hurt me again. He tried to make her obey him, you know, with his voice that forces you to do stuff, but she didn't listen and made HIM obey. He ran away very fast."
Hyphas went pale at the mention of the man and so did Nerika. This was not a good sign.
"Nerika, why don't you take Xalem somewhere else?" softly said Hyphas.
She nodded and coaxed him with promises of a cake. Hyphas sat on a chair and I did the same, placing myself in front of him.
"Your Majesty, I think it would be better if you went back to your room or near the King, where you're safe. I'm expecting at least one visitor in the next few minutes."
"Who is that man and why are you both scared of him?"
"I can't answer you. I was ordered not to speak of it to any Alphas or dominants."
"Hyphas, I'm not an Alpha or a dominant, not entirely."
"Well, that might be the loophole that I needed. This man is a dominant but not a nice one. If you hadn't stopped him, he would have beaten my son."
"Even though he's a child? Doesn't he have any instincts to protect?"
"No. Nerika and I get the results of his bad moods in the form of injured patients. Delalie should be here any minutes now."
"Delalie? One of the maids? What does she have to do with anything?"
"She's his punching bag when he's frustrated or just because he feels like it. Since you took away my son, he will most probably go beat her up."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I told you. He ordered us not to tell anyone of power. We didn't know that you weren't part of the structure or we would have passed a message to you much sooner."
"So you're saying that he's probably beating Delalie right now?"
"Almost certainly."
"Let's go then."
I took Hyphas' hand and teleported us to where Delalie was. She was lying down, protecting her head from the man's boots which were pounding on her sides. Tears were running down her cheeks and I couldn't help but see myself in her place. Once again, instead of thinking calmly and using my powers, I jumped in front of him, socking him right in the jaw. He fell down with a grunt.
"I told you that I would kill you next time you hurt someone of my pack. Time to say goodbye to your life," I snarled.
He caught my leg and I felt something warm in my back. Since it didn't hurt, I didn't pay attention to it. I stomped on his hand, breaking most of his fingers. I made the magical trap I had created with Jaline appear and fastened it to his wrist. Then I broke his neck. That didn't kill him, of course, but he wouldn't retaliate. I knew that I wasn't allowed to kill him. So I contacted the one person who could give me permission.
****
"Judge?"
"Yes, Lyra?"
"Can I teleport you to where I am? I have a case for you."
"Go ahead."
****
He appeared next to us. Hyphas was crouching beside Delalie, healing her fractures.
"Judge, the man there would have hit a child without my intervention, he was beating Delalie for no reason when we arrived and, apparently, had been doing so for a long time, forcing lower ranked people to lie to the higher ranked."
"Is that so? Well, Cerc, time to go to jail. I'm sure Lyra will have a lot of fun killing you once your trial is over. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lyra. I'll tell you when his trial will take place."
On these words, he disappeared with the man. Delalie was now sitting down with Hyphas' hand gently resting on her shoulder.
"Are you alright, Delalie?"
"Yes, your Majesty. I didn't think you would care enough to do something like that."
"Anyone in this castle would have done the same thing. That man knew that and that's why he prevented you from telling anyone. We would have stopped him sooner."
My vision became blurry for an instant and the world started spinning. I shook my head to dissipate the feeling and it did, but I still felt weird.
"If you'll excuse me, I don't feel very well."
I appeared in our bedroom and sat on the ground. The door flung open a moment later. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably. No. This wasn't real. It had to be a nightmare. I screamed at the top of my lungs before passing out as Sadist's hand reached out to me, his signature smile on his face.