The Falling Rider

Chapter 17

I wake up to darkness. When my eyes adjust, I find I'm in my cell again. I carefully sit up, remembering my wounded stomach. I groan when pain finds its way to the wound and lay back down.
"Adira?" I hear a small voice call.
"Adira!" I hear a slightly louder voice call.
"Hmm?" I mumble, trying to find my voice.
"Oh, thank the Gods! You're okay!" I hear a familiar voice. Gallagher.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I ask in a scratchy voice.
"You've been unconscious for days! We were so worried about you!" He explains.
"Sissy!" Li calls.
"Li?" I ask as I try to sit up again. I fail. I grunt in pain and fall back to the cold, hard cell floor.
"Adira! Hold still. You haven't been conscious for days, remember? Your body isn't going to work for at least a few minutes." I hear Darius speak in a sarcastic, baby voice.
"Whatever, Darius. Like you guys said, I've been unconscious for days. Now, I have a lot of energy! I wanna get up!" I whine. I hear a few chuckles and a few giggles.
"Just a couple minutes more, Adira. Don't worry." I hear Skyrah say.
"It's killing me not being able to be with you guys, let alone see you. Come on, body. Wake up!" I say and they laugh again.
"Quiet!" A guard shouts, banging on the bars. We quiet down immediately and stay silent. I narrow my eyes at the ceiling and cross my arms over my chest. Oh, come on! The least you can let us do in this hell hole is let us laugh! And maybe talk? That would be nice. I hear another familiar voice drift through my mind.
"Adira?" Storm asks.
"Storm! Oh my Gods, are you okay?!" I ask loudly and he chuckles.
"I'm fine. Adira, I've been trying to talk to you for days. Why haven't you responded?" He asks worriedly.
"I've been unconscious according to our friends. I guess it was just from blood loss, but I'm fine now. I just can't get up because my muscles are stiff and my wound hurts." I answer and he sighs in relief.
"Good. I don't know what I'd do if those guards hurt you. I'd probably go on a rampage and destroy the entire kingdom." He says.
"I'd do the same if they hurt you. I don't know what I'd do without you, Storm." I say softly.
"I don't know what I'd do without you either, Adira. Oh, hold on. Rain's asking me something." He says, leaving the mind link. They're gonna be such a cute couple. Rain and Storm. Aww. I try sitting up again, but slowly this time. I carefully put my hands on the ground behind me and push my torso forward. Finally. I look around to see everyone silently staring at me with concern. I wave my hand to let them know they shouldn't worry about me and their expressions turn from worry to relief. So, I'm probably not gonna try standing right now. Might as well get comfortable. I see that I'm in the middle of my cell. I look towards Li to see she's waving me over to her. I slide towards the wall and drag myself to the corner of my cell near Li.
"Sissy. I'm scared." Li whispers as she sits down next to the bars separating us.
"I know, but it'll be ok. I promise, Li." I whisper back. She slides her hand through the bars and holds out her pinky. I smile and wrap my pinky around hers, promising it'll be ok.
"Princess Adira. The King and Queen wish to speak with you." A guard says from my now opened cell door. I put my hands on the walls for balance and slowly stand. When I'm standing, I grip the bars on my right for balance and start walking towards the guard. After walking slowly towards the annoyed guard, he grabs my arm roughly and pulls me out of my cell.
"Hey! Be careful with her!" Gallagher shouts at the guard. The guard glares at Gallagher and get closer to his cell as Gallagher stands angrily at his cell door, gripping the bars.
"You better shut up, boy. You'll live longer." The guard threatens.
"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll live longer if you loosen your grip on my girlfriend." He says and that makes the guard narrow his eyes even more and grip my arm tighter.
"Loosen your fucking grip or I'll do it myself." I say confidently. The guard looks at my furious form and his eyes soften as he loosens his grip.
"Good. You do know how to follow orders. Now, why don't you follow your previous orders and bring me to my parents." I say and he leads me out of the dungeon.

I squint when we get outside of the dungeon. The bright sunlight shines through the windows and I wait for my eyes to adjust. I'm lead to the main hall, where my parents sit upon their thrones and another guard grabs my other arm. When they see me, their eyes narrow.
"Hello, my sickening disappointment." My mother scowls.
"Hello, my ungrateful mother." I say, not acknowledging my father.
"We'd like you to answer some questions for us." My father says.
"Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere." I say as I lift my arms that are being gripped by guards. Their eyes narrow even more.
"Why did you make your dragon set a storm upon the kingdom then leave the island?" My mother asks angrily.
"I wanted to leave the kingdom because of you two. You don't treat me like a human being, let alone your daughter! You call me a disappointment when I've tried my best to be a princess and your daughter! And me leaving should be enough explanation for the storm." I explain.
"You are a disappointment. You leaving this kingdom was enough for us to know that you're not responsible for this island or this kingdom. You would leave right when things get rough." My father says.
"The kingdom isn't my responsibility, it's yours. Besides, I am responsible. I'm responsible for my dragon and my sister. Before you ask me why I brought Li along with me, it's because she wanted to come with me. You two were more focused on your riches instead of us! I was more of a parent to her than you two ever were!" I shout. My mother gasps in shock and her eyes widen as well as my dad's.
"Guards, take her back to her cell." My father says coldly.
"No. Wait. Guards, bring her closer." My mother says and the guards bring me closer to her, about a foot away from her. She gets up from her throne, takes my shirt collar, and pulls me forward roughly.
"Don't you ever say that again. I love Li with all my heart. None of that love is directed towards you so stay out of the way." My mother says and let's my shirt go. She waves her hand as she sits back down and the guards take me back to the dungeons.