Til Death Do Us Part - Red Queen Fan Fiction

Chapter 30 - Everything has changed

CAL POV

I have never been so angry in my entire life. I can't control my emotions, and I can't control the way I feel. What I said to Mare was harsh, but true. I feel as though she doesn't want to fight, she doesn't want to come back. Like it would be easier for her to be Maven's toy, or worse. Dead. I see it sometimes, the way she thinks it would be easier for all of us if she wasn't around. I just wish she didn't want to give herself up. It makes me worry that she still has feelings for my brother. The thought doesn't do anything for my anger. Somewhere in the distance I hear thunder, lightning. No doubt Mare, feeling the exact way I am. Good. Let her re-think her position. I shouldn't have taken the ring, but if she is not serious about us, why should I be. Why do I always end up losing.

When I get to the throne room, Theresa is there. Theresa and I haven't spoken for a few days. I have been purposely ignoring her, not wanting to give away the fact that I am going to end the engagement soon. Or maybe not. Tonight we have to do a broadcast, to announce the red camps I have decided to set up. Places where reds can be fed, sheltered and find suitable employment. I was going to tell Mare about my idea, but I never got the chance. I thought it would make her happy. I would also announce tonight that my silver soldiers, a legion of them that I have grown over the last 6 months, will be sent into the front lines, to replace reds. Swapping the red soldiers lives for my silvers. That was another move I made for Mare. To show her I was serious about her being part of my life. About making a better world, a more equal world. I was hoping she would see I was trying to make her my Queen. Now I am not sure if we are even together.

"Cal" Theresa walks towards me but I hold a hand up. She stops, looking worried.

"I don't want to hear it" I say, immediately taking all my anger out on her. "What you did was stupid, reckless and immature. If you were supposed to help her fight, without using your power, why would you use it unless you always planned on hurting her" she goes to say something but I put a hand up. "I am not finished. I am your King and you best remember that when I speak you are to stay silent". She gulps, looking terrified. Part of me feels like I am being too harsh, I am sure Mare had the same idea to start the fight, but I don't feel like talking to Mare so I take everything out on her. "If you go behind my back again, or do anything that would displease me in any way, I will have no hesitation having you removed" I finish, feeling like an absolute prick. I am already not planning on marrying her, and here I am giving her hope of a way to make this up to me.

"I'm sorry" she says finally. I see the vulnerability, the Theresa I first met. The girl who was scared, broken and hurt when Mare stabbed her. She could have fought her way out, could have hurt her back, but she believed that Mare would not hurt her. I suddenly feel a pang of guilt, growing by the moment. Maybe it wasn't all Mares fault.

"Just don't let it happen again" I say, finally. She nods, a tear escaping her eye. I would hug her, give her a kiss on the cheek and say its ok, but it feels foreign. I cant be with anyone other than the devil woman who sets my blood on fire. Mare. The best thing and worst thing in my life.

How is it possible to love and hate someone so much. How is it possible to want someone who is the worst thing for you. How I ask myself. My heart beats instead, answering on its own. My heart is the stupid thing that makes it possible. My heart will be the death of me. Of us.

...

Mare POV

The broadcast starts, and I stand in the back, watching the cameras. They record Cal and Theresa, standing there looking regal. I roll my eyes at the sight. I am still angry at Cal, for taking the ring. I don't know what that means, does he take the engagement back. Is he having second thoughts. I don't know where his head is at. It doesn't help that they are there, standing side by side, and close. Her shoulder pressed up against his body. It makes me uncomfortable but he looks fine. He is the pinnacle of ease. A smile on his face as he acts for the cameras.

Theresa sees me there, and smiles slowly when she sees me watching. She beams up at Cal, whispering something in his ear. He nods and smiles and the camera man calls action. Cal speaks first opening up, and thanking the audience for tuning in to the broadcast. He rambles on about the threat to the kingdom, and how he is growing stronger by the day. How the end will come to his brother, and how things will start to change for Norta. It makes me proud to see him speak with such strength. His posture, his stance, Cal is strength and power. The same thing the silvers chanted when I was Mareena. Now I understand why. Cal encompasses all of that. He is powerful. I shiver at the thought.

Cal towers over Theresa, and she looks small and delicate in comparison. His arms and torso double her size and his height showing all his might. He stands proud when he says the next words.

"To my soldiers on the front lines. The reds who have been fighting for peace and for freedom. Your time has been valued, and I can never thank you enough for your sacrifice. For our fallen soldiers" Cal looks solemn, genuinely sad. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I promise when we meet in death, I will make it up to you" In that moment I fall in love with Cal all over again. I fall in love with the man he is and the way he cares about his people. Reds and silvers. All alike. I cant believe I doubted that. "Today will be your last day on the front lines" a murmer of voices rise, confusion genuinely high. Even I am confused. "I am replacing every red soldier, with my silver soldiers. A legion built on 6 months of genuine training and hard work. It is time that the silvers use their strength, to protect our kingdom. Tomorrow is their first day defending our nation" gasps and awe run through the room. Voices murmer. Can he do that. How will he do that. Why? Theresa looks shocked too, but quickly composes herself. She stands a little taller.

"I have my own announcement to make" she says, and every nerve in my body lights up. Cal looks at her, and I can tell that this was not scripted. She didn't know about his announcement and he doesn't know about hers. She takes his hand in hers, and leans in, kissing him softly on the lips. I feel my lightning surge, but I push it down. Refusing to let it out. Not here. When she draws back, she looks into the camera and I feel myself tense up, waiting for what she has to say. "I am happy to announce that I am pregnant" the room falls silent and my heart drops, my mouth wide open. The denial sets in first. No. No. No. It can't be. "To the future King or Queen of Norta" she says, and her eyes land on me. Cal doesn't move. He doesn't flinch. His face a mask of shock and... denial? My heart beats and I feel a wave of emotion take over.

My whole plan for us is gone in an instant. What do I come back to after Maven. I know. Cal and Theresa, and their child.

Suddenly a burst of lightning hits, the whole room blanketed in a pitch of darkness. I hear yells, and shock but I am already running out of the room. Away. From everything. I feel the lightning hit, travelling down my arms, all the way through my body. I run, out of the castle, out of the gate, away.

I suddenly am looking forward to giving myself up the day after tomorrow.