The Royal Within

Chapter 34

Ruth's POV
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Luke pulled me back inside as Chris ran away after Willow. I was confused. Millions of different emotions ran through me, but confusion stuck out the most.

Luke looked to the direction of Chris, and sighed. "At least he is alive."

Was he though? He seemed different. "Is he really?" I was trying to be funny in a rather confusing situation, but Luke shrugged. "He is a vampire. So technically...no."

I couldn't help but smirk, and turned around to give Luke a hug. "What do we do Luke? We have barely gotten our way out of here and Delilah said..." I stopped, and looked at Luke. Did he know?

Luke looked at me curiously. "What did she say?" I didn't answer. I didn't have the heart to tell him. He stepped away, and his confusion grew. "Ruth, please."

I grabbed his hand, and pulled him back to the first room we came in. I grabbed our bag containing our one item we gathered, and went to Delilah.

When I saw her, she smiled, but frowned when she saw my face. "We need the scale. Please."

Delilah shook her head. "Not until you two have tied the knot."

"Get married!?" Luke and I both shouted in unison. Married?! We just started dating!

Delilah smiled. "But there are some things that need to be worked out before then." She turned to me. "Like Chris."

Meanwhile
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"We should go." Willow said as she walked back to the fire Chris had made. Chris shrugged, but didn't comment.

Willow put out the fire, took off Chris's coat, and held out her hand with it. "And you seemed to have left that with me last night on accident."

"You should wear it until we get back to the camp. It's chilly." Chris started walking faster, as he didn't want her to give it back.

Willow caught up with him, with her arms through the sleeves. He smiled, and Willow creased her eyebrows. "What?"

He waved her off, and she smirked. Chris let his hand droop, and accidently, brushed up against Willow's.

Chris thought nothing of it, and interlaced his fingers with hers. Willow grimaced, and pulled back her fingers. "I already told you, I'm not being your fake girlfriend for Ruth."

Chris sighed, and let his hand drop. He wasn't going to tell her that it wasn't for Ruth. He just did it because it felt natural. Ruth wasn't even his mind until she brought her up. Now that he thought about it, Ruth hadn't been in his mind since he last saw her. "Whatever you want..plum." Chris added the last word to see what she would do, but her reaction surprised him.

She smiled, and lightly punched him on the arm. "Be quiet."

By the time they got back to the treehouses, Chris seemed more and more distant. Willow kept talking to him, but he was out of it.

When they arrived, Delilah greeted them at the entry way. "Willow. Where have you been?" She walked up to Willow, and grabbed her by the  chin. "Don't you know you have a job to do?"

Willow knew not to struggle, otherwise she would be in even more trouble. But, a hand pushed Delilah's away from Willow's face.

Chris grabbed Willow's arm, and gently pulled her to the treehouse. "We have other places to be."

Willow rolled her eyes as he used his kingly tone.

"Why do you let her treat you like that?" Chris mumbled, but the question embarrassed Willow. Her cheeks flushed, and she glanced to the ground.

She was just used to it. Everyone in the village treated her like that. Ever since her parents died.

"She is the princess, practically queen--"

"So? You have to stick up for yourself!" Chris shook his head.

Willow curled her fists. "I do what I need to do to survive. Not everyone had the luxury-". She stopped herself. She didn't want to fight with him, but he wasn't listening. He wasn't understanding. Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Not everyone what?" He said, but his tone remained calm.

Willow rubbed a hand over her face. "Nothing."

Chris sighed. "I think I can fill in the blank." His voice was tight, but he still remained composed. "I realize that I didn't work as hard, and my life was not as rough as yours, but that doesn't mean I didn't struggle." He looked at Willow with sad eyes. "My dad was attacked while I was on Earth."

Willow looked to the floor. "I'm sorry Christopher."

Chris took a step closer. "You know what the worst part was?" His voice was rising as he spoke, and Willow shook her head. "If I was there, he could have still been alive today. He would still be king, and I wouldn't been in this position! I had no training, and I was nowhere near ready to take over his job." Chris looked away, his eyes drooping. "And I can't blame anyone, except for myself."

Willow put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself. You didn't know it would happen."

Chris let out a dark chuckle. "No. But I should have been home. Guess what I was doing on Earth?" He let out a humorless laugh. "Trying to win over Ruth. I still haven't learned my lesson apparently."

Willow gently moved Chris's head to meet her gaze. "You really love her, don't you?"

Chris shrugged. "That doesn't matter. She has Luke." He remained silent, before shaking it off. "Anyways let's keep moving."

Willow hung back, conflicted on what to do. Should she help Chris win over Ruth? Or should she let him get over it, and be there to comfort him?

"I can help." Willow said softly.

Chris looked up in confusion. "Help me get Ruth?"

Willow nodded slowly, and part of her wished she would stop. Chris deserved someome who loved him, not someone who thought of them as second in their lives.

Chris considered it, but shook his head. "I shouldn't have brought you into this. I need to let her go."

Willow smiled. "You sure?"

Chris grinned back at her. "It's going to be harder said than done, but I think I can manage."

Willow caught up with him, and they searched through the tree house for Ruth and Luke. When they found them, they were caught off guard.

"Well look who it is. Maybe Chris will have some info on what's going on here." Luke snapped.

Chris put on a confident face, even though he had no idea what they were talking about.

Ruth huffed out a breath. "Nothing is going on between Chris and I!" She exclaimed.

Luke stared at her. "Then why would Delilah make that comment?"

Ruth shrugged. "I. Don't. Know. Stop asking me questions that you have already asked! The answers won't change!"

Luke walked over to Chris, and pointed a finger at him. "Stay away from Ruth. You're just causing more trouble than good."

Chris glared but said nothing. His silent response made Luke snarl, and advance towards him. But before he could do anything, a dagger flew by Luke's face.

Everyone turned to stare at the one who threw it.

Willow didn't like the attention, but knew this argument was pointless. "Delilah is the master of manipulation. If her choice of words is the cause of this fight, you acted exactly as she wanted you to." Everyone soaked this in, and she continued. "So snap out of it, or go somewhere else to argue your pointless fights. I thought you wanted out of here, but I guess I was wrong." She couldn't help but add the sass, and it was mainly toward Ruth snd Luke. They were the ones causing Chris's past to be painful. They were the ones that weren't letting him free of his past, aside from his own mind.

Ruth sighed. "You're right." Luke ran a hand over his face, and Chris gave Willow a wink.

Willow smiled back, and took in a deep breath. "Let's go get that scale."