Rise of a Queen

Chapter 40

If I hadn't heard myself say those words just now, I never would have believed the instant and overdramatic reaction from both of the boys.

    Lumiere shot onto his feet and was now circling around the room, praying for my sanity and completely forgetting his surveillance over Dustin who had roughly forced himself upright despite how his ribs poked at his lungs. He splinted his chest with the broad side of his arm while he fired an interrogation at me.

    "You can't be serious, please tell me you're joking." He didn't give me the chance to answer, "The only thing I need to do is take the ingredients to the Council. So if this is indeed a joke, now is the time to end it because it isn't funny."

    I was prepared for this, "Let me explain-"

    "Dear lord! If you are listening, please heal her mind from the demons trying to infiltrate her poor pure soul!" Lumiere cried out to the heavens.

    "Why would you even suggest something like that? I went through all of this for the sole purpose of taking the ingredients to the Council." Dustin continued.

    "Save her lord, help her find her sanity!" Lumiere crooned.

    But I'll admit, I was not ready for this headache.

    "Hush, both of you!" I demanded only loud enough to be heard over their combined frenzy. I pointed at Lumiere, "Especially you, I am not losing my sanity or being infiltrated by demons."

    Lumiere was less than convinced, "That is the only explanation for why you are acting so possessed."

    My headache intensified, "Just listen to me-"

    "What you just said is ridiculous, and we don't have time for that." Dustin cradled my face in his free hand; so very carefully, as if I might slip away. And I hated feeling like water in his palm, "I think I understand, you are just trying to help. I get it, I really do. You think something is going to happen to me when I take the ingredients to the Council, right?"

    Did my answer even matter?

    "Unfortunately, we don't have any other choice." He wasn't going to listen, I knew that before I entered this room, "So I am going to take these vials to the Council and -"

    "No. You are not." I responded just as softly as he, "Regardless of the options you think we don't have, I can't let you keep making sacrifices. Especially not this one. Just look at yourself Dustin, you are going to get yourself killed trying to protect the rest of us."

    Dustin tried to sit straighter but the movement brought him obvious discomfort. Unconvincingly, he said, "What are you talking about? I am fine."

    "No." I decided for him, and repeated, "You are not."

    "If I don't take the vials to the Council, they won't be able to make the cure. And if they can't make the cure, then you die. Don't you understand that?" Dustin wasn't angry, more like baffled. He did not understand my hesitation, the same way I did not understand his desire for self mutilation for if he returns to the Council, violence and pain is all he will find. Still he tried to persuade me, "I have to bring the ingredients to the Council, it is the only way."

    "If you bring them those vials, then you will die. Don't you understand that?" Could he truly not see the truth behind the Count's deceitful plan? This was never about me, or about saving me for that matter. This was always about having something to hold against Dustin, to force his will. Count Marx initiated this game, and we are playing the role of pawn so perfectly for him, "They won't just let you leave after you deliver the ingredients, Count Marx will never allow it. They will lock you away again and this time, we won't be able to save you."