by Iesha Bree
Peering down at my two cats who sat perched next to me, he leaned down to pet them.
“Keep her safe,” he whispered to them.
They purred in response like they understood exactly what he had been telling them. Everyone followed suit, changing their clothes to blend in with the people within the palace. I was able to find a nice golden dress that laid against my curves. Two by two, we all slipped out of the room, turning in opposite directions. Raz stayed two steps behind me, we followed Topez’s direction to get to the king’s room. I hoped like hell that Serafina didn’t call herself in this room as we walked up on the large golden doors, which were surprisingly unguarded, sending off red flags that just maybe we needed to turn around, but I needed answers.
“I’m not feeling this, but if this is what you want to do. I’m on the go for you.” Raz whispered behind me.
Nodding my head, I pushed the door open to an empty room with what seemed like a shadow of a man lying in bed. Walking closer to the bed, Raz moved behind me, checking every little corner of the room to make sure we were truly alone. The moment I made it to his side of the bed, his eyes fluttered open before weakly closing again.
“Noemy?” He moved his arm from his side, reaching out for me.
“How did you know?” I stuttered, moving closer toward his outreached hand.
“I’ve always kept an eye on you, but I knew if I outed you, it would cause problems for you and your mother. It looks like I haven’t done a good enough job as it is.” He laughed before he began coughing.
Taking his hand into mine, I could see he was once a larger-than-life kind of man, but he appeared to be dying. He looked as if all the blood had drained from his face, making it appear ghastly, and bones poked out from his skin.
“We don’t have much time. They know you’re coming, and I am dying. Serafina has been poisoning me for some time now. I don’t have much time left. I need you to reach behind me, and you will find a small compartment.”
Stepping a little closer to him, I followed his instructions, finding a small compartment behind his head, which opened at the touch of my finger. It sprang open, and a gold amulet appeared before me with what looked to be a lightning bolt etched into it. I slipped the chain around my neck, and the moment it touched my skin, it began to glow a vibrant blue before returning to a gold color.
“Take it and guard it with your life. It will help you when you need it most, and only you will actually use this amulet. Allow your guards to fall, and don’t fear your supreme being. I know your mother has kept you in the dark about your powers, but you’re capable of more than you can imagine. I know I don’t have the right to ask you for anything, but I don’t ask you for me, but our people. Save them. They’re terrific people behind good leadership,” he spoke up.
“I’ll try. Where do they have my mother?” I urged.
“They’re holding her in the dungeon below the castle.”
A meow sounded, and both of my cats jumped on the bed to lay next to the king, who began to stroke their fur.
“How have you been enjoying Ani and Ankui?” he asked with a tired smile.
“You sent them to me?”
Nodding his head, he continued to stroke their fur.
“I had to make sure you would be safe,” he responded.
Leaning down, I placed a kiss against his forehead before looking back at Raz.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“We have to go now,” Raz responded, looking around the room before the large gold doors slammed open, swinging against the wall. In walked a woman straight out of a magazine, her hair cascading down her back. Something about her felt very familiar, almost as if I had seen her before. Not long before that thought passed through my mind, in walked Amber and Jason. Scrunching up my face, I glanced over at Raz, who groaned aloud at the fact that our plan was already going down the drain.
“Oh, don’t tell me you plan to leave already? The party is just getting started, and we have been waiting for you to arrive. Oh, damn. Let me not be rude. You already know Ambrosia and Jaseon. I’m sure you’ve heard of me a few times, but it’s best to get it from the source. I’m Serafina, the queen of this land.” She laughed, gesturing to everyone around then herself.
Quickly, I tried to slip the chain into my shirt until the glare caught her eye. She quickly walked up to me, unable to remove her eyes from the beauty of the chain. She snatched it from my neck before looking behind me at her husband, who looked to be dying at any moment.
“You gave her the Rubella amulet that is rightly supposed to go to my children!” Serafina yelled, as her eyes turned a violet purple.
She brought her hand out in front of her, pulling a knife from one of the guard’s pockets, slitting my father’s throat.
“Noooooo!” Jaseon yelled.
Quickly, Serafina turned to face him, silencing him with one look.
“Get them out of here and bring them out to the dome!” she yelled, storming out of the room.
Amber smirked in my direction while a sadness held in the depths of Jason. Looking over at Raz, I mouthed I’m sorry, but he held his usual unbothered look as the guards grabbed both of our wrists, tying them together. This plan had truly gone to shit. I just hoped this was all working out differently for Topez and Loren.
“Are you sure about this, man? This is not part of the plan that we discussed with Noemy or Raz,” Loren spoke up.
“I can’t allow her to lose her mother. That’s all she has known and had all her life,” I responded as we crept along with the barriers in the castle.
Gripping my shoulder, he turned me to face him with no smile in sight.
“You know what I continue to go through, you have found your soulmate, and you’re not cursed with the fact that every time you find her, she dies. So don’t subject her to the same fate that I have to deal with every day,” he spoke, walking ahead of me.
Dragging my hand down my face, I knew every word he spoke was from the heart, and I had experienced him living through every decade with the death of his soulmate. It only seemed to make him go quieter and more reserved. Loren went from a man filled with just as much life as Raz to the man he was today. Although it wasn’t common for your soulmate to be reborn every time they died, it was a special hell made just for him. I knew within my heart that this wouldn’t be the case for Noemy and me. I couldn’t see past the point that it wouldn’t make her life any better if all she still had were her mother.
“I hear you,” I responded, stroking my forehead.
“So what the hell are we going to do? Because you turning yourself over to Serafina didn’t seem like a good enough idea to me.”
Before I could say a word, the sound of horns playing from the stadium caught our attention. I knew within my mind that this shit had taken a left turn without a doubt.
“Shit.”
“Shit is right. I can only assume that sending them to the father’s room was a bad ass idea.”
“Noemy was supposed to go in, find out where her mother is, and come the fuck back out. Not sit around and reminisce about the good ole days. Fuck!” I fumed, pacing back and forth.
“What did you expect? She had never met him before, and then to add insult to injury, she knows nothing about this life.”
“I figured all of that, which is why I sent Raz with her,” I pointed out.
Looking over at Loren, his eyebrow was raised, and so was his mouth.
“You make it seem like Raz is the most logical one out of us all. Shit, you were better off sending me with her. But there is nothing we can do now besides play by Serafina’s rules. By this point, she knows we’re here, so we might as well get all this over with,” Loren pointed out, heading for the stadium.
Jogging behind him to catch up, I pulled my sword from my back. At the same time, Loren pulled his crossbow from behind his back. Signaling with two fingers in the upward direction, I let him know it was time to split up. We needed to have at least one surprise up ou
r sleeves. Loren was one of the best archers around, and I knew if he could make it up onto the stadium’s higher regions. He could at least clear the way for me. Before making it inside of the stadium, two guards were posted outside. Slowly, Loren and I crept up alongside each guard, bringing our hands across their mouths and snapping their necks. Gripping them underneath their arms, we pulled them behind the brush to hide their bodies. Loren removed the guard’s clothes by changing into his armor to blend in a little better. I chose to go without because I needed Serafina to see me and remove the attention from Noemy.
“Be safe,” I mouthed to Loren.
Nodding in response, he took off in the other direction as I followed the horns’ sounds still going off. Creeping along the wall, I moved swiftly from side to side, severing the heads of each guard who came my way until I felt a hard hit against the back of my head, causing me to lose my balance. Falling to my knees, I felt the back of my head, bringing my fingers to my view, only for them to be covered in my blood. Glancing up from the ground, Pateek came into view with a grin as he cocked his fist back, giving a bone shattering punch to my jaw. Waving the other guards over, he had them all hold me as he delivered punches to my stomach.
“The goddess Asha requests his presence,” one of the guards announced with a clearing of his throat.
Pateek leaned down to wipe his bloody knuckles against my shirt. “Get him the fuck out of here. He will be dead soon anyway. You wish you would have made that alliance now, huh?” he added with a smirk.
Smiling back at him. “Nah. I don’t team up with pussies. You would have never been able to do that if they would have let me go. You know what’s up, and as soon as I get out this bitch, trust and believe me, today will be your last day breathing.” I laughed as the guards pulled me toward the opening of the stadium.
Stepping out of the dark tunnel into the stadium filled with lights, I squinted my eyes as Raz, Noemy, and her mother came into view. They were all chained together in the center of the field. I released a sigh of relief at the fact that Loren was still out there somewhere. Serafina and her two children stood in the chairs of royalty that were usually reserved for the council.
“I am so happy you made it just in time to enjoy the party,” Serafina called out.
Gripping my arms, the guard pushed me down by Noemy’s feet before walking away. Noemy looked down at me with sympathetic eyes.
“What happened to your face!” she practically yelled.
“It’s cool. He got one coming for him,” I spoke, nodding in Pateek’s direction.
He threw up a salute in our direction with the same smirk adorning his face.
“I’m going to get you out of this.”
“Are you now? It doesn’t seem to me that you have many good odds in your favor. Give it up, and it is time that you people realized that I am the supreme god. All you had to do was follow in the direction I am leading, and you would have lived lives you could only dream of.” Serafina stared at the people of Ruella who had taken up all the seats within the stadium.
Shocked and horrified sighs filled the stadium as the GPP led the council one by one in charmed chains into the stadium.
“Ra is dead! I am now your leader! You will follow my orders unless you wish to be like these traitors here. I only wish to make Ruella known! Our people deserve more recognition than we currently have! Are you all really satisfied being secluded from the world? Ruella could be so much more, and under my leadership, more is what you will get. Start with the beheading of these two before us,” she ranted, pointing in the direction of Noemy and her mother.
“They have stolen from my children what is rightfully theirs!
“Enough!” I yelled.
“This has got to be a joke. Why don’t you tell your people why you’re truly upset? It has nothing to do with furthering Ruella. Our place is sacred because of the many jewels and magnificent people we protect. Inviting the outside world has never been our way, and we will not cause a war because you have been jealous of Noemy since the moment she was born,” I spoke as a silence filled the stadium.
“I’ll take it from here, Topez.” Asha spoke up, standing from the place they had thrown her on the ground.
“Your problem has never been with Noemy. It has always been with me, and maybe I should have taken on the life that I was supposed to live. But if I hadn’t, my beautiful daughter wouldn’t be here today. If you want to take it out on anyone, it should be me. Let my daughter go. I would gladly take the punishment for my actions, and she shouldn’t have to pay for them.” Asha spoke with her head held high.
“Mom, no!” Noemy yelled.
A crazed look shone in Serafina’s eyes as she looked out at the audience, who were now pleading for the lives of the very people she despised. Violet began to lick the tips of her eyes as she was lifting her arms to levitate out of the box above. Storming across the field toward Asha and bringing her arm back, she swiftly smacked her.
“That was always your problem! You always thought that your opinions were absolute. You may have had Ra fooled, but I have always known who you truly were, and that was trash!” she spoke, gripping Asha’s hair.
Before a move could be taken, a silvery arrow shot out, heading directly for Serafina. Serafina moved quickly to the right, it was able to penetrate her shoulder. Suddenly, the cuffs from our hands all hit the floor. Glancing up at the box, Jaseon had flipped the switch on all of our chains. Immediately, all of the guards came rushing us. Pulling the sword from one of the closest guards, we all began to fight. Me and Raz were taking on the guards. Arrows began to fly out, taking down multiple guards.
Turning behind me, I caught sight of Pateek as I made my way in his direction, only to see his ass was trying to run. I pulled my hand out in front of myself and made a twisting motion with my fist. As Pateek began to run in place, then I made it up to him. I removed the pull I had on him, giving him the one-on-one fight I knew he wasn’t prepared for. Turning to face me with his hands straight in front of his face, he raced toward me, and I dipped down low, taking his feet out from underneath him, and he tumbled down to the ground.
“Get yo’ ass up,” I called out, stepping away from his body. Scrambling from the ground, he came at me once more, and I quickly gave him two shots to his body and two to his face, dazing him. Pateek stumbled back and forth from the many blows I had given him. Tired of the cat and mouse game, I walked over smoothly.
“I told you today would be your last day breathing,” I stated, taking his head between my hands and snapping his neck. Looking over to my right, Loren was now inside of the stadium fighting alongside Raz.
Hopping up from the place I was in on the floor, the hair on the back of my neck began to rise. Turning around in time, Amber was in the distance with a bow and arrow pointed in my direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother slinging people left and right. Quickly, she came running in my direction as the bow flew in the air. My mother flung herself in between the arrow and me, collapsing into me as the arrow hit her square in the heart. I let out a piercing scream as I pulled my mother against my chest. Serafina smiled squarely up at me as she wrapped my chain tight in her hand. Closing my eyes, I allowed that supreme feeling to take over my body willingly. Floating from the ground, my body became covered in golden scales. My eyes took on a turbulent blue as streaks of lightning went across the sky. Holding my hand out, the chain Serafina held tightly within her hand twisted and turned in her palm before flinging out into the air toward me. The chain settled over my neck as a power I had never felt before took a seat in my chest. Multiple arrows came flinging in my direction. I put my hand out, stopping every arrow in its tracks.
Returning the arrows to their sender, my eyes snapped in the direction of Amber as she tried to run, only for me to have lifted her feet off the ground. Glancing around the field, I could hear the snarls of Ani and Ankui in their jaguar form. Tossing her in their direction, they tore her apart. I brought my attention to the many peopl
e of Ruella who continued to share shocking stares. Fear covered almost every face in the stadium, bringing me back to my true nature.
“Stop!” I called out.
Everyone stood still.
“This is enough. I am not here to decimate our people but to help us grow. I do not want to kill all of you. I want peace. Is this truly who all of you are? Because I know without a doubt that this isn’t who I am. If you want peace, then please drop your weapons. You’re no longer under the leadership of Serafina. She has tried to poison the people of Ruella, as she did to Ra. These are the words out of his own mouth. Don’t allow her to win.”
“Are you all really going to believe an outsider?” Serafina spoke up.
“She is right. My mother did kill my father. I saw it with my own eyes. I cannot sit by and allow you to poison the minds of our people. Noemy, I am willing to take the same punishment as my mother. I am no better than her because I am just now trying to do the right thing,” Jaseon spoke up.
“You have always been soft! You should have been the one to die, not my beautiful Ambrosia. You stand here taking the side of this forbidden princess! You’re a traitor to your own flesh and blood!” Serafina yelled.
Waving my hand, I took the right of speech from her lips. Coming down to the ground, I walked over in front of her as Topez walked up alongside me.
“How do you think I should handle this?” I asked him.
“Strip her of the very thing she was willing to poison her people’s minds for,” Topez responded.
Smiling, I lifted my arms, stripping both Serafina and Jaseon of their powers. Falling to her knees, I called the guards to get her out of the stadium while looking over at Jaseon.
“We will work something else out for you, and it is never too late to change.” I spoke only to him as he nodded, walking with the guards.
I turned to face the crowd once more.
“Are you all willing to start fresh with me? With a clean slate and the help of my family, I plan to help better Ruella, but only with all of your blessings,” I called as we waited a moment.
