Chapter Text
"Was it really necessary to reject them so harshly?" Rick looked at me, abashed.
We had just returned to the Castle and the others were looking at me questioningly. I was getting fairly good traveling via Circle, but now and then it still took a little time to convince my rebellious stomach to shut the fuck up.
"We need supporters and..."
"Lucian, they would have been nothing more than running targets, and I can’t imagine the holy Queen would use kids as..."
"We could have trained them." Anakleto didn’t take his eyes off Lea, who was right next to me.
"Sure, in all that free time we have," I snapped annoyed.
"Part of this free time we should focus on planning show fights. Not that I'm not looking forward to being nearly killed by you, my Queen, and in a potentially dangerous situation nonetheless, but..."
"That wasn’t a real attack, Lea, and you know that. Don’t overreact.”
"You're right, Cass. If a Dragonslayer is attacking me, who by the way nearly got me beheaded because she decided to harm herself, I really should be more relaxed." His words were mitigated by the silent humour in his eyes.
"Whatever. I’ll visit our guest."
"I'll come with you." Lea wrapped an arm around my shoulders and ignored my groaning. "Anakleto, Lucian, are you coming with us?" He beamed at both as a pre-schooler would who planned an excursion with his best friends.
Anakleto stared at him coldly. "See you at dinner."
Lucian gave him a questioning look, but nodded.
"I will look after the prisoner's hand."
"Takumi, the Queen has no prisoners, only involuntary guests!" Lea sing-songed happily as he dragged me along, following Takumi to the guestrooms.
"Anakleto seems..."
Lea snorted. "I think he's mad at you and hopes I'll get you killed or at least seriously injured so that he can finish me."
"Perfidious plan." I caught Takumi's eye and raised an eyebrow. "Are you mad at me too?"
"I would never presume to question the Queen's decisions." He turned around at the foot of the stairs, forcing Lea and me to stop. Even if he was standing two steps below, he managed to make me feel small.
"You still have to learn a lot Cass, especially how to talk to frightened Paien. It was right not to involve them in the fighting, but not the way you told them." He turned on his heels and walked down the corridor.
I followed his smooth steps to the small table, keeping a scrutinizing eye on him. He didn’t seem to notice as he wrote his name in the book and went ahead to Chem’s cell.
"He's right." Lea filled all the other columns in the book, but instead of my name he drew a small crown.
"It was the fastest way to..."
"You must learn to find diplomatic ways."
I looked in his serious face and sighed. I wasn’t quite sure why, but not only did I know they might have a point, I actually wished… that I had been nicer? I swallowed a growl. It didn’t matter if their feelings were hurt as long as they got the message. What did I care if some teens thought I was rude? What did I care if my friends thought I was an asshole? I am a sarcastic asshole and if that doesn’t please you, you can go to fucking hell. But still.
"Takumi's speeches are much more impressive."
"We can’t all descend from such an old and venerable family as our Tak-Tak."
"Repeat that to his face."
Lea's smile widened. "Thank you, I want to live," he whispered as he followed me into the ‘dungeon’.
"Coward," I murmured to him and leaned against the cold stonewall opposite of the cell. Takumi sat beside Chem and examined his bandages. Chem's eyes kept scurrying to the open door, but he didn’t provide any counter-defence, and answered each of Takumi's questions with a nod or a head shake. As soon as I had a couple of minutes of spare time, I had to find out more about the races of the others, their abilities and their power conditions.
Takumi closed the door behind him and nodded at me. "I'm going to Amalia, my Queen."
I nodded graciously at him. Chem’s red glowing pupils lay uncertainly on me, as if he tried his hardest to figure me out. His gaze wandered to Lea and back to me again, as if that would help him.
I pushed myself off of the cold wall and leaned on the bars, seemingly lost in thought, and wrapped a strand of my hair around my index finger. It seemed as if I admired the deep lilac glow. Lea remained leaning against the stonewall with loosely folded arms, watching Chem. We hadn’t planned this. We didn’t need to.
"Why would you want to kill me, Chem?" I let the strands of hair slide through my fingers and turned to look at him. He was still sitting on the edge of his bed, hands clenched into tight fists.
"The Queen must..."
"Why would youwant to kill me?" I forced myself to show as much insecurity as I could muster.
Chem’s shoulders tensed, but he held my gaze. "We lived without a Queen for centuries, we don’t need one."
"Did Benedict say that?"
For a moment, he looked confused. "We don’t belong to the murderers of the King's Front," He spat at me, his voice rising.
"You haven’t been particularly harmless to me," I told him, ignoring his protest. "So you think you could stop the King's Front..." I left the question open.
Chem glared angrily at me, but refused to answer.
"Why did you attack me, Chem? You aren’t a trained assassin. Why were you sent?"
"I volunteered." He squeezed the words through his teeth.
"Why?"
He stared at me irated, his hands clawing at the mattress. Even if his heat couldn’t hurt us, I felt the temperature rising.
"Could it be that there was no one else to do it?" Lea's words were gentle and understanding.
Chem's gaze wandered to him, but he showed neither refusal nor consent.
"Who do you belong to?"
"No one." The answer came too fast and too loud. Chem’s hands clutched deeper into the mattress. The only reason why the bed wasn’t burning was surely the magic of the Castle.
“Your family wanted to kill me, even though they don’t even know me?" I asked, tilting my head, not believing that he thought I was swallowing his lie. But for the time being, I wouldn’t contradict him.
"You... The Queen..."
"Her name is Cass. She is nineteen." Lea pushed away from the wall and stood next to me. "The girl that almost died is called Amalia." He crossed his arms again.
"That... she... She’s a follower of the Queen and..."
"Is that why she deserves death?" I clasped the bars with my hands. "Why, Chem?"
He stood up jerkily and turned his back on us. A quick look at Lea assured me that he had the same idea as me. Chem wasn’t a fanatical follower. Presumably he had understood the Queen as a danger and had responded to this threat. It wouldn’t cost us much more time to grasp his moral code and use it against him.
"Do you need anything else?"
Chem’s shoulders stiffened.
"See you tomorrow."
He didn’t answer, but I saw the trembling that ran along his body.
I followed Lea out of the dungeons and waited until I heard the heavy door close behind me.
"This will be easier than I thought."
"Probably."
I raised an eyebrow and met Leah's thoughtful gaze.
"Just because he doesn’t belong to the King's Front doesn’t mean he can’t be dangerous."
"You really believe that's all an act?"
"No, but..." He pushed a hand through his hair. "It doesn’t seem right to me."
"Do you mean the death threats, the attacks or..."
"And you're pretending I wouldn’t take anything serious," He grumbled as he followed me up the stairs.
"Why do you think you know what’s right, Lea?" I grabbed his hand before I knew what I was doing and let it go as if he had burned me. I saw the laughter flicker over his face and ignored it.
"I would be more surprised if nobody tried to kill me..."
"Yes, we know, you are a warrior, born in the darkest depths of hell, forged by..."
I punched him hard in the side and suppressed a laugh. Lea, though drawn, had survived his life better than I could have. If I was honest, he seemed to have done better than I did with help.
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After a long afternoon in my study, I tried to learn more about the surrounding Unmenschen, Cassandra and the magic of the Castle while Lea studied the rune books. He still believed he could predict the future with the help of the runes. Then we met the others in the dining room.
"This time no junk food," Takumi ordered, and whether it was his natural aura of authority, or the rune on his arm making a connection to the Castle, it obeyed him. Various salads and dishes based on vegetables appeared.
"Castle..." I grumbled, feeling laughter in the magic that connected me so thoroughly to this funny piece of stone.
"Why is it listening to Takumi and not to me?" Lea crossed his arms. I ignored him.
"How is Amalia?"
"Better." Takumi invited himself to a plate that looked suspiciously like kale.
I tried a potato dish and a green salad. It wasn’t half bad.
"Should we really worry about our food?" Victor gave me a quick look before he looked at Takumi. "I hardly believe that we live long enough to..."
"In case someone manages to live, we should not minimize his or her chances of survival any further." Takumi met his gaze with indifferent consequence.
"What are we doing now?" Lucian looked at me questioningly. "We can’t always respond to requests, we have to become more proactive."
"The Coronation of the Queen..." Victor began, but I interrupted him.
"What exactly does that mean? I thought the Nymph had crowned me when... "
"The Nymph has only determined if you are worthy of the crown." Lea seemed to have forgiven the Castle and filled his plate a second time. "You’ll be crowned with a little more audience."
"Lovely." Exactly what I wanted. "And who will crown me? My predecessor is not available." When I received no reply, I looked up from my plate and met the dogged faces.
"You don’t know?" I turned to Lea. "I thought you knew everything?"
"The last coronation took place over two hundred years ago, presumably by her mother. I have no idea who could crown you. Or where the crown is for that matter."
"We'll get a crown." I said dismissively, eyeing a dish of green beans and corn.
"That won’t do. We need the crown of the Queen." Victor's gaze drifted into mine and a shiver formed on my neck.
"Don’t tell me it's a magical crown..." I started derogatorily.
"You're living in a Castle that can read your mind," Takumi answered coolly, but I shook my head vehemently, ignoring his sarcasm.
"I will not wear a magical crown!" Not that I would wear any crown, or intended to wear it for a long time at least. Wait. Would I let myself be crowned?
"Relax, we have to find it first. Besides, I believe that it has only symbolic power."
Victor nodded. "I have never heard of the crown possessing magical powers, or that the Queen had worn it excessively."
"Then we could use any crown..."
"It's not that easy." Victor looked at me punishingly. "You should know better. Even if the crown is not magical, there will be a reason why it was inherited from one Queen to the next. Besides, we do not know the incantation for the coronation."
"Vicky's right." Lea ignored Victor's furious glare. "Through the coronation your whole power shall be awakened and for..."
"What does that mean?" Anakleto had anticipated me, even if I would have formulated the question a little differently. A magical castle that could read my mind, I could live with, but a magical coronation and an incantation to free my true power? No. I had my limits.
Lea glanced at me quickly before answering Anakleto with a suspiciously polite attitude. "I suspect there is a reason why nobody will go against the Queen after she has been crowned."
Silence filled the dining room. They wanted to equip a Dragonslayer with even more power? No wonder so many people tried to kill me before I was crowned.
"But no one knows what that means?" I asked coldly into the silence. "Seems as if we should get it over as fast as possible. I mean, what could go wrong?"
"Cass..." Lea started, but I interrupted him harshly.
"I won’t be crowned before I know what that means."
"It won’t hurt the Queen." Takumi looked at me neutrally. "The coronation..."
"I'm not afraid for the Queen, but for me." I stood up jerkily. "I will..."
"You have no choice." Victor crossed his arms, his expression cold. "If you want to live..."
"I'll decide that the moment I know what this incantation..."
"Cass!" Lea grabbed my arm and tried to drag me back into my chair, but instead of following the movement, I tore my arm back and freed myself from his grip.
"I won’t give up my freedom." I stared at him belligerent. "I won’t be the slave of an incantation of which I know nothing about!"
"You wouldn’t..."
"Prove it to me, or get crowned yourself, but under no circumstances..."
"Cass." Lucian stood up slowly and raised his hands as if to calm a terrified animal. I felt my pulse throb merciless in my throat.
"You are the Queen and we won’t act against your will."
I tried to get my breathing under control. The shocked eyes of Rick said it all. I hadn’t attacked anyone yet, but I felt the almost painful grip around one of my daggers and forced myself to loosen my fingers. It was nearly impossible, as was clearing my throat.
"I need to look after Amalia." I turned jerkily around and fled the dining room. I heard their voices, heard the accusations, but I didn’t care. My hands were still shaking. My heart was still racing. My lungs constricted and I couldn’t breathe. I pressed my hot forehead against the cold wall, forcing my entire body back under control.
Never again. I would never go back into a situation where I was unfree. Never again would I submit and never again... I suppressed a bitter laugh that fought it’s way up my throat like gurgling blood. I didn’t even believe that myself.
I stood up straight and took a deep breath. Never again.
"What did I miss?" Amalia sat up in her bed and I saw the pain just fleetingly harden her features. Takumi had told her about the meeting with T.J. and his friends. Judging by her question he had probably skipped all details and it was obvious that his retelling – I guessed it had been one sentence – hadn’t pleased her in the least.
I sat cross-legged next to her on the bed, ignoring the tingle on the back of my neck which reminded me that I would have killed her a week ago without second guessing myself. But as it was now, I had slept next to her and started to like her. I ignored the nagging feeling that I already liked her and that I...
I shook my head and told her about the meeting with T.J. in detail, then of our visit to the dungeon, my study-filled afternoon and dinner. All the while questioning my life choices. The only reason I could validate all of this was the fact that Melrose would probably die of shame if she ever found out. Maybe I should write her a letter.
"Do you know something?" I stretched out my legs and tugged on a pillow, mainly to not start throwing daggers.
"A lot, but go on." Amalia's long eyelashes closed once over her unnatural eyes before she tried to plunge me into the infinite depths of her eyes again.
When I didn’t go on, she sighed. "The coronation is the official beginning of the Queen's reign and she gains her full power because of that. I think it is because from that moment on she is the official Guardian, not because she becomes actually more powerful."
Her gaze wandered on and I felt my shoulders relax.
"But it would make sense." She straightened a bit and sighed again. "Takumi has forbidden me to get up, but I am much better."
"You're following his orders?"
"Would you not?" Her colourless lips twisted in a smile. "No, you would not." She leaned back. "I decide carefully which battles I fight, my Queen."
"That sounds like I..."
"You pressed a dagger against your own throat."
"Just to prove a point.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at me. "You are the Queen and you have to be more careful." Her voice was relentless.
I watched her for a moment and then nodded. Amalia needed me and wouldn’t kill me before I had fulfilled my purpose, so I was presumably safe with her. But as long as I didn’t know what that meant, I needed to be careful. In my endless stupidity and – as much as I hated to agree with Melrose – sentimentality, I started to like her. Although I wasn’t sure she didn’t want to kill me. Even if she didn’t want to, why would I like her? I would betray her, Lea, Takumi, and the others, sooner or later, and flee.
"Tell the Castle if you need anything." I pushed myself off of her bed and stood up, stretching my tense muscles.
"You are not sleeping here?" Her voice and facial expressions were blank. I hesitated. Was she kidding? Was she being sarcastic?
"I have my own room, you know." Awkwardly I forced an ironic undertone in my voice and smiled. "But if it’s better for you..." Real concern tried to mix in my facial expressions, but I pushed it away. Even if Amalia wasn’t the enemy – and I didn’t know for sure she wasn’t – she was just a volatile acquaintance. At best.
"I will tell the Castle if I need something. Sleep well, Queen."
I left her room and hesitated. Had Amalia just shown real feelings?
When I arrived in my room, I wished I had stayed with Amalia.
Lea lied on my bed, supported by pillows, one of the numerous books in his hands. As I entered, he looked up. His face was serious and I groaned inside. I didn’t care what lecture he would give me. If not getting crowned would break my oath to him and I was thereby signing my death sentence, so be it. It wouldn’t change my decision.
"I'm sorry." Lea put the book down and stood up. "I'm sorry, Cass."
When I didn’t react, he came a few steps closer. The volcanic eyes, which seemed more familiar to me than they should, looked grave and compassionate. How could glowing lava sources surrounded by charcoal look sympathetic?
"I know what freedom means to you and I won’t allow anyone to crown you before we know it doesn’t restrict you in your freedom. I swear, I won’t allow you to be crowned against your will."
I forced a laugh, but I knew he saw my fear. The spikes of adrenaline surged through me, trying to suffocate me.
"I know you wouldn’t let yourself be crowned. I know you don’t need my help. But you don’t have to do it alone, Cass. I will help you and you won’t be crowned against your will."
Of course, I could take care of myself. It would mean death most certainly and if it was my own. I didn’t need any help to prevent the coronation. Yesterday I told him that he was no longer alone. Today he told me the same. He had sworn it without a condition.
I nodded. "Good."
"Good." Lea nodded and his face relaxed. "By the way, Anakleto and Lucian might burst in here any minute now. They saw me go into your room."
I shrugged and turned away. This whole feeling-bullshit was too much for me. I could handle sarcasm and verbal attacks, but honesty and feelings? There was only one person to whom I confided, and that only very sporadic. This whole conversation-stuff, talking about feelings and shit, couldn’t be healthy.
After a hot shower, I examined the cut at my throat and decided against a bandage. It was no more than a scratch. Lea's handprint on my forearm ached more, even if it was just a slight burn. I left most of my weapons back in the bathroom, only two daggers stuck in the waistband of my pyjamas. The top showed playing puppies and no matter how much I had begged the Castle, it hadn’t given me another top. At least it covered all of my arms.
Lea was lying in bed reading. "Honey would you turn off the light?" His eyes fell on the puppies on my shirt and he grinned. "Very sweet." His gaze moved to my throat and his face darkened for a moment.
"One more word, and I am going to cut you in little pieces. What are you doing here? Don’t you have a room of your own?" I turned off the light next to Lea on a bedside table that had not existed before.
"Tell me that I should go and I’ll go." His smile broadened, but his eyes remained serious. He worried about me. Fuck, that couldn’t be real.
"Do what you want," I growled and laid down.
Lea laughed softly and I heard the rustle as he turned a page.
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I was awakened by the banging opening of the bedroom door. With a dagger in my hand and ready to jump, I remained on the bed as my mind caught up with me. Anakleto and Lucian were standing in the door, unarmed, but definitely ready for anything.
"Morning." Lea beamed at them satisfied and loosened his muscles. "How can we help?"
"What is he doing here?" Anakleto stared at me angrily as I slumped back into bed.
"What do you think?" I heard the salacious undertone in Lea's voice and groaned, annoyed, while throwing a pillow at him.
"You're keeping watch?" Lucian asked coldly, ignoring his implication. "Do you think she is in danger?"
"As long as not everyone in this Castle has sworn their allegiance, I think of this as a possibility."
"Lea!" I raised myself jerkily up and glared at him first and then at the others. "I definitely want no more oaths. That is way too dangerous!"
"But..." Anakleto started. I interrupted him by getting up and putting my hands on my hips.
"No."
"That would look so much more impressive without the playing puppies,” Lea commented relaxed. I cursed.
"Queen, we..."
"No." I pushed past them into the bathroom. My toothbrush had hardly touched my lips as the bell rang.
"That just can’t..." I brushed my teeth, pulled on some clothes, which mainly meant that I armed myself and got rid of the puppies, and then followed the others into the entrance hall. Even before I could ask who wanted what of us this time, the castle bell sounded a second time and I saw a letter in the stone basin appearing in a blaze of white flames. Even though I knew theoretically how the magical transmission of mail functioned and Takumi had sent a letter yesterday in the basin, I had never seen a letter arrive. The Dragonslayers would never send letters in this way, and even if I had seen basins more often, I had never tried it. Who should I have written to?
"What does it say?" Victor asked, holding the other letter in his hands.
"Um, someone would like to meet the Queen. Sincerely Amura," Rick read aloud and looked up.
"And the other inquiry?" I stood between Lea and Anakleto and tied my hair back.
"If they had wanted to make it more obvious, they would have written trapin thick red letters all over the paper." Victor crumpled the letter and looked at me defiantly. "In which trap do you want to fall first?"
"What does the inquiry say?" Lucian folded his arms in front of his chest and glared at him.
"They ask for immediate help because we and our children are under attack," Victor spat contemptuously.
"Emotional blackmail." I nodded approvingly.
"And if they tell the truth!" Rick stepped forward. "What if...”
"Yes, yes, the Queen has to help." Victor cut him off without sparing him a glance.
"Do we have a choice?"
Takumi ignored me and looked at Lea. "Can it be a trap of the King's Front?"
Lea shrugged. "Could be, but I don’t think so."
Takumi nodded. "Where do you want to go first, my Queen?"
"Queen..." Rick started, but I interrupted him.
"To the rescue of children and puppies."
Lea's lips formed a grin and I rolled my eyes.
While Takumi drew the Circle after he bandaged my throat, I was pushed into the middle of the others. Lea's hot back pressed against mine and whether I wanted it or not, it calmed me.
Takumi tore us into the darkness and it spit us out on a riverbank. We stood on a pebbly beach, on the right flowed a broad river, and on the left rose a slope.
I turned my head to look closer at the embankment as the first arrows rained on us. Rick fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Lucian, Lea and Takumi created barriers in their elements. I felt the heat of the fire wall behind me and saw the rainbow-colored glimmer of Lucian's wall. Where Victor's water and Lea's fire met, hissing steam formed.
"How bad is he hurt?" Victor yelled over the cries of our attackers.
Takumi bent protective over Rick, examining the wound with trained efficiency. "We should hurry." He glanced over my shoulder and I got the message. If your wanna-be-murderers knew what they were doing, he was the next on their list.
A new hail of arrows hit our walls and Lea cursed. "The fire isn’t hot enough to stop their missiles, but when I..." He broke off and I felt his shoulders tighten as he caught another attack. He couldn’t increase the heat without burning us.
I clasped the daggers harder and cursed myself for not having learned any more magic. I was almost unbeatable in close combat, but I was useless in a battle of magic against magic.
I turned and pressed my shoulder against Lea’s. He was in the greatest danger. The arrows had to be acid or poison, but they were based on water. Even if the normal touch with water wasn’t a problem for fire-Paien, water-Paien could seriously harm or kill them with their element. I couldn’t see anything through Lea's wall of fire. I turned to Lucian's wall, as the rainbow veil prevented my view the least.
Up to the knees in the rushing water stood eight Paien, three men and five women in their mid-twenties to their late thirty’s. Their ocean blue eyes were narrowed to slits. Their skin glimmered in a greenish blue and their hair had the colour of kelp.
"Lucian, can I go through your barrier?" I hissed to him and took a step closer to his back. Lea couldn’t follow me without endangering the barrier and I heard his vicious curses.
"What? No!" Lucian hissed back angrily.
"We can’t just defend ourselves! We..."
Takumi stood up and nodded. I caught his eyes, the golden ribbons in his pupils seemed to pulsate.
"I can take over the barrier at short notice. How many enemies do we have?"
"I have eight," hissed Lucian.
"Five." I heard the effort in Lea's voice. This had to end.
"Thirteen, how poetic." I glanced at Victor. Lucian and he would do the biggest damage without hurting us. Anakleto, who was similar to Victor in that he was immune against nearly all acids and poisons, could stay with Rick.
"Lucian, Victor, it has to be done fast. Anakleto stays with Rick and I..."
"No..." Lea pressed, but his barrier broke at that moment.
I jumped around as I heard Lea’s harsh exhale mixed in the sudden stillness of dying flames. Lea’s body hid the ground with a dull sound, blood mixing with the acid still eating into his chest.
"Takumi!" Without hesitation, I threw myself forward and was outside Takumi's barrier before he could build it. In front of me stood five Paien, trained like the eight on the other side, but that didn’t bother me. As I rolled to the side, I threw two daggers and pulled two more. One of the Paien fell with a scream, another groaned.
I came back to my feet and smiled. This was my element; here I felt safe, no matter how likely my death was. I threw myself forward, rolled off another time, and escaped three acid missiles. The next two daggers hit the foremost Paien, a big guy with shoulder-length hair. He was dead before his body touched the ground.
I jumped forward and nearly dodged another acid arrow. It brushed my shoulder and searing pain surged through me. I bit back a scream and threw another dagger that missed its target.
I felt the heat and heard the roar of the flames before I understood the scream and let myself fall flat on the ground.
"Anakleto!" Lea screamed, his voice hoarse and pained. His flames stole the air out of my lungs and set one of the Paien on fire.
As soon as the blazing heat died, I pushed myself up. I smelled burnt hair and didn’t want to know what my braid looked like. The Paien before me had been able to mitigate the fire with his water, but not enough. I jumped forward to pounce on him before he could attack me, but Anakleto pushed me to the ground and threw himself on the Paien.
Anakleto didn’t look as impressive as Amalia or Leander, nor was he as powerful as Takumi or Lucian. But he was fast and his poisons were more lethal than the acids of the water Paien. He pressed the screaming Paien to the ground. His hand dripped acid as he placed it on the Paien’s neck and let it dissolve his flesh. I didn’t wait for the body to stop screaming and twitching.
The two injured Paien stirred behind me, but the last uninjured stepped in my path, glaring aggressively at me. She had raised her hands to fight, ready to hurl her element at me. Her bluish eyes were clouded with rage, and I didn’t need to hear her gargled hiss.
"Give me a reason and I'll kill you," I growled, frustrated. It was meaningless and I knew it. She was too far gone in her rage to be reasoned with right now.
The woman hissed again and formed her attack. I threw myself aside but before I could tackle her, Anakleto leaped at her. I gritted my teeth. This wasn’t the time for a debate about interfering in the fight of another person. I tried to shut out her agonised cry and launched myself at the Paien whom I had struck with one of my first daggers in the side. He held my bloody dagger in one hand and hurled it at me, followed by an acid arrow. I dodged both, even if I could have caught the dagger. It was slippery with his blood and this wasn’t the time to boast. I tore out my short sword, pushed myself off the ground, and rammed it through his chest. Cool blood rushed over my hands and I yanked the sword back, letting the dead body slump to the ground.
Anakleto stepped next to me. Blood dripped from his fingertips, mixing with the acid he used to kill the last of the five attackers.
The silence gave away that the fighting had stopped, and the lack of attacks showed that we were victorious. However it didn’t tell of our losses. Holding on to the callous warrior side of me, I turned.
Takumi had dropped his barrier and squatted beside Lea. Lucian ran towards us and Victor looked for more attackers. I saw four dead bodies in the shallow water. The rest must have been washed away.
"Is everything okay?" Lucian rushed to me and tried to peel me out of my leather jacket, which smouldered still because of the acid and fire.
"Yes." I handed Anakleto the sword and let Lucian remove the jacket. It wasn’t worth fighting over it. The most important thing right now was to remain calm. "It's just a scratch. How are Lea and Rick?"
"We have to hurry." Takumi spoke only slightly louder than usual. For him it was almost a panicked scream.
Without responding to their protests, I began to draw the Circle. I felt the pain in my arm, the acid working its way slowly through my flesh, and ignored it just like Anakleto’s and Lucian's words. The heavy cold spreading in my gut was much worse.
"Lucian, Anakleto, take Rick." Victor grabbed Lea's other side and together with Takumi, held him upright.
I ignored Lea's face colour, the corpses and the surrounding blood, and tore us into darkness.
"Bring Rick to his room, I'll look after him later," ordered Takumi as soon as we had materialized back in the Castle. Together with Victor, he dragged Lea down the hall and I followed them into Lea's room.
"I'm getting my materials." Takumi hurried out of the room and I helped Victor peel Lea out of his jacket and shirt. Beside the great wound on his chest, I saw more traces of acid on his arms and cheek.
"You are hurt."
I ignored Victor and glanced at the door. How was Rick?
"Cass!" Victor grabbed my arm and I started. I wanted to defend myself, but he was right. I had already lost a lot of the feeling in my left arm, which was never a good sign.
"We have to wash the acid off of you!" He said urgently, and dragged me into Lea’s bathroom. I let him.
"Here." He held out a towel, and I clasped it with my right hand as he rinsed the wound with the shower. It burned like hell.
"That should be enough." Victor switched off the shower and I relaxed my tense hand and shuddered. Resuming my breathing was a trick and a half, but I managed.
Back in the bedroom, Takumi leaned over Lea and handed Victor a small bottle from the side table without looking up. "For the Queen's arm."
When did Takumi have time to see my wound? My eyes darted over Lea’s wounds that I could see from this angle. His chest was still moving, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. I stopped my thoughts and focused solely on breathing.
Victor turned to me and dripped the clear liquid on my arm without hesitation. The cool fluid reignited the ache in my arm and I hissed. Relieved for the agonizing pain.
"Bandage her,” Takumi ordered, while leaning over Lea's chest. He began to treat the wound with a similar fluid with swift movements, but his tensed shoulders betrayed his business-like tone. He was worried.
Victor bandaged my arm as I watched Takumi try to appear relaxed while he held Lea’s life in his hands.
As soon as Victor released my arm, I stepped beside Takumi, who shook his head before I could open my mouth. “You cannot help me, my Queen. If you wish to be of assistance, be so kind as to acquire after Richard.”
I wanted to argue that point, not because I had a hidden talent in healing – I haven’t – but because I refused to acknowledge… The cold weight in my gut spread further by the minute and numbed my whole being. I was helpless and I knew it. Worse, by arguing I would endanger Lea’s life supplementary. Too focused on the building panic, I didn’t even try to fight the sickening worry that froze anything else in me.
I nodded acquiescent and allowed Victor to push me out of Lea's room.
The second I stepped out, I pulled myself together. Whatever it may be what I was feeling, it didn’t matter. Emotions were weaknesses, slowing you down. Whether or not Lea survived wasn’t in my hands nor should it distract me. It shouldn’t matter either way, anyway.
"Are you hurt?" I asked plainly, following the hall to Rick’s room.
Victor shook his head. "They focused on the fire Paien before turning on Anakleto and you."
I nodded noncommittal, not reacting to any attempts of him to speak to me.
Rick's door stood ajar as we neared it. I didn’t bother to knock. He was obviously unconscious, but otherwise he seemed okay. Anakleto and Lucian were standing beside him, looking concerned.
"Cass!" Lucian started, but stopped when he saw my blank expression. "How is Lea?"
"Takumi is working on him." I ignored the pointed look of Anakleto and nodded to Rick. "How is he?"
"Takumi has treated him as best as he could on the shore. He’ll be fine."
"Good." I turned to leave, but Victor stopped me.
"Where are you going?" He asked suspiciously, one hand digging into my shoulder.
"We had two inquiries," I explained, my tone factual.
"Cass!" Anakleto looked as if he wanted to kill me on the spot. "You can’t be serious!"
"I am.”
The cold numbness was better than the arctic worry trying to freeze me in place. I tasted the bitter despair on my tongue, all the while showing nothing other than an empty mask to them. This was the reason I didn’t want to be part of a group even if I could be able to trust someone other than Shane. I didn’t want to be responsible for their lives. For their deaths. It didn’t matter that I didn’t like most of them, I still felt accountable. I would be responsible. It would be my fault. More lives would be taken. More deaths would be on my conscious.
"It's too dangerous." Victor's eyes narrowed to slits and I saw the glow of his pupils.
"Isn’t that the task of your oh so holy Queen? To do the damn call answering of the Paien?"
"Cass..." Lucian said in a suspiciously calming way.
"I'll go anyway." Without any further preamble, I turned. The footsteps and the perturbed whispers behind me meant nothing. I didn’t consider that Takumi and Lea, who had sworn allegiance to me, weren’t coming with us. I also didn’t think about how it would be the perfect opportunity for the three currently following me through the Castle to end the reign of this unwilling Queen before it started.
"I need a new jacket, Castle." Heat surrounded me and I suppressed a shudder as the leather jacket materialized around me and not next to me or in front of me. I quickly went on.
"Cass..." Lucian started, but I ignored him as I pulled the band out of my hair. My left arm was callous and throbbing, but it moved.
I combed through my hair with one hand and felt the burnt strands, thankfully less than I had expected. With fast movements, I braided it anew to hopefully hide the worst remnants of the struggle.
In the entrance hall, I squatted on the floor and began to draw the Circle. Lucian, Anakleto and Victor watched me closely. They had given up persuading me to stay.
"Are you coming?" I knew my normally dark-violet eyes were now black and my face was an expressionless mask. I saw understanding flicker in Victor's eyes but disregarded it.
"Of course." Anakleto answered hotly. Lucian nodded.
Anakleto pressed his back to mine, while Victor stood to my right and Lucian to my left. Even if it was a stupid idea, there was nothing else I could do right now. I took a deep breath and thrust us into the darkness.