“Part of me was hoping you would decide that was what you wanted. It would make things a lot easier. I would just have to leave the kingdom and find a way to make it on my own. Then all I would have to do is make you fall in love with me.”
“You would have left your family for good when there was no guarantee that I would be with you?” I asked unable to believe anything he was saying.
“In a heartbeat.”
I didn’t really know what to say to that. I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not, but I wanted to. No matter how much he irritated me sometimes, there was no doubt that I loved him.
“Did you hear that?” he asked suddenly in a whisper.
I shook my head and tried to listen for what he was hearing. All I heard were the crickets chirping but it was obvious that Tyran heard something different. He pointed to me and to the tent, urgently telling me to go. I didn’t know how a tent was going to protect me but I joined Lilliana anyway. She rolled over and sat up when she saw I was there.
“You going to sleep now?” she asked in her sleepy child-like voice.
I shook my head and told her to be quiet.
“I know there is someone there!” Tyran shouted. “You may as well show yourself!”
Lilliana and I both started to hear twigs cracking as someone was walking around. I couldn’t be sure if it was Tyran, but I didn’t think so because his shadow hadn’t moved very much at all.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake as though we were having a violent earthquake. I grabbed my bag and Lilliana grabbed Tyran’s just in case we had to make a run for it. Tyran anxiously yelled for us to run. I took Lilliana’s hand and flew out of the tent as fast as I could and went running down the embankment. Lilliana tripped along the way but tried her best to keep up with me. We hid behind a large boulder and I tried to see what was happening between the trees.
“It’s Jack. I know it is,” Lilliana said. “I told you he can create earthquakes. He can make the earth split open. If that happens, Tyran will be gone. We have to do something.”
“How do I stop him?”
“Kill him.”
Well, that is simple enough, I thought. I told Lilliana to stay where she was and I left my pack with her. I slowly crept back up the mountain where I could hear Tyran and Jack fighting. It didn’t sound like there was anyone else with them, but I wasn’t sure. The ground began to shake again and Tyran yelled.
There was a flash of orange light that blinded me from where I stood. The ground shook even more violently as I heard the earth cracking. The fire was all around where I knew they were. I felt the warmth of the flames as the fire began to spread.
“TYRAN!” I yelled desperately.
Someone grabbed me from behind, holding his hand over my mouth. He slammed me against the tree and my head instantly began to throb. I tried to fight the man off, but I was powerless against his strength.
“Shhhh,” he whispered. “Come with me.” He dragged my fighting body along with him. He was incredibly strong and so much bigger than I, that all my efforts were futile. I heard him take in a violent breath, and he yelled out in anguish.
He loosened his grip on me and I managed to get one hand free, but when I tried to get away, he held on even tighter to my other arm. I started hitting him with as much force as I could muster when he yelled out again, but I knew it wasn’t my punches that caused him to cry out. I literally had to jump so I could punch him in the face, but even that had no effect on him. I used my one free hand to reach into my back pocket, remembering I still had the mirror, and I sliced the arm that was holding me. He let go, yelling again and I heard a thud as he fell to the ground. Then I heard Lilliana yell as loud as she could as she brought a large knife down from above her and she shoved it right down to the handle, into his stomach. He curled into a fetal position as she removed the knife and stabbed him again in the side.
When Lilliana took the knife out the last time, she saw the man’s lifeless eyes staring off into space and realized what she had done. I took the knife from her trembling hands and told her to go back behind the boulder.
I could see the fire spreading, further separating me from Tyran but I was still determined to help somehow. I heard someone screaming in pain, but it wasn’t Tyran. The fire that he created didn’t hurt him at all and I realized that although I was only five feet from the massive flames, I only felt pleasant warmth. I hoped that he was able to protect me from the flames as I ran through them to where the two men stood.
Jack was on his hands and knees begging Tyran to stop as he was being burned alive. The smell of burning flesh was overwhelming and I couldn’t stop myself from vomiting. Tyran was standing as still as could be and his eyes were almost completely neon orange. I ran to the screaming man and slit his throat from ear to ear and the flames continued to close in around us.
Tyran was starting to sway back and forth as if he was going to pass out. His eyes were slowly returning to their normal color as I walked over to him. It looked like he was in a trance at first but once his eyes returned to normal he seemed to snap out of it. When I got to him, the flames were in a controlled fire and quickly shrinking further. I saw that he was holding his arms across his stomach and he had blood all over his arms. He refused to move his arms and just kept saying that he was cut across his abdomen.
I supported him as best I could while we walked through the dwindling fire to where I had left Lilliana. She was very confused and looked as though she may have passed out while I was helping Tyran.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“We all have to head to the palace,” Tyran said. “They must be attacking.”
“You can barely walk and Lilliana is petrified! I can’t support you both.”
“I’m okay,” Lilliana squeaked. “I’ll help.”
I took my heavier pack and Lilliana took Tyran’s pack again. I put Tyran’s free arm around me once again but he still refused to let go of his abdomen with the other, so Lilliana just walked close by just in case he decided he needed the extra support. I didn’t know how far we could go like this but we had to get as close to Tamporlea as possible. Then, I could just run to the palace to get a Healer to come help Tyran.
We left the bodies of the men who attacked us, but I made a mental note to have someone retrieve them when we made it back. Lilliana told us that the man she killed was her Guard. She had been close to him while living in Pyrencia and she couldn’t believe that she just killed him. I felt awful for Lilliana as I tried to think of what I would do if the situation was reversed. I don’t know that I could kill Tyran to save my sister; I don’t know how she found the strength within her to save me.
We could only walk for about an hour and a half before Tyran became too weak to keep going. I laid him against a tree and took what water we had left out of the pack. I had to clean his wound the best I could until we could get him to a Healer.
“Please Tyran, let me see your stomach,” I pleaded.
“It’s bad Jasmine, you’re going to puke.”
“No, I won’t, just let me see.”
“You vomited when you saw that guy burning to death,” he pointed out.
“That was the smell that made me puke. I’m okay with blood…well, not my own, but let me see.”
He reluctantly lifted his shirt and I could tell why he thought I would vomit at the sight. The cut was extremely deep and stretched out over half his abdomen. The muscle was swelling and protruding from the original wound. The blood was coming at a steady flow. I had him take off his shirt so that dirt and sweat on the fabric could no longer pose a threat of infection, though it could be too late for that. I used a clean shirt from my bag to carefully wash away the blood. Once it was cleaned inside and out the best I could manage, I took a pair of my socks, as well as
a pair of his that were still clean, and used them to pack the wound. To hold it all in, I cut up a pair of my jeans with the knife and tied them around his waist. He groaned loudly through the whole proc
ess but managed to suppress any real yelling.
“You need to rest,” I said as I washed my hands with the last of the water.
“We need to keep going.”
“Tyran, please, just for an hour.”
“How did you know how to pack his wound?” Lilliana asked.
“My dad taught me years ago. I told you he was a doctor right? Well, because I did so much hiking without him, he thought it was important that I take a few first aid courses and mom taught me more stuff as I got older. That way if my friends or I ever got hurt, I would know what to do until they could go to the emergency room.”
“Shhh!” Tyran whispered to us. My heart started pounding waiting for another attack. Lilliana, eyes wide with fright, started to shake. Tyran was ready to get up but he couldn’t manage to stand. I grabbed the knife I used to kill Jack and waited.
“Hello?!” I heard someone yell. “Queen Jasmine! It’s Guards Sebastian and Timothy and Healer Rebecca!”
Completely relieved, I dropped the knife and ran to the spot from where the voices were coming.
“Queen Jasmine! Are you okay your Highness? What happened?” Rebecca asked as she ran to my side. She was panicking at the sight of all of Tyran’s blood on me.
“I’m fine, it’s Tyran!” I said as the three of us ran. “Lilliana isn’t in good shape either. I think she’s in shock.”
“Lilliana?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, she’s with us,” I said not offering any other information. “How did you know where we were?”
“Cali brought us to the Queen’s Quarters and told us that we needed to head to the old camping spot and we would find you along the way. She said that you and Tyran were not in the palace and there was something terribly wrong. We didn’t even know you weren’t in the palace!” Sebastian said.
“And we need to keep it that way. I don’t want anyone else knowing.”
“Your hand,” Rebecca said as she took my hand in hers. “I’ll heal it while you take us to where Tyran and Lilliana are.” I turned my head as she quickly unwrapped my hand from the gauze and within about twenty seconds, it was as though nothing had happened to it. It felt good not to have it constantly throbbing.
“JASMINE!” Lilliana screamed. The three of us ran faster to where Lilliana was standing. “I don’t know what happened! He just collapsed!”
Rebecca ran over to Tyran who was lying at an awkward angle on the forest floor. She started to chant and was removing my makeshift bandage. I watched as his wound began to heal itself, the gash in his stomach slowly sealing itself. Orion was right when he told me that Healers were fascinating to watch.
“It’s going to take a few minutes for him to fully regain consciousness. Just stay by his side and I will take a look at Lilliana,” Rebecca said.
Tyran started to moan and his eyes began to flutter. “Tyran? How are you feeling?” I asked nervously.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Well, just rest. Rebecca, Timothy and Sebastian are here. Cali sent them.”
“How?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“We have to get going,” Tyran said in an urgent whisper. He tried to sit up but Timothy told him to just lie back down for a bit, as he still looked very pale.
Every minute that passed felt like hours and I was still very nervous about someone else finding out where we were. I didn’t need another attack, especially with Tyran not able to defend us. I knew that Sebastian and Timothy could help, but I had no idea how strong their powers were and I didn’t really want to find out.
“Jasmine,” Lilliana said, looking more alert. “I need to speak with you for a minute.”
“Not right now,” Tyran said. “We should really get going. If they found us, surely Pyrencia would be on their way to attack Tamporlea.”
“Are you sure you are well enough to go?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes, I will be fine.”
As we started toward Tamporlea again, we were moving as fast as we could. I reached in my back pocket to look in the mirror and see if that was how Cali knew to send help, but the
mirror was missing. I must have dropped it after I cut my attacker’s arm with it. I felt where my pager was, just to make sure it was still attached to my waist and luckily that hadn’t been dropped.
Lilliana was quiet again and I figured that Sebastian and Timothy made her nervous. I wondered what she wanted to say to me, but I figured it could wait until we got safely back to the palace. Timothy was walking behind her and I was sure he was expecting her to run.
Sebastian was walking closest to me and I knew that Cali had instructed him to make protecting me his priority. I really hadn’t had much interaction with Sebastian since arriving at Tamporlea. In my instructional meeting with Tyran, he told me that Sebastian was very powerful but painfully shy. He was almost six feet tall and had blonde hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be around Tyran’s age of twenty-two, maybe a little older.
“Sebastian, have our people returned with Queen Aella” I asked realizing that he probably should have been on that mission.
“Most have returned this afternoon. They met up with Pyrencia’s troops and there was an attack. Some of ours were injured and they are being healed. From what I understand, Pyrencia’s troops were hit harder and many of theirs were lost. We had to abandon the mission to bring our men back to be healed. We were pretty sure that Queen Aella was holding the more powerful of her troops closer to her palace. We couldn’t take the chance.”
“When you say most have returned…”
“Queen Jasmine, some have abandoned Tamporlea and are on their own now,” he said with his voice full of remorse.
“Who?”
“I can’t say for sure. Commoners mostly, I think. You know, the men who haven’t been married and who didn’t leave a family behind at the palace.”
Of course, the Commoners would be the first to leave, they had little reason to stay now. Cali told me that the Commoners were starting to feel like slaves; I would probably have left if I were in that position. I wondered who was hurt and if any of our people were killed. I was afraid of the answer, so I felt it better not to ask. I would wait until we got back to the palace to get the full details.
Lilliana stayed out of any conversations as she continued to follow us. Every time that I would try to get her to talk to us, she would just give one and two word answers. I figured she was trying not to trip over the branches since the flashlights were not illuminating the ground too brightly. I mostly spoke to Sebastian, who did not seem too shy with me. It could be that I am the Queen and he felt obligated to keep the conversation going, but either way, I enjoyed his company.
As the sun was rising, I could see the mountain of Tamporlea. It was a beautiful sight to see the pinkish-orange hues cast upon the kingdom. Somehow, after everything that we had all been through, we could appreciate the beauty before us. Even Lilliana was smiling as she watched the sun slowly rise over Tamporlea.
Our temporary serenity was interrupted by a loud rumbling, almost like thunder but it didn’t stop and the sky was still clear. I noticed Sebastian looked nervous, but he didn’t say anything.
“I think they’re attacking,” Tyran said.
We all started moving faster toward the palace. I noticed Tyran’s color had finally returned to his face, but he had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for months. I knew that anyone who uses their powers would become weak if they were used for too long. I wondered just how weak he was and why Rebecca couldn’t fully heal him.
When we were close enough to see the entrance to the palace, the rumbling grew louder and we could see Pyrencia’s troops running toward us. Tyran ran ahead and less than a minute later, there was a fire all around the palace and the troops turned to attack us instead. Rebecca grabbed Lilliana and me, and we ran through the fire that we knew wouldn’t affect us and made it to the palace door. We ran inside where Cali greeted us with frightened eyes.
/> Chapter 4
Peace
“Oh, my God, what is going on out there?” Cali asked.
“I don’t know, they just started attacking. Sebastian, Timothy and Tyran are still out there,” I said.
“Jasmine, we need to get upstairs. What do you want to do with Lilliana? She can’t go in the platinum room, the rest of the palace doesn’t even know you left.”
“Alright, Rebecca, take Lilliana with you to one of the gold rooms and I will meet you there as soon as I can.”
“Uh, I don’t know about that,” Rebecca said. “I know she didn’t hurt you, but there’s nothing I can do if she attacks me.”
“She’s not going to. Here,” I handed her the knife I still had in my bag. “If she does anything you have my permission to kill her.”
“What?” Lilliana asked.
“I know you’re not going to do anything, but I need Rebecca to feel more comfortable about sitting with you.”
“Thank you,” Rebecca said as she led Lilliana to the gold room.
“Cali, I want you to find Kelly and tell her in secret to put Enchantments on the gold room just in case. Find Mykel and have him relieve Rebecca from guard duty. Then come to meet me in my room.”
When Cali left me at the bottom of the incline, I considered going back outside to see what was happening, but I figured that would probably just cause more trouble. I took my bag to my room and waited on the couch for Cali to meet me. I wanted to know what had happened in the palace while I was gone.
There was a frantic knock on my door and I opened it expecting to see Cali, but it was Sebastian looking very distressed.
“Sebastian, what is it?”
“They’ve retreated, but I don’t know for how long. Tyran’s hurt, he’s in the hospital wing with one of the Healers. I tried to find Rebecca but she’s nowhere to be found.”
“She’s in one of the gold room. Go tell her to get to the hospital wing. Go with her and see if Rebecca can do anything to help Tyran.”
“Yes Your Highness,” he said before leaving.
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