Living in a Fairytale (Completed)

chapter 26

Eight hundred marched ahead, only a hundred came back, and only thirty is to survive. The mist raised when we entered the boarder. Immediately, I climbed off my horse and twisted the LaTiaar, a bow coming to life. The mist hung thick in these parts, making it difficult to see our surroundings. As I ran a knife through my wrist, I heard grunts and gasps from the soldiers that surrounded me, those who stayed behind to watch me kill these motherfuckers.

Blood trickled down my skin and I didn't need to concentrate, hate was enough. Arrow after arrow, soldiers fell from their mounts. Some tried to outrun my blood arrows, but it was futile. It pierced through mail and iron all alike, killing its target the second it digs through its flesh.

I was panting when it was done, I looked back to those who remained and said, "Burn their bodies. I want all traces of them gone. They never reached the boarder. What happened in El Suelo will stay in El Suelo. The queen will hear none of this."

They nodded, falling into a deep bow. Some are wounded, but I knew it was not a fatal one. They'll survive after a visit of a curadora. These are the only ones that I can trust. The ones that belongs to me. The ones whose loyalty resides with me, their capitana, and not the queen. The ones that I can use, without fear that they might stab me in my sleep. And there are so little of them.

We walked for the rest of the trail, the smell of burning bodies and smoke hidden in the mist. A handmaiden greeted our arrival, kissing Vahar without any trace of shame. I looked away, the scene reminding me of a stranger's memory etched on my own. The other soldiers whooped in rejoice, teasing the crossed lovers. I chuckled at the sight. The handmaiden whispered something in Vahar's ear and he became still as stone. His eyes met mine and I knew it was not a good tiding to hear.

"Mi princesa, Prince Aiken's mortal is in grave danger. The queen wants her dead."

My face went cold and suddenly I was running across the field, up the stairs, down the hallways, using the shortcut into the mortal's bedchamber. Where I found the queen on her knees, crying silently. Aiken's mortal was not there, only two royal guards that blocked my path. I unsheathed my sword, swinging it in a deadly arch, cutting through steel and flesh with much ease. Golden rose blood pooled the floor and it was only then that the queen raised her head to meet my gaze.

"Are you going to kill me now? Do it, girl. And do it fast. I never expected your kind to understand." She spat furiously. I would have done it. I would have ran my sword through her flesh, right then and there.

But Niña's words came rushing up my mind, echoing through my ears. "She have formed an unbreakable connection between us, the king, herself, and this very kingdom. What would happen if she fails or dies along the way? The kingdom falls, along with its people." I thought about the memories that I have made in this kingdom. The friends that I have met. The home that I have found.

I couldn't do it.

I cannot do it.

"I will kill you. I promise you that. The moment your cold blue eyes closes for death, it will be mine that stares back at your corpse. And I will feel no remorse for you."

I left her in the coldness of that bedchamber, my steps echoing through the silence of the hallways. There was a splat, and then another splat. I frowned and looked down, droplets of blood have trailed my way. Scarlet red blood. I cursed when I saw the cut opening from my wrist, from the wound that I have made earlier. I must've lost control, I realized.

Taking a deep breath, I wailed the blood to stop, closing the wound in a faint flash of white light. I breathed out a deep sigh, fatigue settling in. I continued my walk with a numb throb all over my body, pain piercing through my veins.

I stopped on my tracks when I saw the man that stood right in front of me. He still has his armor on, a small gash on his cheek, and his hair is matted with sweat. I wanted to reach out and heal his wound, to run my fingers through his hair and loose myself in his embrace. But he was staring at me as if he never knew me at all. As if weeks of silence was enough to erase every trace of me in his system.

"Been a while" I say in the most casual tone that I could muster. It was as if we were old friends meeting for the first time in a very long time. As if we never saw each other in the middle of the battle earlier.

His eyes wandered through my entire being and lingered over my shoulder. And then he said, "You must be overjoyed. El Suelo is in ruins, a royalty is fighting for her life, my sister is in a deep sorrow. Keep it up and you may see the end of human race here in L a Belleza El Tierra." The voice that he bore was of a stranger. His eyes menacing and filled with distrust. Someone I never knew.

"I never wanted this." That was all that I could say in my defense.

He lets out a deep chuckle, finding the softness of my voice as a jape. "What would you have it? Everyone dead? For the sake of vengeance? When will you stop, Adelaide? Do you even realize the pain that you're inflicting to those that surround you?"

I sighed. My voice came low when I spoke, "Why are you making this about me? I said, I never wanted this. Your queen mother-"

"I know exactly what my mother wanted. It is the same with what you also desire." He snapped.

I raised both hands in exasperation, my eyes stinging with a promise of tears. "Finally, the truth. This is what you see in me. You have painted me as a monster, in that vile mind of yours. Sa tingin mo ba madali saakin ito? I was left here alone, Kai. Niña didn't come back, Aiken was also in El Suelo, Night was in a distress, and all I ever had from you was silence. You left me here, in this fucking wretched kingdom, alone. What was I supposed to do when your mother ordered me to lead the assault? Say my gratitude, my thanks because she let me stay here and gave me a place in her court and then say 'no' because it feels wrong and unjust? What do you know of what I've been going through? What do I know of mercy when all my life it was taken away from me?"

I was panting by the time I finished talking. The pain was crawling up to my chest, its sharp talons ripping the very flesh of my heart. His face softened, his shoulders slumping in a tiredness.

He lets out a heavy sigh, his voice laced with pain and gentleness. "I knew that you would never fight alongside mortals. Your hate for their kind runs deep within you. I couldn't force you into something that you do not want."

I nodded, an effort to mask the pain reflecting in my eyes. "You forced me into this betrothal. Do me a favor and plead your queen mother that I want out of this arrangement. I never want to see your face ever again." I pushed past him and ran down the steps, my heart heavy with pain.