Keditha's Beloved

Chapter Thirteen

I stiffen, desperately wanting to get away. I was too gullible, wasn't I? I had forgiven Philips, even allowed him to regain my trust and look where it got me.

"You're nothing but a stuck-up selfish princess. You need someone to control you." Philip snaps.

I struggle against his grip. "No I don't." I say, kneeing him. He stumbles back, cussing at me. I take this as my chance and dart towards the door.

Philip wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me back. I try to scream but he slaps his hand over my mouth. "You shouldn't have done that." He mutters.

I continue to struggle but Philip just sighs. He shoves me to the ground, pining me down. One hand held both of my wrists, the other covered my mouth. "We're going to go back out there and you're going to act like a respectable princess. Seen and not heard, are we clear?" He questions.

I nod as tears blurred my vision. A slow smile crosses Philip's face as he glares down at me. "Good." He stands up while also pulling me to my feet.

"What d-do you want fr-from me?" I choke out.

Philip looks me up and down, moving closer. "Nothing, I just want you." He reached for me and I flinched away from his touch. He shoves a handkerchief in my face, releasing my hands. "Now wipe your tears, I don't want anyone to know you were crying."

I hesitantly take it from his hand. More tears fall as I try to wipe them away so it was useless.

"What do you say?" Philip asks me.

"I- what?" I look up at him puzzled.

Philip grabs my neck and shoves me back. "What. Do. You. Say?" He yells.

"Th-thank you." I gasp.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice asks. Julian stood at the entrance, glaring at Philip. "Release her."

Philip releases me, pushing me back. I trip and fall to the ground. "This doesn't concern you Julian."

"You're abusing a lady, I would say it does." Julian replies bitterly.

Philip laughs, shaking his head. "I wouldn't call her a lady." He sneers. I squirm when he glances at me with unsettling look.

Julian doesn't give me one glance but continues staring at Philip. "Listen Philip, we can settle this like adults."

Philip smirks, almost laughing. "You just want to take Athena away from me. I won't let that happen."

"So you're just going to imprison her?" Julian raises an eyebrow. He didn't seem to be processing this quite well.

"If that's what it takes. I know how you feel about her, I can see it." Philip gives Julian a disgusted look.

"What? I-I don't know what you're talking about." Julian says.

I pull myself to my feet, glancing between the two men. Very carefully, I step away from Philip.

"Oh, no you don't." Philip snaps, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back.

"No! Leave me alone." I yell.

"Be honest! Tell me how you feel!" Philip yells at Julian.

Julian remains still and seemingly calm. "I'm not going to. There's nothing to say. Athena and I are just friends." He finally looks at me, giving me a nod. Hopefully that meant he'll get us out of here soon.

Philip only seemed to get angrier. "Tell me now!" Philip grabs my neck, slamming me against the wall. "Or I'll kill her." He says, tightening his grip.

Julian frantically glances between me and Philip until he snapped. "Fine! I love her!" He yells.

The room turns deadly silent, even Philip didn't say anything or seemed to get more upset. Instead he looked...calm?

Philip sighs deeply. "You should've just said so." He smiles, looking at Julian. Then his grip starts tightening, until I couldn't breathe at all.

Julian's eyes widening. "No! Let her go!" He yells. He grabs Philip's arm, trying to shove him. But his grip doesn't loosen up.

My vision starts to blur as my head get light and dizzy. This was my only chance or I'll die. Using all my strength, I kick Philip as hard as I can in the shin.

He jumps back, releasing me and shouting in pain. I gasp for air, coughing violently.

"I'll kill the both of you!" Philip shoves Julian back, reaching for me again. Julian grabs his arm and punches him right in the face. Blood splatters everywhere, even on me. Philip hits the floor like a rock, unconscious.

I stare at Philip, trying to process everything that happened and tears started to fall.

"Athi..." Julian barely touches my arm.

I shove him back, moving towards the door. "Don't touch me! I-I just want to be alone. Please just leave me alone!" I pick up my skirt and rush out of the room, not stopping until I reach my room.

Emilie was sitting on my bed, reading a book. She waits a couple seconds before looking up at me.

"Athena, it's early, what are you doing here?" Emilie asks. She looks at my dress and her eyes widen. "Athena, who's blood is that?"

I wipe tears that were falling done my face. "I don't want to talk about. I just want to go to bed."

Emilie slowly places down the book she was reading, watching me carefully. "Okay, why don't you change out of that while I get your nightgown."

I go to change out of my ball gown and into the nightgown once Emilie brought it to me. Then I go to sit on my bed.

"Athena, you're scaring me. What happened? I've never seen you this upset." Emilie sits next to me, placing a arm around my shoulders.

I burst into tears again. "I just, I feel so stupid!"

I could feel Emilie's watching me extremely carefully, but she remained silent as if she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry Emilie, I don't think I can talk about now. I have a headache and I'm really tired." I say.

Emilie nods. "Of course, you get your beauty sleep. We'll talk in the morning If you're feeling better."

I hiccup. "Thank you, good night Emilie."

Emilie goes around the room, extinguishing the candles until it was fully dark. "Good night, Athena."

She leaves the room and I crawl under the covers so that they were completely covering my head and slowly but surely fall asleep.

Late at night, the was a loud knocking at my door. Sighing out of frustration, I rip the sheets off of me and go to answer my door.

"Julian!" I gasp. Julian was slumped against the wall. He was holding his side and had a bloody nose and cheek.

He laughs slightly, instantly regretting it by groaning in pain. "So long story..." He mutters.