mikrokosmos

58: MAKES TIES AMEND

LYRA JADE

She made it to the castle.

Castle Almerry was in a ruin when she arrived. Almost half of the castle was destroyed but she noticed that the Prince's room was still intact.

Running in the hallway of the second floor, she found Emma passing her by. "Emma!" she called.

The maid turned to her in surprise before she stopped running, her eyes wide. "Why are you here?"

Jade furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm here for the prince. Is he in his room?"

"You shouldn't be here!" Emma exclaimed, horror in her face.

"What?" she asked. "Where's your mother? Is she safe?"

Emma didn't answer. Instead, she ran towards the Prince's room, knife in her hold.

"Emma!" Jade yelled after her, noticing the knife. She wanted to use her powers on her but she feared that she might make the same mistake as she did with Princess Ira. And so, she ran after her, confused why Theodore's friend is running with a knife.

Jade pulled Emma's arm once they reached the Prince's room. "What are-" She stopped questioning her when she heard Iris' cry.

"King Theodore..." Emma said. "He is dead."

"What happened, Queen Iris?" asked Jade but when she looked around, she saw two more people inside - Prince Theodore still lying on his bed, and an old woman dead near the foot of the bed. "Is Theodore...?"

Iris sniffed. "He could not move but he is aware of his surroundings."

"What happened?" Emma probed, wanting to take a step forward but Jade stopped her by tightening her grip around her arm.

"Let go of the knife first, Emma," Jade pointed out. "Give me the knife." Emma glared at her. "Why are you holding a knife? Are you planning to kill the Prince?"

Emma's eyes glistened after Jade's question. "I... I was about to do it when Lady Leira arrived." She looked at the dead woman. "The King must have killed her as well." Then she looked back at her, tears falling but her eyes were filled with anger. "You! You killed Ira!" She took her knife from her other hand and attacked Jade.

In response, Jade's focus went to Emma's arm, stopping the girl from killing her. Raising her other hand, she made a huge gesture to her left, the knife following her movement. Jade watched as the knife flew to the other side of the room. "I didn't mean to kill her."

"You and the Prince! You deserve to die!" Emma cried, now falling down on her knees after Jade stopped using her power on her. "You two did not even save my sister!"

Sister? "I'm sorry," Jade's voice cracked. "I'm sorry I lost my control."

"You Nobles always say that!" Emma retorted. "You have powers yet lose control over them. You always use them for your own benefit and not think of its consequences!"

"Emma, I... I'm really s-"

"You and Theodore. He could have killed you when he had the chance. If he just did that in the first place, Ira would not have to be killed by you... she..."

Jade's tears fell, the guilt of accidentally killing Ira coming back to her. She tore her gaze away from Emma then looked at the Prince. From the balcony near the bed, Jade caught a glimpse of a creature coming their way.

"V!" She pushed Emma to the side, making sure not to activate her power by focusing her attention to the Prince. Before the huge dragon hit its tail to where they were, she managed to grab Theodore to the ground and covered him from the debris.