Floravera; Where dreams become reality.

🔜 Chapter Ten 🔚

By Arabella:
[December 5th]

"Being stabbed in the back does not hurt. It's when you figure out who was holding the dagger is what really hurts." - Rocklynn Valente

I taste blood, irony blood. I release Liam's lip, and lean back. I bit into it when Arnold was banging on the door. "I'm sorry."

He licked the blood off of his lip. "It's okay." I cringe at the blood. I feel awful. He brushes some hair away from my face. "I promise."

Arnold bangs even harder. "Arabella I can hear you in there! You are needed out here immediately, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK." Arnold said, oh shit. Both mine and Liam's eyes widen. We scramble out of bed, and throw on some clothes, all I can find is a black robe. It's kind of see through but who cares.

I make sure Liam is decent before I open the door, he threw on his clothes. I didn't have that option, I would rather go naked than be forced to wear that dress again. I throw open the door. "What's going on?"

His voice is shaken. "Someone attacked the tree. Multiple dragons are down, guardsmen too. I don't know how many" his eyes flicker to Liam. A look of confusion and concern on his face.

"Let's go see then." I walk past him to the stairs.

"Your majesty that is not wise. We need to get you somewhere safe, incase they attack here too." He urges me.

I stop at the stairs and turn to him. "Im not going to hide while someone hunts me. I'm going to the tree, and going to find out what happened, and then hunt them back."

As I say that Liam walks out of my room. He must of heard the entire conversation. "Very well I'll ready the carriage." Arnold says, an angry look on his face. He walks past me and down the stairs.

Liam walks up to me. "You're actually gonna go investigate instead of playing it safe?" He tilts his head at me, eyebrows raised.

Sometimes people forget, or just don't know that I was not raised a quitter, nor a coward. I was raised to rule, and I will not do it by hiding. "You can either set there like a moron or join me. You don't get to ask questions." I say then walk down the stairs.

He follows behind me. "I will join you i suppose. Sitting there like a moron sounds boring." He chuckles at his own joke.

We arrive downstairs, Arnold stands there with the guardsmen as a carriage is brought outside. "The carriage is ready." His eyes move to Liam, "will he be joining the ride like he did your bedroom?"

My eyes widen. It's pretty obvious from the way we're dressed, and hair is a mess that we did some stuff. But damn I didn't need everyone to know their suspicions were true. "Yes he will, why did you want a turn?" I retort back.

His eyes squint at me, then waves a hand for me to leave. "I will when you get back." He then leaves. Well... he might have won that war. I walk outside the cold air hitting me like an ice bath.

The guards open the door for me, I climb inside the carriage, Liam follows. He puts his jacket on me again. "No you might need it to stay warm." He keeps it on me anyway.

"You're wearing less layers than I am. Plus I think Arnold might warm me up when I get back." He chuckles. I roll my eyes.

"Good luck with that. I've heard the stories of what he's done to his exes." His eyes widen.

"Do I even wanna know?" I shake my head. Not even I want to know them.

After a few minutes we arrive then tree. I jump out of the carriage. My feet hit the cold ground. Shit. I forgot to wear shoes. I have no bra, no underwear, no shoes. My hair is a mess, and all I have is my see through robe. Liam jumps out behind me, he has shoes on, as well as pants, a long sleeved shirt, probably boxers, and his belt is even on. Meanwhile I had to take his jacket. Unfair.

"You shouldn't be here!" A guard says to me to my right. The emblem on his shirt gave him away. That is my head guard Charles.

"I will be where I want, now give me the details soldier." I command him. Charles has been my guard since I was baby. He worked his way up from my personal guard to head guard. So like Arnold he's always trying to boss me around.

He nodded then said "2 dragons are severely injured. 7 guardsmen are dead. 3 guards are injured. Ones neck was dislocated from the body."

"7!? How. Why.. WHO?" I question feeling a surge of emotions. The most definitive one was rage.

"We don't know who, just yet." Yet...

"Let me see." He stepped aside as I walked further into the forest. "Everybody else stays." I need to be alone while I investigate.

I walk up to the tree, the dead bodies around it. The dragons are gone to a medic. I grab my ring, and turn it into a staff. Then hold it to the tree. "Let the life tree show me what happened tonight!" I shout.

I feel a shiver as the air gets colder. I hear footsteps behind me, I turn around, and there behold. A man stood before me with a sword in his hand.