Broken Sword (A King's Cage Fanfiction )

Chapter 7

" We meet again dear brother , ha?"
Moonlight shining above us.
Maven's crown shines under it.

***
"Don't. Dare. Calling. Me .BROTHER." Cal says through gritted teeth, anger flooding from him with every single word .

Maven laughs coldly ,standing one feet away, keeping his distance.
His blue eyes find mine and I tremble remembering all those tortures and nightmares. His eyes move to my neck and I fear I might shatter under his gaze.
"Oh. I see." He says noting the gone collar,"Tell me Mare. Did dear Jullian told you how he worked out the mysterious collar?" He points out smugly," or did you stupidly presume he knows everything?!"
Silence
"Oh... I see..." he says watching my confused face with amusement, " He didn't tell you he built the technology of it for me ,did he? Well he was very helpful you know... having watched your lightening so close and well...." he smiles ,"knew how to shut it down as well."
Jullian was his prisoner .
Jullian ... he never said anything.
Anyone can betray anyone.
He thought me that himself.
It wasn't Jullian's fault. Of course he did it under torture but it hurts. I'm sure he would have told me... he should have warned me...but
He could have at least told me.
"That's a lie."Cal snaps at him," and completely irrelevant. "
"Well. You're right. Let's not talk about people whose seconds are counted... Let's talk about this.... why the hell would you even dare show your face ?!" Maven asks bitterly.
And with that , his soldiers emerge form the shadows. I see familiar faces and it scares me.
I told him. He shouldn't have came.
To my surprise, Cal coolly stares at his brother.

Cal chuckles, " Tell your minions to chill, Mavey. I don't need anything but my bare hands to strangle you."
They stare at each other and I feel myself sweat. Not sure if it's because of being worried and scared.
" You destroyed everything Maven. Why?"Cal asks quietly, sadness in his voice.
"I destroyed YOU. I GOT everything that I wanted. Do you think this is supposed to make me feel bad?! It would have been the same as always , YOU controling everything ,controlling ME." He glances back at his soldiers noticing he's gone too far,"Which of course doesn't matter. YOU killed OUR father . The King." He adds for their sake.
"I.... DID. NOT." He roars and I know he will burn everything to ashes in seconds but...
He knows it's not going to work.
Maven reluctantly takes his gaze back to me , "You did your job well. Now step aside and let me handle this traitor. "He orders me ,holding his chin up.
I don't move.
"Didn't you hear me?!"he snapps.
I gulp, but I hold my ground,"No."I reply boldly.
"No?"Maven sneers,"Have you forgotten everything I've thought you already? "He coos.
"No."I tell him,"I haven't forgotten the pain. The torture. " I try to sound brave. I try to believe I can beat him. To be myself again.
But he sees through me. His cold smile making it crystal clear that he sees the broken girl who dropped on her knees in me.
He takes a step forward,"Oh. And I hope you remember what I do to the stupid puppies who forget their owner ."

"You remember who owns you?"
You don't own me ,Maven,I want to tell him.
But as feeling this pain becomes unbearable,I tell him the answer he wants . Maybe he stops the pain.
"You"I say.

I can't stay on my knees. I need to fight .For Cal. For my friends. And myself.

"I...I..." I stop my knees from trembling ,"I will fight ,Maven. You can't break me. Again."

I don't even know how I dared say that.

Maven doesn't look bothered or even shocked at that. "I was hoping your foolishness wasn't that much. " with that Ptolemus steps forward. His face as repulsive as ever. His Shadow legion pin glowing in the dark and like last time,he pushes Gisa down on her knees in front of me.
"Gissa?" I drop on my feet to hold her. Her hair is messy. Her dress torn and bloody and her face... her beautiful happy face now tear-stained.
I hug her,burying her in my shoulder. Tears pool my eyes.

"Okkay. Now. You're standing alone at last."Maven concludes looking at Cal,"Kneel and you shall not die."He orders, "Right now that is."he sneers.

I don't need to turn back to know what Cal's response would be.

"Stand up slowly. When I tell you. RUN." I whisper in Gisa's ear.
She barely nods.
We both stand up slowly, I turn back to face Cal,hoping I see some hope,some plan in there.
Well. You could have guessed. There's just anger.
And a furious Cal is not a wise one.

"NOW!" He shouts, reading my mind.
We both blast a wave of our powers. First circle of soldiers are forced to back off,hit with fire and lightening.

And we RUN!
Gisa starts off in front of us, given we have to turn back every second to hold the shield of lightening and fire. I thought I could hang on like this , but being on a leash which didn't let me use my lightening for a few month and no training at all , I know I will tire soon.
Very soon but fortunately we're ahead of them , since we gave them a blast they had to recover from first.
He will catch us. A voice reminds.
Stop thinking about him! I scold myself.

What I didn't see and could have expected if I weren't so stupid was that Gisa is actually the problem. She is breathing hardly and I know she can't do it anymore.
"Please. I ca....I can't. "She stopps ,falling down breathlessly." I .... I'm sorry. "
She's been through all this.
And yet she says she's sorry.
"Gisa, come on! We need to go!" I try to force her to stand and she barely makes it even with my help. I'm even afraid her bones just break , she has lost a lot of weight.
"I only slow you down! You can make it! Just..."She glances back at the direction of the fire wall Cal is trying his best to hold. Her expression changes to fear, reminiscing the tortures she have endured ,"I can't stand it anymore ." He looks at the shackles around her wrists." You can't let him take me please NO..."She begs.
If Maven broke me that way ,I fear to think what he did to her. I want to just free her from all this, take her somewhere safe. I wish I could.
"Gisa come on!" I shout at her ,pulling her with me,"Of course I'm not gonna leave you!"
"CAL let's go." I tell him and he starts running again.
But Gisa falls down again," You need to kill me." She tells me.
What?!

"Kill me! You should keep going! Please Mare for our family, for your people! They need you! " She begs. Tears run down her cheeks but she calmly looks at me. As if she has finally found the answer.
I look at Cal and see the same look of pain in his eyes,"Shut up Gisa. Let's go!" I force her up again,helping her run.
"Cal. Please. "She turns to Cal instead as I push her forward," This is my choice ,Just end this misery. Please..."She crys out.
He looks at me instead, begging me to come to his rescue,"We will survive. Stop nagging! We need to...."
She turns back and looks at me,and I know her feet can't take her. But she must. She can. I look at how fragile she is. My little sister. I will protect her... I wi-
"I love you. "She tells me.
Before I know it, she takes out the gun from its place at my waist .
"Noo!"I jump forward to take it back but she slowly puts the gun point against her temple.
"Don't be afraid. You can free them ,Mare." She smiles and then
Her shaky fingers pull the trigger.
The earth explodes. I feel like I'm drowning. In tears . In this world's cruelty. I fall down screaming her name. The world seems to darken. It's not real. It can't be.
Her lifeless body drops cold ,
She will never smile at me again.

_______________________
😭😭😢😢 R.I.P Gisa Borrow.
I'm sorry everyone. So. So. Sorry.

She had to go. Maven's last leash on Mare had to go.
So do you wanna kill me ?😔