The Immortal Guardians: V

Chapter Four

Dr. Nan and Thomas stitched up the wound on my side stopping the bleeding. There was an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this." I had no reason why I was apologizing to him. Dr. Nan shook his head at me. We were hiding in a barn that had been miles away from the graveyard.

"I've got a duty to protect you." Dr. Nan answered, finally meeting my eyes. "Iris you are my great-niece. I am going to make sure you get your throne."

"That throne is more trouble than it is worth." I answered rubbing my neck. There was a small nick for some reason I had expected a bigger wound.

"That throne and everything that comes with it is yours." Dr. Nan snapped at me. "Don't tell me you want to quit?"

I didn't answer.

"I never mistook you as a quitter, Iris." He cleaned up the wound on my side. Everybody was staring at us. "Do you want Andrea, Elizabeth or Anika in your throne. Those women each had something to do with the murder of your parents....of your family." I wasn't looking at him. "My sister died protecting that throne and you'd better protect that throne Iris. I will not have my families memory disappear in vain.

"What for?" I kept my eyes on the lump of straw next to me. "Are we even positive I'm their kid? It could have been a misunderstanding and Ian was really their kid. How do I know that I don't have some other charm protecting the existence of their kid? I am fighting a battle that might not even be mine."

"Iris everything points to you." Thomas calmly told me. He was sitting next to me. "What more evidence do you want? Byron took the sword from Brielle's grave. Ian died protecting you- we felt his death. Andrea sees you as her threat."

"Anybody that is in the Immortal throne is a threat to her." I answered. I couldn't look at anybody. "I don't' know if I want this." I told them all. They had to know where I stood. "For what? For more deaths? For the glory of a throne? I didn't want that kind of glory or that title."

"You'll make a great Queen, Iris." Taron spoke up from the other side of the barn. My head snapped in his direction. His eyes were on me. "It is in your blood."

"My blood?" I scoffed. "Because look at who I came from. That woman who is supposed to be my grandmother is trying to kill me."

"She's just crazy." Ezra mumbled not too far from me. He was laying in a pile of hay. "She should be protecting you. Her time came and went."

"She isn't willing to let it go." Thomas answered with a sigh. "Taron is right. You'll make a great Queen. Besides you have us to help you. We aren't leaving you alone in this."

"I don't want to be Queen. I was raised as a Guardian." I protested. Now wasn't the time to whine and complain.

"So?" Ezra snapped at me. "A Guardian Queen. There is nothing wrong with that."

"I'm not meant to rule the Immortals. I can't do it." I sighed heavily shaking my head. "How many are you going to die for me to take it? You take it. you are oldest."

"It isn't mine." Ezra stared disbelievingly back at me. "It is yours. So get it together because we have a throne to take back. Your throne. You are Queen." I shook my head. It was finally hitting me. It was all finally hitting me.

"Do you know why I left my throne?" Taron was staring out the barn door. He glanced at me. "Because I wasn't cut out for it. Sitting there was overwhelming enough while my sister was able to make decisions quickly. She knew what was right and what was wrong. I didn't. I couldn't see the benefit of becoming neutral while she understood it would help our people. You make decisions thinking of others. When Byron and Henri was taken- I would have let them die if I had been you. Your Guardians were taken and you immediately took charge. I see them as dispensable and you don't. That makes a difference between someone who is meant to be in the throne and someone who wants it. I wanted it and I did whatever I had to- I would have let you die if it meant getting my throne."