Royal Flower

Chapter Nineteen

Zane breathed heavily, staring at Acacia's unconscious form. Her pale yellow dress had dirt and leaves plastered on its skirt. Her face looked a little sweaty from exhaustion, and the tiara on her head was tilted in a lopsided angle. Zane tightened the hold on his dagger.

How is Princess Acacia here, alone? Zane thought to himself. He then shook his head. Wait, no, that doesn't matter! What matters is that I end her, just like Father said.

As Zane stepped closer to her, his heart felt more and more heavy. His brown eyes darted around in a restless manner, looking at Acacia more closely.

She's a little girl for goodness sake! Why do people expect me to kill her? There's no way a girl like this could be dangerous, right? I mean, if she isn't dangerous there's no reason for me to kill her.

"If you don't kill them, then they'll kill you." His father's voice rang in his head once more.

Before Zane could decide what to do, Acacia's body started to glow. Zane immediately jumped back in surprise. "Whoa," he said, mouth agape. The yellow light then dissipated for a moment, but then it enveloped Acacia's body again.

Zane lowered his dagger as he watched the light from Acacia fade brighter and dimmer.

Light, Zane mouthed. All the other Red Phoenix members had always wondered which element Acacia possessed. They had expected her to possess ice like Lily or earth like Ivy. Whatever they were expecting they all thought it would be something destructive. He scoffed to himself, relieved. I was right. She can't be dangerous. Light shouldn't be destructive.

He sheathed his dagger and went to lean Acacia against a tree. Zane pursed his lips and pushed some stray hair away from Acacia's eyes. His eyes then went to the tiara, and he found himself pushing it back into place.

Zane then went to sit against the tree nearby. He sighed. Father will be so mad when he finds out; Reese too. He then frowned. You know what, if they want to kill Acacia, then they can do it themselves. I can make my own choices.

His attention was drawn back to Acacia, who was still glowing and dimming. I guess I should wait until she wakes up, then.

--

"Sir Thierry has returned! Open the gates!" a guard from the watchtower commanded. The palace gates opened slowly.

"You! Take Lady Marguerite to the Court Physician. Hurry!" Thierry handed Marguerite over to one of the palace guards outside. The guard immediately nodded, carrying Marguerite bridal style and hurrying away towards the physician quarters next door.

"Thierry!" someone called from the entrance doors. Thierry snapped his head around to see Rose running toward the palace gates, Lily following just behind her.

"Rose, Lily!" Thierry responded just as they closed the distance between each other.

"You returned on foot? What happened to the carriage?" Lily asked, looking around.

Crow happened, Thierry thought bitterly.

"Where's Acacia?" Rose asked, worried.

Thierry's eyes widened. "She's not here?"

"Isn't she with you?" Rose demanded.

"No! Crow attacked the carriage. I fought Crow off while the Lady Marguerite and Acacia ran back to the castle," Thierry started to explain.

It was Rose's turn to be surprised. "Crow attacked the carriage?"

"I found Lady Marguerite, but Acacia was nowhere to be found. I thought she made it back to the castle," Thierry finished.