Raven

Chapter 25

I can't tell if it was later that day or the next when that door swings open again. This time I do look up from where I sit, curled up at the back of the cell and see Thorn. What is he doing back here? I voice my question to him but let the words come out harshly.

'Here,' he crouches down before me, extending a hand. 'Come with me.'

I raise an eyebrow and glance over to the guards at the door, only to see them sprawled across the floor unconsciously. I look back to Thorn. 'What is this?' I ask him.

'Exactly what it looks like,' he replies. 'A rescue mission.' He reaches his hand towards me further.

I fold my arms over my chest. 'It looks like a trick to me,' I stare at his hand in disgust. 'I'm not falling for it, you've already made a fool of me once.'

Thorn sighs but leaves his hand hanging in front of me still. 'What have you got to lose by taking my hand and letting me get you out of here?' He asks.

I turn my head away to study the cell wall on the other side of the room, even though I've done it countless times already. He's right, I have nothing to lose. If this is a trick, I suppose I'll just end up back in here. But if this isn't, then Thorn is risking his life which isn't something people just do. I face him again and take his hand. He stands, pulling me up with him and leads me out of my cell. As soon as I pass through that doorway, my head clears and I feel powerful again. I can feel my magic coursing through me again, humming at my fingertips and begging to be let out. I don't let it, I need to get myself away first.

We walk through a series of passageways and I get lost almost immediately. We stick to the shadows and whenever someone passes by, we press our bodies up against the wall and hold our breaths. I swear that whoever it is that walks by can hear my heart hammering in my chest but not one of them ever notices us. Just before we turn another corner, a guard comes racing around it. His eyes widen as he sees us but just before he can call out, notifying others of our presence, I use my magic to freeze him in place. I walk past Thorn, who stares in amazement at the now perfectly still man.

'Hey, hero,' I stop, calling to him quietly. Thorn looks up at me at last. 'You coming?' He nods and I let him take the lead once more as I have no idea where I am. I glance back at the guard I used my magic on and hope that no one will see him until we're long gone. My hope is short-lived, for a servant sees a minute later. I hear her exclamation and send Thorn a worried look. We're out of sight but now they know I've escaped, his mother's men will be sent after us.

'They went that way!' Someone calls.

Without glancing back, I break into a run along with Thorn. We race though more passageways and find ourselves in the main part of the castle, not at all caring who sees us now because they're already after us. Servants duck out of our way with fearful looks in their eyes. I don't question it, I'm too focused on my escape. Suddenly a group of men appear at the end of the hall we're currently running through. We skid to a halt and glance at each other.

'You can fly, right?' Thorn asks. When I nod, a little confused, he points to a window and I see his plan. He wants us to jump out of the window and is trusting me to fly us to safety. I'm not sure if I can carry him but I'll try. We dash to the window and I let my magic shatter it seconds before we reach it. I grab Thorn's hand as we jump, launching ourselves out of the castle. Immediately, my wings begin to flap as hard as they can. I take Thorn's other hand as he dangles in the air, relying on me to keep us both alive. I can feel my wings beginning to fail and we drop a little closer to the ground. I can't hold us up here forever, we need to get away.

'You can do this Raven,' he assures me but I shake my head as we drop another few centimetres. We're going to fall out of the blue afternoon sky soon, his weight is too much for me to hold.

'Thorn, we have to land.' This time when we get closer to the ground, I control it. Gradually, I bring us down into the courtyard below the window we jumped out of. His feet touch the ground before mine and I'm glad for the shoes I was given upon my arrival here. We're standing on the broken glass of the window. 'Now what?' I ask him.

He glances at the doors from the castle into the courtyard. A dozen men burst through it, running towards us with swords drawn. 'Now we run,' he replies. We turn and begin to run for the door at the other end. This one I know leads to the front of the castle, I know this as its one of the few things I remember from when I first arrived here. But before we can get anywhere near the door, the two of us are immobilised by magic, very much like what I used on that man during our escape.

'Though you could escape, did you?' Bronwen's voice asks as she walks around to stand in front of us, smiling. 'My dear son, you should know far better than that. No one can leave my castle without my permission and neither of you have my permission.'

I look over at Thorn, to see that he's watching his mother with a fire burning behind his eyes. That's when I realise that freeing me benefited him too. He hates this place, he wants to be free. He reminds me of myself, before I became Queen. I had had everything I could possibly want but one thing. My freedom. The walls of Castle Zaraeli had been my prison, even when everything was in there. I had always known that I could have another life outside those stone walls and that's all I ever wanted. There is a great burden that comes with being a prince or princess because no one will ever see you as a person. Everyone always expects you to be something great but you know that even if you try to be what they think, you'll just let them down. I had felt this all my life, even more so now I was a queen. Thorn must feel the same way, too.

'Honestly, I had expected better form both of you,' she says, sounding like a mother scolding her children. Well, one of us was her son. 'Now you both deserve a punishment.' She pauses, as if considering what should be done with us. But we know she already has something in mind.

Before she can speak, I fight back. I have my magic now, so I send it her way. An invisible force has her stumbling backwards, much more than what I had managed to do before I was captured. She had been surrounded by her beloved fire then but she wasn't now. Both that and the fact she probably wasn't expect me to lash out in such a way is probably my magic had a better effect on her this time. Before I can attack again, Bronwen recovers and her invisible bonds wrap around me once more. My magic is gone again.

'Raven, I was just going to send you back to your cell but you just keep on trying to kill me. Usually, I'm a patient woman but not today,' she tells me. 'I've had enough of you, little Queen. You're beginning to lose your worth. You are not nearly as powerful as me and you never will be. And so I will not put up with you any longer. Tomorrow at dawn you will be executed.'

I stare up at her, shocked. I am going today tomorrow. I fall back and her men catch me dragging me away, probably back to my cell for this last night of my life. I look back once to see Bronwen talking with her son. Thorn's head is bowed in submission and I know I won't be receiving any more help from him. I wouldn't ask for more anyway, he's done more than enough for me. Now I must face my fate; I'm going to die. Just like my parents and William did. At least I won't be alone in death, they'll be with me.

😱😱😱 Raven's going to die!! Hope you're all ready for the next chapter but you're going to have to wait because you're getting a double update next time! It's only because the next chapter is THE LAST CHAPTER and I want to put it and the epilogue up at the same time. Vote and comment please :)