My Choice

Chapter 5

It is three days after the incident in town. Everyone begged me not to go out, but I decided to ignore them and go visit Asher. A thought comes to mind. I'm not even supposed to be alive. I sent him a note saying that I would end my life. I'm such an idiot. I hurry to our meeting place, hoping he'd be there. I look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being followed by two overprotective dumbasses. I go to the last spot I had seen him. There, I found him with his head down, his bow by his side, and tears rolling down his face. It hurt my heart seeing him like this. I tap his shoulder along with dodging an arrow. He looks as if he'd seen a ghost. "R-Ryia..? I thought you were dead." I shake my head,"Sadly, I'm not." He runs up to me and hugs me tightly. He starts to cry harder,"I thought I lost you! Don't ever do that again!" I calm him down for a good 10 minutes. I explain what has happened to me so far, including what happened in town. He shouts in anger,"Those bustards! You could have been killed!" I roll my eyes. "They would not have. I do know how to protect myself, you know." He points at the wound I had received,"Then what is that from?" I cover it up. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." He shakes his head and starts walking away. I follow after him wanting to know where he is headed. We ended up at my palace. I groan as we walk through the front door. I hear cries coming from upstairs. I rush towards the sound. I find Beatrix crying in a corner. "What happened?" She stares at me with wet eyes,"It's Hadrian. Father sent him to fight a senseless battle. He's terribly injured. I fear he may die." I stand there,"Where is he?" She takes me to his room and I rush over to him. He slowly wakes up,"Ry...I'm glad...you came." I hold his hand tightly,"Hold on! You'll be alright!" He shakes his head,"I'm afraid ...the end is..near. I want you to...know that I...love you...so much, my....sister. I will....see you...again..." His breath becomes ragged and suddenly stops. "Hadri!?" No response. I knew he was gone. Asher walks up behind me,"I'm sorry. He's gone." I stare at his lifeless body in disbelief. So many emotions surrounded me: anger, hate, sorrow.
Hot tears fall slowly down my face. Asher takes me out of the room and down to the living room. My mother is sitting there in here favorite emerald chair. She turns around to look at me. "My dearest child. I'm so sorry." She wraps me in a tight hug, trying to comfort me. I push her away. I did not want comfort. I wanted to feel the pain they've caused me. The sadness, the hurt, the fear, the anger. My father walks leisurely into the room as if nothing had happened. I growl and did the one thing I'd never thought I'd do. I struck him. He turns to me looking shocked and angry. He moves to strike me back but I dodge his attack. I sweep his leg and he falls to the cold floor. I put one foot on his stomach. "How could you?!" I glare down at him. He looks innocently at me,"I haven't the slightest idea-..." I press my foot down harder into his stomach. "Don't lie to me! You sent Hadrian away to fight one of your meaningless battles! And for what? Nothing was gained but plenty was losses! You took away a friend who was like I brother to me! You killed him! I curse the day you were born! You are no longer my father! I hate you!" I look around the room. Everyone is staring in disbelief of what just happened. I scoff and walk out the room. I go up to my bedroom, followed by Asher, and walk out onto my balcony. There, I wept. I had lost my brother and my father all in the same day. Asher hugs me and tries to stop my weeping. A black carriage pulls up to the castle. It is unfamiliar to me therefore, I rush downstairs to meet it. The doors open for a medium height man with medium length hair and sharp grey eyes to step out. He looked around 25 and dressed in black. A long, sharp sword hung at his hip. My "father" walks passed me towards the man. They talk for a minute or two then turn to me. My "father" speaks first," Ryia, whether you accept it or not, I am your father. I will look out for your safety. That is why I hired Henry to be your personal bodyguard." I glare,"I thought Dain and them were looking after me. Not some stranger." The guy laughs while my "father" shakes his head. "They did not properly look after you." I roll my eyes,"Like you have experience with that." He sighs and leads all of us into the sitting room. "Starting tonight, he will go everywhere you go and will not let you out of his sight." I laugh bitterly,"He'll have to keep up with me first!" I go to run out the door when Henry grabs my arm a bit too forcefully and yanks me into his chest. He smirks down at me,"Got ya." I shake him off. I give Asher the look of this guy is strange so keep an eye on him. He nods, gripping his bow harder. I notice Henry still staring at me. It sends shivers down my spine. I look to my left to find some of Hadrian's fellow guards carrying his body,which was now wrapped in cloth, down the stairs. I calmly walk over to them. I can see the sorrow in their faces and it hurt.
"Where are you taking him?" I ask.
"To a fire pit to be burned." One of the soldiers answered. I shake my head,"Follow me. I have a better place in mind." I lead them to one of my favorite trees that was now covered in snow. It was in the family grave yard and that is where we buried him. One week has passed since that horrid day. The snow was still falling and so were my tears. I put on a wintery dress that was laying on my bedside. I unlock my door, exit the castle, and walk down to Hadrian's grave. I often did this. The trees were bare and snowy. It was quiet, peaceful, and serene. I walk silently through the white snow. I stop at his grave, drop to my knees, and cry. Soft sobs escape my lips. A cold hand rests on my shoulder. I jump up, ready to fight. "Relax, my lady. You are perfectly safe." I stare at him in confusion. He sees this and smirks.
"You didn't forget about me, did ya? Henry. Your bodyguard." I roll my eyes,"Ah, you. I thought I'd lost you in the castle. I see you found me."
"I never lost you. I'm always here." He takes a couple steps towards me so I take a couple steps back until my back hit the large tree that stood firm behind me. He puts one hand on the tree and the other on my cheek.
"Such beauty. I can hardly bare to see you like this." He slides a hand down to my waist. I look at him in disgust,"If you don't take your hands off me, I'll cut them off for you." I go to grab my blade that was hidden in the dress. Henry grabs it before I could and places it at my chest.
"Now, now, I thought you had learned that I am much faster and much stronger than you are, my dear." He sighs and taps his chin in thought,"Now what shall we do about this? I wonder." Out of nowhere, Asher jumps out and grabs the blade from Henry. He glares at Henry,"Don't you ever touch her again!" His voice dripping with venom. I had never seen him so angry. Henry smirks,"Did you forget? I'm her bodyguard. I go wherever she goes, unlike you. You can't always come to her rescue." With that, he disappears into the darkness of the trees.