Savior (A Yogscast Fairytale)

Chapter 25

~Rythian's POV~

Zoey drags me down the hall, and we end up back in the throne room, where the royals are waiting. Lalna, Sips, and Sjin are standing with Xephos, while Nilesy, Strippin, and Benji are with Lomadia and Nano. Rosie is standing next to Lalna, acting the part of a spoiled princess. Xephos smiles when he sees me, and I feel my hand torn from Zoey's by a guard. I am forced to my knees, and Zoey shoots me a sympathetic look before joining Nilesy and the others. I scan the room, and my eyes land on Rosie. That's when it clicks. The prophecy said there was only one princess. So why are there two?

I look at Nilesy, raising an eyebrow toward Rosie. He smiles. 'You'd be surprised how many lives that girl can lead.' His voice fills my head. I look at him in shock, and he tries not to laugh. 'Telepathy. One of the things we can do as royals.' I nod, turning my attention back to Xephos, who has been talking this whole time. "... And you will not be allowed to associate with Princess Zoeya, unless you would like to be severely punished." I hear. Xephos closes his mouth, apparently finished. I look at Nilesy again, and he looks sympathetic. 'You are a slave to King Xephos now. Forced to see Zoey every day, but not allowed to acknowledge her without severe consequences. The worst punishment, for both of you, that Xephos could manage. I'm surprised he hasn't killed you again yet.' I look around the room. Lalna and his royals are smiling proudly, Lomadia and Nano look horrified, and Nilesy and the brothers are sad, along with Zoey. Rosie looks uninterested. I look back at Lomadia and Nano, and my mind makes a connection. They are ordinary, with no knowledge of the prophecy. They are not mages, they were married into this family. They were ordinary villagers once. When I meet Nano's eyes, they are filled with anger, and I see a disrespected peasant who grew up to be married to a prince. In Lomadia I see a farm girl; strong, both in mind and body, and not afraid to fight for her beliefs. I smiles, because I know, without a shadow of doubt, that these women will help me escape Xephos's hold.

Xephos steps forward and grabs my arm, pulling me out of the throne room. He leads me down the hallway I was dragged down after my first escape attempt, all those years ago. Even then, I refused to hurt the princess. Princess Zoeya. All I will ever be able to think of her, never just Zoeya, never Zoey. No eye contact, no looking at her, no doing anything near her unless it is a job. I am no longer her bodyguard, just another useless slave. As Xephos drills the words into my brain, I find myself starting to believe them. I fight that part of my brain, the part that thinks Xephos is right. But I know in my heart that I must fulfill this prophecy, and the heart is stronger than the mind. Xephos's tirade ends, and I am shown to a room full of slaves. I see a young boy from the streets that lived with Toby and I, and his sister, among the group. I am to sleep next them, and the nameless boy will show me around. He never had a name, and neither did his sister. They were, and forever will be, nameless. And I only hope that I can help them.

The boy shows me around the slave's quarters, then the bell in the corner rings. I follow the others as they walk upstairs, and into the kitchen. I've been here before, as I used to love helping the cooks with dinner. Now I am being forced to. We work in silence, until the food is ready, then I grab a tray and follow the boy out into the dining room. There sits Lomadia, Xephos, and Zoeya. Xephos ignores me as  set down his plate, but the girls are both staring at me intensely, and it takes all of my self control not to try to communicate with one of them. I manage to leave the room without ever looking in Zoeya's direction, which makes Xephos grin. Then I head back to the quarters and fall asleep on my new bed.

~Zoey's POV~

Rythian wordlessly serves me dinner before escaping back to the kitchen. My parents try to talk to me, but I ignore them, silently fuming. Rythian has saved my life countless times, and they are treating him like this! I can barely keep my anger from exploding, literally. With my new magic, I could blow the roof off of this place. I really need to learn to control it, but only two people could do that. My father, who I refuse to speak to, and Rythian, who is probably never going to be able to see me again, much less teach me. After I finish, I stand and leave the room, avoiding both of my parents and running down the hallway to a familiar room.

I throw myself onto Rythian's old bed. I locked the door tightly, so I finally allow myself to cry. Over Rythian, the little girl I saw with him, and all of the other people being treated like this. I must do something about it, I must. At some point I run out of tears, so I just curl up on the bed. A loud knock resounds through the room, and I pull myself up, opening the door. My mother pulls me into a hug, then pushes me into the room. I hear the door lock, but I don't see who does it. When I finally pull away from my mother, my eyes widen. There, standing before me once again, is Rythian.