Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Forty Three ~ Lenora's Decision

Clouds covered the morning sky early that day, as was per the norm in the Capitol City. It even rained a little bit. Lenora sat in front of the fountain in the center of the Castle Courtyard and watched the waters with fear. Her parents had not left the throne room since that previous night. Something must have happened. But what was it? When Lenora had woken up, she also noticed that Xander's door was cracked open, but he hadn't woken up at all throughout that last night, and Xander didn't know why the door was slightly open. It was all very frightening to Lenora.

Were mom and dad unable to prevent this from happening? Lenora thought to herself. She looked at her reflection in the waters of the fountain. Tears brimmed her eyes with the thought. I can't marry such a horrific monster! Garen... where are you? Wherever you are, please hurry back home for me...

"Good morning, my dear." That male voice that Lenora absolutely despised emerged from the Courtyard's entrance and startled her just a little. She knew it was Nicholas, but she refused to acknowledge that he was there. That only made him walk closer. "You know... when a man says 'good morning', at least do the polite thing and say 'good morning' back, and maybe give him a kiss. Things a good wife would do." Lenora grit her teeth tightly, trying not to reveal her anger. She kept her eyes away from him.

"Go away," she said through her gritted teeth.

"We should get used to being around each other, Princess." Nicholas walked closer to her and sat beside her. Lenora moved away from him, but he kept trying to sit closer to her and put an arm around her. "Playing hard to get, huh? Don't act like you have a choice in this."

"I have free will, though, don't I?" Lenora stood and walked away from Nicholas quickly. "I'm also smart enough to stay away from you."

Nicholas stood and slowly followed her with a disappointed sigh. "Come now, Lenora. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"How...?" Lenora whispered with silent rage. Finally, she locked eyes with Nicholas. She felt nothing but anger towards him. "How did my parents allow this to happen?"

"It's quite sad, really," Nicholas began, slowly walking towards her. "My father promised them riches if they agreed to hand you over to me, and they simply gave you up."

"You're nothing but a creep and a liar," Lenora said quietly. "There has to be more to it."

"You wanna hear the truth?" Nicholas chuckled, standing with his arms wide open. "Come on, Lenora. Let's just enjoy our romantic time together. Maybe even a bit more than that..." Lenora's eyes widened.

"Get the hell away from me." She practically ran from Nicholas, but Nicholas ran the opposite way to corner her.

"Don't tell me you don't share similar feelings for me," he scoffed. "I mean, we both must be the most beautiful people in the whole damn Castle, aren't I right? We make an attractive couple."

"We are not a couple!" Lenora exclaimed. "I already have a fiancée, for your information."

"Oh, really?" Nicholas laughed. "What's his name?"

"Garen Leonhart," Lenora said without even a second thought.

"If he's your fiancée, then why isn't he here?" asked Nicholas. "Not that it would matter. Now that I know his name, I'm gonna kill him anyways, but the question still stands, Lenora." They were both silenced as the Chancellor passed by the Courtyard, looking at them.

"Young love between two beautiful kids..." the Chancellor chuckled. "I love it." He continued walking in the direction of the throne room, which set off an alarm in Lenora's mind.

"He manipulated my parents," she whispered. "Both of you did. You backed them into a corner over this, didn't you?" Nicholas grinned and shrugged a bit.

"What can I say?" he asked. "My father and I are smart men." Lenora advanced on Nicholas and glared at him.

"Not smart enough to know that Garen is going to kill you when he returns from his search," she whispered with a hostile tone. "I'd kill you right now, but I'm too merciful. If I had a knife, I would've killed you last night and wouldn't have thought twice about it, so back the hell off!"

Nicholas was shocked by Lenora's response, but he refused to show that she had shaken his confidence. "I don't know who this 'Garen' is, but he'll be a dead man when I'm through with him." Nicholas turned on his heel and stormed out of the Courtyard. Lenora was surprised with herself. She had never cussed before, nor did she ever think she was going to, but Nicholas angered her so much, she almost felt the need to in order to assert herself. Even so, she fell to her knees and cried as soon as Nicholas was completely out of sight. She felt so alone, and helpless, what with even her parents giving up on the matter and allowing it. She almost felt betrayed, by her parents, by her kingdom, and even by Garen. The second the thought came to mind, her heart dropped, but she stopped crying.

"I'm not helpless," Lenora whispered. "I refuse to become rendered helpless. We'll find Garen and end this before it ever starts." She stood up to her feet and wiped her tears away. A feeling of red hot determination seemed to gather within her, and she started walking out of the Courtyard with a newfound confidence she had never carried before and headed down the corridor towards her room. She felt as if Garen was walking alongside her, but even moreso. It wasn't too long of a walk before she arrived in her room. Her two crossbows leaned up against the wall beside her bed. She armed herself with both of them, but as soon as she turned around, she saw Xander looking at her from her door.

"Lenora?" he asked. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting some help," she said. "I'm taking a carriage to Eugene to talk to Millicent, Horace, and Rin, and we're going to either look for Garen, or put a stop to all of this, whichever comes first."

"You can't just leave," Xander replied as Lenora walked right past him. He followed her down the corridor. "Mom and dad would freak out if they found out you—"

"Is there really anything worse than this?" Lenora asked, but Xander quickly walked around her and stopped her.

"Yes," he replied. "You dying out there." Lenora paused for a moment, but then she rolled her eyes and continued advancing. Xander ran to catch up with her and he walked alongside her. "Well, if that's your decision, then I'm going with you."

"Xander..."

"Well, Garen's my friend too, and you're my sister."

They both stopped walking as they reached the front door of the Castle. Lenora's mind stopped running at a million miles an hour and she turned towards her brother with a slight smile. "I suppose you're right," she said. She placed a hand on Xander's shoulder as she spoke. "We've been through a lot. It's almost like everything we've endured was like training for us, training us for this moment."

"Pretty brutal training," Xander chuckled, showing the empty stump that used to be his left hand. Even Lenora laughed a little.

"We could make it to Eugene and back before sunset," Lenora said. "We'll be cutting it close, but with their help, we can stop whatever the Chancellor's plans are." Xander smiled.

"When did you become so awesome?" he asked. Lenora smiled and looked forward at the exit of the city.

"Every minute counts," she said. "Let's go."