The Dragon Princess

Chapter 11

Royal Advisor Iris Wynn-Elliot

Majestic City, Otega

I roll my eyes for a final time, looking up into the night sky. Please, if there is a God. The root of my annoyance looks over at me. "What?" He questions as though he doesn't know what he is doing. Apparently I had spoken out loud. I didn't even care. It is the first actual word he has spoken in two days, but at least it is a break from that horrible noise he calls humming. How anyone could call that music, I don't know.

I look down and over at him with the worst glare I can form. "Will you shut up?" My tone takes him by surprise and the ferry driver snickers, clearly having been waiting for this drama to unfold the entire trip. "You have been annoying me ever since you barged back into my life, but that noise makes me want to kill myself!" I am glad that we are the only passengers on the ferry otherwise I might punch someone just to take out my frustration.

"Are you two married?" The driver butts in with amusement. We are probably the most entertainment he has had all day, or all year.

"No!" I send with a glare for a reply, but Lucas is right behind me contradicting my answer.

"Yes!" He returns in annoyance, as though my denial was only making it worse. It wasn't. Not to me. "But not much longer. Why we just couldn't get a divorce..." He starts but I turn on him.

"Because my father, if I could even call him that, forged that document in Sarkin, which means that the only one who can divorce us is Felix, which he won't do until I bring back his daughter." I grumble out.

"But we had her in Dearie!" He yells, clearly having been holding it in for three weeks. "You let her go!"

"Because she was in danger, Lucas!" I yell. "They want her, and they won't stop until they have her or they are all gone."

"So you are using her as bait." He chimes, as though proud of his observation. He couldn't be more wrong. That urge to hit someone comes back again, but it is too strong to ignore. I slap him with the back of my hand with as much force as I can gather, sending him stumbling back on to the ferry bench.

"Bait?" I yell, finally losing it after all this time. "She isn't bait! It is just like you to assume the worst of me because I hurt you. Well, I am sorry, but I am not the cold-hearted bitch you think I am." His jaw drops while he continues to hold his cheek, his clear eyes wide. "I have seen what that girl can do, and this isn't some game. If they find her, they will kill her. I have known that girl much longer than you, and I know that she won't give up. The only way to get her is to help her. So that is what I am going to do. The quicker we find Jemma, the quicker I can get her home, and the quicker I can get a divorce from you so you can leave me the hell alone!" I turn around and face where we are heading to see we are pulling up to the dock at the cliff face to Otega. "Finally." I mumble to myself. There is a God.

The ferry driver looks awkwardly away when I glance at him and he points up the cliff face. "The dock leads to the stairway. Follow it up and then it will be a short walk into the city."

I hold out a small pouch of coins. "For your silence." I toss them at him and he catches it with ease, clearly not the first time this has happened. When the boat docks I quickly get off, not checking or caring if Lucas is behind me. I know he is. It is his mission now in life to make my life a living hell, by any means necessary.

It is when we are on the short walk to the city before he talks. He just can't help himself. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." I snort, not even pretending it is unladylike. "Don't lie. Don't even pretend that you care about me, or what happens to me." I refuse to look at him to see what sort of face he makes in response. "I never asked for this life. I never wanted it. I wanted to end my life when I saw what they made me become. I hated everyone, everything. Anything that reminded me of the life I never got to choose." That is when I look back at him, but he isn't looking at me. "You want me to talk? Fine. You want me to admit that what I did was wrong? Fine." He glances up but I continue walking, turning away from those piercing eyes of his that I knew were judging me far worse than I could ever judge myself. "I loved my family, and I am not talking about who I was born to, but the people I was raised with. They were my brothers. My protectors. They protected me, and I protected them. They didn't choose that life and I couldn't save them from it. They are unstoppable, to anyone but me, so now I have to kill them all because they are going after someone who I consider my family now. Felix took me in when I left my home and he didn't have to. If Jaymie dies the whole realm will go down with her. She is the only one who can unite the Realm against the rebellion." I know I should just shut up, but that can of worms has been opened. "Don't tell me that I don't feel anything. They tried to raise me that way and I couldn't show that I could feel everything. Every life that I ruined, every life that I have taken, has stripped me to the bone. There isn't anything left. I don't deserve to live and I know it. When my time comes, and I have to face Theo, after all those years and all our history, I am not going to stop him from dragging me to Hell, but I will fight to drag him with me."