Derrick

Six.

This chapter has 1267 words in it. I'm sorry for any spelling errors, I fixed what I saw. Derrick has over 200 reads! Ya'll are the best! Thank you for reading!

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I stabbed my hands through my hair and paced, breathing heavily and trying to think of a way out. I couldn't let Derrick go alone. Isaac would never go willingly unless I was there.

I thought about the way Isaac smuggled me out of Roy's watch, even though we barely knew each other. I thought about how his green eyes were always bright with some kind of mischief, unless he was looking at something or someone he hated. Like Derrick.

As my panic only grew, I started to hit things. An ornate porcelain vase got flung across the room. A body-length mirror by the door was shattered, and the bathroom mirror was quick to match. The pillows flew against the wall, and Roy's bedside table was flipped over. Everywhere I went, I punched, kicked, and knocked down whatever was in my reach.

It went on like this for at least an hour. By the time the metal began sliding back to where it came from, my knuckles were severely bruised and oozing blood, and the room was littered with broken things and shards of glass.

The door opened, and Roy's face appeared, peeking around the door at me. His eyes found the mess I'd made, and his gaze slowly drifted from the destruction to my battered hands. I stood, frozen. I was feeling significantly less rebellious when the owner of the room was in front of me. And was also a king.

His eyes met mine, and in a very Roy-like gesture, he raised his eyebrows. Instead of being a goofy gesture, though, his eyes were hard and he was raising them as a silent question. He still wore his suit, and it only served to make him look more intimidating. He took slow steps inside, and the glass crunched under his shoes.

He stopped right in front of me, so close I had to lean my head back a little to see his face. He wrapped a hand around my wrist and lifted it, inspecting the cuts and bruises I'd inflicted on it. There was a long moment of silence, and he sighed quietly.

"We'll need to go to the medical wing for this."

"I need to leave." I shot back.

"You need to go to the medical wing." He snapped.

I tried for a more reasonable tone.

"Roy. Derrick is out there right now, heading for Isaac. I was with him because-"

"Derrick is on his way home right now." Roy interrupted. "Isaac is east from Trinton. Derrick has called his men and is heading south right now, back to his palace."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense," I argued. "He told me to come so I could convince Isaac to come home with us."

Roy shook his head. He hadn't let go of my wrist, and his hand was warm. He noticed that my blood was dripping onto his hand, and he tugged me toward the door.

"Walk and talk?" He offered. My hands throbbed along with my heartbeat, and I knew medical attention was wise. I nodded, and we made our way over the broken glass.

"Derrick and I had an intense conversation," He began as we walked. "He wasn't happy with my requests, and I wasn't happy with his."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Roy grinned, and my eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"After discussing our differences, we came to the conclusion that it would be best if you stayed here, while I continue to uphold our trade agreement. He may come for Isaac eventually, but not today. And I'm more than positive that I can afford to send some people to protect the town he's in."

I knew that what he meant by "came to the conclusion" was actually "I threatened to cut off your resources", which roughly translated into "she's staying with me or else". I bristled at the fact that they were treating me like an item, rather than a human being with emotions and intelligence, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it at the time.

"But that won't fix the problem," I disagreed. "Derrick will just attack them and the town and Isaac."

"Exactly. And when he does attack my men, I can reciprocate the breach in our agreement by getting Sebastian out of that palace."

I stared at him, shocked. He wanted to save Sebastian? Sebastian was the reason everything happened in the first place; why did Roy want to help him?

Thinking of Sebastian made my heart sink and flutter at the same time. Whatever Derrick was doing to him made him withdrawn and hateful. Sebastian was always withdrawn, but this was different. It was like he was being withdrawn against his will. But if Roy got him out, would that still be the case? And what about Isaac? Roy was just using him as an excuse to get Sebastian. So what would he do when he had him? Would he forget about Isaac?

"And then what?" I asked. We were almost there; I could smell the burning cleaning solutions used in hospitals.

Roy shrugged.

"What else is there?" He asked.

"Isaac. Are you going to leave him on his own when you get Sebastian out?"

"He can take care of himself, Elizabeth. He's smart."

"Smart enough to beat an entire army?" I asked, incredulous. I knew Derrick would send his army if that's what it took.

"Smart enough to not get killed. Whether it be fight or flight, Isaac can survive anything."

We arrived at a large sliding door that led to the hospital wing, and a nurse who spotted us immediately left her desk to help us inside.

"My my, what happened here?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

"Elizabeth had an ordeal." Was all Roy said. The nurse nodded and directed us to a hospital bed, where I was ordered to lay down and relax. I was handed two pills, and they worked fast; the pain in my hands receded to a dull throb.

Roy watched as a different nurse cleaned and stitched my knuckles up. She placed heavy padding over all of it and told me to keep my hand as still as possible until she came back. When she did, she secured a weird kind of tape to my knuckles that made it difficult to move them.

"So they won't pop open," She explained with a wink.

Then, she spread some strange-smelling, crimson red ointment over the stitches, and sent me off with Roy. I looked at the ointment questioningly, and Roy leaned into my ear as we walked out of the hospital wing.

"Vampire blood," He murmured. "We only use it if we need quick healing. Which you do."

I was instantly grossed out.

"I want you to save Isaac, too." I blurted. Roy paused for a second, and I stumbled to a stop. Without saying anything, he began walking beside me again.

"I can give you a choice," He offered. "I can only save one. Saving both will almost certainly result in war. Sebastian or Isaac?"

I didn't like this new, kingly Roy. He used different vocabulary and acted differently and even looked different, with his new clothes and his new way of standing. Glimpses of the old, fun-loving Roy who risked his life to save my kitten were few and far between.

But the thing that was more different than anything was the fact that he was only wanting to save one. The Roy I knew in Lake Village would unquestioningly save as many lives as he could. And he'd never give me an ultimatum like this.