His Queen

Chapter 13

It can't be...

"Or should I say, Princess Iris Ishtar!" His voice becomes louder with each minute.

Maliki. The building continues to crumble around us. His icy blue eyes burn into mine, his fingers wrapped tightly around his weapon: a handgun. He seems colder than how he was before I left Egypt.

"It seems as if you have developed a perfect life here, Iris. It would be such a shame for you to perish." He walks forward to me.

I take a step back as a burned beam falls next to me on my left. "Maliki, this isn't who you are. You're loyal to the Royals. You don't want to do this." I beg.

"Stop telling me what to do!" He fires the gun at me, it hits my shoulder. "I'm not loyal to you, Iris, you are the reason why your family had to die like that." He points the gun at me again.

"It's sad when I had to work with a girl named Volpina to find you, Iris. You hid well, but not well enough!"

Before he can even pull the trigger, a beam falls onto him, crushing him; I go to the roof and escape the building before it tumbles down. I hold my bloody arm as I spot Volpina comforting Chat. I grit my teeth; I jump down and walk toward them, Chat's face lighting up when he sees me alive.

I stumble a bit and hug him with one arm, Ladybug is there, too making sure everyone is okay, she sees me and hugs me. I wince in pain.

"Don't you ever do that to us again!" She yells at me. "We're a team, we get through things together. Not solo, Silver."

I nod. "I'm sorry I worried you two, but that was my battle. Someone from my past confronted me and almost killed me. I couldn't let you guys get hurt because of me." I hug Chat tightly.

I glance at Volpina and pull away from Chat. She has a disappointed look on her face. That's it! I stomp toward her and punch her square in the jaw.

"What was that for!?" Her eyes hold fury.

"Starting the fire, and being an absolute fake!" I punch her again.

"Wolfie, let's get your arm checked out." Chat pulls me back from killing her.

"We're not done with this, yet, liar." I turn around and walk to an ambulance to get the bullet taken out.

-time skip brought to you by Tiki's black spots-

Adrien and I go home after the fire is put out. He makes me lay down on his bed as he cleans the stitches on my shoulder. I clench my teeth and hold back the screams while he wipes away the leaking blood from around my wound.

"Did Volpina start the fire?" Adrien doesn't look at me.

"Yes, she did. The guy that shot me confessed before he died." I whisper.

"I'm sorry." He puts a new gauze wrap on my shoulder, covering the wound.

"Don't be. I should be the one who apologizes."

"Why would you apologize?"

"Everyone close to me gets hurt in some way. My family is dead, my only friend in Egypt turned his back against me, and now I'm being hunted down by a trusted ally of my father's." A tear escapes my tightly shut eyes.

Adrien's arms wrap around my body gently, being careful to not hurt my shoulder too much. I cry in his chest, trying to find comfort within these horrific times of my life.

"I promised you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, I failed to keep that promise today because of Ladybug and Volpina. They kept me away from saving you today. And, because of that, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, baby." He kisses my forehead gently.

~Adrien's POV~

I don't want Iris to put herself in any more danger. I almost lost her today because I was forced to stay back and watch the building crumble down. If it wasn't for Volpina, Iris wouldn't be injured right now and everything would be alright.

I pull away and tuck her into my bed, lying next to her as I close my eyes.

We both had too much excitement for one day. I can hear her light breathing, and like always, I fall asleep to it. Her soft breathing is like a soothing lullaby to me.

*a few days later*

Iris's wound is healing, but now, she barely speaks to me. What is she hiding from me? I miss Iris. Yeah, she sleeps next door to me but that doesn't mean we have been communicating lately.

I lay on my bed, watching Plagg eat his stinky cheese. He looks content, happy even. All because of Camembert cheese.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Plagg breaks the silence.

I sigh. "It's Iris. She's not talking to me, she's not even acknowledging that I exist. Plagg, what did I do wrong? A few days ago we were fine. But now, it's like she's a completely different person." A tear escapes my eyes, fogging my vision.

"She's going through a lot of trauma right now, Adrien. Right now, all you can do for her is be there when she needs you. You didn't do anything wrong. I promise." His green eyes show compassion.

I nod. "Okay."

I'll wait for her as long as it takes. I'll always be here for her, I'll be the shoulder she needs to cry on, I'll be her shield, I'll be whatever she needs me to be.